National Science Foundation - Where Discoveries Begin

An eligible EPSCoR jurisdiction may submit only one RII Track-1 proposal in response to this solicitation. In addition, only the designated fiscal agent/proposing organization, acting on behalf of a jurisdiction's EPSCoR steering committee, may submit the RII Track-1 proposal.  More information on a jurisdiction’s EPSCoR steering committee may be obtained by contacting a cognizant Program Officer listed in Section VIII below.

An eligible institution may submit a maximum of two proposals (e.g. 2 RED Innovation Track or 1 RED A&I Track and 1 RED Two-year Track).

An organization may serve as the lead institution on one (1) LSAMP National Coordination Hub proposal or on one (1) Louis Stokes Community Resource Center proposal.

If an institution has two active ERC awards, it does not qualify to submit an ERC preliminary proposal as a lead institution. There are no other restrictions or limits on the number of preliminary proposals submitted by a lead institution. 

Full Proposals may be submitted only by invitation and only by the lead university designated in the preliminary proposal.

There are no restrictions or limits on Pilot or Implementation proposals.  Institutions are limited to one CIP proposal per CyberTraining program competition.  In the event that an institution exceeds this limit, proposals will be accepted based on earliest date and time of proposal submission, i.e., the first proposal will be accepted, and the remainder will be returned without review. No exceptions will be made.

For RII Track-4:NSF:  3

Only three proposals may be submitted in response to this solicitation by any single organization in an RII-eligible jurisdiction. If more than three proposals are received from any single institution for the competition, all proposals from that institution are subject to return without review. 

For RII Track-4:FAST:  6

Only six proposals may be submitted in response to this solicitation by any single organization in an RII-eligible jurisdiction.

For institutions eligible to submit both RII Track-4:NSF and RII Track-4:FAST proposals, only a total of nine proposals, three RII Track-4:NSF proposals and six RII Track-4:FAST proposals, may be submitted in response to this solicitation by any single organization in a RII-eligible jurisdiction.  If more than nine proposals are received from any single institution for the competition, all proposals from that institution are subject to return without review.

An organization may submit only one CISE-RV proposal in which it is the lead institution. This limit has been set to ensure that a single organization submits a strong and focused proposal that leverages all the resources available to that organization. In the event that an organization exceeds this limit, proposals will be accepted based on earliest date and time of proposal submission, i.e., the first proposal from that organization will be accepted, and the remainder will be returned without review. No exceptions will be made.

Up to two (2) Track 2 proposals per lead institution are allowed. There are no limits on the number of Track 1 proposals.

per Phase I award.

An organization may submit one NSF SBIR/STTR Phase I proposal per submission window (e.g., January 11, 2022 – March 3, 2022). An organization must wait for a determination from NSF (e.g., Award, Decline, or Returned Without Review) on the pending NSF SBIR/STTR Phase I proposal before submitting a new proposal in the next window. This eligibility constraint will be strictly enforced. In the event that an organization exceeds this limit, the first proposal received will be accepted, and any additional proposals submitted will be Returned Without Review. Declined proposals require a new invitation to submit (via the Project Pitch process) and significant revision, while proposals Returned Without Review may be submitted using the same invited Project Pitch (assuming that the proposal is received within one year of original the Project Pitch invitation).

• Planning or Pilot Projects (PPP) track: An eligible institution cannot have more than two active PPP awards. A new PPP proposal can be submitted by an institution with two active PPP awards if at least one of the awards has had its final report submitted before the submission deadline for HSI proposals. Institutions with an active HSI Track 1: Building Capacity award under the previous solicitations 18-524 and 19-540 are not eligible to submit PPP proposals or receive a PPP award until the prior HSI award’s final report is submitted.
• Implementation and Evaluation Projects (IEP) track: An eligible institution cannot have more than two active IEP awards. A new IEP proposal can be submitted by an institution with two active IEP awards if at least one of the awards has had its final report submitted prior to the HSI proposal submission deadline. A collaborative award counts as an HSI IEP award for all institutions. For institutions with a current Track 1: Building Capacity award under the previous solicitations 18-524 and 19-540, each award is considered an IEP award for the purpose of calculating active awards for this track.
• Institutional Transformation Projects (ITP) track: One submission per institution is allowed. Previous ITP awardees are not eligible to submit a proposal in the ITP track.

1. An institution may submit up to two proposals (either as a single institution or as subawardee or a member of an inter-institutional consortia project) for a given S-STEM deadline. Multiple proposals from an institution must not overlap with regard to S-STEM eligible disciplines. See Additional Eligibility Information below for more details (see IV. Eligibility Information).
2. Institutions with a current S-STEM award should wait at least until the end of the third year of execution of their current award before submitting a new S-STEM proposal focused on students pursuing degrees in the same discipline(s).

The above restrictions do not apply to collaborative planning grant proposals.

A single organization may submit a maximum of three preliminary proposals as the lead institution.  Full proposals are to be submitted only when invited by NSF.  There is no limit on the number of proposals in which an organization participates as a partner institution.  The STC program will not support more than one Center from any one lead institution in this competition.

Institutions that have received an NSF award in the CISE programs within the last five years listed in Section II are ineligible to serve as lead institutions, but may participate as collaborators.

There are also institutional limits based on how many active awards an institution has from the CISE-MSI program as noted below:

Research Capacity Building Planning Projects (RCBP) Track: Institutions with two or more active RCBP awards are ineligible to be lead institutions for new RCBP proposals.

Demonstration Projects (DP) Track: Institutions with two or more active DP awards are ineligible to be lead institutions in new DP proposals.

Research Partnerships Enhancement Projects (RPEP) Track: Institutions with one or more active RPEP awards are ineligible to be lead institutions for new RPEP proposals.

For all three Tracks, ineligible institutions are encouraged to submit to larger-budget CISE-MSI tracks as well as to the CISE programs noted in Section II of this solicitation.

There are no restrictions or limits.

No more than two proposals across both tracks may be submitted by any Lead institution.

Only one MRSEC preliminary proposal may be submitted by any one organization as the lead institution in this competition. An institution proposing research in several groups should submit a single MRSEC proposal with multiple Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs). A MRSEC proposal must contain a minimum of 2 IRGs and a maximum of 3 IRGs. The IRGs in a Center may be thematically related, or they may address different aspects of materials science typically supported by DMR. A single Center at an organization allows efficient usage of resources, including common infrastructure, and better coordination of education and other activities of the Center.

Institutions that were awarded a MRSEC in the FY 2020 competition as the lead institution are not eligible to submit a MRSEC proposal as a lead institution in this competition.

MRSEC full proposals may be submitted by invitation only.

There are no restrictions or limits on the number of proposals per organization. However, there is a limitation on the number of proposals per PI, co-PI, or other senior personnel as noted below.

Only individuals may submit proposals. There is no limit on the number of fellows that an institution may host.

Eligible institutions may submit only one TEA Center proposal per year but may receive and administer concurrent awards. Preparing for TCUP Implementation (Pre-TI) awards are designed to support TCUP development activities for TCUP-eligible institutions that have received no prior TCUP support, no TCUP support within the previous five years, or are embarking on a significantly novel STEM strategic plan. No other restrictions apply.

Each performing organization is limited to one (1) proposal per annual SFS competition. Potential PIs are advised to contact their institutional office of research regarding processes used to select proposals for submission.

An eligible organization may participate in only two (2) proposals per NRT competition as lead or collaborative non-lead. All Track 1 and/or Track 2 NRT proposals will be counted toward this total limit of two proposals per organization.

Participation includes serving as a lead organization or non-lead organization on any proposal. Organizations participating only as evaluators on projects are excluded from this limitation. Proposals that exceed the organizational eligibility limit will be returned without review regardless of whether the organization on such a proposal serves as lead or non-lead collaborative organization. Only US IHEs are eligible to submit as a lead or non-lead organization. Potential PIs are advised to contact their institutional office of research regarding processes used to select proposals for submission.

An eligible organization may participate in two Innovations in Graduate Education proposals per competition.  Participation includes serving as a lead organization on a non-collaborative proposal or as a lead organization, non-lead organization, or subawardee on a collaborative proposal.  Organizations participating solely as evaluators on projects are excluded from this limitation.  Proposals that exceed the institutional eligibility limit (beyond the first two submissions based on timestamp) will be returned without review regardless of the institution's role (lead, non-lead, subawardee) in the returned proposal.

Alliances: Only one proposal may be submitted by an eligible (lead) institution. Alliances may hold only one active alliance award at a time.  Institutions partnering in an alliance may not be a formal partner in more than one alliance at the same time.  Formal partners are IHEs participating in an alliance that report enrollment and degree data and receive funding from the project.  This eligibility applies to proposals for STEM Pathways Implementation-Only Alliances, Bridge to the Baccalaureate Alliances and Louis Stokes STEM Pathways and Research Alliances.

Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Activity Projects:  One proposal for BD support may be submitted by an eligible alliance institution.  An institution may have only one active BD award.  New proposals for additional cohorts may be submitted once the current award has expired.

Regional Foundational and Forward-Thinking Educational Research Conferences:  Only one proposal per year may be submitted by an eligible institution or organization. 

There is no limit to the number of proposals an eligible organization may submit to this program as long as each proposal pertains to a different IUCRC.

HBCU-UP Proposals:

• An eligible institution can submit only one Implementation Project or ACE Implementation Project proposal per year. An institution may have only one active Implementation Project or ACE Implementation Project award. However, a new proposal can be submitted by an institution with an active project if that project is due to expire before new awards will be made. Also, an institution can be awarded, at most, three Implementation Projects and one ACE Implementation Project over time.
• An eligible institution can submit only one Broadening Participation Research Center proposal and can have only one active center. The lead institution of the center proposal must have been awarded three rounds of an Implementation or ACE Implementation Project and must demonstrate the capacity to conduct broadening participation research.
• An eligible institution can submit no more than two Broadening Participation Research proposals per year.
• An eligible institution can submit no more than two Targeted Infusion Project proposals per year and can only have one active Targeted Infusion Project for any given department or unit.
• An eligible institution can submit no more than two Research Initiation Award proposals per year.

• Eligible IHEs can submit one proposal to IT-Preliminary, Adaptation, OR Catalyst. IHEs can also be a partner on one or more Partnership proposals.
• Eligible Non-profit, non-academic organizations can submit one proposal to the Adaptation competition and be a partner on one or more Partnership proposals.
• IHEs and non-profit, non-academic organizations may be partners on multiple ADVANCE Partnership proposals in the same competition but can be the lead organization only on one Partnership proposal in the same competition.

None Specified

There are no restrictions or limits on the number of proposals per organization except for the following: NSF Centers or National Facilities managed by NSF's Division of Materials Research (DMR) that have an active REU Site may not request additional support for a new Site or an expansion of their existing Site. (For questions, e-mail reu.dmr@nsf.gov.)

There is no limit on the number of PFI-TT proposals an organization may submit to a deadline of this solicitation. However, an organization may not submit more than one (1) new or resubmitted PFI-RP proposal to a deadline of this solicitation. This eligibility constraint will be strictly enforced. If an organization exceeds this limit, the first PFI-RP proposal received will be accepted, and the remainder will be returned without review. An organization may not receive more than two (2) awards from a submission deadline of this solicitation.

Only one preliminary CREST Center proposal may be submitted per eligible institution. Full CREST Center proposals are to be submitted only when invited by NSF.  An institution may have only one active CREST Center award, irrespective of focus area. Centers that have completed two prior, consecutive 5-year CREST Center awards may recompete in disciplinary areas that are significantly different from those of the previous award(s).

Only three (3) individuals per active CREST Center may submit a CREST-PRF application per competition.  Only one individual can be awarded a CREST-PRF at an active CREST Center per year.

Only one HBCU-RISE proposal may be submitted per eligible institution. An institution may have only one active HBCU-RISE award.

For each active SBIR/STTR Phase II grant, only one SBIR/STTR collaboration with a CREST Center may be submitted.  For each CREST center, only one SBIR/STTR collaboration can be active at any given time.