Nuclear Physics - Experiment ( NP-E)

Proposal submission Target Date:

• The second Tuesday in December

• December 8, 2026, for fiscal year 2027

• Proposals submitted after the Target Date of the fiscal year may be considered for funding in the following fiscal year.

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Nuclear physics ranges from the very tiny kernel at the center of all atoms to gigantic stars burning throughout the universe, as understood through the strong and electroweak interactions.  It seeks to answer questions such as:

• How do quarks and gluons make up protons, neutrons, and atomic nuclei?

• How do the rich patterns observed in the structure and reactions of nuclei emerge from the interactions between neutrons and protons?

• What are the nuclear processes that drive the birth, life, and death of stars?

• How do we use atomic nuclei to uncover physics beyond the Standard Model?

Responding to these fundamental questions leads researchers to develop both innovative and incremental advances in nuclear physics and other fields.

The Nuclear Physics - Experiment program supports research at the frontiers of nuclear science, including: properties and behavior of nuclei and nuclear matter under extreme conditions, and/or as they relate to astrophysical phenomena; the quark-gluon basis for the structure and dynamics of hadrons and nuclei; phase transitions of nuclear matter from normal nuclear density and temperature to the high-temperature quark-gluon plasma; basic interactions and fundamental symmetries; and neutrino properties as determined through neutrino-less double beta decay.  This research involves many venues, including low-energy to multi-GeV electrons and photons; intermediate-energy light ions; low-energy to relativistic heavy ions, including radioactive beams; cold and ultra-cold neutrons; weakly decaying nuclei; as well as non-accelerator-based experiments. 

The program supports university groups executing experiments at laboratories and facilities in the United States and abroad.  The program also supports smaller university-based accelerator facilities. Some awards are co-funded with other programs within MPS Physics and elsewhere at NSF.

Proposals that include scientific scope outside the program may be co-reviewed with other MPS Physics programs or other NSF programs.  Proposals submitted to the program that are determined to be more complex may, at the discretion of the program, be subjected to additional levels of review.