NSF Dear Colleague Letter NSF 26-017 Empowering and Educating Children to Thrive in a Digital Era for AI Online Safety, Privacy and AI Literacy

NSF X-Labs Initiative – AI for Physical Systems Topic Announcement is sponsored by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP). Solicits proposals for innovative, early-stage platform technologies that advance intelligent, adaptive, and scalable AI systems operating in or interfacing with the physical world, explicitly prioritizing robotics, embodied systems, human-robot interfaces, advanced sensing, and…

NSF X-Labs funds full-time, independent research teams through Other Transaction agreements rather than traditional grants, under an initiative of up to $1.5 billion. The AI for Physical Systems topic, announced in September 2026, seeks teams developing early-stage platform technologies that enable entirely new forms of AI integration in physical systems. These include advanced sensors, robotics, embodied systems, human-robot interfaces and cyber-physical systems. Target domains are healthcare, national defence, emergency response, advanced manufacturing and scientific discovery. Teams may span academia, industry, national laboratories and nonprofits. Aggregators describe a Phase 0 pilot of about 9-12 months worth up to about $1.5 million, followed by a Phase 1 of 24-36 months worth up to $50 million per year, with optional Phase 2 extensions; confirm these figures in the SAM.gov topic announcement. NSF held a webinar on 14 October 2026. The topic runs under the X-Labs solicitation that stays open through 14 May 2028, and proposals for this topic are reported due 7 January 2027 via SAM.gov and the X-Labs portal.

The DARPA Surgical Competition (DSC) is a $3.5 million prize challenge run by DARPA's Biological Technologies Office under 10 U.S.C. 4025. Its goal is to advance robotic and AI-enabled surgical systems that can deliver trauma care closer to the point of injury with fewer specialists available. There are two lanes. Lane 1, surgical collaboration, covers robots that assist a surgeon. Lane 2, surgical independence, covers robots performing surgical tasks with increasing autonomy. In each lane, first place wins $1 million, second $400,000, and third $100,000. Component gate prizes are $235,000 for the top Physical Capability Gate performer, $100,000 for the Rapid Learning Gate, and $75,000 for the Medical Knowledge Gate, and teams meeting each gate's minimums receive $3,000 per gate. Up to 10 teams will qualify. The qualification window runs from 11 September 2026 and closes on 13 November 2026 at 4 PM ET, with rolling review. The schedule also includes a virtual second industry day on 4 November 2026, an in-person workshop on 15-24 January 2027, and the scored competition on 20-26 March 2027. Teams are self-funded, and there is no full proposal and no cost share.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Rapid Capabilities Office, working with the Office of Naval Intelligence and Army Contracting Command-Rock Island, is running a One Nation Innovation challenge on the GoColosseum marketplace. The challenge is Tactical ISR Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (PED): Adaptive AI and Autonomy at the Tactical Edge. It seeks AI and computer vision that detect, track, and re-identify objects in imagery from small unclassified unmanned aerial systems. Systems must keep custody across multiple simultaneous detections and re-identify targets after custody is lost. They must also use low-shot learning that needs minimal labelled data, run at the edge on size-, weight- and power-constrained hardware without the cloud, and integrate with GEOINT formats and the Tactical Assault Kit (TAK). Winning solutions may receive prototype awards under Other Transaction Authority, and the amount and number of awards are not published. The submission window opened on 22 October 2026 and closes on 19 November 2026 at 3:00 PM CST. Applicants must join GoColosseum to apply.

CIHR's Fall 2026 Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral Research Award Priority Announcement (Specific Research Areas) gives additional funding to highly rated doctoral applications in CIHR priority areas. One priority area, led by the CIHR Institute of Indigenous Peoples' Health, supports doctoral research at the intersection of Indigenous health, artificial intelligence and Indigenous Data Sovereignty. Eligible research areas include AI applications for Indigenous health, ethical and responsible AI aligned with Indigenous values, Indigenous data governance in digital health, AI-enabled health monitoring and diagnostics for Indigenous communities, and co-developed AI tools. Applicants must complete a Relevance Form showing how their research upholds principles such as OCAP®, CARE and the Métis Health Data Principles, and how Indigenous communities are engaged. CAD $360,000 is available for this area, with awards of up to CAD $40,000 per year for up to three years. The application deadline is 23 November 2026 (competition 202611DTA), with decisions expected 30 April 2027 and funding starting 1 May 2027.