The US Senate has voted overwhelmingly in favour of legislation that invests heavily in the US National Science Foundation (NSF). But the bill, once aimed primarily at helping the United States to maintain its status as a global leader through direct funding for research and development, now includes amendments aimed at preventing China from stealing or benefitting from US intellectual property — a development that scientists fear could threaten international collaborations.
The legislation began in 2020 as the Endless Frontier Act (EFA), which proposed investing US$100 billion to create a technology directorate at the NSF, an agency that funds almost a quarter of all federally backed basic research at US universities. The directorate would act as a hub for translating fundamental scientific discoveries into commercial technologies.
