Application Notes:

Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis; however, applicants are highly encouraged to submit by the target dates of September 29, 2025, and January 26, 2026, as they may otherwise miss a particular panel or committee meeting.

The program officer confirmed that proposals are accepting on a rolling basis.

Proposals must be submitted online at www.research.gov or www.ecivis.com/grants.gov. All collaborative proposals submitted as separate submissions from multiple organizations must be submitted online at www.research.gov.

Proposals submitted via Research.gov must include:

• Single-copy documents
• Cover sheet
• Project summary (1 page max)
• Table of contents
• Project description (15 pages max)
• References cited
• Budget
• Budget justification (5 pages max)
• Subaward budget justification (if applicable; 5 pages max each)
• Facilities, equipment, and other resources
• Senior/key personnel documents
• Special information and supplementary documentation

Proposals submitted via Grants.gov must include:

• SF 424 (R&R)
• Project/performance site location(s)
• Research and related other project information
• Research and related budget
• R&R subaward budget attachment(s) (if applicable)
• NSF cover page
• NSF senior/key person profile (expanded)
• NSF deviation authorization (if applicable)
• NSF list of suggested reviewers or reviewers not to include (if applicable)

Refer to the NSF Proposal Guide or the NSF Grants.gov Guide for additional information on proposal formatting.

In addition to standard research proposals, applicants may submit other types of proposals to this program. Refer to pages 81-100 of the NSF Proposal Guide file for additional information regarding other types of proposals.

The following are required in order to submit an application:

• Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
• SAM (System for Award Management) registration

Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam.

Proposals will be evaluated according to the following merit review criteria:

• Intellectual merit
• Broader impacts

Refer to the NOFA file, the NSF Proposal Guide, and the NSF Grants.gov Guide for additional application information.

Match Notes:

Matching funds are not required for this program. Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing in the proposal budget is prohibited; however, applicants may contribute voluntary uncommitted cost sharing.

Funding Notes:

A total of $60 million per year is expected to be available through this program to support an estimated 75 awards, as follows:

• Research (RES) project designation: RES proposals are limited to $1.2 million in total budget, with durations of up to four years. RES proposals with a total budget of more than $600,000 have additional requirements, including Broadening Participation in Computing and collaboration plans. RES proposals may include an optional Transition to Education (TTE) plan with a budget up to $50,000, within the RES total budget request, to co-evolve novel educational initiatives in the context of the proposed research. The funding agency expects approximately 60 RES awards to be issued.
• Education (EDU) project designation: EDU proposals are limited to $500,000 in total budget, with durations of up to three years. EDU proposals that primarily focus on education research with demonstrated collaboration, as reflected in the principal investigator (PI) team between cybersecurity subject matter experts and education researcher(s), may request an additional $100,000 beyond the $500,000 limit. The funding agency expects approximately 15 EDU awards to be issued.
• Seedling (SEED) project designation: SEED proposals are limited to $300,000 in total budget, with durations of up to two years.

Applicants are discouraged from seeking project start dates between July 2 and September 30 of a given year.

Award recipients may authorize a one-time extension of the award period of up to 12 months if additional time beyond the established end date is required to assure adequate completion of the original scope of work within the funds already made available. If additional time beyond the extension is required and exceptional circumstances warrant, award recipients must submit a formal extension request to the funding agency.

Project budgets must include funding for one or more project representatives to attend the first PI meeting held after the beginning of the award.

In general, funding will not support:

• Technical assistance
• Pilot plant efforts
• Research requiring security classification
• Product development for commercial marketing
• Market research for a particular project or invention
• Biological research on mechanisms of disease in humans, biological research to develop animal models of such conditions, or the development or testing of procedures for their treatment
• Payment of fees

Examples of ineligible costs include:

• Entertainment
• Meals and coffee breaks
• Alcoholic beverages
• Rental of property owned by individuals or entities affiliated with National Science Foundation (NSF) award recipients for use as home office workspace
• Procuring or obtaining the equipment, services, or systems identified in section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

December 11, 2024
A revised solicitation for this program has been released and attached as the NOFA file. All sections have been updated accordingly.