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Science and Technology Futures Inc

EIN 88-3129122 · Cambridge, MA

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthWeak39 out of 100GovernanceGood88 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FUTURES, INC.'S MISSION IS TO IDENTIFY AND SUPPORT SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS, AND OTHER INNOVATORS WITH AN INTEREST IN SHAPING THE NATIONAL/GLOBAL RESEARCH AGENDA. WE FOSTER, SUPPORT, PROMOTE, AND CONDUCT PROGRAMS, PROJECTS, AND ACTIVITIES DESIGNED TO DEVELOP AND ACCELERATE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THROUGH ADMINISTERING RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAMS, WHITEPAPER COMPETITIONS, SCIENTIFIC AGENDA-SETTING ACTIVITIES, AND FISCAL SPONSORSHIP OF OTHER MISSION-ALIGNED ORGANIZATIONS.

Income
$1.0 million
Spending
$8.0 million
Spent on programs
98%
Reserves
0.8 months of spending
Largest source of income
donations and private grants, 76%
Employees
14
Volunteers
14
Highest pay
$260,023, program director (thru 11/25)

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Weak: 39 out of 100. Higher than 8% of charities in its peer group (science, $1m to $10m).

  • Reserves

    4 of 35

    Spendable reserves would cover 0.8 months of spending.

  • Debt

    20 of 20

    It owes 6% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    0 of 15

    Spending exceeded income by 669% of income.

  • Income trend

    0 of 15

    Income fell 79% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    15 of 15

    98% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 1 cents.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

Good: 88 out of 100. Higher than 51% of charities in its peer group (science, $1m to $10m).

  • Independent board

    18 of 25

    4 of 4 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    8 of 8

    Has a written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    7 of 7

    Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Pay set independently

    0 of 5

    Reports no independent review process for its chief executive's pay.

  • Independent check of accounts

    15 of 15

    Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Impact evidence

Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.

Programs described in its return (8)
  1. $6.5 million spent. ALIGN TO INNOVATE: ALIGN TO INNOVATE IS WORKING AT THE INTERSECTION OF BIOLOGY AND AI TO IMPROVE LIFE SCIENCE RESEARCH WITH PROGRAMMABLE EXPERIMENTS. WE USE AUTOMATION AS A FOCAL POINT TO ALIGN THE INCENTIVES OF RESEARCHERS WORLDWIDE TO IDENTIFY AND EXECUTE LARGE, COLLABORATIVE, DATA-INTENSIVE PROJECTS. WE ACCELERATE THESE PROJECTS BY CREATING VENUES FOR AGENDA SETTING, FACILITATING COLLABORATIONS, AND REMOVING TECHNICAL BOTTLENECKS FROM THE ECOSYSTEM. WE AIM TO MOVE THE FIELD TOWARD A NEW PARADIGM OF AUTOMATION-FIRST LIFE SCIENCE RESEARCH.ALIGN TO INNOVATE MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN 2025. SCIENTIFIC HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDED THE 2025 PROTEIN ENGINEERING TOURNAMENT, WHICH ATTRACTED OVER 290 INTERNATIONAL TEAMS, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PARTNERSHIPS WITH VARIOUS RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS TO CREATE OPEN DATASETS IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES (E.G., MICROBIAL PHENOTYPING, PROTEIN FUNCTION, PROTEIN EXPRESSION). THE TEAM PUBLISHED RESEARCH ON A NUMBER OF TOPICS INCLUDING THE IMPACT OF DATA SCALING ON PROTEIN FUNCTION PREDICTION AND DISCUSSION PAPER ADDRESSING BOTTLENECKS IN PROTEIN EXPRESSION VIA A PROPOSED DATA COLLECTION PLATFORM.
  2. $485,488 spent. OPEN REACTION DATABASE: THE OPEN REACTION DATABASE (ORD) IS A COLLABORATIVE, OPEN DATA INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT THE STRUCTURING AND SHARING OF ORGANIC REACTION DATA. THIS PROJECT PROVIDES CRITICAL SUPPORT TO INCREASE THE ADOPTION AND IMPACT OF ORD THROUGH PERSONNEL, DATA CURATION, TARGETED DATA GENERATION, AND REDUCING BARRIERS TO CONTRIBUTION. THIS PROJECT INCREASES AWARENESS AND ADOPTION OF ORD, LEADING TO INCREASED DATA SHARING AND CROSS-INSTITUTIONAL COLLABORATION IN BOTH DATA GENERATION AND MODEL-DRIVEN REACTION OPTIMIZATION. IN 2025, THE PROJECT COMPLETED ITS NEW CONTRIBUTIONS INTERFACE, OPENED A CALL FOR HIGH-THROUGHPUT EXPERIMENTATION (HTE) CENTER GRANTS, AND SUCCESSFULLY FUNDED THREE PROPOSALS. IT SIGNIFICANTLY EXPANDED ITS REACH BY PRESENTING AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES, TRAINING PROGRAMS, AND HOSTING AN ONLINE WORKSHOP TO PLAN FOR ADDITIONAL DATA GENERATION.
  3. $113,492 spent. PROBABILISITC PROGRAMMING: THE TEAM STRIVES TO MAKE ADVANCEMENTS IN AI THAT UNDERSTANDS THE WORLD LIKE PEOPLE DO, VIA PROBABILISTIC PROGRAMMING. TO ADVANCE THIS MISSION, THE PROBABILISTIC PROGRAMMING TEAM MAKES CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE FORM OF SOFTWARE CODE, PLANNING, AND STRATEGY TO VARIOUS OPEN-SOURCED TECHNOLOGIES, INCLUDING GENJAX AND INFERENCEQL WHICH ARE COMPONENTS OF OPENGEN. ADDITIONALLY, THE TEAM SUPPORTS THE CREATION OF GUIDES AND DOCUMENTATION IN SUPPORT OF THE OPEN-SOURCE ECOSYSTEM AND DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY.
  4. $433,783 spent. BRAIN MAPPING: THIS PROJECT SUPPORTS INNOVATION IN THE FIELD OF BRAIN MAPPING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY THROUGH GRANTS TO VISIONARY RESEARCH TEAMS WORKING AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF CONNECTOMICS AND RELATED FIELDS.
  5. $183,918 spent. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR A BETTER TOMORROW: THIS PROJECT AIMS AT IMPROVING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE BY: (1) PROMOTING THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC R&D AND HOW WE MOVE IT FORWARD AGAIN; (2) DEVELOPING PATHWAYS TO ACHIEVE BIGGER, BETTER AMBITIONS FOR AI, SUCH AS USING AI TO CREATE BETTER DRUGS FASTER, CLOSE EDUCATIONAL GAPS FOR OUR KIDS, AND CRAFT BETTER WEATHER FORECASTS; AND (3) DEVELOPING PERSUASIVE STORIES OF THE AMERICAN INNOVATIONS THAT HAVE SHAPED AND CONTINUE TO SHAPE OUR LIVES.
  6. $64,000 spent. SILVER LININGS INSTITUTE: THE MISSION OF THIS PROJECT IS TO UNLOCK FUNDING AND TALENT TO CATALYZE PROGRESS IN AGING SCIENCE. BY RAISING THE PUBLIC'S EXPECTATIONS OF WHAT IS POSSIBLE IN AGING SCIENCE AND MARRYING THIS NEW NARRATIVE WITH POLICY SOLUTIONISM, THE TEAM HOPES TO ACCELERATE FUNDING FOR AGING R&D AND BOLSTER AMERICA'S NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS WHILE REDUCING FAST-RISING HEALTH COSTS.
  7. $23,339 spent. NUCLEAR ELECTRIC PROPULSION: THIS PROJECT SUPPORTS THE ADVANCEMENT OF NUCLEAR ELECTRIC PROPULSION (NEP) TECHNOLOGY FOR SPACE TRAVEL BY INCREASING COLLABORATION BETWEEN VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS IN THE SPACE (E.G., GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS, UNIVERSITIES, PRIVATE AND PUBLIC RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS).
  8. $15,002 spent. EVOLUTIONARY COSMOLOGY RESEARCH: THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON ADVANCING AND TESTING THE HYPOTHESES RELATED TO THREE-STAGE COSMOLOGICAL NATURAL SELECTION, AND BLOWTORCH THEORY, WHICH EXPLORES JET-DRIVEN STRUCTURE FORMATION VIA ORIGINAL THEORY PAPERS, TESTABLE PREDICTIONS, COLLABORATIVE SIMULATIONS, BIANNUAL WORKSHOPS, AND PUBLIC OUTREACH.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.

    Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.

  3. Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.

    On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

    Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since August 2022.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  6. Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.

    Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.

    Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.

Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.