Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation | 22 632

Opportunity Information: Apply for 22 632

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI) program is a grant opportunity focused on building, operating, and evolving shared cyberinfrastructure services that researchers rely on to do modern science and engineering. In practical terms, CSSI supports software, data, computing, and integrated service capabilities that help research communities work faster, more reliably, and at larger scales. A core idea in this solicitation is flexibility: NSF is trying to fund CI efforts that can adapt as technologies and research needs change, rather than locking communities into brittle, one-off tools. The program also places strong emphasis on delivering integrated services (not just prototypes), using quantitative metrics with clear targets (for example, usage, performance, reliability, or adoption goals), and intentionally building and sustaining research communities around the services being provided.

CSSI anticipates three different classes of awards, which mainly differ by scope, maturity, and the kind of community impact expected. The first category, Elements, is designed for smaller teams that can create and deploy robust CI services where there is a demonstrated need. These projects should be clearly tied to advancing one or more significant areas of science or engineering, and they are expected to result in something the community can actually use, not merely explore. The second category, Framework Implementations, targets larger and more interdisciplinary teams. These projects are organized around developing and applying CI services that solve shared research problems faced by NSF-funded researchers within one or more scientific or engineering domains. The key output here is a sustainable community framework, meaning an organized, service-oriented ecosystem that can support a broad and diverse user base over time. The third category, Transition to Sustainability, is meant for teams that already have an existing CI capability with demonstrated impact and now need focused support to carry out a well-defined plan for long-term sustainability. In this track, NSF is looking for credible pathways to new support structures (such as partnerships, subscriptions, consortium models, institutional commitments, or other long-term funding approaches) so that the CI can continue to deliver value beyond NSF’s time-limited role.

A particularly important program rule is that NSF support for projects funded through CSSI Elements and Frameworks (and related predecessor programs) is intended to be finite, generally capped at no more than 10 years in total. If a project is at the stage where it can credibly move from NSF-supported development and deployment into a durable long-term operation model, a team may seek one additional, one-time award through the Transition to Sustainability category. This structure is meant to encourage teams to plan early for long-term operations, governance, and funding, rather than treating sustainability as an afterthought.

CSSI is described as a multi-directorate activity, which means it spans multiple parts of NSF and is meant to serve cross-cutting scientific needs. Applicants are encouraged to propose work with broad, interdisciplinary relevance, but they also need to pay attention to the reality that not all NSF divisions participate equally and that division-specific priorities can vary. Because of that, the solicitation strongly recommends that prospective principal investigators contact the relevant cognizant program officers before submitting. The goal of those conversations is to confirm alignment with the priorities of the directorates or divisions whose research communities will use the proposed CI, and to sanity-check whether the proposed scope and budget fit what CSSI is designed to fund.

In terms of eligibility, proposals may be submitted by US-based institutions of higher education (including two-year and four-year colleges and universities, such as community colleges) acting on behalf of their faculty, as well as by non-profit, non-academic organizations in the United States that are directly tied to research or education activities (examples include independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, and professional societies). NSF-sponsored federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) may also apply, as long as they do not request costs that are already covered by other federal funds awarded or expected to be awarded. If a proposal involves funding for an international branch campus of a US institution, the proposal must explain the specific benefits of doing the work at that international location and justify why the work cannot be performed at the US campus, including if the international involvement is via subawards or consultants.

Administratively, this is an NSF discretionary grant opportunity under the title Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation, funding opportunity number 22-632, with an original closing date listed as 2024-12-02. It falls under NSF’s research and development activity categories and is associated with multiple CFDA numbers (47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076), reflecting the cross-directorate nature of the program. The solicitation text provided does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards in the source data excerpt, which implies applicants should consult the full solicitation for any track-specific budget guidance and typical award sizes. Overall, CSSI is best understood as a program for building and sustaining shared, measurable, community-centered cyberinfrastructure services that directly enable scientific and engineering advances, with a clear expectation that teams plan for long-term viability beyond NSF’s finite funding window.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-09-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-12-02. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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