Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2025-26

America's Seed Fund, powered by the U.S. National Science Foundation

Up to $2 million in seed funding with zero equity

America’s Seed Fund powered by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) awards more than $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across virtually every discipline of science and technology can receive up to $2 million in non-dilutive funds to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. 

About NSF TIP

The NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP) seeks to engage all Americans in accelerating key technologies to advance U.S. competitiveness. The directorate partners across sectors to advance three primary focus areas – accelerating technology translation and development, fostering regional innovation and economic growth, and preparing the American workforce for better-quality, higher-wage jobs. For more information about NSF TIP, visit new.nsf.gov/tip/latest.

NSF: Verticals-enabling Intelligent Network Systems (VINES)

NIH: Blueprint MedTech Translator (UG3/UH3 - Clinical Trial Optional); NIH Director’s Transformative Research Awards (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Program (YIP); DHA- Military Health System Research Program;  Defense Sciences Office (DSO) Office-wide BAA

Department of Energy: Request for Information: Energy Critical Materials Assessment

National Cyber Director should lead quantum cyber preparations, GAO says: Marisol Cruz Cain, director of the Government Accountability Office’s Information and Cybersecurity team, told lawmakers on the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee Tuesday that a centralized office should handle government quantum policy and initiatives, highlighting action items the government should be taking to secure digital networks against a future fault-tolerant quantum computer. Chief among those action items would be to delegate quantum computing policy decisions to the Office of the National Cyber Director. 

“We believe that the Office of the National Cyber director is well positioned to lead the coordination and oversight of a quantum strategy, and we recommended that the office take steps to do so,” she said.  Cruz Cain’s comments follow her office’s 2024 report that proposed the Office of the National Cyber Director serve as the focal point for the pending quantum computing cybersecurity strategy. This recommendation was reiterated in the corresponding report GAO authored ahead of the Tuesday hearing. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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Microsoft announces advancement in quantum error correction: In its effort to achieve fault tolerant quantum computing, Microsoft on Thursday unveiled its new error-correcting code, which uses four-dimensional geometric codes to help reliably transmit information. The 4D geometric codes developed by Microsoft stabilize the physical qubits a quantum computer uses to process information. Once stabilized, these physical qubits will act as a network to compose logical qubits, thanks to the 4D codes’ ability to quickly find and correct errors in the qubits as they compute volumes of data.  Alongside neutral atom hardware created in collaboration with Atom Computing, the 4D codes will serve as the foundational architecture of Microsoft’s fault-tolerant quantum computer. According to results from a simulation outlined in a set of research papers, the implementation of these codes results in a 1,000-fold error rate reduction.  “These powerful codes can reduce the error rates of physical qubits by orders of magnitude to reach the level required for quantum circuits to operate reliably,” a press release said.  The family of 4D codes are now available in Microsoft’s cloud-based quantum computing platform. More information is posted on the NextGov website.