The National Science Foundation (NSF) is a government agency that provides funding for scientific research in the United States. NSF offers a variety of scholarships and grants (National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships and Grants) for students and researchers at all levels, including undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students, as well as faculty and researchers. These scholarships and grants support a wide range of scientific disciplines, including mathematics, computer science, engineering, and the social and physical sciences.
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To apply for an NSF scholarship or grant, you must submit a proposal outlining your research project and budget. The proposals are reviewed by a panel of experts in the relevant field, and funding is awarded based on the quality and potential impact of the proposed research.
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National Science Foundation (NSF)
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. The NSF is responsible for funding about 24% of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. It is the funding source for approximately 20% of all computer science research and 25% of all material research done in US colleges and universities. It provides funding for research, education, and training programs, and operates and manages a number of research facilities and programs.
The NSF also plays a major role in promoting science and engineering research and education through its programs, which include the support of national science and engineering centers, and the development of a national network of research and education facilities.
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How to apply for National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships and Grants?
The National Science Foundation (NSF) funds a wide range of research and education programs through its different divisions and offices. In order to apply for NSF scholarships and grants, you must follow the instructions and guidelines provided for the specific program.
The following are the general steps to apply for an NSF scholarship or grant:
- Check out the following grants to identify research or education funding opportunities that align with your goals.
- Read the program’s or funding opportunity’s guidelines and instructions carefully to ensure that you are eligible to apply and that you have all the required information and materials.
- Prepare your application, including any required documents such as a research proposal, budget, CV, and letters of reference.
- Submit your application through NSF’s electronic proposal submission system, FastLane, by the deadline.
- If your application is selected for funding, you will be notified by the NSF.
The application process and requirements can vary depending on the specific program or funding opportunity you are applying for. You should always consult the program’s or funding opportunity’s guidelines and instructions for specific information and requirements.
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The list of National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships and Grants
We present here some of the most popular National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships and Grants, along with details.
Title: Molecular Foundations for Biotechnology (MFB)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 7
Summary:
This initiative supports fundamentally new approaches in molecular sciences to drive new directions in biotechnology, a critical and emerging technology of the 21st century. This is the third year of a campaign targeting broad themes to be pursued through collaborative high risk/high reward projects.
This MFB solicitation calls for creative, cross-disciplinary research and technology development proposals to accelerate understanding of RNA function in complex biological systems and to harness RNA research to advance biotechnology.
The funding opportunity will be coordinated by the National Science Foundation together with the National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). The focus on RNA science advances (1) Biotechnology innovation for a sustainable, safe and secure American bioeconomy; (2) the NSF 2022-2026 Strategic Plan to create new knowledge and benefit society by translating knowledge into solutions; and (3) the NHGRI 2020 Strategic Vision for improving human health at the Forefront of Genomics.
The program will support projects with a budgetary range of approximately $250,000 to $400,000 per year in direct costs and a duration of up to 3 years.
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Title: National Science Foundation – Future of Semiconductors (FuSe)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 15 to 20
Summary:
The current state of semiconductor microelectronic systems is at a crossroads. Continued advances in the capabilities of many technologies as well as the cost of the applications of these technologies across computing, sensing, and communications are threatened. The technology has expanded following the trends in miniaturization long characterized by Moore’s Law, underpinned by new materials, processes, devices, and architectures. The developments in these underpinning areas have often progressed independent of the application area, which has delayed their incorporation into the next-generation technologies. Closing that gap between the essential components in the technology chain is now required to ensure further progress. The materials, devices, and systems need to be co-designed, that is, they need to be designed with simultaneous consideration of elements of the technology chain.
The benefits of a co-design approach as a principal methodology to advance semiconductor technology have been widely recognized in a variety of government and industry studies. This holistic, co-design approach can more rapidly create high-performance, robust, secure, compact, energy-efficient, and cost-effective solutions. The technological drivers include the need to: dramatically reduce the energy consumption of computation and communication technologies; reduce the impact of device and system manufacturing on the environment; increase performance speed and capacity; and develop new computing systems.
The goal of this solicitation is to cultivate a broad coalition of researchers and educators from across science and engineering communities that utilizes a holistic, co-design approach to fundamental research and workforce education and training, to enable rapid progress in new semiconductor technologies. The future of semiconductor manufacturing will require the design and deployment of diverse new technologies in materials, chemical and materials processes, devices, and architectures through the development of application-driven systems. Partnerships between industry and academic institutions are essential to spur innovation and technology transfer, to inform the research needs, and to train the future workforce.
The program seeks to fund research as well as curriculum and workforce development to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at the nation’s institutions of higher education, spanning two-year colleges and four-year universities and inclusive of minority-serving institutions, to advance semiconductor design and manufacturing. NSF encourages bold, potentially transformative activities that address future semiconductor manufacturing technical challenges and shortages in the skilled scientist, engineer, and technician workforce. This solicitation encourages proposers to include a holistic perspective on workforce regarding diversity and equitable access to STEM career paths and education by engaging the academic community to broaden access and exposure to advanced technologies and research capabilities. All proposals should address workforce development plans and research.
This solicitation seeks proposals to perform fundamental research to enable the development of a new paradigm in semiconductor capabilities through supporting research grants for teams that are practicing co-design approaches and solutions as well as facilitating and coalescing new teams with a vision for co-design methodologies. Teams of all sizes and co-design research proposals of all scopes (i.e., beyond the scope of research that could be submitted to a regular NSF program) are encouraged.
Future of Semiconductor Co-Design Research and Education Grants (FuSe-REG) – Awards will be supported in FY 2023 up to $2M per award for up to a three-year grant period, commensurate with the scope and team size. This program seeks to fund collaborative team research that transcends the traditional boundaries of individual disciplines to achieve the program goals.
The three research topic areas identified for support in FY 2023 under this solicitation are:
- Collaborative Research in Domain-Specific Computing;
- Advanced Function and High-Performance by Heterogenous Integration; and
- New Materials for Energy-Efficient, Enhanced-Performance and Sustainable Semiconductor-Based Systems.
Details are provided under Program Description in Section II. Each proposal should explicitly identify at least one of these research topic areas to focus on, though proposals which merge ideas from multiple topic areas are encouraged. Every proposal should address co-design covering at least two of the areas in the technology stack (materials, devices, and systems) in the research approach.
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Title: Expanding Capacity in Quantum Information Science and Engineering (ExpandQISE)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 20 to 30
Award information:
- Track1 awards are anticipated to be up to $800,000 total per award for a duration up to 3 years pending the availability of funds and quality of proposals received.
- Track 2 awards are anticipated to be up to $5,000,000 total per award for a duration up to 5 years pending the availability of funds and quality of proposals received.
Summary:
The NSF Expanding Capacity in Quantum Information Science and Engineering (ExpandQISE) program aims to increase research capacity and broaden participation in Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) and related disciplines through the creation of a diversified investment portfolio in research and education that will lead to scientific and engineering breakthroughs, while securing a talent pipeline in a field where workforce needs of industry, government and academia continue to outgrow the available talent.
The ExpandQISE program helps build and maintain a close connection between new efforts and existing impactful work in research, research training, education, outreach, and broadening participation done at the existing QISE Centers such as, for example but not limited to NSF QLCI Institutes, DOE National Research Centers, NSF Quantum Foundries, or leading QISE research Institutions, while creating and nurturing necessary critical mass at Institutions not yet fully involved in QISE. In keeping with the NSF goal of increasing the participation of all members of society in the scientific enterprise, institutions from EPSCoR jurisdictions, and institutions at which more than 50% of enrolled students come from groups that are currently under-represented in the sciences, e.g. minority-serving institutions (MSIs), are especially encouraged to apply.
Following the agreement between the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation developed in the course of implementation of the National Quantum Initiative Act of 2018, the ExpandQISE program is coordinated with the Department of Energy (DOE), including sharing of information about submissions, the review processes and projects funding coordination.
DOE Program Managers may also recommend reviewers and attend the review panels as observers. Principal Investigators submitting proposals to the National Science Foundation (NSF) in response to this solicitation can expect that Program Managers from DOE will have access to the following information: letters of intent, white papers, proposals, unattributed reviews and panel summaries. DOE Program Managers may also recommend reviewers and attend the review panels as observers. Coordination with the DOE will help avoid duplication of funding by the agencies and contribute to enhancing the breadth and impact of the investments by each agency.
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Title: Advancing Research in the Geosciences Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Deadline: Various
Summary:
The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) encourages the submission of proposals that advance our understanding of geosciences using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) methods.
To tackle grand challenge problems across the geosciences, researchers increasingly are turning to AI/ML methods. AI includes any computational tool that mimics human intelligence, including using logic and decision trees. ML methods use statistical techniques to enable machines to improve at tasks with experience and include neural networks that permit software to train itself to perform tasks after exposure to vast amounts of data. These are powerful tools for analyzing large and complex datasets, developing physical models, expediting computation or scaling between models, or designing and deploying sensor networks. Unique aspects of understanding Earth systems and using geosciences data can also inform and inspire new developments in AI/ML, and AI-enabled research will require a workforce prepared to understand, use, and develop appropriate AI/ML techniques.
To promote research that benefits from AI/ML and reduces barriers to its use in the geosciences, GEO welcomes proposals incorporating AI/ML methods across its broad range of programs. The geosciences collectively refers to the research supported in the Divisions of Atmosphere and Geospace (AGS), Earth (EAR), and Ocean (OCE) Sciences, and in the Office of Polar Programs (OPP). Proposals in response to this DCL must advance core geosciences program goals and use AI/ML methods toward addressing scientific problems.
Areas where AI/ML methods may be used include, but are not limited to, implementing existing AI/ML methods to address geosciences problems, developing new algorithms to build geosciences insights, and/or engaging AI/ML to explore or emulate physically based models. AI/ML methods may be posed in conjunction with other geosciences and analysis methods to address a fundamental geoscience question. Proposals may also include comparison or validation of the outputs of AI/ML techniques against outputs from other, traditional analytical methods or theoretical and experimental approaches. Activities, such as making AI/ML training datasets, software and tools openly available to the scientific community and developing a workforce trained in AI/ML techniques, may be appropriate Broader Impacts of proposals in response to this call.
HOW TO SUBMIT
This is not a special competition or new program. Relevant proposals should be submitted to an existing GEO program, according to that program’s submission guidelines. Before submission, PIs should contact cognizant program directors in the program(s) within AGS, EAR, OCE, or OPP that are most relevant to their projects to discuss the appropriate mechanism for submission.
Proposals will be evaluated by the core programs, alongside other proposals submitted to those programs. Therefore, proposals should first and foremost focus on important scientific questions in the discipline of interest. Proposals must also describe the AI/ML methods and justify how the methods address a scientific challenge or question that was previously intractable. Proposers will need appropriate expertise in AI/ML methods, which can be demonstrated through previous experience with proposed methods, collaboration with relevant data science experts, and/or pathways for training students and other researchers in AI/ML.
When making investments, NSF seeks broad representation of PIs and institutions in its award portfolio, including a geographically diverse set of institutions (including those in EPSCoR jurisdictions) and PIs who are women, early-career researchers, members of underrepresented minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities. Submissions which benefit and involve the full breadth of the geoscience research community, including undergraduates, graduate students, cyberinfrastructure professionals, and faculty at two-year and four-year institutions of higher education, including minority serving institutions and non-R1 institutions, are encouraged.
General questions about this Dear Colleague Letter may be submitted to geo-ci@nsf.gov.
Title: Future Manufacturing (FM)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 20
Award information:
Estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds.
Summary:
As noted in the 2022 National Strategy for Advanced Manufacturing (NSAM), advances in US manufacturing enable the economy to continuously grow as new technologies and innovations increase productivity, enable next-generation products, support our capability to address the climate crisis, and create new, high-quality, and higher-paying jobs. In accordance with that strategy, this solicitation aims to support fundamental research that will enable sustainable new manufacturing technologies and education to grow production and employment in America’s manufacturing sector.
Manufacturing in the future will be dictated by a combination of the use of computation to ensure the reliable translation of product designs to manufacturing plans; process controls that provide assurances that the execution of those plans will produce products that meet specifications; inventions of new materials, chemicals, devices, systems, processes, machines, and design and work methods; and new social structures and business practices. Fundamental research to overcome significant barriers will be required in robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, sustainable chemistry and production, materials science, education and public policy, and workforce development to lead this global competition.
The importance of these areas of innovation has been emphasized in legislation, such as the CHIPS and Science Act, which supports research and education in semiconductor and microelectronics manufacturing and in other areas ranging from additive manufacturing to artificial intelligence. The importance of biomanufacturing is highlighted in the recent Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy, which aims to expand domestic biomanufacturing capacity for products spanning the health, energy, agriculture, and industrial sectors, with a focus on advancing equity, improving biomanufacturing processes, and connecting relevant infrastructure. The NSAM highlights the need to enhance environmental sustainability and address climate change through objectives which include decarbonization of processes and sustainable manufacturing and recycling. These documents lay out research and education priorities for the nation and for NSF.
The goal of Future Manufacturing is to support fundamental research and education of a future workforce to overcome scientific, technological, educational, economic, and social barriers in order to catalyze new manufacturing capabilities that do not exist today. Future Manufacturing imagines manufacturing decades into the future. It supports research and education that will enhance U.S. leadership in manufacturing by providing new capabilities for established companies and entrepreneurs, by improving our health, quality of life, and national security, by expanding job opportunities to a diverse STEM workforce, and by reducing the impact of manufacturing on the environment. At the same time, Future Manufacturing enables new manufacturing that will address urgent social challenges arising from climate change, global pandemics and health disparities, social and economic divides, infrastructure deficits of marginalized populations and communities, and environmental sustainability.
Future Manufacturing will require creative convergent approaches in science, technology and innovation, empirical validation, and education and workforce development. It will benefit from cross-disciplinary partnerships among scientists, mathematicians, engineers, social and behavioral scientists, STEM education researchers, and experts in arts and humanities to provide solutions that are equitable and inclusive.
Future Manufacturing will require major advances in technologies for the sustainable synthesis and production of new materials, chemicals, quantum and semiconductor devices and integrated systems, and components and systems of assured quality with high yield and at reasonable cost. It will require advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, new cyber infrastructure, new approaches for mathematical and computational modeling, new dynamics and control methodologies, new ways to integrate systems biology, synthetic biology and bioprocessing, and new ways to influence the economy, workforce, human behavior, and society.
Among this array of technologies and potential research subjects, three thrust areas have been identified for support in FY 2023 under this solicitation:
Future Cyber Manufacturing Research,
Eco Manufacturing Research, and
Biomanufacturing Research.
This solicitation seeks proposals to perform fundamental research to enable new manufacturing capabilities in one or more of these thrust areas.
This solicitation will support the following two award tracks:
Future Manufacturing Research Grants (FMRG) – up to $3,000,000 for up to four years; and
Future Manufacturing Seed Grants (FMSG) – up to $500,000 for up to two years.
Interdisciplinary teams commensurate with the scope of the proposed research, education plan, and budget are required. Proposals must include demonstrated expertise among the team members to carry out the proposed research, education, and workforce development activities. The use of a convergence approach is expected. Proposals that include evidence of significant participation from minority-serving institutions, primarily undergraduate institutions, community colleges, institutions from EPSCoR states, and/or incorporate expertise in improving diversity and inclusion are especially encouraged.
The goal of this solicitation is to enable new manufacturing that represents a significant change from current practice. Therefore, proposers responding to this solicitation must include within the Project Description a section titled Enabling Future Manufacturing. Please see “Proposal Preparation Instructions” for additional details.
Realization of the benefits of the fundamental research supported under this solicitation will require the simultaneous education of a skilled technical workforce that can transition new discoveries into U.S. manufacturing companies. The National Science Board has recently emphasized this perspective in its report, “THE SKILLED TECHNICAL WORKFORCE: Crafting America’s Science and Engineering Enterprise.” Therefore, proposers responding to this solicitation must include a plan to equip students and upskill the workforce to enable Future Manufacturing. Please see “Full Proposal Preparation Instructions” for additional details.
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Title: Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Number of awards:12
Award information:
for new awards each year pending availability of funds.
Deadline: Accepted Anytime
Summary:
The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) Core supports research and training on evolutionary and ecological processes acting at the level of populations, species, communities, and ecosystems. DEB encourages research that elucidates fundamental principles that identify and explain the unity and diversity of life and its interactions with the environment over space and time.
Research may incorporate field, laboratory, or collection-based approaches; observational or manipulative studies; synthesis activities; phylogenetic discovery projects; or theoretical approaches involving analytical, statistical, or computational modeling. Proposals should be submitted to the core clusters (Ecosystem Science, Evolutionary Processes, Population and Community Ecology, and Systematics and Biodiversity Science). DEB also encourages interdisciplinary proposals that cross conceptual boundaries and integrate over levels of biological organization or across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Research addressing ecology and ecosystem science in the marine biome should be directed to the Biological Oceanography Program in the Division of Ocean Sciences; research addressing evolution and systematics in the marine biome should be directed to the Evolutionary Processes or Systematics and Biodiversity Science programs in DEB.
All DEB programs also encourage proposals that leverage NSF-supported data networks, databases, centers, and other forms of scientific infrastructure, including but not limited to the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER), Environmental Data Initiative (EDI), and Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio).
The Division of Environmental Biology seeks to strengthen the U.S. Environmental Biology workforce by increasing the participation of all individuals in science. DEB is dedicated to expanding traditional broader impacts and supporting proposals that include inclusive and effective efforts to recruit and retain biology students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-investigators from groups historically underrepresented in the biological sciences.
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Title: Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Core Programs (MCB)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Number of awards:120
Award information:
$100M will be committed for the total budget of all new awards in each fiscal year.
Deadline: Accepted Anytime
Summary:
MCB supports research that promises to uncover the fundamental properties of living systems across atomic, molecular, subcellular, and cellular scales. The program gives high priority to projects that advance mechanistic understanding of the structure, function, and evolution of molecular, subcellular, and cellular systems, especially research that aims at quantitative and predictive knowledge of complex behavior and emergent properties. MCB encourages research exploring new concepts in molecular and cellular biology, while incorporating insights and approaches from other scientific disciplines, such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, and physics, to illuminate principles that govern life at the molecular and cellular level. MCB also encourages research that exploits experimental and theoretical approaches and utilizes a diverse spectrum of model and non-model animals, plants, and microbes across the tree of life. Proposals that pursue potentially transformative ideas are welcome, even if these entail higher risk.
This solicitation calls for proposals in research areas supported by the four MCB core clusters, including: (i) structure, dynamics, and function of biomolecules and supramolecular assemblies, especially under physiological conditions (Molecular Biophysics); (ii) organization, processing, expression, regulation, and evolution of genetic and epigenetic information (Genetic Mechanisms); (iii) cellular structure, properties, and function across broad spatiotemporal scales (Cellular Dynamics and Function); and (iv) systems and/or synthetic biology to study complex interactions through modeling or manipulation or design of living systems at the molecular-to-cellular scale (Systems and Synthetic Biology).
All MCB clusters prioritize projects that integrate across scales, investigate molecular and cellular evolution, synergize experimental research with computational or mathematical modeling, and/or develop innovative, broadly applicable methods and technologies. Projects that bridge the intellectual edges between MCB clusters are welcome. Projects that integrate molecular and cellular biosciences with other subdisciplines of biology are also welcome through the new Integrative Research in Biology (IntBIO) track.
MCB strives to achieve key goals laid out in the NSF Strategic Plan. Among these goals are: (i) to empower Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) talent to fully participate in science and engineering; (ii) to enable creation of new knowledge by advancing the frontiers of research and enhancing research capability; and (iii) to benefit society through translation of knowledge into solutions. In line with these goals, MCB seeks to increase the diversity of individuals and institutions in the molecular and cellular biosciences community we support. Hence, to be competitive, proposers must be intentional regarding broadening participation in their projects through efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion of individuals traditionally underrepresented in STEM and of types of institutions, such as Minority-serving Institutions (MSIs), Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs), two-year colleges, institutions in jurisdictions associated with the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), as well as major research institutions.
Also aligned with the NSF Strategic Plan, MCB encourages basic research ideas that are inspired by curiosity and/or by their potential use for societal benefit, especially pertaining to pressing challenges such as, but not limited to climate change, clean energy, feeding the world sustainably, or health. With regard to health-related challenges, it should be noted that research using biomedical model systems to address questions of basic scientific interest is permissible. However, in accordance with the PAPPG, MCB does not normally support biological research on mechanisms of disease in humans, including on the etiology, diagnosis, or treatment of disease or disorder. Similarly, MCB does not normally support biological research to develop animal models of such conditions or testing of procedures for their treatment. Proposals motivated by such disease-related goals will be returned without review.
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Title: Division of Integrative Organismal Systems Core Programs (IOS)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 250
Award information:
IOS estimates that approximately $70,000,000 will be available for new and continuing awards per fiscal year. Estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds.
Deadline: Accepted Anytime
Summary:
The Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) Core Programs Track supports research to understand why organisms are structured the way they are and function as they do. Proposals are welcomed in all of the core scientific program areas supported by the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS). Areas of inquiry include, but are not limited to, developmental biology and the evolution of developmental processes, development, structure, modification, function, and evolution of the nervous system, biomechanics and functional morphology, physiological processes, symbioses and microbial interactions, interactions of organisms with biotic and abiotic environments, plant and animal genomics, and animal behavior. Proposals should focus on organisms as a fundamental unit of biological organization. Principal Investigators are encouraged to apply systems approaches that will lead to conceptual and theoretical insights and predictions about emergent organismal properties.
The IntBIO Track invites submission of collaborative proposals to tackle bold questions in biology that require an integrated approach to make substantive progress. Integrative biological research spans subdisciplines and incorporates cutting-edge methods, tools, and concepts from each to produce groundbreaking biological discovery that is synergistic, such that the sum is greater than the parts. The research should produce a novel, holistic understanding of how biological systems function and interact across different scales of organization, e.g., from molecules to cells, tissues to organisms, species to ecosystems and the entire Earth. Where appropriate, projects should apply experimental strategies, modeling, integrative analysis, advanced computation, or other research approaches to stimulate new discovery and general theory in biology.
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Title: Incorporating Human Behavior in Epidemiological Models (IHBEM)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Award information:
Up to $5,500,000 per year for new awards (up to $3,500,000 from NSF and up to $2,000,000 from NIH/NIDA), subject to availability of funds and receipt of meritorious proposals, with total budgets of up to $1,000,000 for an award duration of 3-4 years.
Number of awards: 10 to 15
Summary:
Supports interdisciplinary collaborations integrating research on behavioral and/or social processes in mathematical epidemiological models. The goal of this program is to minimize unintended outcomes of public health interventions in response to pandemics.
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Title: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Organizational Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (STEM Ed OPRF)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 2 to 4
Summary:
The Directorate for STEM Education (EDU) STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (STEM Ed PRF) Program funds postdoctoral fellowship projects designed to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of STEM Education research by recent doctoral graduates in STEM, STEM Education, Education, and related disciplines. This solicitation supports organizational postdoctoral fellowship projects; a companion solicitation (STEM Ed IPRF) supports individual postdoctoral fellowship awards. The Program is designed to broaden the pool of researchers who can advance knowledge regarding STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development. Principal Investigators who are women, veterans, persons with disabilities, and from groups underrepresented in STEM, or who have attended community colleges and minority-serving institutions (e.g. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Alaska Native Serving Institutions, and Hawaiian Native and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions) are especially encouraged to apply.
STEM Ed OPRF awards provide support to organizations as they develop a STEM education postdoctoral research fellowship project and support a cohort of fellows. The program should enable fellows to engage in ongoing research, to develop independent research, and to implement an independent professional development plan under the guidance of a sponsoring researcher. Fellows are expected to devote themselves full time to the fellowship activities for the duration of the fellowship.
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Title: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Individual Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (STEMEdIPRF)
Award Type: Standard Grant
Number of awards: 8 to 10
Summary:
The Directorate for STEM Education (EDU) STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (STEM Ed PRF) Program funds postdoctoral fellowship projects designed to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of STEM Education research by recent doctoral graduates in STEM, STEM Education, Education, and related disciplines. This solicitation supports individual postdoctoral fellowship awards; a companion solicitation (STEM Ed OPRF) supports organizational postdoctoral fellowship programs. The STEM Ed PRF Program as a whole seeks to broaden the pool of researchers who can advance knowledge regarding STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development.
The Program is designed to support postdoctoral fellows engaged in experiences that will advance their career goals by developing their expertise, skills, and competencies to conduct fundamental STEM education research. Principal Investigators who are women, veterans, persons with disabilities, and from groups underrepresented in STEM, or who have attended community colleges and minority-serving institutions (e.g., Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Alaska Native Serving Institutions, and Hawaiian Native and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions) are especially encouraged to apply.
STEM Ed IPRF awards provide direct support to Fellows to enable them to engage in ongoing research, to develop independent research, and to implement an independent professional development plan under the guidance of a sponsoring researcher. Fellows must affiliate with an appropriate host organization and are expected to devote themselves full time to the fellowship activities for the duration of the fellowship.
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Title: New to IUSE
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Deadline: Various
Summary:
Invites proposals from institutions that have not previously received funding from IUSE. Proposers are encouraged to consider submitting to Level 1 of the Engaged Student Learning track or the Institutional and Community Transformation Capacity-Building track.
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Title: Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier: Core Research (FW-HTF)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 25
Summary:
In 2016, the National Science Foundation (NSF) unveiled a set of “Big Ideas,” 10 bold, long-term research and process ideas that identify areas for future investment at the frontiers of science and engineering . The Big Ideas represent unique opportunities to position our Nation at the cutting edge of global science and engineering leadership by bringing together diverse disciplinary perspectives to support convergence research. As such, when responding to this solicitation, even though proposals must be submitted to the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) Office of Emerging Frontiers and Multidisciplinary Activities (ENG/EFMA), once received, the proposals will be managed by a cross-disciplinary team of NSF Program Directors.
The overarching vision of this program is to support multi-disciplinary research to sustain economic competitiveness, to promote worker well-being, lifelong and pervasive learning, and quality of life, and to illuminate the emerging social and economic context and drivers of innovations that are shaping the future of jobs and work.
For the purposes of this solicitation, work is defined as mental or physical activity to achieve income, profit, or other tangible benefits. A proposal for a research grant in this program must focus on advancing fundamental understanding of future work and work outcomes for workers and society.
The specific objectives of the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier program are to
(1) facilitate inter-disciplinary or convergent research that employs the joint perspectives, methods, and knowledge of behavioral science, computer science, economics, engineering, learning sciences, research on adult learning and workforce training, and the social sciences;
(2) develop deeper understandings of how human needs can be met and values respected in regard to how new technologies, conditions, and work experiences are changing;
(3) support deeper understanding of the societal infrastructure that accompanies and leads to new work technologies and new approaches to work and jobs, and that prepares people for the future world of work;
(4) encourage the development of a research community dedicated to designing intelligent technologies and work organization and modes inspired by their positive impact on individual workers, the work at hand, the way workers learn and adapt to technological change, creative and inclusive workplaces (including remote locations, homes, classrooms, or virtual spaces), and benefits for social, economic, educational, and environmental systems at different scales;
(5) promote deeper basic understanding of the interdependent human-technology partnership to advance societal needs by advancing design of intelligent technologies that operate in harmony with human workers, including consideration of how adults learn the new skills needed to interact with these technologies in the workplace, and by enabling broad and diverse workforce participation, including improving accessibility for those challenged by physical, learning or cognitive impairment and other visible and invisible disabilities; and
(6) understand, anticipate, and explore ways of mitigating potential risks including inequity arising from future work at the human-technology frontier.
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Title: Biodiversity on a Changing Planet (BoCP)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 8 to 12
Award information:
Depending on the quality of proposals, 4-6 awards are estimated to be made for each award track (Design/Implementation).
Anticipated Funding Amount: $14,000,000 to $17,000,000
For the US portion of the budget, up to $500,000 per proposal are available for the Design track, and up to $2.5M per proposal are available for the Implementation track.
These upper limits for proposal budgets do not include the costs of NSF facilities or logistics support.
Funding for Design track US-China collaborative proposals will be at a level of up to ￥1.0M for 3-year projects (Chinese portion of the project). The number of Design track US-China collaborative proposals funded will depend on the quality of the projects submitted. For Implementation track US-China Collaborative Research Proposals the expected funding from NSFC will be at a level of up to ¥4.5M for 5-year projects (Chinese side of the budget). A maximum of three Implementation track projects will be funded, depending on the quality of the submitted proposals and the availability of funds. Please consult the NSFC guidelines for how the funds should be allocated per allowed activities.
The expected funding for the FAPESP portion of US-FAPESP collaborative proposals will be at a level of R$15.5M (Real) for up to five Regular Research Grants with 2 years of postdoctoral fellowship (to match with NSF’s Design track) and up to three awards, in any combination of Thematic Research Grants and Young Investigator Grants (to match with NSF’s Implementation track). Please consult the FAPESP guidelines for how the funds should be allocated per allowed activities.
The expected funding from NRF for the South African portion of US-South Africa collaborative Design proposals will be up to two 3-year at a level of up to R1.8M (Rand), R600k per annum. Up to two 5-year US-South Africa Collaborative Research awards may be funded for Implementation track proposals at a level of up to R10.0M (Rand), R2.0M per annum from NRF. Please consult the NRF guidelines for how the funds should be allocated per allowed activities.
Multilateral collaborative proposals, involving NSF and more than one international partner among NSFC, FAPESP, and NRF will also be considered.
Summary:
The biodiversity found in nature is essential for healthy ecosystems and human well-being. However, the disruption and decline of Earth’s biodiversity is currently occurring at an unprecedented rate. The resulting shifts in biodiversity dynamics– including changes in the scope and structure of biodiversity– are increasingly significant but not well-understood. Shifting biodiversity dynamics in turn influence functional biodiversity, which includes the roles of traits, organisms, species, communities, and ecosystem processes in natural systems.
Changes in biodiversity dynamics and functional biodiversity are essential factors for future planetary resilience under environmental change, including climate change. The connection between functional biodiversity and biodiversity dynamics on a changing planet is the main focus of the Biodiversity on a Changing Planet (BoCP) program. The program encourages proposals that integrate pattern- and process-based research approaches in the context of the constant gain, loss, and reorganization of biodiversity on a changing planet. To advance a comprehensive understanding of functional biodiversity requires a highly integrative approach – including consideration of spatial and temporal dimensions from the organismal to the ecosystem level and from recent to deep timescales. The program therefore places a strong emphasis on multidisciplinary research among climatic, geological, paleontological, ecological, organismal, phylogenetic and evolutionary sciences.
The BoCP program is a cross directorate and international program led by NSF that invites submission of interdisciplinary proposals addressing grand challenges in biodiversity science within the context of unprecedented environmental change, including climate change.
Successful BoCP proposals will test novel hypotheses about functional biodiversity and its connections to shifting biodiversity dynamics on a changing planet, with an emphasis on integrative research into the complex intersections among climatic, geological, paleontological, and biological processes. Integrative research is likely to combine multiple perspectives–including organismal, species, ecological, evolutionary, phylogenetic, geological, and/or paleontological approaches– at various scales. Proposals that seek to improve predictive capability about functional biodiversity across temporal and spatial scales by considering the linkages between past, present, and future biological, climatic, and geological processes are also encouraged. While this focus complements several core programs at NSF, it differs by requiring an integrative approach to understanding functional biodiversity as it relates to shifting biodiversity dynamics under changing environmental conditions.
The program supports both US-only collaborative proposals and proposals with international partnerships with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) of Brazil, and the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa. International collaborative proposals are to be submitted jointly, with the US PIs submitting to NSF and the collaborating Chinese, Brazilian, or South African PIs submitting to their appropriate national funding agencies. These agreements do not preclude other international collaborations (see below for additional details).
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Title: Announcement of Important Updates to NSF Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) Solicitation
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Deadline: Various
Summary:
Informs the research and innovation communities of important changes to the PFI solicitation. Changes have been made to the lineage requirement, the award amount and full proposal deadlines.
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Title: Pathways into the Earth, Ocean, Polar and Atmospheric & Geospace Sciences (GEOPAths)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 15
Award information:
NSF anticipates available funding for the GEOPAths program to be approximately $6 million total for new awards per fiscal year. See section III below for further information about the anticipated number of awards in the program’s three tracks and the duration of awards. The estimated program budget, number of awards, and award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds.
Summary:
The Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) supports the Pathways into the Geosciences – Earth, Ocean, Polar and Atmospheric Sciences (GEOPAths) funding opportunity. GEOPAths invites proposals that specifically address the current needs and opportunities related to education, learning, training and professional development within the geosciences community through the formation of STEM Learning Ecosystems that engage students in the study of the Earth, its oceans, polar regions and atmosphere. The primary goal of the GEOPAths funding opportunity is to increase the number of students pursuing undergraduate and/or postgraduate degrees through the design and testing of novel approaches that engage students in authentic, career-relevant experiences in geoscience. In order to broaden participation in the geosciences, engaging students from historically excluded groups or from non-geoscience degree programs is a priority. This solicitation features three funding tracks that focus on Geoscience Learning Ecosystems (GLEs):
1. GEOPAths: Informal Networks (IN). Collaborative projects in this track will support geoscience learning and experiences in informal settings for teachers, pre-college (e.g., upper level high school) students, and early undergraduates in the geosciences.
2. GEOPAths: Undergraduate Preparation (UP). Projects in this track will engage pre-college and undergraduate students in extra-curricular experiences and training in the geosciences with a focus on service learning and workplace skill building.
3. GEOPAths: Graduate Opportunities (GO). Projects in this track will improve research and career-related pathways into the geosciences for undergraduate and graduate students through institutional collaborations with a focus on service learning and workplace skill building.
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Title: Special Guidelines for Submitting Proposals: NSF and DFG Opportunity for Collaborations in Physics
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Deadline: Various
Summary:
Encourages collaborative U.S.–German research proposals in the areas of physics supported by NSF’s Division of Physics.
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Title: Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Supplemental Funding in Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Award Type: Supplemental Funding
Deadline: Various
Summary:
Invites current Computer and Information Science and Engineering grantees to apply for supplemental funding to support Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) or Research Experiences for Teachers (RET).
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Title: Partnerships for Innovation (PFI)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 25 to 55
Award information:
Anticipated Funding Amount is subject to the availability of funds and the quality of proposals received.
Summary:
The Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) Program within the Division of Translational Impacts (TI) offers researchers from all disciplines of science and engineering funded by NSF the opportunity to perform translational research and technology development, catalyze partnerships and accelerate the transition of discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace for societal benefit.
PFI has five broad goals, as set forth by the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act of 2017: (1) identifying and supporting NSF-sponsored research and technologies that have the potential for accelerated commercialization; (2) supporting prior or current NSF-sponsored investigators, institutions of higher education, and non-profit organizations that partner with an institution of higher education in undertaking proof-of-concept work, including the development of technology prototypes that are derived from NSF-sponsored research and have potential market value; (3) promoting sustainable partnerships between NSF-funded institutions, industry, and other organizations within academia and the private sector with the purpose of accelerating the transfer of technology; (4) developing multi-disciplinary innovation ecosystems which involve and are responsive to the specific needs of academia and industry; (5) providing professional development, mentoring, and advice in entrepreneurship, project management, and technology and business development to innovators.
In addition, PFI responds to the mandate set by Congress in Section 601(c)(3) of the Act (Follow-on Grants), to support prototype or proof-of-concept development work by participants with innovations that because of the early stage of development are not eligible to participate in a Small Business Innovation Research Program or a Small Business Technology Transfer Program.
Finally, PFI seeks to implement the mandate set by Congress in Section 102(c)(a) of the Act (Broader Impacts Review Criterion Update) by enhancing partnerships between academia and industry in the United States, and expanding the participation of women and individuals from underrepresented groups in innovation, technology translation, and entrepreneurship.
This solicitation offers two broad tracks for proposals in pursuit of the aforementioned goals:
The Technology Translation (PFI-TT) track offers the opportunity to translate prior NSF-funded research results in any field of science or engineering into technological innovations with promising commercial potential and societal impact. PFI-TT supports commercial potential demonstration projects for academic research outputs in any NSF-funded science and engineering discipline. This demonstration is achieved through proof-of-concept, prototyping, technology development and/or scale-up work. Concurrently, students and postdoctoral researchers who participate in PFI-TT projects receive education and leadership training in innovation and entrepreneurship. Successful PFI-TT projects generate technology-driven commercialization outcomes that address societal needs.
The Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) track seeks to achieve the same goals as the PFI-TT track by supporting instead complex, multi-faceted technology development projects that are typically beyond the scope of a single researcher or institution and require a multi-organizational, interdisciplinary, synergistic collaboration. A PFI-RP project requires the creation of partnerships between academic researchers and third-party organizations such as industry, non-academic research organizations, federal laboratories, public or non-profit technology transfer organizations or other universities. Such partnerships are needed to conduct use-inspired research on a stand-alone larger project toward commercialization and societal impact. In the absence of such synergistic partnership, the project’s likelihood for success would be minimal.
The intended outcomes of both PFI-TT and PFI-RP tracks are: a) the commercialization of new intellectual property derived from NSF-funded research outputs; b) the creation of new or broader collaborations with industry (including increased corporate sponsored research); c) the licensing of NSF-funded research outputs to third party corporations or to start-up companies funded by a PFI team; and d) the training of future innovation and entrepreneurship leaders.
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Title: Emerging Mathematics in Biology (eMB)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Award information:
Up to $6,000,000 per year for FY23-25, subject to availability of funds and receipt of meritorious proposals for an award duration of 3 years.
Number of awards: 10 to 15
Summary:
Supports research in mathematical biology that addresses significant biological questions by applying nontrivial mathematics or developing new theories — particularly from foundational mathematics, including artificial intelligence or machine learning.
The Emerging Mathematics in Biology (eMB) program seeks to stimulate fundamental interdisciplinary and potentially transformative research pertaining to the development of innovative mathematical/statistical/computational theories, tools, and modeling approaches to investigate challenging questions of great interest to biologists and public health policymakers. It supports research projects in mathematical biology that address challenging and significant biological questions through novel applications of traditional, but nontrivial, mathematical tools and methods or the development of new theories particularly from foundational mathematics and/or computational/statistical tools, including Artificial Intelligence/Deep Learning/Machine Learning (AI/DL/ML).
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Title: Scholarships in STEM Network (S-STEM-Net)
Award Type: Standard Grant
Number of awards: 1 to 5
Award information:
Estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds
Summary:
Supports both the creation of a resource and evaluation center for the national S-STEM community and research hubs to study the conditions for the success of low-income undergraduate and graduate STEM students.
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Title: Computational and Data-Enabled Science for New Discovery
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Deadline: Various
Summary:
Invites proposals that aim to advance mathematics or statistics and address computational or data-oriented challenges with approaches that range from model-based to data-driven.
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Title: EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-4: EPSCoR Research Fellows
Award Type: Standard Grant
Number of awards: 40
Award information:
Anticipated Funding Amount Per Track:
RII Track-4:NSF: $9,000,000
RII Track-4:@NASA: $3,000,000
Estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds.
Summary:
Supports early-career investigators located in eligible jurisdictions to go on extended collaborative visits to private, government or academic research centers. Investigators may be affiliated with institutions of higher education or nonprofits.
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Title: Geosciences Open Science Ecosystem (GEO OSE)
Award Type: Standard Grant. Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 4 to 10
Award information:
Estimated program budget, number of awards, and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds.
Summary:
Supports the improvement and democratization of access to open-science resources in the geosciences — with a focus on increasing access to data, physical collections, software, advanced computing and other resources.
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Title: Design for Environmental Sustainability in Computing (DESC)
Award Type: Standard Grant
Number of awards: 12 to 18
Award information:
Type I Small Projects: Up to $600,000 per award with duration up to 3 years
Type II Large Projects: Up to $2,000,000 per award with duration up to 4 years
Type III Workshop Projects: Up to $100,000 per award with duration up to 1 year
Estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds and quality of proposals received.
Deadline: 17.03.2023
Summary:
Supports foundational research addressing the substantial environmental impacts of computing. Projects should surpass studies of energy efficiency alone, pursuing dramatic improvements to overall sustainability.
The goal of the Design for Environmental Sustainability in Computing (DESC) program is to address the substantial environmental impacts that computing has through its entire lifecycle from design and manufacturing, through deployment into operation, and finally into reuse, recycling, and disposal. These impacts go well beyond commonly-considered measures of energy consumption at run-time and include greenhouse warming gas emissions (GHGs), depletion of scarce resources like rare earth elements, and the creation of toxic byproducts.
For instance, embodied energy, GHGs, and other harmful emissions from manufacturing computing systems can often be higher than the operational energy and resulting GHGs and harmful emissions systems will use and emit during their lifetime. Data centers can directly impact local ecosystems through heat management practices, as well as impacting local power management and capacity. Algorithmic, software, and workflow design choices; design of operating systems and middleware; and choices of programming languages and compilation can drive environmental impacts from provisioning, use, and effective lifetimes of computing. Moreover, decisions about maintenance, repurposing and disposal of computing systems shape those impacts by affecting the need for additional systems manufacturing and disposal, the latter of which impacts contamination and consumption of landfill space.
The DESC solicitation seeks to bring together teams to work toward solutions that address sustainability in new and measurably different ways that are inclusive of the breadth of computing and information science and engineering research, with the ultimate goal of holistic order of magnitude improvements in the environmental sustainability of computing. DESC projects should go beyond solely energy efficiency to address a more complete set of environmentally sustainable outcomes in terms of (but not limited to) metrics of GHGs, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), consumption and disposal of rare materials, heat, wastewater, recyclability, and longevity, along with potential interactions between these metrics.
DESC seeks novel approaches that address and raise environmental sustainability to a first-order system objective along with performance, energy-efficiency, security, and other common concerns, at all layers of system stacks and all steps in their lifecycles. Novel hardware and network architectures, sustainability-aware algorithms and data management tools, and methods for software and system design that support assessing and encouraging environmental sustainability are all needed. Approaches to sustainably manage increasingly large datasets and workloads are crucial as are techniques to enhance computing capabilities while consuming fewer resources. Improved modeling and methodologies for organizational and end-user decision making around adoption, use, repurposing, and ultimately disposal of computing systems are also needed.
Together, DESC proposals should seek to push the boundaries of system design and when possible seek ways to align sustainability with other metrics to increase both environmental sustainability and computing capabilities as well as the net benefit that computing brings to society.
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Title: Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 25
Award information:
Anticipated funding amount is pending availability of funds.
These funds will be provided by the participating Divisions. Each Division will support proposals of scientific interest to that Division. Proposals on topics situated at the boundaries between two or more Divisions may be co-funded by those Divisions. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the DMREF program, it is anticipated that the majority of projects will involve co-funding.
Summary:
DMREF seeks to foster the design, discovery, and development of materials to accelerate their path to deployment by harnessing the power of data and computational tools in concert with experiment and theory. It emphasizes a deep integration of experiments, computation, and theory; the use of accessible digital data across the materials development continuum; and strengthening connections among theorists, computational scientists (including data scientists), and experimentalists as well as those from academia, industry, and government. DMREF is committed to the education and training of a next-generation materials research and development (R&D) workforce that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive; well-equipped for successful careers as educators and innovators; and able to take full advantage of the materials development continuum and innovation infrastructures that NSF is creating with partners in other federal agencies.
DMREF is the principal NSF program responsive to the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC’s) Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Subcommittee on the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI). Over its inaugural decade, the MGI has driven a transformational paradigm shift in the philosophy of how materials research is performed. DMREF is supportive of the 2021 MGI Strategic Plan and its three primary goals, i.e., unifying the materials innovation infrastructure; harnessing the power of materials data; and educating, training, and connecting a world-class materials R&D workforce.
DMREF will accordingly support activities that significantly accelerate the materials discovery-to-use timeline by building the fundamental knowledge base needed to advance the design, development, or manufacturability (i.e., properties relevant to manufacturing, process-property relationships, property performance metrics, potential pathways for scale-up, economic feasibility, supply chain considerations, or life cycle issues) of materials with desirable properties or functionality. The 2021 MGI Strategic Plan re-envisioned the linear Materials Development Continuum described in the original Strategic Plan to promote integration and iteration of knowledge across the entire path to deployment. DMREF will undertake this challenge through building a vibrant research community, forming interdisciplinary teams to conduct research in a “closed-loop” fashion, leveraging data science and machine learning, providing ready access to materials data, and educating the future MGI workforce.
This solicitation is open to all materials research topics. It reflects the Administration’s priorities for strengthening American leadership in technologies and industries of the future that are critical to the nation’s health, economic prosperity, national security, and scientific enterprise. DMREF aligns with emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum information science, semiconductors and microelectronics, advanced manufacturing, advanced communication technologies, and biotechnology. DMREF is supportive of OSTP’s multi-agency research and development priorities including clean energy technologies and infrastructure. Furthermore, DMREF aligns with national priorities for defense and homeland security, information technologies and high-performance computing, critical minerals and sustainability, and human health and welfare. DMREF supports the development of critical and emerging technologies as have been identified in a recent report by the NSTC.
In support of federal priorities, DMREF encourages efforts to promote diversity, inclusion, equity, and accessibility and advance environmental justice, across all R&D focus areas while building equitable science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce ecosystems for all learners and workers. When possible, activities should seek to encourage meaningful engagement with, and participation of, underserved communities and underrepresented groups in STEM. Aligning with Goal 3 of the 2021 MGI Strategic Plan, DMREF promotes diverse and inclusive education, training, and workforce development that can communicate across all components of the materials development continuum. Proposals led by or including Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) are encouraged.
Projects proposed to this solicitation must be directed by a team of at least two Senior Personnel with complementary expertise. The proposed research must involve a collaborative and iterative ‘closed-loop’ process wherein theory guides computational simulation, computational simulation guides experiments, and experimental observation further guides theory. The integrated research activities could involve some combination of:
- Strategies to advance fundamental knowledge related to materials design and manufacturability through testing methodology, which may include novel synthetic approaches, innovative processing, or advanced characterization techniques.
- Theory, computation/simulation, and modeling that leverage machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), data mining, or sparse approximation to predict behavior or assist in simplifying the analysis of multidimensional input data.
- Automated, high-throughput, and/or autonomous experimentation, including cyber-physical systems, that streamline and optimize the search of a materials space.
- Validation through synthesis, growth, processing, characterization, and/or device demonstration.
This solicitation represents a crosscutting activity involving the Directorates for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), Engineering (ENG), Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE), and Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP). Additionally, partnership with other federal agencies may lead to an interagency effort. Submitted proposals may be shared with DMREF’s federal partners: Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy & Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Naval Research (ONR), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the US Army’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC), or the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).
Awards are expected to range from $1,500,000 – $2,000,000 over a duration of four years.
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Title: NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Program (S-STEM)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 50 to 90
Award information:
- Awards for Track 1 (Institutional Capacity Building) projects may not exceed $1,000,000 total for a maximum duration of 6 years.
- Awards for Track 2 (Implementation: Single Institution) projects may not exceed $2,500,000 total for a maximum duration of 6 years.
Awards for Track 3 (Inter-institutional Consortia) projects may not exceed $5,000,000 total for a maximum duration of 6 years.
Collaborative Planning projects may not exceed $100,000 for a maximum duration of 1 year.
Summary:
In 1998 Congress enacted the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act which provided funds to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create a mechanism whereby the hiring of foreign workers in technology-intensive sectors on H-1B visas would help address the long-term workforce needs of the United States. Initially, scholarships were only provided for students in math, engineering, and computer science. Later legislation authorized NSF to expand the eligible disciplines at the discretion of the NSF director. Undergraduate and graduate degrees in most disciplinary fields in which NSF provides research funding (with some exclusions described elsewhere in this document) are eligible as long as there is a national or regional demand for professionals with those degrees to address the long-term workforce needs of the United States.
The main goal of the S-STEM program is to enable low-income students with academic ability, talent or potential to pursue successful careers in promising STEM fields. Ultimately, the S-STEM program seeks to increase the number of academically promising low-income students who graduate with a S-STEM eligible degree and contribute to the American innovation economy with their STEM knowledge. Recognizing that financial aid alone cannot increase retention and graduation in STEM, the program provides awards to institutions of higher education (IHEs) not only to fund scholarships, but also to adapt, implement, and study evidence-based curricular and co-curricular [1] activities that have been shown to be effective supporting recruitment, retention, transfer (if appropriate), student success, academic/career pathways, and graduation in STEM.
Social mobility for low-income students with academic potential is even more crucial than for students that enjoy other economic support structures. Hence, social mobility cannot be guaranteed unless the scholarship funds the pursuit of degrees in areas where rewarding jobs are available after graduation with an undergraduate or graduate degree.
The S-STEM program encourages collaborations, including but not limited to partnerships among different types of institutions; collaborations of S-STEM eligible faculty, researchers, and academic administrators focused on investigating the factors that affect low-income student success (e.g., institutional, educational, behavioral and social science researchers); and partnerships among institutions of higher education and business, industry, local community organizations, national labs, or other federal or state government organizations, as appropriate.
To be eligible, scholars must be domestic low-income students, with academic ability, talent or potential and with demonstrated unmet financial need who are enrolled in an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree program in an S-STEM eligible discipline. Proposers must provide an analysis that articulates the characteristics and academic needs of the population of students they are trying to serve. NSF is particularly interested in supporting the attainment of degrees in fields identified as critical needs for the Nation.
Many of these fields have high demand for training professionals that can operate at the convergence of disciplines and include but are not limited to quantum computing and quantum science, robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, computer science and computer engineering, data science and computational science applied to other frontier STEM areas, and other STEM or technology fields in urgent need of domestic professionals. It is up to the proposer to make a compelling case that a field is a critical need field in the United States.
S-STEM Eligible Degree Programs
Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Associate of Engineering, and Associate of Applied Science
Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Applied Science
Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Engineering
Doctoral (Ph.D. or other comparable doctoral degree)
S-STEM Eligible Disciplines
Disciplinary fields in which research is funded by NSF, including technology fields associated with the S-STEM-eligible disciplines (e.g., biotechnology, chemical technology, engineering technology, information technology, etc.).
The following degrees and disciplines are excluded:
- Clinical degree programs, including medical degrees, nursing, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and others not funded by NSF, are ineligible degrees.
- Business school programs that lead to Bachelor of Arts or Science in Business Administration degrees (BABA/BSBA/BBA) are not eligible for S-STEM funding.
- Masters and Doctoral degrees in Business Administration are also excluded.
Proposers are strongly encouraged to contact Program Officers before submitting a proposal if they have questions concerning degree or disciplinary eligibility.
The S-STEM program particularly encourages proposals from 2-year institutions, Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), predominately undergraduate institutions, and urban, suburban and rural public institutions.
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Title: Transport Phenomena Research at the International Space Station to Benefit Life on Earth (NSF-ISS)
Award Type: Standard Grant
Number of awards: 9
Award information:
NSF Funding (total) available under this solicitation is up to $3.6 million to be distributed in FY 2023.
Estimated program budget, number of awards and award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds. Project duration must not exceed four years.
Summary:
Supports interdisciplinary research in microgravity conditions that advances fluid dynamics, particulate and multiphase processes, combustion and fire systems, thermal transport processes, and nanoscale interactions for the benefit of life on Earth.
The Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) in the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is partnering with The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS) to solicit research projects in the general field of fluid dynamics, particulate and multiphase processes, combustion and fire systems, thermal transport processes, and nanoscale interactions that can utilize the International Space Station (ISS) National Lab to conduct research that will benefit life on Earth. Only entities that qualify as “U.S. Persons” under 22 U.S. Code §6010, including academic investigators, non-profit independent research laboratories and academic-commercial teams are eligible to apply.
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Title: NSF/CASIS Collaboration on Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology on the International Space Station to Benefit Life on Earth
Award Type: Standard Grant
Number of awards: 2 to 4
Award information:
NSF Funding (total) available under this solicitation is up to $1.6 million to be distributed in FY 2023. Budget requests may be for up to $400,000 total, direct and indirect costs, and up to three years in duration. The award size and duration should be consistent with the project scope. Collaborative projects from multiple organizations are accepted, according to standard NSF procedures. The total budget for a collaborative project from multiple organizations must not exceed $400,000.
Estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds.
Summary:
Supports research in microgravity conditions that advances both engineering and biomedical sciences for the benefit of life on Earth.
The Divisions of Chemical, Bioengineering and Environmental Transport (CBET) and Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Infrastructure (CMMI) in the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF) are partnering with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS) to solicit research projects in the general fields of tissue engineering and mechanobiology that can utilize the International Space Station (ISS) National Lab to conduct research that will benefit life on Earth. For utilization of the ISS National Lab through this solicitation, entities must qualify as “U.S. Persons” under 22 U.S. Code §6010: “ ‘United States person’ means any United States citizen or alien admitted for permanent residence in the United States, and any corporation, partnership, or other organization organized under the laws of the United States.”
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Title: Expanding AI Innovation through Capacity Building and Partnerships (ExpandAI)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 15 to 25
Award information:
Each CAP award is anticipated to be a standard grant up to $400,000 total budget over two years
Each PARTNER award is anticipated to be a continuing award in the range of $300,000 to $700,000/year for up to 4 years.
Summary:
Supports capacity-development projects and partnerships within the National AI Research Institutes ecosystem that help broaden participation in artificial intelligence research, education and workforce development.
The National Science Foundation and its partners support the continued growth of a broad and diverse interdisciplinary research community for the advancement of AI and AI-powered innovation, providing a unique opportunity to broadly promote the NSF vision and core values, especially inclusion and collaboration. The Expanding AI Innovation through Capacity Building and Partnerships (ExpandAI) program aims to significantly broaden participation in AI research, education, and workforce development through capacity development projects and through partnerships within the National AI Research Institutes ecosystem.
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Title: Biological Anthropology Program – Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (BA-DDRIG)
Award Type: Standard Grant
Number of awards: 25 to 40
Award information:
The anticipated funding amount is $600,000 to $800,000 per fiscal year (1 October through 30 September), pending availability of funds.
Project budgets should be developed at scales appropriate for the work to be conducted. Proposal budgets cannot exceed $25,000 in direct costs for the entire duration of the award. Indirect costs are in addition to this direct cost amount and are subject to the awardee’s current federally negotiated indirect cost rate. The maximum project duration is 24 months.
The proposer may concurrently submit a doctoral dissertation proposal to other funding organizations. Please indicate this in the “Current and Pending Support” section of the NSF proposal, so that NSF may coordinate funding with the other organizations.
Summary:
Supports doctoral research including field, laboratory and computational research on human and nonhuman primate adaptation, variation and evolution to advance knowledge about human origins and the dynamics between biology and culture.
The Biological Anthropology Program seeks to advance scientific knowledge about the processes that have shaped biological diversity in living and fossil humans and their primate relatives through support of basic research on human and primate evolution, biological variation, and interactions between biology, behavior and culture. The program supports a portfolio of research that demonstrates engagement with biological anthropological and evolutionary theory; includes diverse and interdisciplinary methods in field, laboratory and computational settings; encompasses multiple levels of analysis (e.g., molecular, organismal, population, ecosystem) and time scales from the short-term to evolutionary; and considers the ethical implications and societal impacts of the research.
The program also supports a wide range of broader impact activities as part of research grants, including research outcomes with inherent benefit to society, efforts to broaden participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) training, research and outreach activities and other evidence-based activities developed within the context of the mission, goals and resources of the organizations and people involved.
This program contributes to the integration of education and basic research through support of dissertation projects conducted by doctoral students enrolled in U.S. universities. This solicitation specifically addresses the preparation and evaluation of proposals for Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (DDRIG). Dissertation research projects in all of the subareas of biological anthropology are eligible for support through these grants. These awards are intended to enhance and improve the conduct of dissertation research by doctoral students who are pursuing research in biological anthropology that enhances basic scientific knowledge.
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Title: Biological Anthropology Program Senior Research Awards (BA-SR)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 20 to 40
Award information:
Estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds.
Summary:
Supports field, laboratory and computational research on human and nonhuman primate adaptation, variation and evolution to advance knowledge about human origins and the dynamics between biology and culture.
The Biological Anthropology Program seeks to advance scientific knowledge about the processes that have shaped biological diversity in living and fossil humans and their primate relatives through support of basic research on human and primate evolution, biological variation, and interactions between biology, behavior, and culture. The program supports a portfolio of research that demonstrates engagement with biological anthropological and evolutionary theory; includes diverse and interdisciplinary methods in field, laboratory and computational settings; encompasses multiple levels of analysis (e.g., molecular, organismal, population, ecosystem) and time scales from the short-term to evolutionary; and considers the ethical implications and societal impacts of the research.
The program also supports a wide range of broader impact activities as part of research grants, including research outcomes with inherent benefit to society, efforts to broaden participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research, training and outreach activities and other evidence-based activities developed within the context of the mission, goals, and resources of the organizations and people involved.
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Title: Cultural Anthropology Program – Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (CA-DDRIG)
Award Type: Standard Grant
Number of awards: 40 to 50
Award information:
Anticipated Funding Amount is $800,000 pending availability of funds. Project budgets should be developed at scales appropriate for the work to be conducted. The total direct costs for CA DDRIG awards may not exceed $25,000; applicable indirect costs are in addition to (that is, on top of) that amount.
Summary:
The primary objective of the Cultural Anthropology Program is to support basic scientific research on the causes, consequences and complexities of human social and cultural variability.
Contemporary cultural anthropology is an arena in which diverse research traditions and methodologies are valid in investigations of human cultural variation. Recognizing the breadth of the field’s contributions to science, the Cultural Anthropology Program welcomes proposals for empirically grounded, theoretically engaged and methodologically sophisticated research in all sub-fields of cultural anthropology. Because the National Science Foundation’s mission is to support basic research, the NSF Cultural Anthropology Program does not fund research that takes as its primary goal improved clinical practice, humanistic understanding or applied policy. A proposal that applies anthropological methods to a social problem but does not propose how that problem provides an opportunity to make a theory-testing and/or theory-expanding contribution to anthropology will be returned without review.
Program research priorities include, but are not limited to, research that increases our understanding of:
- Sociocultural drivers of critical anthropogenic processes such as deforestation, desertification, land cover change, urbanization and poverty.
- Resilience and robustness of sociocultural systems.
- Scientific principles underlying conflict, cooperation and altruism, as well as explanations of variation in culture, norms, behaviors and institutions.
- Economy, culture, migration and globalization.
- Variability and change in kinship and family norms and practices.
- General cultural and social principles underlining the drivers of health outcomes and disease transmission.
- Biocultural work that considers the nexus of human culture and its relationship with human biology.
- Social regulation, governmentality and violence.
- Origins of complexity in sociocultural systems.
- Language and culture: orality and literacy, sociolinguistics and cognition.
- Theoretically-informed approaches to co-production in relation to scientific understandings of human variability and environmental stewardship.
- Mathematical and computational models of sociocultural systems such as social network analysis, agent-based models, multi-level models, and modes that integrate agent-based simulations and geographic information systems (GIS).
As part of its effort to encourage and support projects that explicitly integrate education and basic research, CA provides support to enhance and improve the conduct of doctoral dissertation projects designed and carried out by doctoral students enrolled in U.S. institutions of higher education who are conducting scientific research that enhances basic scientific knowledge.
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Title: Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (MPS-Ascend)
Award Type: Fellowship
Award information:
Subject to the availability of funds.
Number of awards: 20 to 50
Deadline: 18.10.2023
Summary:
The purpose of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (MPS-Ascend) program is to support postdoctoral Fellows who will broaden the participation of members of groups that are historically excluded and currently underrepresented in MPS fields in the U.S., defined in this solicitation as Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, Indigenous and Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Native Pacific Islanders, as future leaders in MPS fields.
The program is intended to recognize beginning investigators of significant potential and provide them with experience in research that will broaden perspectives, facilitate interdisciplinary interactions, and help broaden participation within MPS fields. The program funds postdoctoral Fellows in research environments that will have maximal impact on their future scientific development and facilitates their transition into a faculty appointment. Awards will support research in any scientific area within the purview of the five MPS Divisions: the Divisions of Astronomical Sciences (AST), Chemistry (CHE), Materials Research (DMR), Mathematical Sciences (DMS), and Physics (PHY). Fellowships are awards to individuals, not institutions, and are administered by the Fellows.
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Title: SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (SPRF)
Award Type: Fellowship
Number of awards: 15 to 20
Award information:
The maximum anticipated funding amount is approximately $3,000,000 per year contingent upon the quality of proposals and availability of funds.
Summary:
The Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) offers Postdoctoral Research Fellowships to encourage independence early in the fellow’s career by supporting his or her research and training goals. The research and training plan of each fellowship must address important scientific questions within the scope of the SBE directorate and the specific guidelines in this solicitation. The SPRF program offers two tracks: (I) Fundamental Research in the SBE Sciences (SPRF-FR) and (II) Broadening Participation in the SBE Sciences (SPRF-BP). See the full text of the solicitation for a detailed description of these tracks.
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Title: Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (AGS-PRF)
Award Type: Fellowship
Number of awards: 10
Award information:
The expected annual budget for the AGS-PRF program is $2 M, for up to 10 awards per year, subject to availability of funds. Year one budget of the Fellowship will be $100,000, and that will increase to $102,000 in year two.
Deadline: Accepted Anytime
Summary:
The Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS), awards Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (PRF) to highly qualified early career investigators to carry out an independent research program. The research plan of each Fellowship must address scientific questions within the scope of AGS disciplines. These disciplines include Atmospheric Chemistry (ATC), Climate and Large-Scale Dynamics (CLD), Paleoclimate (PC), and Physical and Dynamic Meteorology (PDM) in the Atmospheric Sciences, and Aeronomy (AER), Magnetospheric Physics (MAG), Solar Terrestrial (ST), and Space Weather Research (SWR) in the Geospace Sciences.
The AGS-PRF program supports researchers (also known as Fellows) for a period of up to 24 months with Fellowships that can be taken to the institution of their choice. The program is intended to recognize beginning investigators of significant potential and provide them with experiences in research that will broaden perspectives, facilitate interdisciplinary interactions, and help establish them in leadership positions within the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences community. Fellowships are awards to individual Fellows, not institutions, and are administered by the Fellows.
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Title: Build and Broaden: Enhancing Social, Behavioral and Economic Science Research and Capacity at Minority-Serving Institutions (B2)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 25 to 30
Deadline: 18.01.2024
Summary:
Broadens participation in the social, behavioral and economic sciences through support for research, training and research infrastructure at minority-serving institutions, including partnerships with and among those institutions.
Build and Broaden (B2) supports fundamental research and research capacity across disciplines at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and encourages research collaborations with scholars at MSIs. Growing the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce is a national priority. National forecasts of the impending shortage of workers with science and engineering skills and essential research workers underscore a need to expand opportunities to participate in STEM research (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2012).
MSIs make considerable contributions to educating and training science leaders for U.S. economic growth and competitiveness. Yet NSF has received comparatively few grant submissions from, or involving, scholars at MSIs. Targeted outreach activities reveal that MSIs have varying degrees of familiarity with funding opportunities within NSF and particularly within the Social, Behavioral and Economic (SBE) Sciences Directorate. As a result, NSF is limited in its ability to support research and training opportunities in the SBE sciences at these institutions.
With its emphasis on broadening participation , Build and Broaden is designed to address this problem. SBE offers Build and Broaden in order to increase proposal submissions, advance research collaborations and networks involving MSI scholars, and support research activities in the SBE sciences at MSIs. Proposals that outline research projects in the SBE sciences that increase students’ pursuit of graduate training, enhance PI productivity build research capacity, or cultivate partnerships are especially encouraged to apply.
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Title: Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1 (Mid-scale RI-1)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant and Cooperative Agreement
Number of awards: 5 to 10
Award information:
Estimated two-year FY 2023/24 Mid-scale RI-1 program budget is subject to appropriated funds.
Summary:
Supports the design and implementation of research infrastructure — including equipment, cyberinfrastructure, large-scale datasets and personnel — whose total project costs exceed NSF’s Major Research Instrumentation program but are under $20 million.
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Title: EAR Postdoctoral Fellowships (EAR-PF)
Award Type: Fellowship
Number of awards: 10 to 12
Award information:
The expected annual budget for the EAR-PF program is $2.16 M, for up to 12 awards per year ($90,000 per year per fellowship).
Summary:
The Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) awards Postdoctoral Fellowships to recent recipients of doctoral degrees to conduct an integrated program of independent research and professional development. Fellowship proposals must address scientific questions within the scope of EAR disciplinary programs and must align with the overall theme for the postdoctoral program. Fellowship proposals that address questions at the intersections of several EAR disciplinary programs, such as interdisciplinary critical zone (CZ) science or topics related to Cooperative Studies of Earth’s Deep Interior (CSEDI), are also appropriate.
The program supports researchers for a period of up to two years with fellowships that can be taken to the institution of their choice (including institutions abroad). The program is intended to recognize beginning investigators of significant potential, and provide them with research experience, mentorship, and training that will establish them in leadership positions in the Earth Sciences community. Because the fellowships are offered only to postdoctoral scientists early in their career, doctoral advisors are encouraged to discuss the availability of EAR postdoctoral fellowships with their graduate students early in their doctoral programs. Fellowships are awards to individuals, not institutions, and are administered by the Fellows.
EAR has made it a priority to address challenges in creating an inclusive geoscience discipline through activities that increase belonging, accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (BAJEDI). Proposers are encouraged to explicitly address this particular priority in their proposed activities. Proposers who are women, veterans, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), or who have attended two-year colleges and minority-serving institutions for undergraduate or graduate school, or plan to conduct their fellowship activities at one of these institutions (e.g. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Alaska Native Serving Institutions, and Hawaiian Native and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions) are especially encouraged to apply.
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Title: Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB)
Award Type: Fellowship
Number of awards: 60
Award information:
Approximately $12 million for Competitive Areas 1 and 2; and up to $3 million for Competitive Area 3, from the Plant Genome Research Program in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS). Funding is contingent upon availability of funds.
Deadline: Various
Summary:
The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) awards Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB) to recent recipients of the doctoral degree for research and training in selected areas supported by BIO and with special goals for human resource development in biology. For applications under this solicitation, these areas are (1) Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology, (2) Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes, and (3) Plant Genome Postdoctoral Research Fellowships.
The fellowships encourage independence at an early stage of the research career to permit Fellows to pursue their research and training goals in the most appropriate research locations in collaboration with sponsoring scientists. It is expected that the sponsoring scientists will actively mentor the Fellows and will greatly benefit from collaborating with these talented early-career scientists and incorporating them into their research groups. The research and training plan of each fellowship must address important scientific questions within the scope of BIO and the specific guidelines in this fellowship program solicitation. Because the fellowships are offered to postdoctoral scientists only early in their careers, NSF encourages doctoral students to discuss the availability of these postdoctoral fellowships with their doctoral mentors and potential postdoctoral sponsors early in their doctoral programs to take full advantage of this funding opportunity. Fellowships are awards to individuals, not institutions, and are administered by the Fellows.
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Title: Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant and Cooperative Agreement
Number of awards: 10 to 15
Award information:
for all project types in each competition year.
Anticipated funding amount, number of awards, and average award size and duration are contingent upon the availability of funds.
Summary:
In 2016, the National Science Foundation (NSF) unveiled a set of “Big Ideas,” 10 bold, long-term research and process ideas that identify areas for future investment at the frontiers of science and engineering. The Big Ideas represent unique opportunities to position our Nation at the cutting edge of global science and engineering leadership by bringing together diverse disciplinary perspectives to support convergence research. As such, when responding to this solicitation, even though proposals must be submitted to the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) / Division of Human Resource Development (HRD), once received, the proposals will be managed by a cross-disciplinary team of NSF Program Directors.
NSF INCLUDES is a comprehensive, national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) discovery and innovation, focused on NSF’s commitment to ensuring accessibility and inclusivity in STEM fields, as communicated in the NSF Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years (FY) 2022 – 2026. The vision of NSF INCLUDES is to catalyze the STEM enterprise to work collaboratively for inclusive change, resulting in a STEM workforce that reflects the diversity of the Nation’s population. More specifically, NSF INCLUDES seeks to motivate and accelerate collaborative infrastructure building to advance equity and sustain systemic change to broaden participation in STEM fields at scale. Significant advancement in the inclusion of groups that have historically been excluded from or underserved in STEM will result in a new generation of STEM talent and leadership to secure the Nation’s future and long-term economic competitiveness.
With this solicitation, NSF offers support for five types of projects that connect and contribute to the National Network: (1) Design and Development Launch Pilots, (2) Collaborative Change Consortia, (3) Alliances, (4) Network Connectors, and (5) Conferences. The NSF INCLUDES National Network is a multifaceted collaboration of agencies, organizations, and individuals working collectively to broaden participation in STEM. The NSF INCLUDES National Network serves as a testbed for designing, implementing, studying, refining, and scaling collaborative change models and is composed of:
- NSF INCLUDES funded projects
- Other NSF funded projects
- Subcommittee on Federal Coordination in STEM Education (FC-STEM) agencies
- Scholars engaged in broadening participation research and evaluation, and
- Organizations that support the development of talent from all sectors of society to build an inclusive STEM workforce.
All NSF INCLUDES funded projects must operationalize five design elements of collaborative infrastructure – (1) shared vision, (2) partnerships, (3) goals and metrics, (4) leadership and communication, and (5) expansion, sustainability, and scale – to create systemic change that will lead to the substantially broadened participation of individuals from historically excluded and underserved groups in STEM.
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Title: NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships (AAPF)
Award Type: Fellowship
Number of awards: 8 to 9
Award information:
in FY2023, subject to the availability of funds
Summary:
NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships provide an opportunity for highly qualified, recent doctoral scientists to carry out an integrated program of independent research and education. Fellows may engage in observational, instrumental, theoretical, laboratory or archival data research in any area of astronomy or astrophysics, in combination with a coherent educational plan for the duration of the fellowship. The program supports researchers for a period of up to three years with fellowships that may be taken to eligible host institutions of their choice. The program is intended to recognize early-career investigators of significant potential and to provide them with experience in research and education that will establish them in positions of distinction and leadership in the scientific community.
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Title: Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 12
Award information:
in FY 2023, pending the availability of funds. That amount includes approximately $15.0M from NSF for new standard or continuing awards, approximately $7.5M from NIH for new or continuing awards, and $14.0M from NIFA for new awards. The expected funding from UKRI for the UK component of the US-UK Collaborative Projects will be a maximum of £3.0M. The expected funding from the BSF for the Israeli component of the US-Israel Collaborative Projects will be a maximum of $720,000. This funding from the NSFC for the Chinese component of the US-China Collaborative Projects will be a maximum of ¥9M.
Summary:
The multi-agency Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program supports research on the ecological, evolutionary, organismal, and social drivers that influence the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. The central theme of submitted projects must be the quantitative, mathematical, or computational understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics. The intent is discovery of principles of infectious disease (re)emergence and transmission and testing mathematical or computational models that elucidate infectious disease systems. Projects should be broad, interdisciplinary efforts that go beyond the scope of typical studies.
They should focus on the determinants and interactions of (re)emergence and transmission among any host species, including but not limited to humans, non-human animals, and/or plants. This includes, for example, the spread of pathogens; the influence of environmental factors such as climate; the population dynamics and genetics of vectors and reservoir species or hosts; how the physiology or behavior of the pathogen, vector, or host species biology affects transmission dynamics; the feedback between ecological transmission and evolutionary dynamics; and the cultural, social, behavioral, and economic dimensions of pathogen transmission and disease. Research may be on zoonotic, environmentally-borne, vector-borne, enteric, or respiratory pathogens of either terrestrial or aquatic systems and organisms, including diseases of animals and plants, at any scale from specific pathogens to inclusive environmental systems. Proposals for research on disease systems of public health concern to Low- or Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) are strongly encouraged, as are disease systems of concern in agricultural systems.
Investigators are encouraged to develop the appropriate multidisciplinary team, including for example, anthropologists, modelers, ecologists, bioinformaticians, genomics researchers, social scientists, economists, oceanographers, mathematical scientists, behaviorists, epidemiologists, evolutionary biologists, entomologists, immunologists, parasitologists, microbiologists, bacteriologists, virologists, pathologists or veterinarians, with the goal of integrating knowledge across disciplines to enhance our ability to predict and control infectious diseases.
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Title: Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (MSPRF)
Award Type: Fellowship
Number of awards: 35 to 40
Deadline: 18.10.2023
Summary:
The purpose of the Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (MSPRF) is to support future leaders in mathematics and statistics by facilitating their participation in postdoctoral research environments that will have maximal impact on their future scientific development. There are two options for awardees: Research Fellowship and Research Instructorship. Awards will support research in areas of mathematics and statistics, including applications to other disciplines.
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Title: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
Award Type: Fellowship
Number of awards:
2750 The NSF expects to award 2,750 Graduate Research Fellowships per fiscal year under this program solicitation pending availability of funds.
Deadline: Various
Summary:
The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to help ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or in STEM education. The GRFP provides three years of support over a five-year fellowship period for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements in STEM or STEM education. NSF actively encourages women, persons who are members of groups historically underrepresented in STEM, persons with disabilities, and veterans to apply.
NSF GRFP was established to recruit and support individuals who demonstrate the potential to make significant contributions in STEM. Thus, NSF especially encourages applications from undergraduate seniors and Bachelor’s degree-holders interested in pursuing research-based graduate study in STEM. First- and second-year graduate students in eligible STEM fields and degree programs are also encouraged to apply.
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Title: Joint DMS/NIGMS Initiative to Support Research at the Interface of the Biological and Mathematical Sciences (DMS/NIGMS)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 15 to 25
Award information:
Up to $5,000,000 per year for new proposals (up to $2,000,000 from NSF and up to $3,000,000 from NIGMS), subject to availability of funds and receipt of meritorious proposals. Track 1 – for exploratory projects of high-risk, high-reward, or those from new collaborative teams, with total budgets of up to $600,000 for an award duration of 3 years. Track 2 – for projects of large scope from well-established teams, with total budgets of up to $1,200,000 for an award duration of 3-4 years.
Summary:
The Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) plan to support fundamental research in mathematics and statistics necessary to answer questions in the biological and biomedical sciences. Both agencies recognize the need to promote research at the interface between mathematical and life sciences. This program is designed to encourage new collaborations, as well as to support innovative activities by existing teams.
The joint DMS/NIGMS initiative offers two submission tracks: Track 1 – for projects with a total budget of up to $600,000 for an award duration of 3 years, and Track 2 – for projects with a total budget of up to $1,200,000 for an award duration of 3-4 years.
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Title: Computer and Information Science and Engineering Research Initiation Initiative (CRII)
Award Type: Standard Grant
Number of awards: 55 to 60
Award information:
CISE expects the total funding to be up to $10,000,000 each year, subject to the availability of funds.
Each award will be up to $175,000 for a period of 24 months.
Deadline: 18.09.2023
Summary:
The NSF Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) seeks to award grants intended to support research independence among early-career academicians who specifically lack access to adequate organizational or other resources.
It is expected that funds obtained through this program will be used to support untenured faculty or research scientists (or equivalent) in their first three years in a primary academic position after the PhD, but not more than six years after completion of their PhD for proposals submitted in 2022, and not more than five years after completion of their PhD for proposals submitted after 2022. Applicants for this program may not yet have received any other grants or contracts in the PI role from any department, agency, or institution of the federal government, including from the CAREER program or any other program, post-PhD, regardless of the size of the grant or contract, with certain exceptions as noted below. Serving as co-PI, Senior Personnel, Postdoctoral Fellow, or other Fellow does not count against this eligibility rule.
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Title: Engineering Research Initiation (ERI)
Award Type: Standard Grant
Number of awards: 55
Award information:
An ERI award, including indirect costs, must not exceed $200,000 for a duration of 24 months. The award funds may be used for research expenses, trainee support (e.g., students and/or postdocs), Principal Investigator (PI) salary and may include modest equipment cost necessary for the successful initiation and conduct of the proposed research.
Summary:
The NSF Directorate for Engineering (ENG) seeks to build engineering research capacity across the nation by investing in new academic investigators who have yet to receive research funding from Federal Agencies. The Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) program will support new investigators as they initiate their research programs and advance in their careers as researchers, educators, and innovators. This funding opportunity aims to broaden the base of investigators involved in engineering research and therefore is limited to investigators that are not affiliated with “very high research activity” R1 institutions.
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Title: Computer and Information Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships (CSGrad4US)
Award Type: Fellowship
Deadline: Various
Summary:
This fellowship program provides funding for individuals who have some practical experience following their bachelor’s degree and are now interested in pursuing a research-based doctoral degree in computer and information science and engineering.
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Title: Cooperative Studies of the Earth’s Deep Interior (CSEDI)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 10 to 15
Award information:
per year, pending availability of funds
Summary:
The Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) invites the submission of proposals for collaborative, interdisciplinary studies of the Earth’s interior within the framework of the community-based initiative known as Cooperative Studies of the Earth’s Deep Interior (CSEDI). Funding will support basic research on the character and dynamics of the Earth’s mantle and core, their influence on the evolution of the Earth as a whole, and on processes operating within the deep interior that affect or are expressed on the Earth’s surface. Projects may employ any combination of field, laboratory, and computational studies with observational, theoretical, or experimental approaches. Support is available for research and research infrastructure through grants and cooperative agreements awarded in response to investigator-initiated proposals from U.S. universities and other eligible institutions. Interdisciplinary projects are required.
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Title: Leading Culture Change Through Professional Societies of Biology (BIO-LEAPS)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 11 to 14
Summary:
The Leading Culture Change through Professional Societies of Biology (BIO-LEAPS) program aims to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the biological sciences broadly by leveraging the leadership, broad reach, and unique ability of professional societies to create culture change in the life sciences. The Directorate for Biological Sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF BIO) recognizes that culture change in the biological sciences is an urgent priority because it is foundational to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the discipline. The culture of a scientific discipline — defined here as the shared values, norms, traditions, and practices — can be thought of as an emergent property that results from years of experiences and interactions among scientists, their institutions, their professional societies, and their networks.
It is increasingly recognized that the perceptions and attitudes of that culture can be quite variable for different individuals and are often negative for individuals historically excluded from the sciences (e.g., based on gender, gender identity, disability status, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, the intersections of these, and others). Therefore, this program is designed to foster the necessary culture change within biology to move towards an equitable and inclusive culture that supports a diverse community of biologists that more fully reflects the demographic composition of the US population.
Professional societies are uniquely positioned to help facilitate culture change in their disciplines through: publishing journals, fostering scientific discussion and debate, broad membership (including membership from academia, government agencies, and private businesses), hosting large scientific meetings that can serve as networking and professional development opportunities for people at many professional levels, and electing leaders that greatly influence views and norms within a discipline. Recognizing that culture change in biology will require broad, sustained, and innovative approaches for meaningful and lasting changes to occur, society leaders will need to enable and support the establishment and definition of new norms and practices in biology and to encourage engagement with experts in diversity, equity, and inclusion-related organizational change.
NSF BIO will support awards that leverage the work of professional societies towards facilitating necessary culture change in the biological sciences to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion at scale — In other words, at the broad and deep scales that are required to address this systemic issue. Examples of evidence-based work that will be supported through this program include (but are not limited to): (1) creating transparent norms and practices that engender and support a sense of belonging and identity for diverse scientists from all backgrounds and demographics; (2) mitigating the systemic factors that result in inequities in the biological sciences, such as the perception of who a “scientist” is, and any factors that discourage diverse participation in biology; (3) assessing the state of norms and practices in professional societies and/or the other components and institutions within their disciplines; and, (4) planning, implementing, and assessing society-sponsored activities to change culture — such as safe conference best practices, strategies to mitigate implicit bias in hiring/promotion for society leadership positions, diversification of editorial boards, etc.
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Title: Geospace Environment Modeling (GEM)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 10 to 15
Award information:
for new awards in each year, pending the availability of funds
Deadline: 02.10.2023
Summary:
Geospace Environment Modeling (GEM) is a broad-based research program investigating the physics of the Earth’s magnetosphere and the coupling of the magnetosphere to the atmosphere and to the solar wind. The goal of the GEM program is to make accurate predictions of the geospace environment by developing physical understanding of the large-scale organization and dynamics through observations, theory, and increasingly realistic models.
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Title: Ethical and Responsible Research (ER2)
Award Type: Standard Grant
Award information:
This solicitation will consider proposals for four types of projects:
- Conference Projects with a total budget of $50,000 and a maximum duration of 12 months.
- Incubation Projects with a total budget of up to $90,000 and a maximum duration of 12 months.
- Research Grants with a total budget of up to $400,000 and a maximum duration of 3 years.
- Institutional Transformation Research Grants with a total budget of up to $700,000 and a maximum duration of 5 years.
Number of awards: 10 to 15
Summary:
Ethical and Responsible Research (ER2) research projects use fundamental research to produce knowledge about what constitutes or promotes responsible or irresponsible conduct of research and why, as well as how to best instill responsible conduct of research into researchers, practitioners, and educators at all career stages. In some cases, projects will include the development of interventions or applications to ensure ethical and responsible research conduct.
The program funds research projects that identify:
(1) factors that are effective in the formation of ethical science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) researchers;
(2) approaches to developing those factors in all STEM fields that NSF supports; and
(3) why and how those factors and approaches increase responsibly conducted research.
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Title: Building Research Capacity of New Faculty in Biology (BRC-BIO)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 20 to 30
Deadline: 30.06.2023
Summary:
With a focus on enhancing research capacity and broadening participation of new faculty of biology at minority-serving institutions (MSIs), predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs), and other universities and colleges that are not among the nation’s most research-intensive institutions, the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) offers the Building Research Capacity of New Faculty in Biology (BRC-BIO) program.
The BRC-BIO program aims to a) broaden participation by expanding the types of institutions that submit proposals to BIO, and b) expand opportunities to groups underrepresented in the biological sciences, including Blacks and African Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, and persons with disabilities, especially those serving at under-resourced institutions. Awards will provide the means for new faculty to initiate and build independent research programs by enhancing their research capacity. These projects might also include biology-focused research collaborations among faculty within the same institution, across peer-, or research-intensive institutions, or partnerships with industry or other non-academic partners that advance the candidate’s research program. By providing this funding opportunity, BIO recognizes the national urgency to broaden, strengthen, and diversify the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. In particular, these awards will build capacity for research at institutions that have a primary focus on teaching and undergraduate education, or that have limited capacity for research. Projects should enable the establishment of sustainable research programs for faculty and also enrich undergraduate research experiences and thereby grow the STEM workforce. BRC-BIO welcomes proposals from principal investigators who share NSF’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
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Title: Centers for Innovation and Community Engagement in Solid Earth Geohazards
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant and Cooperative Agreement
Number of awards: 3 to 5
Summary:
Supports university-based centers that study the solid Earth processes underpinning natural hazards, broaden participation of underrepresented groups in the geoscience workforce, and foster community engagement through public outreach and hazard mitigation.
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Title: Research on the Science and Technology Enterprise: Indicators, Statistics, and Methods
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 5 to 10
Award information:
subject to the availability of funds
Deadline: 16.01.2024
Summary:
The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is one of the thirteen principal federal statistical agencies within the United States. It is responsible for the collection, acquisition, analysis, reporting and dissemination of objective, statistical data related to the science and technology (S&T) enterprise in the United States and other nations that is relevant and useful to practitioners, researchers, policymakers and the public. NCSES uses this information to prepare a number of statistical data reports including Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering and the National Science Board’s biennial report, Science and Engineering (S&E) Indicators.
The Center would like to enhance its efforts to support analytic and methodological research in support of its surveys as well as promote the education and training of researchers in the use of large-scale nationally representative datasets. NCSES welcomes efforts by the research community to use NCSES or other data to conduct research on the S&T enterprise, develop improved survey methodologies that could benefit NCSES surveys, explore alternate data sources that could supplement NCSES data, create and improve indicators of S&T activities and resources, strengthen methodologies to analyze S&T statistical data, and explore innovative ways to communicate S&T statistics. To that end, NCSES invites proposals for individual or multi-investigator research projects, doctoral dissertation improvement awards, conferences, experimental research, survey research and data collection, and dissemination projects under its program for Research on the Science and Technology Enterprise: Indicators, Statistics, and Methods (NCSES S&T).
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Title: Division of Physics: Investigator-Initiated Research Projects (PHY)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant and Cooperative Agreement
Number of awards: 300
Award information:
Pending availability of funds, approximately $90M will be committed for the total budget of all new awards in each year. Estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds.
Summary:
The Division of Physics (PHY) supports physics research and the preparation of future scientists in the nation’s colleges and universities across a broad range of physics disciplines that span scales of space and time from the largest to the smallest and the oldest to the youngest. The Division is comprised of disciplinary programs covering experimental and theoretical research in the following major subfields of physics: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics; Elementary Particle Physics; Gravitational Physics; Integrative Activities in Physics; Nuclear Physics; Particle Astrophysics; Physics at the Information Frontier; Physics of Living Systems; Plasma Physics; and Quantum Information Science. Principal Investigators (PIs) are encouraged to consider including specific efforts to increase diversity of the physics community and broaden participation of under-represented groups in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
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Title: EHR Core Research (ECR:Core)
Award Type: Standard Grant, Continuing Grant
Number of awards: 40
Summary:
The EHR Core Research (ECR) program offers this ECR:Core solicitation and invites proposals for fundamental research (curiosity-driven basic research and use-inspired basic research) that contributes to the general, explanatory knowledge that underlies STEM education in one or more of the three broadly conceived Research Areas: Research on STEM Learning and Learning Environments, Research on Broadening Participation in STEM fields, and Research on STEM Workforce Development. Within this framework, the ECR program supports a wide range of fundamental STEM education research activities, aimed at learners of all groups and ages in formal and informal settings.
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