Massachusetts isn’t just the Bay State, it’s the Brain State.
We are a state of innovation and pioneers in science and technology research. It was Massachusetts companies and research institutions that developed the vaccines helping us to combat COVID-19, trained scientists at our world-renowned academic institutions who are on the cutting edge of discoveries that are transforming the future, and is integral to our nation’s leaders in science, including Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, the first director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a new agency established to accelerate the pace for innovation in health and medical sciences.
Science develops the cures of tomorrow, develops solutions to protect our planet from the climate crisis, is a driver of the U.S. economy and enhances national security.
Massachusetts is a powerful global force in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) because of the funding we receive from the National Science Foundation (NSF), an independent federal agency created by Congress to support researchers across America. The NSF has demonstrated it can turn dollars into scientific breakthroughs, including the $565 million it allocated for research in the commonwealth last year.
It is funding from the NSF that helped researchers in Massachusetts develop assistive robotics for people with disabilities, explore why and how COVID-19 impacts humans, and rarely other species, and discover new quantum materials with non-conventional properties that could transform signal processing and computation.
The NSF, along with NOAA and NASA, put together a research team to identify the cause of the ozone layer’s deterioration in the Antarctic, and NSF continues to fund research leading to critical developments in environmental science. As the co-author of the Green New Deal resolution, I deeply value the role that NSF plays in fueling knowledge and solutions necessary for the climate and clean-energy revolution.
NSF also funds equipment development that is needed by scientists and engineers but is often too expensive for any one group or researcher to afford. Examples include giant optical and radio telescopes, Antarctic research sites, high-end computer facilities and ultra-high-speed connections, ships for ocean research, sensitive detectors of very subtle physical phenomena and gravitational wave observatories.
Another essential element of NSF’s mission is support for science and engineering education, from pre-kindergarten through graduate school and beyond. In fiscal 2021, NSF dedicated over $64 million to STEM education in Massachusetts, a fact that was highlighted when I hosted leaders from 80 colleges, universities, and community colleges in the commonwealth to meet with the outstanding NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan. We discussed the vital partnership between NSF and higher education institutions to support new scientific frontiers. The research that NSF funds will support scientific leaders for the next generation.
Congress fell behind in funding the NSF several years ago. Research proposals totaling $4 billion that were rated “very good” by NSF never received funding. That is $4 billion worth of ideas that could have led to scientific breakthroughs for the American people.
I have been pushing for Congress to increase funding for the NSF. This year, Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act that includes $81 billion in funding for the agency – a doubling of its budget over the next five years. This was an important step in the right direction, but Congress must now appropriate the money to meet these goals. In the next fiscal year, I will lead my colleagues to authorize $11 billion in NSF funding.
Increased funding would enable the NSF to support the development of a diverse pipeline of innovative leaders who will keep America competitive in the 21st century and beyond. Congress must support the NSF so that students can enter the innovation workforce no matter their race, gender, country of origin, zip code, or socioeconomic background. In turn, our next generation of scientific leaders will finally have the tools to dismantle barriers, rectify structural inequities, and build a just future in which all Americans will have opportunities to pursue scientific careers if they choose and access the best treatments and technologies our STEM innovators can produce.
We must urgently accelerate the pace of scientific discovery as America and the world face existential challenges.
Sea levels are rising. Medical centers are overwhelmed with patients in need of care. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over. Cybersecurity protections loopholes put individual and business finances at risk.
NSF funds from Congress for Massachusetts and other states are critical to ensure that breakthroughs in science and technology to pioneer the future will continue just as we’ve pioneered the past. If we want results, Congress must make like Paul Revere and pony up.
Edward J. Markey is U.S. senator for Massachusetts. He maintains an office in Springfield at 1550 Main St., 4th floor, 413-785-4610. To learn more about the senator and his work, go online to markey.senate.gov.
