Expeditions in Computing Program

The U.S. National Science Foundation, through its Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering, administers the Expeditions in Computing program. Expeditions was established to give the CISE research community an opportunity to pursue ambitious foundational research agendas capable of defining the future of computing and information. The program encourages investigators within or across departments and institutions to form large, multidisciplinary teams around transformative research agendas that look ahead by at least a decade. Potential areas include new architectures for intelligence and computing substrates, theories of learning and generalization, neuroscience-inspired approaches, embodied intelligence and robotics, next-generation communication and networking, and other high-risk, high-reward computing research that cannot readily be pursued by a single discipline. The program's three stated goals are to catalyze far-reaching research, inspire current and future generations of Americans to pursue ambitious transformative foundational computing research, and stimulate significant use-inspired foundational research outcomes that can provide a foundation for future translation to practice. NSF anticipates up to $60,000,000 in total funding for each competition, subject to the availability of funds, and expects to make two to four awards. Individual Expeditions projects may have total budgets of up to $15,000,000 and may operate for up to seven years. Full-proposal budgets are organized into three phases: an Acceleration Phase of up to $3 million total across Years 1 and 2, a Steady-State Phase of up to $3 million per year in Years 3 through 5 for a total of up to $9 million, and a Wrap-Up Phase of up to $3 million total across Years 6 and 7. Funding for Years 6 and 7 is contingent upon a successful Year 5 site visit. Budgets should account for start-up time, include appropriate Research Experiences for Undergraduates funding, and provide for travel by essential PI-team members and key students to one recipients meeting in the Washington, DC area. Voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited, and no indirect cost or other budgetary limitations are specified in the solicitation. Proposals may be submitted by accredited two- and four-year Institutions of Higher Education that have a campus in the United States and act on behalf of their faculty. The solicitation further specifies that U.S. IHEs with undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs in computer and information science and engineering fields may participate as lead or collaborative institutions. Subawardees may include two-year and four-year U.S. IHEs and U.S.-based nonprofit, non-academic organizations directly associated with education or research activities in CISE fields. National laboratories, for-profit organizations, and organizations in other countries may participate only when they have independent sources of support and will not receive NSF support through the award. There are no restrictions on who may serve as PI and no limit on proposals per organization, but an individual may participate in no more than one preliminary proposal and, if invited, one full proposal per competition as PI, co-PI, or senior/key personnel. A preliminary proposal is mandatory and must be submitted through Research.gov. The preliminary proposal includes a Cover Sheet, a one-page Project Summary, an 11-page maximum Project Description, a one-page seven-year budget summary with justification, required lists of partner institutions and project personnel, and required Single Copy Documents. Preliminary proposals must not include Current and Pending Other Support, Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources, or a Data Management and Sharing Plan, and proposals containing materials other than those permitted may not be reviewed. Lead proposers are encouraged to email cise-expeditions@nsf.gov approximately one week before submission with a list of prospective project personnel. Immediately after submission and receipt of the Research.gov proposal number, the lead proposer must email cise-expeditions@nsf.gov a single Microsoft PowerPoint slide summarizing the proposal's vision, with the proposal number and lead institution identified in the email subject. Full proposals are by invitation only following evaluation of preliminary proposals. Invited applicants may submit through Research.gov or Grants.gov, although separately submitted collaborative proposals from multiple organizations must use Research.gov. Full proposals include a Cover Sheet, one-page Project Summary, Project Description of no more than 25 pages, leadership and collaboration information, an intellectual property and ethics section of up to one page, experimental systems or shared experimental facilities information where appropriate, detailed seven-year budgets and justification, lists of partner institutions and project personnel, and required Single Copy Documents. Proposals must explain the overarching vision, demonstrate why the integrated project is greater than the sum of its individual components, address all three Expeditions goals and five stated project characteristics, justify the requested investment level, and explain the organizational and coordination mechanisms necessary for successful collaboration. NSF evaluates proposals under the National Science Board-approved Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria and additional Expeditions-specific criteria. Reviewers consider whether the research goals have sufficient importance, scale, and complexity to justify an Expeditions-level investment; whether the project advances the program goals and characteristics; whether the seven-year timeline is necessary and well grounded; the value of proposed experimental systems or shared facilities; the capacity of the leadership team; the effectiveness of collaboration and coordination; institutional and other commitments; and whether the requested budget is appropriate. Proposals may undergo ad hoc review, panel review, or reverse site review. Following an initial compliance check, proposals are reviewed by an NSF Program Officer and, in most cases, three or more external experts. Awarded projects are expected to undergo site visits during Years 2 and 5, with additional visits possible during Years 4 and 6; continued funding is subject to satisfactory review. Recipients must meet NSF reporting requirements, produce annual project outcome highlights during Years 4 through 7, maintain an active project website, and attend one PI meeting. The required preliminary proposal is due December 2, 2026, by 5 p.m. in the submitting organization's local time, with the preliminary deadline recurring on the first Wednesday in December every other year thereafter. Invited full proposals are due July 27, 2027, by 5 p.m. in the submitting organization's local time, recurring on the fourth Tuesday in July every other year thereafter. For planning, preliminary proposals should identify a project start date approximately 19 months after the preliminary proposal deadline, while full proposals should identify a start date approximately 11 months after the full proposal deadline. Expeditions awards may run for seven years. Program questions may be directed to the Expeditions Program Officers at cise-expeditions@nsf.gov. Questions concerning NSF systems may be directed to the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-673-6188 or the Research.gov Help Desk at rgov@nsf.gov.

Demonstrate that the research goals have sufficient importance, scale, and complexity to justify an Expeditions-level investment; explain why a seven-year project is necessary; address all three program goals and five project characteristics; show that the integrated project is greater than the sum of its components; establish credible leadership, project coordination, and collaboration mechanisms; justify the requested budget against project scope and complexity; describe experimental systems or shared facilities where appropriate