Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Engineering, through its Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI), is offering a competitive grant opportunity designed to push fundamental engineering research into fast-moving, high-impact emerging areas. The purpose of EFRI is to identify timely frontiers where concentrated investment can accelerate breakthroughs, especially those that could reshape core engineering knowledge and eventually translate into major national benefits. This particular solicitation emphasizes transformative, interdisciplinary work that aims for a significant shift in understanding rather than incremental advances, with a clear line of sight to long-term impact on national needs or grand challenges. The competition is coordinated with other NSF directorates and aligned with interests at the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), reflecting the cross-cutting nature of the topics.

Proposals are invited in two specific research tracks. The first is Renewable Energy Storage (RESTOR), which focuses on foundational engineering advances that could enable better ways to store energy produced from renewable sources. While the solicitation text provided does not list subtopics, the intent is to support fundamental, frontier research that can change the trajectory of energy storage capabilities, a well-known bottleneck for large-scale renewable energy adoption. The second track is Science in Energy and Environmental Design (SEED): Engineering Sustainable Buildings, which targets new engineering knowledge and approaches for designing and operating buildings that are substantially more sustainable in energy and environmental performance. SEED is explicitly interdisciplinary by design, and it sits at the boundary between engineering science and the building design disciplines, aiming to develop new principles, methods, or technologies that can materially change how buildings are conceived, built, and managed over their lifecycles.

The funding opportunity is a discretionary grant program (Funding Opportunity Number 09-606) with an estimated total program budget of about $29 million and an expectation of roughly 14 awards. Individual awards are anticipated to fall between $1,000,000 (floor) and $2,000,000 (ceiling). There is no cost sharing or matching requirement, which is important for teams planning budgets because the program does not require institutional financial contributions as a condition of eligibility.

Eligibility is structured to keep universities in the lead while still encouraging broad collaboration. Proposals may be submitted by a single organization or by a multi-organization team led by one institution partnering with others. Only U.S. academic institutions that conduct research and have degree-granting programs in fields typically supported by NSF may serve as the lead organization. These include accredited two-year and four-year colleges (including community colleges) with a campus located in the United States, submitting on behalf of their faculty. The solicitation encourages teams to build synergistic collaborations with government laboratories, industry researchers, and foreign organizations when those relationships strengthen the research. However, NSF funds from this opportunity are not provided to government labs, industry, or foreign organizations, meaning those partners generally participate via non-NSF support, in-kind contributions, or other appropriate arrangements. For projects where industry collaboration is central, teams may use NSF's GOALI mechanism (Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry), which is designed to formalize and support academic-industry engagement within NSF rules.

Team composition requirements are explicit and are meant to enforce true interdisciplinarity. The Principal Investigator must be at the faculty level as defined by the submitting institution. Each proposal must include at least one PI and at least two co-PIs, establishing a minimum core team of three senior personnel. For the SEED topic specifically, there is an additional disciplinary requirement: at least one co-PI must be an engineer and at least one co-PI must be an architect, reinforcing the program's intent to integrate engineering research with architectural design expertise.

The submission process is staged and includes required early steps before the full proposal. A mandatory Letter of Intent is due October 9, 2009, followed by a mandatory preliminary proposal due November 13, 2009. Full proposals are due March 31, 2010, which is also listed as the closing date for the competition. This structure is typical of programs that want to shape the final submission pool and ensure that full proposals are well-aligned with topic goals and program expectations. The solicitation also notes an information workshop/webcast scheduled for September 17, 2009, intended to answer questions about EFRI and the specific solicitation, with details posted on the EFRI website.

Administratively, the opportunity is associated with multiple CFDA program numbers spanning engineering and several NSF-supported disciplines, plus related federal research program identifiers (including EPA STAR and DOE Office of Science assistance), which signals that proposals may draw from a broad base of science and engineering fields as long as they remain anchored in fundamental engineering innovation. Interested applicants are directed to the full announcement (NSF Publication 09-606) for detailed requirements and compliance instructions. For technical issues accessing the announcement, the contact provided is NSF Grants.gov support at grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov.

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