2026 NSF Science & Technology Centers Directors' Meeting

Aug 25, 2026, 10:45 AM → Aug 26, 2026, 5:00 PM America/New_York

Zoom

Communicating the Value of the STC Model

2026_STC_Day1_Breakout_Sessions.pdf

Speaker Bios.pdf

STC Classes.pdf

STC Value Graphics

Tue, August 25

1 Welcome - Rebecca Morss, NSF and Joan Curtiss, CBB Managing Director

Speakers: Joan Curtiss, Rebecca Morss

2 The Value Proposition of STCs - COLDEX

NSF COLDEX collects twice yearly surveys of all center participants to track how research collaborations evolve over the latter 4 years of the center. Social network analysis can track whether participating institutions are siloed in their interactions, how participants at various career stage are engaging with the center, and whether any interventions are prudent given trends. Challenges for this approach are initiating and maintaining the surveys, and maintaining sufficient response rates from participants. The NSF COLDEX method was published by University of Minnesota masters student Demie Huffman in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (a Nature journal).
Social Network Analysis surveys: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-04677-3

Speaker: Christo Buizert

3 The Value Proposition of STCs - COMPASS

Abstract: At COMPASS, we define our value through a strategic pivot from merely describing nature to explicitly prescribing particle architectures for "impossible" materials, an achievement enabled by our multi-institutional Math-to-Manufacturing (M-to-M) engine. We demonstrate how the STC model enables a "research multiplier effect," transforming 28 discrete laboratories into a dense, interconnected global ecosystem that produces outcomes impossible within individual labs, such as the decoding of collective dynamics in nanoparticle assemblies. We substantiate this value through quantitative evidence: the Center reports 44 publications in 2025 alone, with over 40% of our 81 total publications since 2023 appearing in ultra-high-impact journals like Science and Nature. Progress in translation is manifested by 19 patent applications, including a key patent on bio-derived solid lubricants, and the release of software toolboxes like ResponseGT, which provides a 300X speedup in property prediction for the broader scientific community. Anchored by a new Gordon Research Conference on "Connected Matter" and the Kavli Materials Summit, COMPASS serves as a unique vehicle for field-building, bridging the "complexity gap" between traditional chemistry, physics, and applied mathematics to train a "domain multilingual" workforce.

Speaker: Elena Della Valle (COMPASS)

4 The Value Proposition of STCs - LEAP

LEAP will discuss the multidisciplinary climate data hackathon that was held at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in January 2026, in partnership with AMNH, NVIDIA and Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners. Entitled, "Urban Futures: A Community Informed Approach to Hacking Climate Data," the hackathon engaged members of NYC community groups to help center the focus of the hackathon. A wide variety of professionals and students were invited to participate in the hackathon, alongside mentors from LEAP, NVIDIA, and other organizations. The event demonstrated that having robust education, KT and research programs enabled successfully carrying out this impactful event. The event also showed the long-term value created through STCs' interdisciplinary, multi-institutional approach to research.

Speakers: Catherine Cha, Molly Lopez (LEAP)

5 The Value Proposition of STCs - STEPS and CROPP

STCs as organizational sites of epistemic reordering

STCs are organizational strategies, operating primarily in higher education, for addressing complex societal problems through interdisciplinary collaboration. They are, also, sites with the structure and capacity to flatten knowledge hierarchies. Drawing on scholarship and professional experiences as leadership staff within STCs, we will share how this unique structure can reshape epistemic norms, intellectual labor, and the valuation of knowledge in the academy, all while acting as agents of cross-institutional collaboration and innovation.

Speakers: Darius Melvin (CROPPS), Kailyn Harris-Gilliam (STEPS)

6 Open Discussion on STC Value

7 Break Out Session 1 - STC Directors meet with Rebecca Morss

12:50 PM Lunch

8 Tailoring the Message-Communicating the Value of Science to the Non-Scientist - STROBE

Science communication as a key part of building the scientific workforce. Creating engaging environments

Speaker: Lauren Mason (STROBE)

9 Tailoring the Message: Communicating the Value of Science to the Non-Scientist - QCB

From Research to Reels: QCB’s Social Media Ambassadors Program
Science cannot build public trust if it speaks only to people already listening. Journal articles, institutional websites, news stories, conference presentations, courses, and public lectures primarily reach audiences already connected to science. Social media offers something fundamentally different, bringing research into the everyday lives of people who may never visit a scientific website, attend an academic event, or actively seek out STEM content. Reaching these audiences matters because public understanding and trust shape institutional priorities, policy decisions, and sustained investment in research, yet few researchers receive formal training for communicating effectively in this rapidly evolving environment.
To address this need, the NSF STC for Quantitative Cell Biology is collaborating with Professor Diva, a physics graduate student and science communicator with more than 200,000 Instagram followers. Together, we are creating accessible content for new audiences while equipping graduate students with valuable communication skills. Our first video featuring QCB’s Minecraft Cells initiative received more than 50,000 views in one week, approximately ten times the combined annual reach of our other communication efforts.
Building on this success, QCB will launch a year-long Social Media Ambassadors Program in which Professor Diva will mentor researchers in creating accurate, accessible, and engaging content about their work and its broader impacts. Participants will learn audience engagement, storytelling, scriptwriting, filming, and editing while developing authentic online identities. The program encourages them to connect their science with their cultural backgrounds, personal experiences, hobbies, and creative strengths. By treating scientific and nonscientific identities as complementary, rather than separate, the program strengthens researchers’ sense of belonging and shows broader audiences that scientists, and the people who can become scientists, come from every background

Speaker: Sharlene Danos (QCB)

10 Tailoring the Message: Communicating the Value of Science to the Non-Scientist - C-CoMP

Using the results of the C-CoMP MARINE K-12 Study as a conversation starter to develop ocean literacy

Speaker: Victoria Centurino (C-CoMP)

11 Tailoring the Message: Communicating the Value of Science to the Non-Scientist - IMOD

IMOD’s Quantum Learning Engagement Ambassadors Program (LEAP) advances a dual mission of providing our Center researchers and trainees with structured, hands on training in science communication while simultaneously increasing STEM competency, curiosity, and awareness among diverse public audiences. By tailoring content to each group, such as using industry relevant case studies for partners, everyday technology analogies for families, and interactive quantum demonstrations for students, LEAP employs audience specific strategies that make complex research accessible and meaningful. Program assessments show that trainees report increased confidence in communicating quantum science, while audiences consistently note greater understanding of STEM concepts and heightened interest in STEM careers. Through this integrated approach, Quantum LEAP strengthens both our internal communication capacity and broader public engagement with quantum science.

Speaker: Denise Bale (IMOD)

12 Open Discussion

2:30 PM Break

13 Keynote Speaker - Dominique Brossard "Communicating the Value of NSF Science and Technology Centers"

Professor Brossard's Bio: https://lsc.wisc.edu/facstaff/brossard-dominique/
Dominique Brossard is a professor in the Department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an affiliate of the UW-Madison Robert & Jean Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies, the UW-Madison Energy Institute, the UW-Madison Global Health Institute, and the UW-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. She is also a principal investigator at the Morgridge Institute for Research. She teaches courses in strategic communication theory and research, with a focus on science and risk communication, to undergraduate and graduate students, including those in the Science Communication Ph.D. program. Brossard was Chair of the Department of Life Sciences Communication for 12 years.
Brossard’s research agenda focuses on the intersection between science, media and policy with the Science Communication Incubator Lab, which she co-directs. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the International Communication Association, Brossard is an internationally known expert in public opinion dynamics related to controversial scientific issues. She is particularly interested in understanding the role of values in shaping public attitudes and using cross-cultural analysis to understand these processes. She has published more than 150 research articles in outlets such as Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Science Communication, Public Understanding of Science, the International Journal of Public Opinion, and Communication Research and has been an expert panelist for the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) on various occasions.
Brossard has served extensively at the national and international level. Her recent service work includes serving on the NASEM Board of Life Sciences (2018-2024), the Executive Committee of the Societal Experts Action Network (SEAN – 2020-2025), and the Advisory Committee for the NASEM Division of Behavioral & Social Sciences & Education (DBASSE) before it was dissolved. She was on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences from 2019 to 2025 and Chaired the Advisory Committee for the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation for 2019 to 2024.
Brossard has a varied professional background that includes experience in the lab and the corporate world. Notably, she spent five years at Accenture in its Change Management Services Division. She was also the communication coordinator for the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII), a position that combined public relations with marketing communication and strategic communication. Her family worked dairy farms for many generations.
Brossard earned her M.S. in plant biotechnology from the Ecole Nationale d’Agronomie de Toulouse and her M.P.S. and Ph.D. in communication from Cornell University.
You can find a list of her publications on Google Scholar.

3:45 PM Break

14 Breakout Session - Knowledge Transfer - Moving From Discovery to Impact

Share effective approaches for moving STC discoveries beyond the center through patents, licensing, industry partnerships, startups, and other forms of knowledge transfer—and identify the particular challenges of doing this within multi-institutional centers.

Questions to consider:
Multi-institutional challenges:
- How do centers navigate IP ownership, patent decisions, licensing, and commercialization when discoveries involve researchers from multiple institutions?

Industry engagement:
- What approaches have been effective in developing relationships with companies and moving from initial engagement to meaningful partnerships, licensing, or technology adoption?

Beyond patents:
- What other forms of knowledge transfer should STCs be capturing, such as software, datasets, research tools, standards, methods, shared facilities, technical expertise, or movement of trained people into industry?

Measuring impact:
- What should centers track to demonstrate successful knowledge transfer? Are patents and licenses sufficient, or should we be documenting other pathways from discovery to use?

Sharing practices:
- What tools, processes, agreements, or approaches have worked particularly well and could be adapted by other STCs?

15 Breakout Session - Culture and Identity | Making the Center More Than the Sum of its Parts

Share strategies for creating connection, trust, communication, and a common center identity among researchers and staff distributed across institutions.

Questions to consider:
• What has helped people think of themselves as members of the STC rather than simply members of their home institution or research group?
• What activities successfully build relationships across institutions?
• How do you engage people who participate only peripherally in center activities?
• What practices help maintain center culture as students, postdocs, faculty, and staff turn over?
• How do you integrate new members into an established center?
• How do you create meaningful scientific collaboration across institutions rather than simply funding parallel projects?
• How do you recognize and measure collaboration?
• How do you bring less-engaged investigators back into the center?
• What approaches have failed?

16 Breakout Session - Education and Outreach | Strategies for Raising Awareness of the Science

Questions to consider:
- Which education/outreach activities have produced meaningful results?
- How are centers integrating their STC science into courses, undergraduate research, K–12 programs, or other educational activities?
- What approaches have successfully reached audiences beyond the center's existing scientific community?
- What partnerships—with schools, museums, professional societies, conferences, industry, etc.—have significantly expanded reach?
- How are you determining whether programs are having an impact?
- How do you Leverage conferences?

17 Breakout Session - Running an Effective Center | STC Management Practices Worth Sharing

Questions to consider:

Managing resources

• How do centers make funding and reallocation decisions?
• What approaches help connect budgets to scientific and strategic priorities?
• How do centers deal with underperforming projects or changing priorities?

Managing across institutions

• How do you maintain accountability across institutions without creating excessive bureaucracy?
• What processes help surface problems early?

Running the center

• What management systems, meeting structures, or other tools have made a significant difference?
• What activities have you stopped doing because they weren't adding value?
• What processes do you wish you had established when your center began?

18 Breakout Session - Reporting Out

19 Day Close Out

Wed, August 26

20 Welcome Back

21 Invited Lecturer: Chris Schaffer (Dean of Faculty, Meinig Family Professor of Engineering, Cornell University)

https://www.duffield.cornell.edu/people/chris-schaffer/
Select Awards
Arthur H. Guenther Congressional Science Policy Fellowship

Chris B. Schaffer is a professor in the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University. He received his undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Florida and his Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University, where he worked with Eric Mazur. As a postdoc at the University of California at San Diego, Chris worked with David Kleinfeld in the physics and neuroscience programs. His lab at Cornell develops advanced optical techniques that enable quantitative imaging and targeted manipulation of individual cells in the central nervous system of rodents with the goal of identifying interactions among cells that cause neurological disease. One area of current focus is the role of brain blood flow disruptions in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Prof. Schaffer is also active in developing novel educational strategies to teach science as a dynamic process for discovery. These approaches are used in outreach settings in middle and high-school science classes as well as in his undergraduate and graduate level courses. Chris also has a strong interest in science policy and spent a sabbatical in Washington, DC, working as a science policy advisor for Senator Edward Markey in the United States Congress.
Prof. Schaffer’s lab develops and uses advanced optical techniques to observe and manipulate in vivo biological systems, with the goal of constructing a microscopic-scale understanding of normal and disease-state physiological processes in the central nervous system. The scientific questions the lab addresses center principally on elucidating the cellular-scale interactions that lead to brain cell dysfunction in neurological diseases. The lab develops novel optical methods that enable these problems to be attacked in ways not previously possible, and because many critical research questions involve interactions among different components of an organism (e.g. effect of altered blood flow on brain cell health) the focus is almost exclusively on in vivo approaches. In summary, the Schaffer lab’s efforts center on in vivo experiments investigating the cellular dynamics that underlie neurological disease, supported by the development of novel optical techniques. The lab studies animal models of a variety of neurological diseases, including microvascular stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injury, and epilepsy. Much of my the lab’s work focuses on developing an understanding of the role of cortical microvascular lesions in neurodegenerative disease, and the lab is a leader in the critical effort to determine the mechanisms by which occlusions or hemorrhages in small cortical blood vessels lead to the neuronal damage and neuroinflammation that may drive loss of cognitive function. In exciting new work, the lab is beginning to elucidate the pathways by which cortical microvascular dysfunction interacts with and exacerbates Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, the lab has launched several new research directions in the last few years that center on other neurological conditions, such as spinal cord injury and epilepsy.

Speaker: Prof. Chris Schaffer (Cornell University)

1:00 PM Break

22 Communication Practices that work - COLDEX

NSF COLDEX rapidly grew its following on Instagram after 1) investing in a 50% digital communications coordinator and 2) deploying that person with our 2025-26 Antarctic ice core field team to tell stories of COLDEX sample collection and the United States Antarctic Program. Through posts on their personal and the NSF COLDEX organizational Instagram accounts, Martin Froger Silva generated extraordinary growth in the audience reached on that platform: from several hundred followers in fall 2025 to more than 20,000 followers in 2026. Through digital stories told with engaging visuals, viral Instagram posts (some with >10,000,000 views) led to growth on the platform and storytelling opportunities with other forms of media (radio, print, television).

Speaker: Danielle Whittaker

23 Communication Practices that work - IMOD

IMOD will present an integrated communication framework that supports effective Center management alongside external engagement. Rather than treating communications as standalone products, we use recurring communication touchpoints—including strategic planning documents, meeting materials, progress updates, weekly digests, and annual reports—to align members with Center priorities, reinforce accountability, and communicate progress to stakeholders. We will share practical tools and processes that help us maintain a cohesive, high-functioning Center despite the geographically distributed research groups.

Speaker: Denise Bale (IMOD)

24 Communication Practices that work - NewFoS

Abstract: The New Frontiers of Sound (NewFoS) Science and Technology Center uses a design for continuous engagement in which the annual NewFoS Stakeholder Meeting functions as the culmination of an ongoing cycle of outreach, communication, collaboration, and feedback. The model is coordinated by the Knowledge Transfer (KT) team and engages all center personnel to integrate industry engagement, student leadership, survey-driven agenda design, and ecosystem development. We have seen that effective industry engagement within research centers requires continuous relationship-building systems rather than isolated annual events. The NewFoS Stakeholder Meeting demonstrates a scalable framework for integrating research, education, workforce development, and industry collaboration into a unified engagement ecosystem.

Speakers: Keith Runge, Lynn Frazier (NeWFoS)

STC_Directors_2026_NewFoS_KR.mp4

25 Communication Practices that work - QCB

Communicating Science: From Individual Skill to Center Culture - Erik Lindahl
Science and Technology Centers are created to pursue ambitious research that no single laboratory could accomplish alone. But their impact depends on more than discovery: it depends on whether students, faculty, partners, policymakers, and the public can understand why that discovery matters. and a challenge: Scientists remain among the most trusted groups in American society: 77% of U.S. adults express confidence that we act in the public interest. Yet in the same survey, only 45% described us as good communicators. The public is not rejecting science; but they are waiting for scientists to communicate more clearly, concretely, and openly.
Drawing on a seminar developed for the NSF Center for Quantitative Cell Biology, this talk presents practical, low-overhead ways centers can build a culture of scientific storytelling. Our trainees arrive with increasingly diverse educational, linguistic, and cultural experiences. That diversity is an extraordinary strength; but access to the tacit conventions of scientific presentation remains uneven. Rather than assuming students will somehow acquire those conventions, we can make them explicit, teachable, and enjoyable. We will share techniques we use to help students transform linear data dumps into audience-centered narratives that are unexpected, concrete, and memorable, with applications to posters, elevator pitches, scientific talks, job interviews, and public outreach. In addition, while we were originally doing this for the students, we have realized that having open discussions about how we present our work helps create a strong center team spirit that is equally beneficial to faculty - because the students are far more experienced than we are e.g. when it comes to the fast pace of modern communication channels. The same principles apply at the institutional level: centers must do more than generate knowledge and lament that it is misunderstood. We must participate actively in the public conversation: explaining uncertainty honestly, connecting discoveries to people’s lives, and listening as well as speaking. Our goal is not merely to produce better presentations. It is to help trainees become confident ambassadors for science, enable faculty to advocate more effectively for their work, and ensure that the discoveries emerging from our centers become stories that others can understand, remember, and act upon.

Speaker: Erik Lindhal (CQB)

26 Open Discussion

27 BREAKOUT 1 | Rethinking the STC Annual Report How can annual reporting better serve both NSF and the Centers while reducing unnecessary burden?

28 BREAKOUT 2 | Measuring STC Success and Impact How do we know whether an STC is actually succeeding?

29 BREAKOUT 3 | From Research to Impact How do we maximize the value and use of the data, knowledge, and technologies created by STCs?

30 BREAKOUT 4 | Developing the Next Generation How do we meaningfully engage undergraduates and early-career researchers in the scientific and intellectual life of an STC?

31 Breakout Session - Reporting Out

3:50 PM Break

32 Next Steps - Planning for the 2027 STC Directors Meeting

Selecting 2027 STC Directors Meeting host

Speaker: Rebecca Morss

33 Closeout - Rebecca Morss and Joan Curtiss

Selecting 2027 STC Directors Meeting host

Speakers: Joan Curtiss, Rebecca Morss