U.S. National Science Foundation State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs:

The U.S. National Science Foundation State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs: Expanding Access to Compute for Scientific Discovery program supports state and multi-state regional efforts to broaden access to advanced artificial intelligence infrastructure for scientific research, education, and workforce development. The program is led by the National Science Foundation Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering in partnership with the Directorate for STEM Education and the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. NSF intends the program to address uneven access to computing, data, software, and related AI infrastructure across the United States while accelerating AI-enabled scientific discovery and preparing a skilled technical workforce. Each Hub is envisioned as a consortium of institutions of higher education working with regional partners such as private industry, philanthropy, and state and local governments. NSF intends to make only one award per state or multi-state region. The program has three central goals: expanding access to compute and related AI infrastructure, accelerating AI-enabled scientific discovery across STEM research, and developing an AI for science workforce. A responsive Hub proposal must address five elements: Hub consortium stakeholders, vision, and key deliverables; computing, data, and AI infrastructure; partnerships with regional stakeholders; development of an AI infrastructure workforce; and faculty training and instructional material development. Consortium governance, mechanisms for allocating infrastructure resources, outreach and engagement strategies, expansion to additional institutions, and measurable deliverables across computing, research enablement, and workforce development are expected components. Hubs are also expected to engage the broader regional ecosystem and describe plans to engage with the National AI Research Resource initiative to share resources, experiences, and lessons learned. NSF anticipates approximately 10 awards in each award cycle, with approximately $100,000,000 available for the program subject to the availability of funds. Typical Hub proposals should request a five-year period and a total NSF budget between $4,000,000 and $12,000,000. NSF funding is intended to support consortium coordination, regional partnerships, AI infrastructure workforce development, and faculty training and instructional material development. NSF does not fund the acquisition of AI infrastructure under this program, including computing, data, software, networking, storage, cloud services, or other AI systems or services. The consortium must separately provide or secure resources needed to procure, deploy, operate, and maintain this infrastructure for the full five-year award period. Resources may come from universities, state governments, philanthropy, industry, or other sources and may include on-premises resources, cloud computing, or a combination. Voluntary committed cost sharing is allowed but is not required. Eligible lead applicants are accredited two- and four-year institutions of higher education, including community colleges, that have a campus located in the United States, as well as U.S.-located nonprofit, non-academic organizations such as independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies, and similar organizations directly associated with educational or research activities. There are no restrictions on who may serve as principal investigator. However, a PI institution may submit only one proposal for each competition, and an individual may participate in at most one proposal as PI, co-PI, or Senior/Key Personnel for each deadline. Collaborative proposals submitted simultaneously by separate organizations requesting separate awards are prohibited. A collaboration must instead submit a single proposal requesting one award, with subawards administered by the lead organization. Multi-state consortia must demonstrate their ability to work together successfully. Full proposals may be submitted through Research.gov or Grants.gov and must follow the applicable NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide or NSF Grants.gov Application Guide. Proposal titles must begin with AI-Infrastructure-Hubs followed by a colon and the proposal title. The Project Description must address all five required program elements. Required supplementary materials include a Roles and Responsibilities document with a table for each organization listing PIs, co-PIs, and Key Personnel and their roles for each funding year, plus a separate list of all participating institutions. Documentation such as letters of commitment or vendor quotes should demonstrate that infrastructure resources will be supported for the five-year award period. Letters of collaboration for personnel who are not listed as PI, co-PI, or Senior/Key Personnel should be included. Letters of Intent and preliminary proposals are not required. Planning proposals are available under applicable PAPPG provisions for states or regions needing additional time to develop consortium strategies. NSF evaluates proposals using the National Science Board criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts together with solicitation-specific criteria. Reviewers will consider the effectiveness of consortium governance and plans for reaching a wide range of institution types, the strength of AI infrastructure workforce development plans, the quality and commitment of regional partnerships, the potential of faculty and educator training to increase student access to advanced computing and AI resources, and whether the proposed computing, data, and AI infrastructure is adequate in scale and design. Proposals may undergo ad hoc and/or panel review. The current full proposal deadline is November 4, 2026, at 5 p.m. in the submitting organization's local time. A subsequent deadline is November 3, 2027, followed by the first Wednesday in November annually thereafter. No separate LOI or preliminary proposal deadline applies. Award notification timing is not specified in the solicitation. Program questions may be directed to the AI Infrastructure Hubs Program Team at AIInfrastructureHubs@nsf.gov. Research.gov technical assistance is available at rgov@nsf.gov or 1-800-381-1532, and Grants.gov assistance is available at support@grants.gov or 1-800-518-4726.

Build a credible consortium with governance and resource-allocation mechanisms that can reach institutions of different types and sizes. Document committed computing, data, and AI infrastructure adequate for the proposed research and available throughout the five-year award. Develop a strong AI infrastructure workforce plan with hands-on training, credentials, student opportunities, and industry engagement. Show committed regional partnerships with industry, philanthropy, and state or local governments. Demonstrate how faculty and educator training will significantly increase student access to advanced computing, data, and AI resources. Ensure NSF-requested funds support eligible program elements rather than acquisition of AI infrastructure.