Evaluation and Assessment

The Office of Award Management supports decision making at the U.S. National Science Foundation. The office's Evaluation and Assessment Capability Unit strengthens NSF's ability to make evidence-informed decisions by delivering timely and actionable analyses, and through building capacity for evidence generation and use across NSF.

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What we do

NSF upholds the "Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018" (Evidence Act) by promoting agency-wide collaboration and coordination toward data-driven, evidence-building activities. These include:

Evaluations and studies

Assessing the outcomes and impacts of NSF's programs and activities.

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Evaluation and assessment planning

Planning for evaluations and other evidence-building activities to support NSF.

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Evaluation policy

Outlining the key principles that guide evaluation activities conducted or supported by NSF.

Featured evaluations and studies

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Portfolio Analysis of NSF Skilled Technical Workforce Investments

May 2026
The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act (Section 10314) calls for a public-facing portfolio analysis of NSF's "skilled technical workforce (STW) investments across all Directorates in the areas of education, research, infrastructure, data collection, and analysis." This report fulfills that requirement by analyzing NSF-funded STW-related awards from FY 2018–2024 and examining funding levels, geographic and institutional distribution, and common workforce development themes using quantitative and qualitative methods.

Full report (PDF, 1.58 MB)

Connecting wires to the interface of the topological insulator and superconductor enables probing of novel electronic properties. Researchers aim for qubits based on theorized Majorana particles.

NSF Economic Impacts: Literature Review

March 2026
This report identifies rigorous methods for estimating the economic impact of NSF's funding for research and other activities via a systematic review of the literature on the theory and empirical work linking research to economic impacts.

Full report (PDF, 2.06 MB)

FY23 Merit Review Digest

December 2024
This report provides statistical information on proposals awarded and declined in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 based on a snapshot of NSF's transactional databases taken on Oct. 1, 2023.

Full report (PDF, 1.03 MB) | FY 2023 Merit review data (XLSX, 157.88 KB)

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FY22 Merit Review Digest

December 2024
This report provides statistical information on proposals awarded and declined in FY 2022 based on a snapshot of NSF's transactional databases taken on Oct. 1, 2022.

Full report (PDF, 1.04 MB) | FY 2022 Merit review data (XLSX, 2.92 MB)