42 U.S.C. § 19110 — Test beds

(a) Program authorized:

(1) In general — Using money made available for the Directorate, the Director^*, working with the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Secretary^* of Energy, and other federal agencies when the Director considers it appropriate, must establish a Directorate program. The program must competitively award funds to institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, or consortia of those institutions or organizations. The awards establish and operate test beds. A test bed may include fabrication facilities and cyberinfrastructure. It is used to advance the development, operation, integration, deployment, and, when appropriate, demonstration of new and innovative critical technologies, which may include hardware or software. This section does not define “test bed.”

(2) Coordination — When establishing new test beds, the Director must coordinate them with other test beds supported by the Foundation or other federal agencies. The purpose is to avoid duplication and make the best use of federal resources.

(b) Proposals — An applicant must submit a proposal to the Director at the time, in the way, and with the information the Director may reasonably require. At a minimum, the proposal must describe:

(1) the technology or technologies that will be the focus of the test bed;

(2) the goals of the work to be done at the test bed;

(3) how the applicant will assemble a workforce with the skills needed to operate the test bed;

(4) how the applicant will ensure broad access to the test bed;

(5) how the applicant will collaborate with firms in critical technologies, including through coordinated research and development and funding. The collaboration must help ensure that work in the test bed contributes to the commercial viability of technologies and includes collaboration from industry and labor organizations;

(6) how the applicant will encourage inventors and entrepreneurs to participate and will encourage the development of new businesses;

(7) how the applicant will increase participation by populations that are underrepresented in STEM;

(8) how the applicant will show that the commercial viability of new technologies will support the creation of high-quality domestic jobs;

(9) how the test bed will operate after federal funding ends;

(10) how the test bed will share lessons and other technical information with United States entities or with entities from allied or partner countries that are in the United States; and

(11) how the applicant plans to prevent the inappropriate use of research results, data, and intellectual property, when applicable and consistent with the award's requirements.

(c) Authorized use of funds — Consistent with this section's purposes, an award recipient may use the award to buy equipment and to support students, faculty and staff, and postdoctoral researchers.

(d) Geographic diversity — When selecting award recipients, the Director must consider how much the proposals would expand the geographic diversity of test beds.