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NSF seeks public input on its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026–2030 NSF Strategic Plan

Dear Colleagues:

The U.S. National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and U.S. territories. NSF's draft FY 2026-2030 Strategic Plan describes the agency's vision, core values, and the challenges and opportunities it seeks to address over the next five years. NSF seeks public input on its draft FY 2026-2030 Strategic Plan and will use this feedback to inform the plan's implementation.

The draft FY 2026-2030 Strategic Plan reflects administration priorities and is structured around three main strategic goals. Each goal includes objectives that describe outcomes the agency seeks to achieve, strategies to drive actions, and performance measures to track and evaluate progress. The draft also includes a Learning Agenda with priority questions to build evidence to inform strategy and program development.

Goal 1. Ensure American excellence and national security through investments in transformative research and innovation.

Objective 1.1. Uphold tenets of Gold Standard Science while enabling groundbreaking research and innovation.
Objective 1.2. Advance the golden age of American innovation through the development of critical and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, quantum information science and biotechnology.
Objective 1.3. Support national security by safeguarding the nation's research enterprise.
Objective 1.4. Support discovery, innovation and national security through impactful investments in research infrastructure.

Goal 2. Advance American leadership in science and technology by empowering STEM talent.

Objective 2.1. Support the growth of positions in critical and emerging technologies by developing the next generation science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforce.
Objective 2.2. Expand opportunities for discovery and innovation by building STEM capacity across regions and a range of organizations, including community colleges, nonprofits and businesses.

Goal 3. Accelerate NSF's impact by optimizing capability and modernizing operations.

Objective 3.1. Advance NSF's mission by ensuring the agility and capability of the agency's workforce.
Objective 3.2. Ensure accountable agency operations through Gold Standard Science and maintain effective use of federal funds.

NSF appreciates input on the following questions:

  • What opportunities exist that could help enable progress toward NSF's objectives and strategies?
  • How might NSF foster partnerships with a wide range of organizations to implement the strategies in its FY 2026-2030 Strategic Plan?
  • What data or evidence should NSF consider as it develops mechanisms to evaluate progress and measure success in achieving the objectives in its FY 2026-2030 Strategic Plan?
  • Is there any other information that would assist NSF in achieving the goals and objectives under its FY 2026-2030 Strategic Plan?

Responses to this Dear Colleague Letter

NSF welcomes feedback from all interested parties across the science, technology, engineering and mathematics research and education communities. Both individual and group perspectives are welcome. You may submit a response as an individual or on behalf of an organization, association or other group using this online form.

The form includes open-response fields for each of the questions above. You may input up to 10,000 characters (including spaces) per field, and all fields are optional.

Under direction and guidance from NSF, Nexight Group will collect feedback submitted in response to this Dear Colleague Letter. If you choose to save your feedback and return at a later time, you will receive an email from Nexight Group containing the link to continue the submission.

Responses are due no later than Jan. 27, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Planned use of information

The responses will be analyzed for the purpose of informing strategic plan implementation, such as categorizing challenges, opportunities and recommendations, and may be included in internal reports individually or in summary form. Any information you provide will not be considered confidential and may be subject to disclosure under the "Freedom of Information Act" or as otherwise required by law. Therefore, do not include proprietary, classified, confidential, personal or other sensitive information in your response.

This request is for information and planning purposes only and should not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the federal government or NSF. No awards will be made based on responses to this request. Respondents are advised that the federal government and NSF are under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of submissions or provide feedback. The federal government reserves the right to use any nonproprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s), policies or procedures.

For questions about this Dear Colleague Letter, please contact: performance-team@nsf.gov

Sincerely,

Jason Bossie
Performance Improvement Officer
U.S. National Science Foundation

 

Read the full draft NSF FY 2026–2030 Strategic Plan.

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