EurekAlert! National Science Foundation - NSF Funded Research News

NSF Funded Research News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 22-Aug-2025 05:11 ET (22-Aug-2025 09:11 GMT/UTC)

1-May-2025

Center for open science launches call for developers to enhance open science framework with support from NSF

Center for Open Science
Grant and Award Announcement

The Center for Open Science (COS) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) inviting open-source development teams and independent developers to collaboratively enhance the Open Science Framework (OSF) as part of the National Science Foundation's Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) program.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

1-May-2025

STEM students: Work hard, but don’t compare yourself to others

Ohio State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study shows how damaging it can be for college students in introductory STEM classes to compare how hard they work to the extent of effort put in by their peers.

Journal: Contemporary Educational Psychology
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

30-Apr-2025

AI as your therapist? not quite yet, says new USC study

University of Southern California
Reports and Proceedings

Chatbots are getting better at holding conversations — but can they offer meaningful support in a therapy setting? A new study by USC researchers suggests that large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT still fall short when it comes to the nuances of human connection

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

30-Apr-2025

Researchers solve one of Earth's ancient volcanic mysteries

University of Maryland
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study from the University of Maryland traces a 120-million-year-old “super-eruption” to its source, offering new insights into Earth’s complex geological history.

Journal: Nature
Funder: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. National Science Foundation

30-Apr-2025

From structure to function: Tailoring wurtzite MgSiN₂ for next-generation electronics

Institute of Science Tokyo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Nitrides with a wurtzite structure are widely used in cutting-edge technologies, from blue light-emitting diodes to high-frequency noise filters in smartphones. Now, for the first time, scientists from Institute of Science Tokyo have successfully synthesized a wurtzite-structured MgSiN₂ thin film, an insulating nitride containing two elements. This material exhibits compatible optical and piezoelectric properties, paving the way for new energy conversion materials, ferroelectric memory, and next-generation electronic devices.

Journal: Advanced Electronic Materials
Funder: Japan Science and Technology Agency, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy

29-Apr-2025

Palatable versus poisonous: Eavesdropping bats must learn to identify which prey is safe to eat

Smithsonian
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) found that the fringe-lipped bat, known to eavesdrop on frog and toad mating calls to find its prey, learns to distinguish between palatable and unpalatable frogs and toads through experience. The findings, published April 29 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, provide the first evidence that eavesdropping predators fine-tune their hunting cues over the course of their development.

Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B Biological Sciences
Funder: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation

29-Apr-2025

Using “shallow shadows” to uncover quantum properties

University of California - San Diego
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Traditional methods of looking into quantum systems often require immense resources. Researchers from UC San Diego, IBM Quantum, Harvard and UC Berkeley have developed a new technique that allows scientists to extract essential information more efficiently and accurately.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Defense

29-Apr-2025

Synchrotron in a closet: Bringing powerful 3D X-ray microscopy to smaller labs

University of Michigan
Peer-Reviewed Publication

For the first time, researchers can study the microstructures inside metals, ceramics and rocks with X-rays in a standard laboratory without needing to travel to a particle accelerator, according to a study led by University of Michigan engineers.

Journal: Nature
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy

29-Apr-2025

Will the vegetables of the future be fortified using tiny needles?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

MIT researchers showed they can inexpensively nanomanufacture silk microneedles to precisely fortify crops, monitor plant health, and detect soil toxins.

Journal: Nature Nanotechnology
Funder: U.S. Office of Naval Research, U.S. National Science Foundation, SMART, National Research Foundation of Singapore, Singapore Prime Minister’s Office

28-Apr-2025

Light-based data made clearer with new machine learning method

Rice University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Rice researchers have developed a new machine learning algorithm that excels at interpreting optical spectra, potentially enabling faster and more precise medical diagnoses and sample analysis.

Journal: ACS Nano
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, NIH/National Institutes of Health, Welch Foundation