EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: EPSCoR Research Incubators for STEM Excellence (E-RISE)

The U.S. National Science Foundation, through the Office of Integrative Activities and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, administers the EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: EPSCoR Research Incubators for STEM Excellence, or E-RISE. EPSCoR promotes scientific progress nationwide by strengthening science, technology, engineering, and mathematics research capacity and competitiveness in eligible jurisdictions. E-RISE is intended to develop sustainable research infrastructure, research teams, human networks, and products in scientific topical areas aligned with jurisdictional research priorities. Projects must articulate a research goal that produces new knowledge by addressing a clear hypothesis or problem and should position participating research teams for national or international leadership in their chosen STEM area. E-RISE supports jurisdiction-wide networks of researchers, institutions, organizations, and sectors conducting high-quality research in a defined STEM disciplinary area or topic. Projects are expected to address six major elements: building a jurisdiction-wide research network; collaborative engagement across institution types and sectors; workforce development relevant to the research and project outcomes; use-inspired perspectives and societal impact; a pathway to project sustainability; and continual improvement. Projects should include meaningful participation across institution types and may involve academic institutions, government, industry, nonprofit organizations, primarily undergraduate institutions, two-year institutions, minority-serving institutions, and other appropriate partners. Each project must include a networking or partnership manager and an independent evaluator. The research topic must align with jurisdictional scientific priorities identified in the jurisdiction's Science and Technology Plan or other appropriate jurisdictional plans, reports, or publications. Initial funding requests must cover four years and may not exceed a total budget of 8000000. NSF anticipates up to 31500000 annually to support up to 15 newly funded E-RISE awards. There is no restriction on the amount requested in an individual year within the four-year maximum. EPSCoR funding may only be requested for and spent on activities and personnel in EPSCoR jurisdictions, and subawards to organizations in non-EPSCoR jurisdictions are prohibited. Voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited for the initial award. Projects may seek one subsequent three-year renewal project award of up to 4500000. Renewal projects require cost sharing equal to 20 percent of the amount requested from NSF. Renewal funding is separate from the initial award and is contingent on project performance, progress toward the NSF-approved Strategic Plan, sustainability planning, merit review, and a renewal site visit. Eligible lead applicants include accredited PhD-granting and non-PhD-granting institutions of higher education with campuses in the United States, its territories, or possessions; qualifying domestic nonprofit, non-degree-granting research or educational organizations with permanent U.S. administrative organizations and 501(c)(3) status; federally recognized Tribal Governments; and specified Indigenous communities. E-RISE proposals may only be submitted by organizations in EPSCoR-eligible jurisdictions. An organization serving as lead on a current E-RISE or RII Track-1 award generally may not submit unless that award is in its final year or under a no-cost extension and will not be renewed. Principal Investigators must hold at least a 50 percent appointment at an eligible organization in an EPSCoR jurisdiction. Each collaborating organization must be represented by a PI, co-PI, or other senior or key personnel. Only one lead submission per organization is permitted, and an individual generally may serve as PI or co-PI on only one applicable RII Track-1 or E-RISE submission or award at a time. Full proposals may be submitted through Research.gov or Grants.gov, although separately submitted collaborative proposals from multiple organizations must use Research.gov. Letters of Intent and preliminary proposals are not required. The project title must begin with E-RISE, followed by an informative title. Required proposal content includes the NSF Project Summary with Overview, Intellectual Merit, and Broader Impacts sections; a Project Description of no more than 20 pages addressing research and capacity-building goals, vision, research, workforce development, jurisdictional impact and sustainability, execution, evaluation and assessment, organization and management, partnerships and engagement, and relevant prior support; budgets and budget justifications; facilities and resources information; senior and key personnel documents; lists of participants and participating organizations; the current jurisdictional Science and Technology Plan; and documentation showing that the Jurisdictional Steering Committee was notified of the planned submission. Up to five qualifying letters of collaboration may also be submitted. Letters of support are not allowed. NSF evaluates proposals under the National Science Board criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts and additional E-RISE criteria. Program-specific review considers the project's connection and potential contribution to jurisdictional research capacity and EPSCoR goals, workforce development, collaborative engagement across institution types and sectors, sustainability and societal impact, and the quality of project management, leadership, partnerships, evaluation, and assessment. Proposals may undergo ad hoc and/or panel review. NSF states that it strives to inform proposers whether proposals have been declined or recommended for funding within six months, although complex proposals and proposals from new recipients can require additional processing time. Continued annual funding is dependent on satisfactory progress, annual reporting, implementation of the strategic plan, and the project's continual improvement process. The solicitation establishes a recurring full proposal deadline on the second Tuesday in August annually. The original listed deadline was August 12, 2025, at 5 p.m. in the submitting organization's local time. As of August 12, 2026, the second Tuesday of August 2026 has passed, so the next expected deadline under the stated recurrence is August 10, 2027. Newly awarded projects must hold a strategic planning meeting within 90 days of the award date. Initial awards run for four years, and projects seeking renewal initiate that process during year three. Program questions may be directed to EPSCoR-RISE@nsf.gov or 703-292-2658. Research.gov technical support is available at rgov@nsf.gov or 1-800-381-1532, while Grants.gov technical support is available at support@grants.gov or 1-800-518-4726.

Demonstrate explicit alignment between the research topic and jurisdictional priorities and EPSCoR goals. Present high-quality hypothesis-driven or problem-driven research with clear novelty, feasibility, and potential impact. Build substantive partnerships across institution types and sectors with clear roles and measurable collaboration goals. Integrate workforce development, use-inspired or societal perspectives, and sustainability throughout the research plan. Provide a credible execution plan with milestones and metrics and an independent evaluation and assessment process. Address both Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts fully and show how the project will create sustainable research capacity and competitiveness beyond E-RISE funding.