plus minus search bars chevron-left chevron-right question-circle twitter facebook linkedin instagram youtube flickr rss envelope google-plus tag th-list calendar sitemap pencil newspaper chart file-pdf-o link

Jump to content

www.nist.gov/about-nist/work-nist

National Institute of Standards and Technology
  • Shop
  • Visit
National Institute of Standards and Technology
NIST Menu
  • Topics Expand or Collapse
    • Advanced Communications
    • Bioscience
    • Buildings and Construction
    • Chemistry
    • Cybersecurity
    • Electronics
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Fire
    • Forensic Science
    • Health
    • Information technology
    • Infrastructure
    • Manufacturing
    • Materials
    • Mathematics and Statistics
    • Metrology
    • Nanotechnology
    • Neutron research
    • Performance Excellence
    • Physics
    • Public safety
    • Resilience
    • Standards
    • Transportation
  • Publications
  • Labs & Major Programs Expand or Collapse
    • Laboratories
      • Communications Technology Laboratory
      • Engineering Laboratory
      • Information Technology Laboratory
      • Material Measurement Laboratory
      • Physical Measurement Laboratory
    • User Facilities
      • NIST Center for Neutron Research
      • CNST NanoFab
    • Research Test Beds
    • Research Projects
    • Tools & Instruments
    • Major Programs
      • Baldrige Performance Excellence Program
      • Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
      • Office of Advanced Manufacturing
      • Special Programs Office
      • Technology Partnerships Office
  • Services & Resources Expand or Collapse
    • Standards and Measurements
      • Calibration Services
      • Laboratory Accreditation (NVLAP)
      • Quality System
      • Standard Reference Materials (SRMs)
      • Standards.gov
      • Time Services
      • Office of Weights and Measures
    • Software
    • Data
      • Chemistry WebBook
      • National Vulnerability Database
      • Physical Reference Data
      • Standard Reference Data (SRD)
    • Computer Security Resource Center (CSRC)
    • License & Patents
    • NIST Research Library
  • News & Events Expand or Collapse
    • News
    • Events
    • SI Redefinition
    • Feature Stories
    • Blogs
    • Image Gallery
    • Video Gallery
  • About NIST Expand or Collapse
    • Contact Us
    • Visit
    • Careers
    • Our Organization
      • Mission, Vision & Values
      • Organization Structure
      • Office of the Director
      • Locations
      • People
      • Budget & Planning
    • Industry Impacts
    • Awards
    • Work with NIST
    • History
      • NIST Digital Archives
      • NIST Museum
      • NIST and the Nobel
    • Policies & Notices

About NIST

  • Contact Us
  • Visit
  • Careers
  • Our Organization Expand or Collapse
    • Mission, Vision & Values
    • Organization Structure
    • Office of the Director
    • Locations
    • People
    • Budget & Planning
  • Industry Impacts
  • Awards
  • Work with NIST
  • History Expand or Collapse
    • NIST Digital Archives
    • NIST Museum
    • NIST and the Nobel
  • Policies & Notices

Work with NIST

Share

Facebook Google Plus Twitter 

NIST is a unique federal agency. Its mission is broad—to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.

An essential part of NIST's work is to anticipate the future. Fast-moving sectors such as nanotechnology, quantum information science, homeland security, information technology, and advanced manufacturing need sophisticated technical support systems to flourish and grow. NIST provides that support by continually improving the U.S. measurement system, developing new technologies, fostering standards, and providing both the business and technical evaluation tools needed to produce quality products and organizations.

 

Joint Research Organizations

NIST has long-standing research partnerships that have produced unparalleled technical breakthroughs. Some of these institutes are in proximity to the NIST campuses in Maryland and Colorado but others are strategically located to leverage local expertise and resources.

  • Hollings Marine Laboratory (Charleston, South Carolina)
  • Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (Rockville, Maryland)
  • JILA (Boulder, Colorado)
  • Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology (Stanford, California)
  • Joint Quantum Institute (College Park, Maryland)
  • National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (Gaithersburg, MD)
  • National Synchrotron Light Source II (Long Island, New York)

User Facilities

NIST has several user facilities available for both proprietary and non-proprietary research. Access to these facilities is generally provided on a first-come, first-served cost-reimbursable basis. Examples include facilities for gamma-ray sources, small-angle X-ray scattering, nanotechnology, nitrogen flow measurements, heat release calorimetry and neutron radiography.

  • NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR)
  • Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology

Research Partnerships

There are a number of mechanisms for NIST to formally collaborate with industry, academia and other government agencies to perform research that furthers the NIST mission.

In addition to the mechanisms listed to the right, NIST researchers frequently collaborate informally with researchers at other organizations. These collaborations often result in joint peer-reviewed papers, short-term visits and sharing of research methods.

  • Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs)
  • Guest Researcher Program
  • Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs)
  • Reimbursable Agreements Coordination Office
  • Information Exchange

Extramural Programs

NIST provides three important externally focused services: the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP) and the Manufacturing USA program.

These programs are public-private partnerships that fill the gap where precompetitive research—work that that is too expensive or specialized for any one company to undertake alone—can move a whole industry forward. They serve as the link between manufacturers and the technology opportunities and solutions they require to be globally competitive. They provide a standard of performance excellence that helps organizations succeed in the marketplace.

  • Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership
  • Baldrige Performance Excellence Program
  • Manufacturing USA

NIST Centers of Excellence Program

The NIST Centers of Excellence program seeks to provide an interdisciplinary environment where researchers from NIST, academia and industry will collaborate on emerging areas of basic and applied research and innovations in measurement science.

  • Advanced Materials Center of Excellence
  • Community Resilience Center of Excellence
  • Forensic Science Center of Excellence

NIST Funding Opportunities

NIST also provides extramural research funding through competitive grants, the Small Business Innovation Research program and other programs.

  • Federal Funding Opportunities
  • NIST Small Purchase Opportunities
  • Precision Measurement Grants Program
  • Prize Competitions and Challenges
  • Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program

Accessing NIST Research Results

NIST works to disseminate its research results as broadly as possible through peer-reviewed research journals, technical reports, conference presentations, patent disclosures and other methods.

  • Publications
  • Patents database
  • Licensable Technology
  • Software

NIST Measurement Products and Services

NIST provides a suite of tools, including reference materials, data products and calibrations, that help industry, academia and other government agencies ensure their measurements are correct, accurate and traceable to international standards. These products and services help industries ranging from semiconductor and healthcare companies, to aerospace and chemical manufacturers, while supporting diverse measurements like food nutritional values and environmental pollution levels.

  • Standard Reference Materials
  • Standard Reference Data
  • Standard Reference Instruments
  • Calibrations

Convening Consortia and Public Working Groups

NIST frequently convenes stakeholders to identify and solve precompetitive technical challenges in sectors from advanced communications and materials discovery to cybersecurity and biopharmaceutical development.

These consortia and public working groups can involve research and testing, product development and/or development of technical roadmaps. Some example consortia and public working groups are shown to the right. You can find information about other groups on individual lab pages.

  • Big Data Working Group
  • Cyber-Physical Systems Public Working Group
  • Public Safety 700 MHz Broadband Demonstration Consortium
  • nSoft
  • Genome in a Bottle
  • 5G mmWave Channel Model Alliance
  • International Technical Working Group on IoT-Enabled Smart City Framework

Employment

NIST employs about 3,400 scientists, engineers, technicians, and support and administrative personnel at two locations: Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Boulder, Colorado. NIST also hosts about 2,700 associates from academia, industry, and other government agencies, who collaborate with NIST staff and access user facilities.

  • Employment Information
  • NIST-National Research Council (NRC) Postdoctoral Research Associateships Program
  • Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program
Created June 19, 2015, Updated October 31, 2018
  • twitter
  • facebook
  • linkedin
  • Instagram
  • youtube
  • rss
  • govdelivery
National Institute of Standards and Technology logo

HEADQUARTERS
100 Bureau Drive
Gaithersburg, MD 20899
301-975-2000

Webmaster | Contact Us | Our Other Offices

How are we doing? Feedback

  • Topics
    • Advanced Communications
    • Bioscience
    • Buildings and Construction
    • Chemistry
    • Cybersecurity
    • Electronics
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Fire
    • Forensic Science
    • Health
    • Information technology
    • Infrastructure
    • Manufacturing
    • Materials
    • Mathematics and Statistics
    • Metrology
    • Nanotechnology
    • Neutron research
    • Performance Excellence
    • Physics
    • Public safety
    • Resilience
    • Standards
    • Transportation
  • Publications
  • Labs & Major Programs
    • Laboratories
    • User Facilities
    • Research Test Beds
    • Research Projects
    • Tools & Instruments
    • Major Programs
  • Services & Resources
    • Standards and Measurements
    • Software
    • Data
    • Computer Security Resource Center (CSRC)
    • License & Patents
    • NIST Research Library
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
    • SI Redefinition
    • Feature Stories
    • Blogs
    • Image Gallery
    • Video Gallery
  • About NIST
    • Contact Us
    • Visit
    • Careers
    • Our Organization
    • Industry Impacts
    • Awards
    • Work with NIST
    • History
    • Policies & Notices
  • Privacy Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Security Notice
  • Accessibility Statement
  • NIST Privacy Program
  • No Fear Act Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • FOIA
  • Environmental Policy Statement
  • Cookie Disclaimer
  • Scientific Integrity Summary
  • NIST Information Quality Standards
  • Business USA
  • Commerce.gov
  • Healthcare.gov
  • Science.gov
  • USA.gov