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K-12 Education, Nanomanufacturing

  • K-12 EDUCATION: Characteristics of the Investing in Innovation Fund, GAO-14-211R: Published: Feb 7, 2014. Publicly Released: Feb 7, 2014.”From fiscal years 2010 to 2012, Education awarded over half ($493 million of $937 million) of Investing in Innovation (i3) grants funds as validation grants, and most awards went to partnerships involving nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit organizations partnering with school consortia accounted for a large portion of i3 funds largely because they have won four ($170 million) of the five scale-up grants that Education made in competitions through 2012. Education has the flexibility to change the selection criteria for any given i3 competition; however, four criteria have been included in each i3 competition. Education relies on outside peer reviewers to rate each application based on the selection criteria. Peer reviewers apply the same selection criteria to each type of i3 grant, but the maximum number of points peer reviewers may give for each criterion may differ depending on the type of grant.  Education officials said they make final awards based on peer reviewers’ scores and other factors.”
  • NANOMANUFACTURING: Emergence and Implications for U.S. Competitiveness, the Environment, and Human Health, GAO-14-181SP: Published: Jan 31, 2014. Publicly Released: Feb 7, 2014. “Although limited data on international investments made comparisons difficult, participants viewed the U.S. as likely leading in nanotechnology research and development (R&D) today. At the same time, they identified several challenges to U.S. competitiveness in nanomanufacturing, such as inadequate U.S. participation and leadership in international standard setting; the lack of a national vision for a U.S. nanomanufacturing capability; some competitor nations’ aggressive actions and potential investments; and funding or investment gaps in the United States which may hamper U.S. innovators’ attempts to transition nanotechnology from R&D to full-scale manufacturing.”

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