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Foundational Research in Robotics is NSF's core robotics program and the primary federal home for embodied intelligence research that is not defense-directed. Its definition of a robot is worth quoting because it functions as the eligibility test: intelligence embodied in an engineered construct, with the ability to process information, sense, plan, and move within or substantially alter its working environment.
Every proposal must clear three specific bars - it must focus on a robot or a class of robots, it must endow robots with new capabilities or significantly enhance existing ones, and it must address a fundamental gap in robotics research. NSF is explicit and unusually blunt about the consequence: projects that are better suited to other NSF programs may be declined without review.
That is the single most important operational fact about FRR. It sits in a deliberately drawn boundary with NSF's Robust Intelligence program, which funds foundational AI but explicitly does not fund robotics and redirects robotics proposals to FRR; conversely, an AI-heavy proposal that uses a robot as a demonstration vehicle rather than advancing robotics science will be sent the other way.
Getting that framing right before writing is more consequential than any other single decision. The program is jointly managed by the CISE and ENG directorates, which is why it accommodates both learning-and-perception-led and mechanism-and-control-led work, and it encourages meaningful experimental validation on a physical platform - a real differentiator from purely simulation-based programmes.
FRR accepts full proposals at any time, with no submission window, under program description PD 20-144Y. Eligibility is unrestricted as to entity type. NSF program officers explicitly recommend pre-submission consultation, and given the no-deadline structure and the without-review declination risk, that conversation is the highest-value step an applicant can take.
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Or search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Foundational Research in Robotics is a program description, PD 20-144Y, rather than a fixed solicitation, and accepts full proposals at any time - proposals have been accepted on a rolling basis since 1 August 2020, with no submission window or annual deadline. The Grants.gov listing records eligibility as unrestricted, meaning all NSF-eligible entity types may apply, which in practice covers U.S. universities and two- and four-year colleges, non-profit non-academic research organizations, and other organizations eligible under NSF's Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide; proposals must comply with the current PAPPG and with NSF's research security policies. The program is jointly led by the CISE and ENG directorates. To be responsive, a proposal must satisfy three stated conditions: it must focus on a robot or a class of robots; it must endow robots with new capabilities or significantly enhance existing ones; and it must address a fundamental gap in robotics research. NSF states that proposals better suited to other NSF programs may be declined without review, so applicants should be deliberate about the boundary with adjacent programs - in particular Robust Intelligence, which funds foundational AI but explicitly does not fund robotics and redirects such proposals to FRR. NSF defines a robot for these purposes as intelligence embodied in an engineered construct with the ability to process information, sense, plan, and move within or substantially alter its working environment, and encourages meaningful experimental validation on a physical platform. NSF does not publish an award ceiling, floor, total funding or expected number of awards for FRR. Program officers recommend pre-submission consultation, which is strongly advised given the rolling structure and the risk of declination without review. Applicants should verify current program scope, budget expectations and policy requirements with the cognizant program director and against the current PAPPG before submitting. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows NSF does not publish an award ceiling, floor or expected number of awards for FRR - the Grants.gov listing shows all three as unspecified, which is normal for a rolling program description rather than a fixed-deadline solicitation. amount_min of 250,000 and amount_max of 1,500,000 reflect the range typically reported for FRR awards rather than a published figure, and correspond broadly to a single-investigator three-year project at the low end and a multi-investigator effort with substantial hardware and experimental validation at the high end. Because FRR has no submission window and no stated budget cap, the practical constraint is what the cognizant program director will support - which is precisely why NSF recommends pre-submission consultation, and why a budget conversation with a program director is worth more here than any published range. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
NSF Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR) PD 20-144Y for Embodied Intelligence and AI-Integrated Robotic Systems is funded by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), jointly led by the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and the Directorate for Engineering (ENG). 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.
The NSF Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR) program supports foundational research on robotic systems that exhibit significant levels of both computational capability and physical complexity, defining a robot as 'intelligence embodied in an engineered construct' able to process information, sense, plan, and move within or alter its environment. Jointly led by the CISE and ENG directorates, FRR funds embodied intelligence, autonomy, perception, planning, learning, and human-robot interaction, with experimental validation on physical platforms encouraged. Full proposals are accepted at any time, and award sizes have historically ranged from about $174,000 to $5 million.
Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR) is NSF's core robotics program, run jointly by the CISE and ENG directorates, and its framing is unusually explicit about the AI connection: the program defines a robot as intelligence embodied in an engineered construct, with the ability to process information, sense, plan, and move within or substantially alter its working environment. That definition is the gate. Proposals that are purely algorithmic, with the robot as an afterthought, tend to be redirected to other CISE programs, while proposals that treat perception, learning, planning, and physical embodiment as inextricably interwoven are the intended fit. NSF asks every FRR proposal to satisfy three elements simultaneously: focus on a specific robot or class of robots, endow that robot with genuinely new capabilities, and address a fundamental gap in robotics science rather than an engineering integration problem. Meaningful experimental validation on a physical platform is encouraged, which in practice means simulation-only work needs a strong justification. The practical advantage of FRR over most NSF programs is the submission model - there is no annual deadline. Full proposals are accepted at any time, which removes the usual scramble but also removes the forcing function, so teams should budget for a review cycle rather than a deadline. Declined proposals carry a minimum one-year moratorium before resubmission, so a weak first attempt is expensive. EAGER, RAPID, and RAISE proposals may also be routed through FRR at any time, but PIs must contact the cognizant program officer before submitting those. For embodied-AI groups - large behavior models, robot foundation models, learned manipulation, legged locomotion - FRR is the most direct federal non-defense funding line in the United States.
FRR is the core NSF vehicle for robotics research that is genuinely about robots rather than about algorithms that happen to be demonstrated on one, and the program's definition of its subject is the sharpest statement of embodied intelligence in U.S. federal funding language: a robot is intelligence embodied in an engineered construct, with the ability to process information, sense, plan, and move within or substantially alter its working environment. Jointly led by the CISE and ENG directorates under program description PD 20-144Y, it supports research on robotic systems exhibiting significant levels of both computational capability and physical complexity - the conjunction is deliberate, and proposals weak on either side tend not to survive review. NSF requires every proposal to address three specific points: it must focus on a robot or a class of robots, it must endow robots with new capabilities or significantly enhance existing ones, and it must address fundamental gaps in robotics research. The program explicitly prioritises foundational advances spanning engineering and computer science, and states that meaningful experimental validation on a physical platform is encouraged, which is a real filter on purely simulation-based work. The operational feature that makes FRR unusually valuable is the absence of a deadline: full proposals have been accepted anytime since August 1, 2020, so a team can submit when the preliminary results justify it rather than racing an annual date. The one timing constraint that bites is on the way out - declined proposals face a minimum one-year moratorium before resubmission, which makes a premature submission genuinely costly. NSF strongly encourages potential investigators to discuss projects with an FRR Program Officer before submitting, and given the no-deadline structure there is no reason not to.
Violence Against Women Discretionary Grants for Indian Tribal Governments is sponsored by Department of Justice. To increase tribal capacity to respond to violent crimes against Indian women, and to develop and strengthen victim services in cases involving violent crimes against Indian women. This listing is currently active. Program number: 16.587. Last updated on 2024-11-26.
The NSF CISE Future Computing Research (Future CoRe) program supports research in computing and communication foundations, intelligent systems, and network systems. The program funds innovative research that advances the frontiers of computing including artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, and robotics. This is one of NSF's largest computing research programs with $280 million in total budget. Projects can address fundamental computing challenges, novel AI architectures, scalable intelligent systems, and next-generation network infrastructure.
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