1,000+ Opportunities
Find the right grant
Search federal, foundation, and corporate grants with AI — or browse by agency, topic, and state.
NSF Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR) for AI-Integrated Embodied Intelligent Robotic Systems is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and Engineering (ENG). NSF's Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR) program, jointly led by the CISE and ENG Directorates, supports fundamental research on robotic systems that exhibit significant levels of both computational capability and physical complexity.
Get a weekly digest of new grants like this
A free weekly digest of new foundation and federal funding opportunities as they're added to Granted. Unsubscribe anytime.
Or search similar grants →Extracted from the official opportunity page/RFP to help you evaluate fit faster.
Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR) | NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR) 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 Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR) program, jointly led by the CISE and ENG Directorates, supports research on robotic systems that exhibit significant levels of both computational capability and physical complexity.
For the purposes of this program, a robot is defined as intelligence embodied in an engineered construct, with the ability to process information, sense, plan, and move within or substantially alter its working environment. Here intelligence includes a broad class of methods that enable a robot to solve problems or to make contextually appropriate decisions and act upon them.
The program welcomes research that considers inextricably interwoven questions of intelligence, computation, and embodiment. Projects may also focus on a distinct aspect of intelligence, computation, or embodiment, as long as the proposed research is clearly justified in the context of a class of robots. The focus of the FRR program is on foundational advances in robotics.
Robotics is a deeply interdisciplinary field, and proposals are encouraged across the full range of fundamental engineering and computer science research challenges arising in robotics. To be responsive to the FRR program, each proposal should clearly articulate the following three points: The focus of the research project should be a robot or a class of robots, as defined above. [Is there a robot?]
The goal of the project should be to endow a robot or a class of robots with new and useful capabilities or to significantly enhance existing capabilities. [Will a robot gain a new or significantly improved capability?] The intellectual contribution of the proposed work should address fundamental gaps in robotics.
[Is robotics essential to the intellectual merit of the proposal?] Meaningful experimental validation on a physical platform is encouraged. Projects that do not represent a direct fundamental contribution to the science of robotics or are better aligned with other existing programs at NSF should not be submitted to the FRR program.
Potential investigators are strongly encouraged to discuss their projects with an FRR Program Officer before submission. Non-compliant proposals may be returned without review.
Updates and announcements NSF-NIFA opportunity in agricultural robotics October 31, 2025 - Foundational Research in Robotics – National Robotics… October 30, 2025 - Foundational Research in Robotics – National Robotics… May 14, 2025 - 2025 ENG/CMMI CAREER Program Webinar May 14, 2025 - 2025 ENG/CMMI CAREER Program Webinar May 8, 2025 - 2025 ENG/CMMI CAREER Program Webinar May 8, 2025 - 2025 ENG/CMMI CAREER Program Webinar June 2, 2022 - Informational Webinar: Sunset of the National Robotics Initiative April 26, 2021 - Robotics Program Webinar for CAREER Principal Investigators Awards made through this program Browse projects funded by this program Map of recent awards made through this program Directorate for Engineering (ENG) Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (ENG/CMMI) Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ENG/ECCS) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CISE/CCF) Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (CISE/IIS) Division of Computer and Network Systems (CISE/CNS)
According to the current listing, eligibility includes: U. S. universities and two- and four-year colleges, and eligible nonprofit research organizations, acting on behalf of their faculty. Industry participation is typically through collaboration. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows individual awards typically range from approximately $250,000 to $1,500,000 USD total over project periods of up to four years. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
NSF Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR) for AI-Integrated Embodied Intelligent Robotic Systems is funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and Engineering (ENG). Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Yes — this listing is flagged as national in scope, so applicants across the U.S. may apply, subject to the sponsor's other eligibility criteria.
Applications go through the funder's official portal — the Apply Now link on this page goes there directly.
RET Sites close October 14, 2026 — about nine awards from $5.8 million, capped at $600,000 over three years, with a PI eligibility rule that disqualifies most of the people who write outreach proposals. RET Supplements reach the same money for $15,000 a teacher and are not a competition.
Read articleNSF 26-514, 26-515 and 26-518 put $310 million and up to 850 awards on rolling submission with zero per-PI limits, while chemistry rations two proposals a year and materials rations one. The Engineering directorate ran this experiment eight years ago. When NSF tried it in Earth Sciences, proposal volume fell 59 percent. Here is what that history predicts, and how to use a directorate that is not counting your submissions.
Read articleNSF 26-523 folds 12 core physics programs and three cross-cutting ones into a single solicitation with $180 million and roughly 300 awards. Proposals are accepted anytime, but AMO-Experiment and Gravitational Physics still target November 25 and QIS targets December 8. Cost sharing is prohibited, indirect cost rates are now a tiebreaker, and NSF reserves the right to phase out long-duration efforts after comparative review.
Read article