@IEEESpectrum technology policy editor @lucaslaursen’s piece on NSF’s X-Labs should be required reading about the background and potential for the initiative.

To solve scientific and engineering bottlenecks, @NSF X-Labs is an ambitious experiment that diversifies the funding mechanisms and institution types of the Nation’s Science Portfolio. It complements our existing system by adding an independent institutional type alongside universities, national labs, small businesses and corporate R&D. Colleagues @CorreaDan, Erica Goldman, @AdamMarblestone, Pippy James and more also provide their perspective on this initiative.

And thanks also for the shoutouts for a few of @IFP’s metascience products in the piece: the Atlas of Innovation (a new tool which helps funders select the mechanisms that may be best for solving their problem @matthewesche. http://www.atlasofinnovation.org) and the Macroscience Substack (a community Substack for metascience edited by @andrewmgerard http://www.macroscience.org).

Read the full article here: https://spectrum.ieee.org/nsf-x-labs