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Dear Colleague Letter

Unleashing a new age of AI-enabled scientific discovery through the Genesis Mission

Invites proposal submissions to invest in AI-enabled scientific discovery and foundational research in support of the Genesis Mission National Science and Technology Challenges and Platform.
Invites proposal submissions to invest in AI-enabled scientific discovery and foundational research in support of the Genesis Mission National Science and Technology Challenges and Platform.

Dear Colleague:

With this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) encourages proposal submissions for AI-enabled scientific discovery and foundational research in support of the Genesis Mission, a dedicated, coordinated national effort to accelerate the application of AI for transformative scientific discovery, focused on pressing national science and technology challenges. NSF is interested in receiving proposals that respond to existing NSF funding opportunities and support the Genesis Mission. 

Background

As AI becomes an increasingly important element of scientific discovery and economic growth, the United States Government recognizes the need to invest in AI-enabled science to accelerate scientific advancement. On November 24, 2025, the Genesis Mission was created through Executive Order 14363: “Launching the Genesis Mission”. The Department of Energy (DOE) is charged with implementing the initiative, comprising two major pillars:

  1. The American Science and Security Platform (“Platform”), which will connect the world’s best supercomputers, experimental facilities, AI systems, and unique datasets across every major scientific domain and serve as a state-of-the-art enabling tool for DOE and Genesis Mission partners. 
     
  2. National Science and Technology (S&T) Challenges, which will demonstrate how AI can turbocharge scientific discovery and technological development to deliver continued U.S. leadership in science, technology, and national security. DOE has released an initial focused set of 26 National S&T Challenges, covering areas of interest to DOE. This list will be expanded in Summer 2026 to incorporate new challenges and collaboration from other Federal agencies.

NSF is uniquely positioned to contribute to the Genesis Mission, having long supported fundamental research that has both advanced the field of AI as well as the range of scientific research in other fields that can be turbocharged through the use of AI. This DCL encourages proposal submissions focused on advancing research and development crucial to scientific progress in the context of Genesis-relevant priorities and foci. 

Proposal Submission

NSF encourages proposals that support the Genesis Mission to be submitted to current open NSF funding opportunities. NSF is particularly interested in:

  1. Leveraging and Building AI for Science. Proposals that leverage AI for science or seek to build the foundations for AI-accelerated scientific discovery, including research that (a) leverages AI-driven workflows through autonomous or semi-autonomous laboratories, such as process optimization and intelligent experimentation, from biology to chemistry to materials science and beyond; (b) leverages AI models in combination with novel scientific datasets, which may integrate domain knowledge, mechanistic models, physical constraints, scientific literature, and reasoning to enable hypothesis generation and discovery across scientific domains; and (c) seeks to answer ambitious scientific questions across disciplines which are within reach due to emerging AI capabilities.
     
  2. Building Foundations for S&T Challenges. Proposals for foundational research that support one or more of the Genesis Mission National Science and Technology Challenges referenced above. Qualifying proposals to this DCL include all early-stage, fundamental research that would advance one or more National S&T Challenges. This may include research that does not itself leverage AI, but nonetheless supports the scientific activities described in the “AI Solution” section of a published challenge. 
     
  3. Growing Workforce and Capacity in AI for Science. Proposals that advance workforce and capacity-building initiatives in AI for science, particularly, but not limited to, research fellowship programs with industry cost-share and which involve hands-on technical training at Federal R&D facilities.

Principal investigators are asked to title proposals specifically responsive to this DCL with the “Genesis Mission:“ prefix followed by any applicable guidance in the open funding opportunities.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to engage with partners from industry, nonprofits, national laboratories, and other organizations, as permissible by the eligibility criteria and guidelines for specific funding opportunities, to strengthen project outcomes. Awarded projects will be eligible to apply for resources through the National AI Research Resource and the Genesis Mission platform.

NSF is excited to support investigators in building portfolios that contribute to the impact of the Genesis Mission. The DCL also aims to advance America’s AI Action Plan by building American innovation and infrastructure capability and capacity ensuring that American AI remains the gold standard for AI worldwide.  

Questions about this DCL should be directed to GenesisMissionNSF@nsf.gov. Proposals must meet all the requirements of the corresponding funding opportunities to which they are submitted, including eligibility, applicable deadlines and budget guidelines.

Sincerely,

Simon Malcomber
Chief Science Officer
U.S. National Science Foundation

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