Collaborative research: RUI: a new lens on the transient universe: fast radio burst follow-up in the ERA of precise localizations

The National Science Foundation Division of Astronomical Sciences awarded CAL Poly Humboldt Sponsored Programs Foundation (doing business as HSU Foundation) $181,541 on September 1, 2026, under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) for collaborative research on fast radio burst follow-up observations.

The research initiative, called the Fast and Fortunate FRB Follow-Up Collaboration (F4), conducts comprehensive multi-wavelength follow-up campaigns on fast radio bursts—millisecond-duration radio pulses of extragalactic origin—using real-time access to FRB discoveries from experiments across four continents. The work addresses three fundamental research questions: dissecting local FRB environments on 50-parsec scales and searching for multi-wavelength counterparts; expanding FRB studies to probe cosmic structure, progenitor delay-times, extreme energetics, and scattering; and preparing for the systematic era when FRB detections reach 10,000 events. The program also launches educational initiatives including a college course on historical women in astronomy and custom high school STEM curricula targeting under-resourced schools.

Performance occurs in Arcata, California, with a period of performance from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2029.

Abstract

Fast radio bursts (frbs) are millisecond-duration radio pulses of extragalactic origin that represent one of the most enigmatic phenomena in modern astrophysics. Since their discovery in 2007, the field has undergone revolutionary transformations: from serendipitous discoveries to systematic surveys detecting thousands of events, and from poorly-localized bursts to sub-arcsecond precision enabling host galaxy associations and local environment studies. This collaborative research initiative ? The fast and fortunate FRB follow-up collaboration (F4) ? Leverages real-time access to FRB discoveries from experiments across four continents to conduct comprehensive multi-wavelength follow-up campaigns from gamma-rays to radio frequencies. The proposed research addresses three fundamental issues regarding FRB progenitors: (1) dissecting local environments on 50-parsec scales and searching for multi-wavelength counterparts; (2) expanding the FRB frontier to probe cosmic structure, progenitor delay-times, extreme energetics and scattering; and (3) initiating the systematic ERA when the number of frbs reaches 10,000. This program also includes the start of major educational initiatives in high school and college classrooms. These include the launch of a college course celebrating historical women in astronomy in university classrooms, highlighting pioneers like jocelyn bell burnell, and the development of a custom series of high school classes to expand access to stem careers, particularly in under-resourced high schools, leveraging partnerships with local programs. This research will transform our understanding of frbs and their applications as cosmological probes. Through milliarcsecond localizations, the program will conduct the first population-level studies of FRB local environments, directly testing whether frbs track star formation or arise from delayed channels. The systematic search for persistent radio sources (prss) associated with frbs will probe 2-3? Fainter luminosities than known sources, potentially revealing the first PRS from a non-repeating FRB, and uncover a new population of radio sources on the sky, including candidate PRS analogs. By cross-matching hundreds of precisely-localized frbs with historical supernovae databases and high-energy transient streams, the program offers direct tests of magnetar formation scenarios. At high redshift, the program will constrain the macquart relation to z~2 and beyond, probing cosmic baryon distributions over the past 10 GYR, and will help to establish the existence of FRB sources when the universe is relatively young. The transition to population-scale analyses with >1000 frbs will enable cross-correlation techniques that simultaneously constrain cosmological parameters and baryon physics, including potential constraints on he II reionization at z~3. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.