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NSF's Robust Intelligence (RI) program advances the science of intelligent computational systems that perceive, learn, reason, and act robustly in complex, uncertain, and adversarial environments. It funds core AI and machine learning research spanning computer vision, natural language processing, knowledge representation, planning, and the foundations of trustworthy and robust AI. Awards typically range from about $500,000 to $1.
2 million over three to four years, with proposals accepted on a rolling or annual basis depending on the current solicitation.
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Or search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: U.S. universities and colleges and eligible non-profit research organizations; principal investigators are typically faculty or research staff. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows awards typically range from approximately $500,000 to $1,200,000 over three to four years. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
Applications for NSF Robust Intelligence (RI) Program for Core Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Research are due December 15, 2026. Build your timeline backwards from this date to cover registrations, approvals, and final submission checks.
NSF Robust Intelligence (RI) Program for Core Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Research is funded by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). 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.
CISE Future Computing Research (Future CoRe, NSF 25-543) is the National Science Foundation's core foundational research program for computer and information science, and it is the single most accessible NSF pathway for investigator-initiated AI and machine learning research. The solicitation spans three participating divisions - Computing and Communication Foundations, Information and Intelligent Systems, and Computer and Network Systems - which together cover machine learning theory, algorithms, foundation model architectures, natural language processing, computer vision, robotics and intelligent systems, and the systems and hardware substrate that large-scale AI training and inference depend on. Awards run up to $1 million over four years, with typical projects landing between $150,000 and $250,000 per year. Unlike NSF's large center-scale AI competitions, Future CoRe funds single investigators and small teams, which makes it the realistic target for a faculty member starting or sustaining a generative AI research agenda. The program has two annual submission windows: the first Thursday in February and the second Thursday in September, with the September 2026 target date falling on 10 September 2026. Proposals may indicate the extent to which generative AI was used in preparing the proposal, per NSF guidance.
NSF Robust Intelligence (RI) Program for Core Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Research is sponsored by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). Advances the science of intelligent computational systems that perceive, learn, reason, and act robustly in complex, uncertain, and adversarial environments.
Robust Intelligence is NSF's core foundational artificial intelligence program and, for an academic AI researcher without a domain application or a national-security angle, it is the most direct federal funding route that exists. NSF describes it as encompassing the foundational computational research needed to understand and develop systems that can sense, learn, reason, communicate, and act in the world, and it spans five research areas: artificial intelligence covering learning, abstraction, inference, knowledge representation, reasoning, planning and multi-agent systems; machine learning covering algorithms and models that generalize from data; computer vision; human language technologies covering analysis and generation of text and speech; and computational neuroscience. Two exclusions define the program more sharply than its inclusions, and both are stated explicitly by NSF. First, RI does not fund projects that simply apply existing techniques to a specific domain - a proposal that takes an off-the-shelf model and points it at a new dataset is not responsive, however useful the application. Second, RI does not fund robotics research, which NSF directs instead to the Foundational Research in Robotics program. Those two boundaries account for a large share of misdirected proposals, and getting on the right side of both is the main framing task before writing. RI is administered through the CISE Core Programs solicitation, NSF 25-543, which is the same vehicle that carries Human-Centered Computing and other CISE core programs and which sets the Small and Medium project classes, budget bands and submission arrangements. In recent CISE core cycles proposals have been accepted without fixed annual deadlines, but that arrangement has changed between solicitation versions, so confirming the current submission rules in the active solicitation is essential rather than optional. Program contact is cise-ri@nsf.gov.
The FY2026 Department of Defense Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) program supports basic research in science and engineering at U.S. institutions of higher education, with emphasis on multidisciplinary research where more than one traditional discipline interacts. The Army, Navy, and Air Force basic research offices are seeking applications across 22 topic areas including artificial intelligence and autonomy, information sensing and processing, and systems manipulation. MURI grants typically provide $1.25 million to $1.5 million per year for three years with option to extend two additional years. Approximately $170 million in total funding is available annually across all topics. The program is administered through the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Army Research Office (ARO), and Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).
The NSF Convergence Accelerator is a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that funds multidisciplinary teams working to solve national-scale societal challenges through convergence research and innovation. Launched in 2019 under NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, the program operates in two phases: Phase 1 awards are up to $750,000, with successful teams advancing to larger Phase 2 awards. Eligible applicants include institutions of higher education and nonprofit or for-profit organizations. Track I and Track K focus on specific high-priority topics announced each funding cycle. The next deadline is June 15, 2026. Proposals must comply with updated NSF research security policies effective July 2025.
The NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering: Future Computing Research (Future CoRe) program (NSF 25-543) supports foundational computing research and education with a strong emphasis on AI and machine learning. The program funds research that advances the foundations of computing including AI/ML theory, algorithms, systems, and applications. Future CoRe supports small to medium-sized research projects that can have significant impact on computing foundations. The program has target dates of February 5, 2026 and September 10, 2026 for proposal submissions (note: these are target dates, not deadlines, meaning proposals may be submitted at any time but will be reviewed in batches around these dates). Investigators may not serve as PI, co-PI, or Senior/Key Personnel on more than two proposals submitted within any consecutive 12-month period across all Future CoRe programs. This is one of NSF's primary mechanisms for funding fundamental AI and machine learning research at U.S. academic institutions, covering areas such as machine learning theory, natural language processing, computer vision, robotics foundations, and human-AI interaction.
NSF 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 articleOn August 26, 2026, NSF named the STC class of 2026: TEMPEST at Michigan State, GENIE at Northwestern, and a human-robot co-adaptation center at UT Austin. $90 million total, $6 million a year each. The 2023 class was four centers and $120 million. The award size is intact; the shelf space shrank 25 percent — and that is the number that should reshape how you plan a center proposal.
Read articleNSF just committed $380 million to build a national network of AI-programmable, remotely operated laboratories — the Programmable Cloud Laboratories Test Bed (NSF 25-541), the agency's flagship contribution to the Genesis Mission. Twenty nodes, four years, self-driving experiments in chemistry, biology and materials. Here is what it funds, who is eligible, why the 'existing facilities only' rule matters, and how researchers and companies should position for what comes next.
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