Supporting Proposal Development for CIST Researchers
View funding opportunities that may fit well within IS&T goals, including recurring solicitations and past issues of MavOps Focused Funding Opportunities issued by the CIST Office of Proposal Development. Find templates and guides for proposal required supplementary documents.
Recurrent Solicitations
Core NSF CISE and Closely Aligned Opportunities
NSF 25-543 CISE Future Computing Research (Future CoRe)
The primary home for foundational CISE research, consolidating 11 programs: Algorithmic Foundations; Communications and Information Foundations; Computer Systems Research; Computing Education Research; Cyber-Physical System Foundations and Connected Communities; Foundations of Emerging Technologies; Human-Centered Computing; Information Integration and Informatics; Networking Technology and Systems; Robust Intelligence; and Software and Hardware Foundations. Projects may request up to $1M for up to four years. Proposals are accepted anytime, with annual February and September target dates. The next target date is February 4, 2027.
NSF 25-515 Security, Privacy, and Trust in Cyberspace (SaTC 2.0)
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/satc-20-security-privacy-trust-cyberspace
NSF's major recurring cybersecurity program supports interdisciplinary research and education addressing security, privacy, resilience, and trust across computing systems and the broader cyber ecosystem. Particularly relevant to CIST cybersecurity, privacy, trustworthy AI, usable security, systems, networks, CPS/IoT, and cybersecurity education research. The current program is active, with the next target date September 28, 2026.
Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR)
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/frr-foundational-research-robotics
Joint CISE/ENG program supporting foundational advances in robotics where intelligence, computation, and physical embodiment are integral to the research. Particularly relevant to autonomous systems, robotics, AI, perception, planning, human-robot interaction, and embodied intelligence. Proposals are accepted anytime. NSF strongly encourages prospective investigators to discuss fit with a program officer before submission.
Cybersecurity Innovation for Cyberinfrastructure (CICI)
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/cici-cybersecurity-innovation-cyberinfrastructure
Supports development, deployment, and transition of cybersecurity innovations protecting scientific data, computation, workflows, and cyberinfrastructure. Current areas include usable security, scientific security datasets, cyberinfrastructure resilience, and integrity, provenance, and authenticity of AI-ready scientific data. The program has an annual January competition, with the next deadline January 20, 2027. Awards currently range up to $600K to $1.2M depending on program area.
NSF 23-520 Training-based Workforce Development for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (CyberTraining)
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/training-based-workforce-development-advanced
Supports training, curriculum, and workforce development projects that enable researchers and students to create, use, and support advanced cyberinfrastructure and computational/data-intensive research. Particularly relevant to advanced computing, HPC, data science, cybersecurity, research computing, and computing education. The current solicitation remains active and operates on an annual cycle.
NSF 26-509 Integrated Data Systems and Services (IDSS)
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/idss-integrated-data-systems-services
CISE/OAC program supporting national-scale cyberinfrastructure systems and services for data-intensive and AI-driven science and engineering. Particularly relevant to research cyberinfrastructure, data systems, distributed computing, AI infrastructure, and scientific data services. Different project categories operate on an annual July cycle. Category I and III submissions are next due July 27, 2027.
Research Experiences and Faculty Development
Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER)
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/career-faculty-early-career-development-program
NSF's flagship early-career faculty mechanism supports integrated research and education plans establishing the foundation for a long-term academic research program. CIST faculty apply through the appropriate NSF directorate or program, including CISE programs. The competition occurs annually in July, with the next deadline July 28, 2027.
NSF 23-601 CISE Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites
Supports themed undergraduate research experiences centered on computing or cyberinfrastructure, with CISE faculty serving as research mentors. CISE Sites typically support cohorts of approximately 8 to 10 students for 8 to 10 summer weeks. The NSF-wide REU Site competition occurs annually in August, with the next deadline August 18, 2027. REU Supplements can also support undergraduate researchers on existing NSF awards.
NSF 24-503 Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/research-experiences-teachers-engineering-computer-science
Supports authentic summer research experiences for K-14 educators working with engineering and computing faculty, with translation of the research experience into classroom activities and curricula. The competition occurs annually in October, with the next deadline October 14, 2026. RET Sites may request up to $600K for three years. Supplements are also available for current awards.
Cross-Directorate Opportunities with Strong CIST Relevance
NSF 26-514 Electrical, Communications, and Computing Systems (ECCS)
ENG program with substantial overlap with CIST in AI and learning, networked multi-agent systems, communications and sensing, signal processing, advanced computing, intelligent control, and emerging and quantum computing. Proposals are accepted anytime.
NSF 26-506 Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems (PESOSE)
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/pesose-pathways-enable-secure-open-source-ecosystems
Cross-directorate program supporting sustainable and secure open-source ecosystems around research products including software, hardware, ML models, languages, and data platforms. Especially relevant to CIST research software, open-source AI, cybersecurity, data platforms, and software engineering. The program operates on a twice-yearly cycle in March and September, with the next deadline March 2, 2027.
NSF 24-569 Mathematical Foundations of Artificial Intelligence (MFAI)
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/mfai-mathematical-foundations-artificial-intelligence
Joint MPS/CISE/ENG/SBE program supporting interdisciplinary research on mathematical and theoretical foundations of AI, including foundation and generative models, learning theory, reliability, interpretability, and mathematically grounded AI design. The current solicitation is active with an October 9, 2026 deadline.
Major Strategic and Large-Team Programs
These are recurring NSF opportunities worth monitoring, but they are substantially larger and more collaborative than typical PI-scale mechanisms.
NSF 26-525 NSF Expeditions in Computing
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/expeditions-expeditions-computing
CISE's major large-team mechanism for ambitious foundational computing research intended to define the future of the field. Awards may reach $15M over seven years. The current cycle requires a preliminary proposal December 2, 2026, with invited full proposals due July 27, 2027. NSF specifies the full-proposal deadline as the fourth Tuesday in July annually thereafter.
NSF 26-513 NSF State and Regional AI Infrastructure Hubs
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/us-national-science-foundation-state-regional-artificial
Large-scale consortium program expanding access to AI compute, data, software, technical expertise, workforce development, and AI-enabled scientific discovery. Only one Hub may be awarded per state or multi-state region. The solicitation establishes an annual first-Wednesday-in-November cycle, with the next two dates November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2027.
MavOps Focused Funding Opportunities
Issued Fall 2025
- MavOps Spring 2026 Special Edition (March 26, 2026)
- MavOps Spring 2026 Issue #4 (March 19, 2026)
- MavOps Spring 2026 Issue #3 (February 18, 2026)
- MavOps Spring 2026 Issue #2 (February 2, 2026)
- MavOps Spring 2026 Issue #1 (January 9, 2026)
- MavOps Fall 2025 Issue #6 (December 18, 2025)
- MavOps Fall 2025 Issue #5 (November 26, 2025)
- MavOps Fall 2025 Issue #4 (October 9, 2025)
- MavOps Fall 2025 Issue #3 (September 25, 2025)
- MavOps Fall 2025 Issue #2 (September 10, 2025)
- MavOps Fall 2025 Issue #1 (August 27, 2025)
If you have suggestions for solicitations to be included here, please send in an email to Kelly Hughes, kellyhughes@unomaha.edu. Thanks in advance!