Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers Program | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) Program is a grant opportunity designed to build durable, long-term partnerships that connect universities, industry, and government around shared research interests. The core idea is that NSF provides an initial, relatively small catalytic investment to help launch or strengthen a center, while the center is then sustained primarily through membership fees and engagement from industry partners. In practice, this model is meant to keep the research agenda closely aligned with real-world needs while still advancing fundamental science and engineering. Each I/UCRC is organized around a thematic research area where faculty expertise and industry priorities overlap, and the center structure is intended to support multi-year collaboration, shared governance with industry members, and a steady pipeline of applied and pre-competitive research projects.

A major goal of the program is to strengthen the nation’s research infrastructure and to grow the engineering and science workforce by tightly integrating research and education. That typically means graduate students and other trainees participate directly in industry-relevant research, gain exposure to practical constraints and commercialization pathways, and build professional networks with member companies. The program also supports, when appropriate, international collaborations to ensure the work stays competitive and connected in a global research environment. Overall, the I/UCRC framework aims to translate shared research problems into sustained cooperative activity that benefits participating firms, advances academic research, and contributes to national innovation capacity.

This opportunity was offered as a discretionary NSF grant in the broad category of science and technology research and development, with an estimated total funding level of about $10,000,000 and an expectation of roughly 8 awards. Individual awards ranged from a floor of $10,000 up to a ceiling of $200,000. Cost sharing or matching was required, reflecting the program’s emphasis on significant non-NSF support, especially from industry members. The opportunity spanned many NSF disciplines and accounts, including engineering, mathematical and physical sciences, geosciences, computer and information science and engineering, biological sciences, social, behavioral and economic sciences, education and human resources, polar programs, international science and engineering, cyberinfrastructure, and EPSCoR (as reflected in the listed CFDA numbers).

Eligibility was limited to U.S. academic institutions that have graduate research programs, reinforcing the workforce development and research training mission. There were also specific leadership requirements: at any institution participating in an I/UCRC proposal, the principal investigator generally had to be a tenured faculty member, with waivers possible if formally supported by the PI’s supervisor (such as a department chair or dean). In addition, the center or site director was required to serve as the PI. For teams seeking to establish new centers, the process emphasized readiness and planning: planning grant awardees had to complete required planning workshops with NSF program director participation before submitting a full center proposal. Moreover, eligibility to submit a full proposal for a new center depended on completing recognized preparatory activities, such as an NSF-sponsored boot camp (with NSF reimbursing the center/site director’s travel) or attendance at an NSF-approved planning grant meeting (not reimbursed).

The application timeline operated on recurring annual cycles. Letters of intent were due January 2 and June 26 each year and were required when submitting a planning grant proposal for the next immediate deadline; if an applicant missed the letter-of-intent deadline, a new letter of intent had to be submitted for a later cycle. Full proposals were due March 6 and September 26 annually. The specific archived solicitation referenced here (NSF Publication 10-595; Funding Opportunity Number 10-595) was posted August 13, 2010, had an original closing date of March 6, 2011, and was later replaced by a newer solicitation (12-516). For access or technical issues, the announcement directed applicants to NSF’s Grants.gov support channel (grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov).

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