Funding Opportunities

The NSF SBIR/STTR programs support moving scientific excellence and technological innovation from the lab to the market. By funding startups and small businesses, NSF helps build a strong national economy and stimulates the creation of novel products, services, and solutions in private, public, or government sectors with potential for broad impact; strengthens the role of small business in meeting federal research and development needs; increases the commercial application of federally supported research results; and develops and expands the US workforce, especially by fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses.

The NSF SBIR/STTR Phase II programs provide non-dilutive funding for the development of a broad range of technologies based on discoveries in science and engineering with potential for societal and economic impacts. Unlike fundamental or basic research activities that focus on scientific and engineering discovery itself, the NSF SBIR/STTR programs support the creation of opportunities to move use-inspired and translational discoveries out of the lab and into the market or other use at scale, through startups and small businesses. The NSF SBIR/STTR programs do not solicit specific technologies or procure goods and services. The funding provided is non-dilutive. Any invention conceived or reduced to practice with the assistance of SBIR/STTR funding is subject to the Bayh/Dole Act. For more information, refer to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), #75.

NSF encourages input and participation from the full spectrum of diverse talent that society has to offer which includes underrepresented and underserved communities.

NSF seeks unproven, leading-edge, technology innovations that demonstrate the following characteristics:

The innovations are underpinned and enabled by a new scientific discovery or meaningful engineering innovation.
The innovations still require intensive technical research and development to be fully embedded in a reliable product or service.
The innovations have not yet been reduced to practice by anyone and it is not guaranteed, at present, that doing so is technically possible.
The innovations provide a strong competitive advantage that are not easily replicable by competitors (even technically proficient ones).
Once reduced to practice, the innovations are expected to result in a product or service that would either be disruptive to existing markets or create new markets/new market segments.
The NSF SBIR/STTR programs focus on stimulating technical innovation from diverse entrepreneurs and start-ups and small businesses by translating new scientific and engineering concepts into products and services that can be scaled and commercialized into sustainable businesses with significant societal benefits. The program provides non-dilutive funding for research and development (R&D) of use-inspired scientific and engineering activities for startups and small businesses. In Phase I, the emphasis is on de-risking those aspects preventing the innovation from reaching technical feasibility and driving the intended impact. In Phase II, R&D continues, but the emphasis starts to shift away from research and to development challenges which, if solved, would result in new sustainable competitive advantages to allow the company to differentiate itself and drive new value propositions to the market and society.

This NSF program is governed by 15 USC 638 and the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended (42 USC §1861, et seq.).

Communities in the United States (US) and around the world are entering a new era of transformation in which residents and their surrounding environments are increasingly connected through rapidly-changing intelligent technologies. This transformation offers great promise for improved wellbeing and prosperity but poses significant challenges at the complex intersection of technology and society. The goal of the NSF Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) program solicitation is to accelerate the creation of the scientific and engineering foundations that will enable smart and connected communities to bring about new levels of economic opportunity and growth, safety and security, health and wellness, accessibility and inclusivity, and overall quality of life.

For the purposes of this solicitation, communities are defined as having geographically-delineated boundaries — such as towns, cities, counties, neighborhoods, community districts, rural areas, and tribal regions — consisting of various populations, with the structure and ability to engage in meaningful ways with proposed research activities. A "smart and connected community" is, in turn, defined as a community that synergistically integrates intelligent technologies with the natural and built environments, including infrastructure, to improve the social, economic, and environmental well-being of those who live, work, learn, or travel within it. The S&CC program encourages researchers to work with community stakeholders to identify and define challenges they are facing, enabling those challenges to motivate use-inspired research questions. For this solicitation, community stakeholders may include some or all of the following: residents, neighborhood or community groups, nonprofit or philanthropic organizations, businesses, as well as municipal organizations such as libraries, museums, educational institutions, public works departments, and health and social services agencies. The S&CC program supports integrative research that addresses fundamental technological and social science dimensions of smart and connected communities and pilots solutions together with communities. Importantly, this program is interested in projects that consider the sustainability of the research outcomes beyond the life of the project, including the scalability and transferability of the proposed solutions.

This S&CC solicitation will support research projects in the following categories:

S&CC Integrative Research Grants (SCC-IRG) Tracks 1 and 2. Awards in this category will support fundamental integrative research that addresses technological and social science dimensions of smart and connected communities and pilots solutions together with communities. Track 1 proposals may request budgets ranging between $1,500,001 and $2,500,000, with durations of up to four years. Track 2 proposals may request budgets up to $1,500,000, with durations of up to three years.

S&CC Planning Grants (SCC-PG). Awards in this category are for capacity building to prepare project teams to propose future well-developed SCC-IRG proposals. Each of these awards will provide support for a period of one year and may be requested at a level not to exceed $150,000 for the total budget. S&CC is a cross-directorate program supported by NSF's Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Education and Human Resources (EHR), Engineering (ENG), and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE).

Communities in the United States (US) and around the world are entering a new era of transformation in which residents and their surrounding environments are increasingly connected through rapidly-changing intelligent technologies. This transformation offers great promise for improved wellbeing and prosperity but poses significant challenges at the complex intersection of technology and society. The goal of the NSF Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) program solicitation is to accelerate the creation of the scientific and engineering foundations that will enable smart and connected communities to bring about new levels of economic opportunity and growth, safety and security, health and wellness, accessibility and inclusivity, and overall quality of life.

For the purposes of this solicitation, communities are defined as having geographically-delineated boundaries — such as towns, cities, counties, neighborhoods, community districts, rural areas, and tribal regions — consisting of various populations, with the structure and ability to engage in meaningful ways with proposed research activities. A "smart and connected community" is, in turn, defined as a community that synergistically integrates intelligent technologies with the natural and built environments, including infrastructure, to improve the social, economic, and environmental well-being of those who live, work, learn, or travel within it. The S&CC program encourages researchers to work with community stakeholders to identify and define challenges they are facing, enabling those challenges to motivate use-inspired research questions. For this solicitation, community stakeholders may include some or all of the following: residents, neighborhood or community groups, nonprofit or philanthropic organizations, businesses, as well as municipal organizations such as libraries, museums, educational institutions, public works departments, and health and social services agencies. The S&CC program supports integrative research that addresses fundamental technological and social science dimensions of smart and connected communities and pilots solutions together with communities. Importantly, this program is interested in projects that consider the sustainability of the research outcomes beyond the life of the project, including the scalability and transferability of the proposed solutions.

This S&CC solicitation will support research projects in the following categories:

S&CC Integrative Research Grants (SCC-IRG) Tracks 1 and 2. Awards in this category will support fundamental integrative research that addresses technological and social science dimensions of smart and connected communities and pilots solutions together with communities. Track 1 proposals may request budgets ranging between $1,500,001 and $2,500,000, with durations of up to four years. Track 2 proposals may request budgets up to $1,500,000, with durations of up to three years.

S&CC Planning Grants (SCC-PG). Awards in this category are for capacity building to prepare project teams to propose future well-developed SCC-IRG proposals. Each of these awards will provide support for a period of one year and may be requested at a level not to exceed $150,000 for the total budget. S&CC is a cross-directorate program supported by NSF's Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Education and Human Resources (EHR), Engineering (ENG), and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE).

EREF is one of the largest sources of private research funding in North America related to sustainable materials management. Our grants program has provided millions of dollars in funding to cutting edge research institutions to help address the many challenges that exist.

The process for grant consideration involves the submission of a 2-page pre-proposal aligned with the areas noted in the RFP. Pre-proposals are reviewed by staff and EREF’s Research Council, a committee of subject matter experts. Successful pre-proposals are invited to submit full proposals, which are reviewed by both academic peers and non-academic subject matter experts. The Research Council uses these reviews and discusses the relevancy of the proposed research topics to create a recommendation for funding. This recommendation is then received by EREF’s Board of Directors for final award consideration.

Program Overview:
The Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services (NANH) grant program is designed to support Indian tribes and organizations that primarily serve and represent Native Hawaiians in sustaining indigenous heritage, culture, and knowledge. The program supports projects such as exhibitions, educational services and programming, workforce professional development, organizational capacity building, and collections stewardship.

Program Overview: The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21) supports the training and professional development of library and archives professionals; developing faculty and information leaders; and recruiting, educating, and retaining the next generation of library and archives professionals in order to develop a diverse library and archival workforce and meet the information needs of their communities.

Applications to IMLS should both advance knowledge and understanding and ensure that the federal investment made generates benefits to society. Specifically, the goals for this program are to generate projects of far-reaching impact that:

Recruit, train, develop, and retain a diverse workforce of library and archives professionals.

Develop faculty, library, and archives leaders by increasing the institutional capacity of libraries, archives, and graduate programs related to library and information science.

Enhance the training and professional development of the library and archival workforce to meet the needs of their communities.

Throughout its work, IMLS places importance on diversity, equity, and inclusion. This may be reflected in an IMLS-funded project in a wide range of ways, including efforts to serve individuals of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds; individuals with disabilities; individuals with limited functional literacy or information skills; individuals having difficulty using a library or museum; and underserved urban and rural communities, including children from families with incomes below the poverty line.

Application Process: The application process for the LB21 program has two phases; applicants must begin by applying for Phase I. For Phase I, all applicants must submit Preliminary Proposals by the September 20th deadline listed for this Notice of Funding Opportunity. For Phase II, only selected applicants will be invited to submit Full Proposals, and only those Invited Full Proposals will be considered for funding. Invited Full Proposals will be due March 20, 2025*.

Program Overview:
The Museum Grants for American Latino History and Culture (ALHC) grant program supports projects that build the capacity of American Latino history and culture museums to serve their communities as well as projects that broadly advance the growth and development of a professional workforce in American Latino institutions.

Program Overview:
Museums Empowered: Professional Development Opportunities for Museum Staff is a special initiative of the Museums for America grant program. It is designed to support projects that use the transformative power of professional development and training to generate systemic change within museums of all types and sizes.

Museums Empowered has four project categories:

Digital Technology: Provide museum staff with the skills to integrate digital technology into museum operations.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Support museum staff in providing inclusive and equitable services to people of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds and to individuals with disabilities.
Evaluation: Strengthen the ability of museum staff to use evaluation as a tool to shape museum programs and improve outcomes.
Organizational Management: Strengthen and support museum staff as the essential part of a resilient organizational culture.

Program Overview:
The Museums for America program supports museums of all sizes and disciplines in strategic, project-based efforts to serve the public through exhibitions, educational/interpretive programs, digital learning resources, professional development, community debate and dialogue, audience-focused studies, and/or collections management, curation, care, and conservation. Museums for America has three project categories:

Lifelong Learning
Community Engagement
Collections Stewardship and Access

Program Overview: The National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program (NLG-L) supports projects that address critical needs of the library and archives fields and have the potential to advance practice and strengthen library and archival services for the American public. Successful proposals will generate results such as new models, tools, research findings, services, practices, and/or alliances that can be widely used, adapted, scaled, or replicated to extend and leverage the benefits of federal investment.

Applications to IMLS should both advance knowledge and understanding and ensure that the federal investment made generates benefits to society. Specifically, the goals for this program are to generate projects of far-reaching impact that:

Build the workforce and institutional capacity for managing the national information infrastructure and serving the information and education needs of the public.

Build the capacity of libraries and archives to lead and contribute to efforts that improve community well-being and strengthen civic engagement.

Improve the ability of libraries and archives to provide broad access to and use of information and collections with emphasis on collaboration to avoid duplication and maximize reach.

Strengthen the ability of libraries to provide services to affected communities in the event of an emergency or disaster.

Strengthen the ability of libraries, archives, and museums to work collaboratively for the benefit of the communities they serve.

Throughout its work, IMLS places importance on diversity, equity, and inclusion. This may be reflected in an IMLS-funded project in a wide range of ways, including efforts to serve individuals of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds; individuals with disabilities; individuals with limited functional literacy or information skills; individuals having difficulty using a library or museum; and underserved urban and rural communities, including children from families with incomes below the poverty line.