Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2025-16

CTR Workshop on Translational Research and Technology Innovations for PFAS Decontamination

Thursday, April 24, 2025; 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Full Workshop Program Agenda is posted here.

The Center for Translational Research (CTR) at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Accelerating Research Translation (ART) Program and the NJIT Chapter of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is pleased to invite you to virtually attend the CTR Workshop on Translational Research and Technology Innovations for PFAS Decontamination, to be held on Thursday, April 24, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. 

You are welcome to join the workshop remotely using the following log-in information.

Zoom Meeting Link:
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 969 9092 3115
Passcode: 754618

The NJIT CTR, under the NSF-ART program, is committed to fostering excellence in collaborative research, innovation partnerships, entrepreneurial pathways, education, and infrastructure development to accelerate the translation of emerging technologies into impactful societal applications.

This workshop will focus on translational research and novel technologies aimed at detecting, managing, and mitigating PFAS contamination in water, soil, air, infrastructure, and consumable products. We have more than 190 attendees registered for in-person participation from academia (faculty, researchers, students, postdocs) and  industry, utilities companies, business accelerators, government agencies, and community organizations—all dedicated to advancing PFAS-related research and solutions for sustainable societies.

Keynote speakers and panelists will feature:

· Government leaders from environmental protection agencies

· Industry experts from global corporations and startups

· Representatives from major research foundations and private institutions

· Academic leaders from NJIT, Princeton, Rutgers, Rowan, and Stevens

In addition, the Industry-University-Community Showcase on Technology Innovations in PFAS Decontamination will spotlight cutting-edge efforts from companies, academic research centers, laboratories, and community organizations addressing PFAS challenges in the environment.

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Recent NJIT Patents Issued by US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

Patent Title:   Spherical Composite Powder

NJIT Ref No.:  19-005

Inventor(s):     Dreizin, Edward / Schoenitz, Mirko / Mursalat, Mehnaz

Patent Application Status:  Issued Patent

Patent Issue Date: 4/8/2025

Patent No.:  12,269,041

Technology Licensing Status: Available 

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Patent Title:   Method for Computing Fastest Route on Road Networks with Dynamic Traffic Information

NJIT Ref No.:  19-009

Inventor(s):     Gotsman, Craig / Chen, Renjie

Patent Application Status:  Issued Patent

Patent Issue Date: 4/15/2025

Patent No.:  12,276,515

Technology Licensing Status: Available (Jointly Owned)

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Update: Executive Orders and Federally Funded Research

NSF Notification: Statement of NSF Priorities

NSF has posted a Statement of NSF Priorities on their website on April 18, 2025. The following important points in this statement should be noted and considered for the current and pending NSF awards, and future proposals to be submitted.

“NSF's broadening participation activities, including activities undertaken in fulfillment of the Broader Impacts criterion, and research on broadening participation, must aim to create opportunities for all Americans everywhere.

These efforts should not preference some groups at the expense of others, or directly/indirectly exclude individuals or groups. Research projects with more narrow impact limited to subgroups of people based on protected class or characteristics do not effectuate NSF priorities.

NSF will continue to support research with the goal of understanding or addressing participation in STEM, in accordance with all applicable statutes and mandates, with the core goal of creating opportunities for all Americans.

NSF will continue to support basic and use-inspired research in S&E fields that focus on protected characteristics when doing so is intrinsic to the research question and is aligned with Agency priorities.”

The statement posting on the website is followed by Frequently Asked Questions. We strongly encourage all researchers to carefully review all content including the FAQs. Specifically, please note Q3:

3. What types of awards are being terminated?

Awards that are not aligned with NSF's priorities have been terminated, including but not limited to those on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and misinformation/disinformation.
 

Additional information on NSF Implementation of Recent Executive Orders can be found here.

If you receive any notification including a stop order, termination, budget change on indirect costs rate on your award/proposal, or request to sign any attestation from NSF or any other funding agency, please forward the notification with any attachment to me immediately at dhawan@njit.edu and copy Eric Hetherington at erich@njit.edu. 

Please do not sign any document sent to you regarding any attestation on the federal research grants. 

We will continue to carefully review at the institutional level with the provost and general counsel offices to advise and follow up. The Office for Research and the Office of General Counsel will review the request and respond with instructions for you to follow.

Please visit our website periodically for updates on this situation.

NSF: Responsible Design, Development, and Deployment of Technologies (ReDDDoT)

NIH: Investigator Gateway Awards for Collaborative T1D Research (R03)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Broad Agency Announcement for Fundamental AI Research

Department of Energy: 2025 Exploratory Research for Extreme-Scale Science

NASA: University Leadership Initiative 2 (ULI2); Several Pending ROSES 2025 RFPs

NSF begins terminating select grant funding: Research projects that are deemed to focus on diversity, equity and inclusion or that aim to combat mis- and disinformation will no longer receive funding from the National Science Foundation. The National Science Foundation is moving to terminate some of the grant funding it allocated toward projects which are no longer aligned with the agency’s mission.

Announced on Friday, the NSF clarified that its mission promotes “the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defense,” and will be rescinding awards that fund any research outside of this scope.

“NSF will continue to support research with the goal of understanding or addressing participation in STEM, in accordance with all applicable statutes and mandates, with the core goal of creating opportunities for all Americans,” NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan said in a statement. 

In the same statement, the NSF noted in a series of “frequently asked questions” that specific grants being terminated include those deemed to focus on “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and misinformation/disinformation.”

Moving forward, NSF will prioritize funding research projects that adhere to the focus areas outlined in the American Competes Reauthorization Act of 2020. These six focus areas include increasing U.S. economic competitiveness; advancing public health and welfare; supporting national defense; enhancing academia and industry partnerships; enhancing the STEM education system; improving public science literacy; and expanding women and minority group’s participation in STEM.

The announcement of grant terminations also clarified that NSF will continue supporting and operating programs that focus on broadening participation in STEM opportunities for individuals with legally protected characteristics. It attempts to differentiate ensuring broad access to scientific research funding from DEI-based advocacy through alignment with NSF priorities and the potential impact a given research project may have. 

“Projects submitted to legally mandated broadening participation programs must not directly or indirectly preference or exclude any Americans on the basis of protected characteristics,” the announcement said. “Projects that have limited impact or rely on DEI frameworks or advocacy do not effectuate NSF priorities.”

Despite the removal of DEI-based research, the announcement further confirmed that grantees can still perform work with participation alongside Minority Serving Institutions. Research that intends to study a group of legally protected individuals will also not suffer funding cancellations. 

The NSF funding for projects focused on anything deemed related to mis- and disinformation will also be terminated pursuant to one of President Donald Trump’s early January executive actions. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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NVIDIA announces plans for fully US-manufactured AI supercomputers: NVIDIA announced it is advancing the U.S. manufacturing infrastructure for its artificial intelligence supercomputers, partnering with fellow electronics and information and communications systems manufacturers to set up its supply chain across several states. In a Monday blog post, NVIDIA confirmed that it is working in tandem with five other companies that provide input ingredients, testing services and more for semiconductors: TMSC, Foxconn, Wistron, Amkor and SPIL. Together, the six companies have commissioned over a million square feet of manufacturing space to build and test NVIDIA’s AI-focused Blackwell computing chips in Arizona, as well as space to build out supercomputers designed to run AI algorithms in Texas.

NVIDIA’s projected four-year timeline aims to produce up to half of a trillion dollars of AI infrastructure domestically in the U.S. to solidify the chip supply chain and create “hundreds of thousands of jobs.” “The engines of the world’s AI infrastructure are being built in the United States for the first time,” Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO of NVIDIA, said in the company's blog post. “Adding American manufacturing helps us better meet the incredible and growing demand for AI chips and supercomputers, strengthens our supply chain and boosts our resiliency.” NVIDIA plans to leverage digital twin simulations to design and manage the operation of manufacturing facilities, while robotics will help to automate the manufacturing processes. More information is posted on the NextGov website.