EMERGING FRONTIERS IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION (EFRI-2026/27): Wave-Based Computing ( EFRI-WBC)

The National Science Foundation Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation program supports interdisciplinary research intended to rapidly advance emerging areas of foundational engineering knowledge. Through the Directorate for Engineering Office of Emerging Frontiers and Multidisciplinary Activities, the program invests in potentially transformative ideas with potential for significant long term impact on strategic technology priorities and national science and technology missions. The Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation: Wave-Based Computing opportunity focuses on foundational and transformative research that advances computing approaches based on wave dynamics. The program seeks advances that could improve computational throughput, energy efficiency, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and related information processing capabilities. The Wave-Based Computing program supports two tracks. Track 1, Wave-Based Computing-Exploratory Research, uses EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research awards and supports projects requesting from $100,000 to $400,000 for up to two years. These projects must address at least one of the first two research thrusts and should include a testbed unless the research is purely theoretical. Track 2, Wave-Based Computing-Multidisciplinary Research, supports larger multidisciplinary projects for four years with awards of up to $2,000,000. Track 2 projects require at least one PI and two co-PIs and must address all three program thrusts: physical principles of integrated wave-based computing, information processing with waves, and proof-of-concept testbeds. The anticipated program funding is $30,000,000, consisting of $15,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2027 and 2028, subject to availability of funds. Supported research may investigate electromagnetic or acoustic waves, linear and nonlinear wave interactions, emerging optical materials, integrated wave information processing, quantum information approaches, reconfigurable devices, metasurfaces, chip-scale systems, heterogeneous integration, and testbeds demonstrating computing performance. Potential performance measures include latency, throughput, bandwidth, energy efficiency, scalability, and error rate. Proposals focused specifically on spin-wave computing are outside the solicitation scope, as are proposals focused purely on optical components such as optical switches or mixers coupled to GPUs. Industry collaboration is highly encouraged, including through NSF Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry. Voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited. Proposal budgets must include travel funding for at least one PI and one graduate student or researcher to attend the annual EFRI grantees meeting throughout the award. Eligible submitting organizations are accredited two-year and four-year institutions of higher education with a campus in the United States and nonprofit, non-academic organizations located in the United States that are directly associated with educational or research activities. For institutions of higher education, the lead PI must be a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member. For eligible nonprofit, non-academic organizations, the lead PI must have a continuing appointment expected to last for the full award term, substantial research responsibilities, and a project related to the PI's responsibilities and organizational mission. For every proposal, either the PI or a co-PI must hold a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty appointment within a College or Department of Engineering. An individual may participate as PI or co-PI on no more than one proposal in a single fiscal year. There is no formal limit on proposals per organization, although the EFRI Office will not normally make more than one award to a single lead institution in one competition cycle. A Concept Outline is required for both tracks and must be emailed to EFRI2027-2028@nsf.gov. For the fiscal year 2027 cycle, the Concept Outline deadline is November 19, 2026, and the full proposal deadline is February 11, 2027 at 5 p.m. in the submitting organization's local time. For the fiscal year 2028 cycle, the Concept Outline deadline is November 16, 2027, and the full proposal deadline is February 10, 2028 at 5 p.m. local time. The Concept Outline must provide the proposal title, names and departmental and organizational affiliations of the PI and co-PIs, and a synopsis of no more than 500 words describing the core idea and specific project goals. NSF Program Directors evaluate Concept Outlines for programmatic responsiveness and suitability. A prospective PI may submit a full proposal only after receiving Program Officer concurrence, and that concurrence email must be included with the full proposal or the proposal will be returned without review. Full proposals must comply with the applicable NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide and the solicitation-specific requirements. Required materials include a Project Summary separately addressing intellectual merit and broader impacts, a Project Description, applicable mentoring documentation, a list of key personnel, mechanisms for sharing research outcomes, and a PowerPoint slide summarizing the proposal vision. Track 2 also requires a management plan covering team coordination, personnel and project management, intellectual property management, and a detailed project schedule. Track 1 follows EAGER requirements and has an eight-page Project Description limit, while Track 2 has a 15-page limit. If multiple organizations participate, the application must be submitted as one proposal using subawards; separately submitted collaborative proposals are not permitted. NSF evaluates proposals using Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts as well as solicitation-specific criteria addressing the required research thrusts, transformative potential, national need, mentoring plans when trainees are involved, and the effectiveness of the management plan for Track 2. Reviews may involve NSF staff, panels, and ad hoc reviewers. Selection considerations can also include potential national impact, balance among scientific fields, geographic distribution, and the combined ability of selected projects to meet EFRI objectives. Award recipients must attend and present research results and plans at the annual EFRI grantees conference and are subject to NSF reporting requirements, including annual project reports and a public project outcomes report. Program questions may be directed to EFRI2027-2028@nsf.gov; the solicitation lists Sohi Rastegar at 703-292-8305 among the cognizant program officers. Research.gov technical assistance is available from the NSF IT Service Desk at rgov@nsf.gov or 1-800-381-1532.

Ensure the proposal separately addresses Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts or it will be returned without review. Address all thrusts required for the selected track and demonstrate a significant leap or paradigm shift in foundational engineering knowledge together with potential impact on a strategic technology priority or national science and technology mission. Include required mentoring information for supported trainees. Track 2 applicants should present an effective management plan. Obtain Program Officer concurrence through the required Concept Outline process and upload the concurrence email with the full proposal.