U.S.-UK Center-to-Centre Collaboration Opportunities for Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Information Science and Technology

Dear Colleagues:

To enhance scientific and technological cooperation between the United States and the United Kingdom, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) welcome the opportunity to support collaboration between research centers with complementary strengths and shared interests to promote scientific progress in solving some of the world's most challenging problems. Continued and expanded support for bilateral research collaborations can be mutually beneficial to the U.S. and UK science and technology (S&T) research communities, for example by establishing or strengthening existing research partnerships in artificial intelligence (AI) or quantum information science and technology (QIST) to accelerate progress in areas of shared priority, as reflected in the recent U.S-UK Technology Prosperity Deal.

NSF investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) aim to foster the next generation of algorithmic breakthroughs while simultaneously accelerating AI-powered discovery across all fields of science and engineering. Central to these goals are the development and support of both a robust research infrastructure and a world-class workforce for the AI era. Similarly, NSF has long supported research to advance QIST from basic theory and laboratory tests towards practical devices, systems, and applications that will lay the foundations for quantum information processing technologies, quantum networks, and quantum sensors that will enable new capabilities in industry and open new horizons for scientific discovery. As the science and engineering enterprise continues to expand in both AI and QIST, global engagement is necessary to address the most complex research challenges.

OPPORTUNITY

With this Dear Colleague Letter, NSF invites supplemental funding requests from current NSF awardees of center-scale programs or institutes in the areas of AI or QIST to add a new, or strengthen an existing, international dimension to their award through collaboration with a UK center/ institute. The proposed international collaboration should advance efforts to achieve the goals of the institute/center as outlined in the existing NSF award. Supplemental funding requests should describe activities that will confer mutual benefits and represent a true intellectual collaboration with counterparts in UK centers. UKRI intends to offer similar types of supplemental opportunities for their UK awardees. NSF and UKRI intend to exchange information on supplement requests received, such as PI names, institutions, project titles and requested budgets to coordinate decisions on recommended awards.

These supplemental funding requests are anticipated to be for up to $500,000, subject to availability of funds and quality of supplemental funding requests. Any US-UK collaborative activities that both enhance the vision of the submitting Center(s) or Institute(s) and advance the goals and impact of the participating NSF funding program(s) are in scope for this funding opportunity. For further guidance on the scope, prior to submission please contact the managing program director(s) for the participating NSF programs through which the original award was made. A list of NSF programs that support center-scale programs/institutes participating in this opportunity can be found at: https://www.nsf.gov/od/oise/us-uk-center-to-centre-programs.

International collaborations may consist of short-term visits (up to 1 month) to establish relationships or mid- to long-term visits (up to 12 months) to engage in research activities. They also could include a variety of other activities, including but not limited to: coordinating meetings or workshops, costs associated with starting a new research collaboration, facility and equipment use fees, support for creating data sets and data standards, and support for joint training opportunities. Funding should provide support for activities intended to begin and make substantial progress on the proposed activities within 12 months of the supplement being awarded.

Supplement requests should emphasize the value added by the new or expanded U.S.-UK collaboration related to the following areas.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Supplement requests should address the benefits of US-UK collaboration in use-inspired AI research in which fundamental developments in AI are motivated by real world science and engineering problems. Leveraging existing NSF AI Research Institutes as well as other NSF supported centers and institutes with AI activity with matched investments from UKRI's Artificial Intelligence Hubs for Real Data and for Scientific and Engineering Research, supplement requests should be reflective of the priorities put forward in the U.S-UK Technology Prosperity Deal. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• AI for Biotechnology: Activities that accelerate the development of precision biotechnology capable of addressing complex biomedical and bioengineering challenges and harness biology to prototype and validate new products and applications that can improve lives. Advancing the maturity of AI-augmented design-build-test-learn cycles, including through the development and optimization of automated laboratory infrastructure, are examples of priority areas for center-to-centre collaboration.
• AI-Ready Datasets: Activities that collect, curate, or generate datasets that can be used to drive new AI-based capabilities related to biotechnology.
• AI-Literate Scientific Workforce: Efforts that contribute to development of an AI-literate scientific workforce across all career stages at the intersection of AI and all fields of science and engineering to enable the scientific community to effectively leverage AI as a tool for scientific progress.

Quantum Information Science and Technology (QIST)

Supplement requests in QIST should articulate how proposed activities will confer mutual benefits by adding or strengthening collaboration between U.S. Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes or similar large-scale efforts and UK Quantum Technology Research Hubs. The proposed activities should address key quantum information science, quantum engineering, and quantum workforce development questions, both to expand the fundamental understanding and to accelerate the demonstration of real-world impacts from use-inspired research on quantum phenomena and systems. Such collaborative efforts should embody the spirit of the “Joint Statement of the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Cooperation in Quantum Information Sciences and Technologies” https://2021-2025.state.gov/cooperation-in-quantum-information-sciences-and-technologies-uk/. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Quantum Sensors with Real World Impacts: Activities that can accelerate new applications of quantum sensors in fields such as biomedical science, neuroimaging, remote sensing, geospatial analysis, and precision navigation and timing (PNT). Research on and demonstration of new methods to monitor and ensure security of critical infrastructure. Field-testing prototypes in relevant environments, and co-designing devices with potential end-users are examples of activities that can be catalyzed by center-to-center collaborations.
• Quantum Information Science and Technology: Activities that answer key science and engineering questions, both to facilitate the fundamental understanding of quantum phenomena, and to blaze a trail for the translation of that fundamental knowledge into technological systems and applications. Joint efforts can accelerate proof-of-concept devices, applications, tools, or systems with a demonstrable quantum advantage over their classical counterparts that will form the basis of a revolutionary 21st-century technology.
• Quantum-Literate Scientific Workforce: Efforts that contribute to the development of a quantum-capable workforce across career stages and disciplines. Joint activities can foster a culture of discovery and promote the development of a multidisciplinary and agile workforce that can implement the results of quantum breakthroughs.

ELIGIBILITY

This opportunity is open only to PIs and co-PIs of active awards in NSF-led center- and institute-scale programs involving AI and/or quantum information science and technology. Eligible center-scale programs or institutes are listed here: https://www.nsf.gov/od/oise/us-uk-center-to-centre-programs. The PI, co-PI(s), senior personnel, graduate students, and/or postdoctoral researchers currently funded under the existing NSF award may participate in the international UK collaboration. Supplemental funding is not intended to significantly increase the personnel allocations from the base project.

PIs are strongly advised to consult with their cognizant NSF program officer of the original award to confirm eligibility prior to submitting a supplemental funding request.

HOW TO APPLY

The supplemental funding request must be prepared in accordance with the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), Chapter VI.E.5 and submitted electronically via Research.gov. The supplement request should be limited to a few pages and should include the following information in the request (in the supplement justification document, unless otherwise noted):

• Summary of proposed activity. Provide a succinct statement of the research problem pursued in the NSF award, describing both the intellectual merit and broader impacts of the proposed activities.
• Relevance and justification. Provide a justification of the need for the proposed U.S.-UK collaboration in the context of your NSF center-scale or institute award. Please include a brief description of how the proposed U.S.-UK collaboration will provide unique capabilities not otherwise available in the context of the research landscape in the U.S. and UK.
• Research plan. Summarize the major goals of the work, the scientific and technical approaches to be used, and the expected outcomes.
• Nature of proposed collaboration. Describe collaborative arrangements including the roles for the UK centers/institutes. If applicable, provide information on the history of collaborative efforts between the proposed partners (new versus existing collaborations). This description should address why the U.S-UK collaboration is needed to conduct the proposed activities and the benefit of the partnership to advance the field of study. This might include, but is not limited to, specialized skills, knowledge, data, equipment, facilities, and other resources the collaborators bring to the project. The description should also describe active engagement of U.S. students and early career researchers in the collaborative research, where appropriate.
• Qualifications of the research partners. In accordance with PAPPG Chapter II.C.2.f., provide a biographical sketch for each U.S. and international investigator named in the supplemental funding request (to be uploaded as a supplementary document).
• Documentation from the international investigator. Provide a letter of collaboration signed by the UK PI of the center/ institute you plan to collaborate with. This letter must indicate their role in the project, and the proposed duration of the collaboration. If they provide resources (e.g., materials and supplies, instrument time, training, housing, etc.), the letter must describe such resources (to be uploaded as a supplementary document).
• Budget and budget justification. Provide a budget for the requested amount accompanied by sufficient details in the budget justification for the activities to be supported by the supplemental funding.

WHAT MAY BE COVERED

The budget may only cover costs for the U.S.-based proposing center or institute investigators (including their students and postdocs) engaged in collaboration with a UK Artificial Intelligence Hub or UK Quantum Technology Research Hub, such as:

• Travel expenses for the U.S. investigators and/or students to establish relationships and/or to engage in research activities with collaborating UK centers;
• Research-related expenses (as allowed in the PAPPG) for the U.S. investigators and/or students to conduct the proposed collaborative research at the UK center or institute; and/or
• Research-related expenses (as allowed in the PAPPG) that are necessary to conduct the proposed collaborative research at the U.S. host institution.
• Considering the possibility of any travel restrictions, PIs are strongly encouraged to plan for virtual, hybrid or other alternative approaches in addition to international travel. It is expected that these approaches will extend U.S.-UK collaboration beyond any actual travel and strengthen the collaboration overall.

Requests for supplemental funding submitted in response to this DCL may not include requests for direct funding support to foreign organizations.

NSF funds may not be used to support:

• Research and training activities of international collaborators (i.e., scientists and/or their students) at non-U.S. locations;
• Travel and living expenses of international scientists and students to visit the U.S. host institution; or
• Salary or other compensation for international collaborators (i.e., scientists and/or their students).

Additionally, NSF will not approve requests for supplemental support for such purposes as defraying the costs of increases in salaries, wages or staff benefits or additional indirect cost (F&A) reimbursement, whether caused by a change in the indirect cost rate or by changes in direct cost expenditures that affect the indirect cost base.

Note: PIs are responsible for obtaining any required visas for foreign travel and, through the U.S. host research centers, institutes or laboratories, for providing documentation in support of U.S. visas for counterpart investigators from the UK. Information about obtaining visas for foreign visitors to the U.S. can be found here: https://www.nsf.gov/od/oise/for-travelers-main.jsp. PIs are also responsible for obtaining research permits and import/export documents, where necessary.

WHEN TO APPLY

For consideration in a given fiscal year (running from October 1 to September 30), requests must be received before May 1 of that fiscal year. However, interested proposers are encouraged to submit supplement requests by March 1, 2026, to allow adequate time for review and coordination.

Sincerely,

Susan Marqusee
Assistant Director, Biological Sciences (BIO)

Ellen Zegura
Acting Assistant Director, Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE)

Don Millard
Directorate Head, Engineering (ENG)

Joydip Kundu
Directorate Head, Geosciences (GEO)

David B. Berkowitz
Assistant Director, Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)

Alicia Knoedler
Office Head, Office of Integrative Activities (OIA)

Jessica Robin
Office Head, Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE)

Kaye Husbands Fealing
Assistant Director, Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE)

James Moore
Assistant Director, STEM Education (EDU)

Erwin Gianchandani
Assistant Director, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP)