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Community Infrastructure for Research in Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CIRC) is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF). The CIRC program funds the creation and enhancement of world-class research infrastructure in computer and information science and engineering (CISE) to support diverse communities of CISE researchers.
This includes developing user services, community engagement, and management infrastructure. The program supports four classes of awards: Planning Community Infrastructure, Exploratory Development, Medium Community Infrastructure, and Grand Community Infrastructure.
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Community Infrastructure for Research in Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CIRC) | NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation Community Infrastructure for Research in Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CIRC) Status: Waiting for new publication Important information for proposers and award recipients All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in the funding opportunity and in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and its supplements .
All NSF grants and cooperative agreements are subject to the applicable set of NSF award terms and conditions . NSF has updated its research security policies for NSF funded projects.
The Community Infrastructure for Research in Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CIRC) program drives discovery and learning in the core disciplines of the three participating CISE divisions [Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF), Computer and Network Systems (CNS), and Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS)] of the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) by funding the creation and enhancement of world-class research infrastructure.
This research infrastructure will specifically support diverse communities of CISE researchers pursuing focused research agendas in computer and information science and engineering .
This support involves developing the accompanying user services and engagement needed to attract, nurture, and grow a robust research community that is actively involved in determining directions for the infrastructure, as well as management of the infrastructure.
This should lead to research infrastructure that can be sustained through community involvement and community leadership, and that will enable advances not possible with existing research infrastructure.
Further, through the CIRC program, CISE seeks to ensure that researchers from a diverse range of institutions of higher education (IHEs), including minority-serving and predominantly undergraduate institutions, as well as researchers from non-profit, non-academic organizations, have access to such infrastructure.
The CIRC program supports four classes of awards: Planning Community Infrastructure (Planning) awards support planning efforts to engage research communities to develop new CISE community research infrastructures. Such an infrastructure could be eventually funded through the CIRC program (Planning-C) or the NSF Mid-scale Research Infrastructure (MsRI) program (Planning-M) .
For the scope of Mid-scale RI proposals, see the Mid-scale RI-1 and Mid-scale RI-2 program pages. Exploratory Development (Dev) awards support activities that involve the validation of one or more unproven infrastructure designs and/or technologies, which, if validated, could enable transformative community research infrastructure in the future.
Successful projects are expected to provide the technical foundations necessary to pursue subsequent CIRC ( New or Grand ), Mid-scale RI-1 , or Mid-scale RI-2 projects.
Medium Community Infrastructure (Medium) awards support the creation of new CISE community research infrastructure or the enhancement of existing CISE community research infrastructure with integrated tools, resources, user services, and research community outreach to enable innovative CISE research opportunities to advance the frontiers of the CISE core research areas.
The Medium award class includes New (New) and Enhance/Sustain (ENS) awards.
Grand Community Infrastructure (Grand) awards support projects involving significant efforts to develop new CISE community research infrastructure or to enhance and sustain an existing CISE community research infrastructure to enable world-class CISE research opportunities for broad-based communities of CISE researchers that extend well beyond the awardee organization(s).
Each CIRC Medium or Grand award may include support for operation of the infrastructure, ensuring that the awardee organization(s) is (are) well positioned to provide a high quality of service to CISE community researchers expected to use the infrastructure to realize their research goals. Program Director CISE/CNS Program Director, CISE/CNS Almadena Y.
Chtchelkanova July 22, 2024 - CISE CIRC program Webinar July 19, 2023 - CISE CIRC program Webinar June 15, 2022 - CISE Community Research Infrastructure (CCRI) Webinar Additional program resources Awards made through this program Browse projects funded by this program Map of recent awards made through this program Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (TUES) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE)
According to the current listing, eligibility includes: U.S. institutions of higher education and non-profit, non-academic organizations directly associated with educational or research activities. Principal Investigators must hold tenured, tenure-track, or primary research appointments at eligible U.S.-based organizations. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows $50,000 to $5,000,000 (estimated total program funding $24,000,000). Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
Applications for Community Infrastructure for Research in Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CIRC) are due September 10, 2027. Build your timeline backwards from this date to cover registrations, approvals, and final submission checks.
Community Infrastructure for Research in Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CIRC) is funded by National Science Foundation (NSF). Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
Past winners and funding trends for this program
Supplemental Funding Requests to Support Super Intelligence (SI) Innovation in the Presidential SI Challenge is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF). This Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) announces new funding opportunities to support the nationwide Presidential SI Challenge, which invites K-12 students and educators to explore Super Intelligence (SI) and apply it to real-world community challenges.
PFE: Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (PFE: RIEF) is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF). The PFE: Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (PFE: RIEF) program has two goals: 1) Support research in the Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE), and 2) Increase the community of researchers conducting PFE research. PIs are expected to have little or no experience conducting social science or education research. PFE: RIEF is not intended for established researchers in engineering education or other social science fields to initiate new projects. Those researchers should consider the Research in the Formation of Engineers program ( https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/rfe-research-formation-engineers ). The NSF Engineering (ENG) Directorate has launched a multi-year initiative, the Professional Formation of Engineers, to create and support an innovative and inclusive engineering profession for the 21st Century. Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE) refers to the formal and informal education and value systems by which people become engineers. It also includes the ethical responsibility of practicing engineers to sustain and grow the profession. The engineering profession must be responsive to national priorities, grand challenges, and dynamic workforce needs; it must be equally open and accessible to all Americans. Engineering faculty possess both deep technical expertise in their engineering discipline and the primary responsibility for the process of professional formation of future engineers. As such, engineering faculty are in a unique position to help address critical challenges in engineering formation. The Professional Formation of Engineers: Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (PFE: RIEF) program enables engineering faculty who are renowned for teaching, mentoring, or leading educational reform efforts on their campus to develop expertise in conducting engineering education research. PFE: Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (PFE: RIEF). Program guideline: NSF 20-558. Upcoming due date listed in NSF feed.
On October 28, 2026, NSF sent its revised Guidance on Financial Assistance to OMB after 3,277 public responses. The revision drops four provisions borrowed from OMB's unfinished 2 CFR 200 rewrite: no fixed-price awards, no publication costs, termination for convenience, and indirect costs subject to available funds. The final 30-day comment period runs through about November 27. Here is what changed, what didn't, and what research offices should do before the December 11 funding cliff.
Read articleNSF 26-022, the July 8, 2026 Dear Colleague Letter last updated October 27, says NSF will prohibit its funds from supporting research collaborations with entities on U.S. restricted-party lists in FY2027, on the same timeline as the Guidance on Financial Assistance. Authorized organizational representatives and senior/key personnel will certify compliance at proposal submission. Here is what is covered, what is still undefined, and a 60-day plan for research offices and PIs.
Read articleThe FY2027 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program closes November 6, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET with roughly $28 million, awards from $50,000 to $3 million, and no cost-share requirement. It is down about $6 million from FY2026, it funds equipment and nothing else, and it lands ten days before the NSF MRI deadline. Here is how to split an equipment wishlist across two overlapping windows.
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