NSF Boosts U.S. Tech with TIP Program

What Is the TIP Directorate?

The National Science Foundation created the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, or TIP, to help research lead to real-world results. This program supports emerging technologies, local innovation, and job training for future industries.

TIP is focused on more than science. It helps move ideas out of labs and into communities. The program brings together schools, businesses, and local leaders to solve problems, build companies, and grow the economy.

What TIP Supports

TIP works across three main areas: technology translation, regional innovation, and workforce development. Each part is designed to grow local economies and keep the U.S. strong in technology.

Some of TIP’s key efforts include

• Turning university research into useful products and services
•  Building local partnerships between governments, schools, and companies
•  Funding innovation engines that create jobs in more regions
•  Supporting workers in fields like AI, biotechnology, and advanced materials
•  Making sure rural areas and underserved groups benefit from new technology

TIP offers funding, training, and support to help these ideas grow.

Why TIP Matters

Many new technologies never leave the lab or reach the people who need them. Large cities often gain the most, while other regions are left behind.

TIP changes this by focusing on local talent and new partnerships. 

The program helps more communities become part of the innovation economy. It supports small towns, rural colleges, and minority-serving institutions to make sure everyone can contribute.

This program turns science into jobs and helps the U.S. lead in the technologies of tomorrow.