LIGO Research Support | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The LIGO Research Support opportunity (NSF program description PD 13-1252) is a National Science Foundation grant program housed within the Mathematical and Physical Sciences directorate under CFDA 47.049. It sits inside NSF's Gravitational Physics program, which funds research at the cutting edge of gravitational science. The overall scientific aim is to push forward understanding of space and time, test gravity across extremes from atomically small to cosmological scales, and use gravitational waves as a tool for exploring the universe. In practical terms, this program is one of NSF's main mechanisms for sustaining and advancing the research ecosystem around the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the broader experimental gravitational physics community.

A central focus of the program is supporting the commissioning and operation of LIGO. That includes work directly tied to building, improving, and running the detectors so they can achieve and maintain the sensitivity needed to observe gravitational-wave signals. The scope is broad and covers many parts of the end-to-end discovery pipeline: instrument science (design, upgrades, calibration, controls, and noise mitigation), detector characterization (understanding and diagnosing instrumental artifacts and environmental couplings), and data analysis (developing methods and tools to find signals, estimate parameters, and assess significance). It also supports theoretical and computational efforts closely connected to observations, such as estimating source populations and rates, modeling astrophysical sources, and connecting gravitational-wave detections to electromagnetic and neutrino counterparts. That multi-messenger emphasis reflects the reality that many high-value astrophysical events are best understood when gravitational-wave data is interpreted alongside light-based and particle-based observations.

Beyond direct research and technical work, the opportunity explicitly includes infrastructure and community-building activities that strengthen the field as a whole. Examples called out include short- and long-term visitor programs, workshops, and research centers that bring together external scientists from universities, national laboratories, and industry. The program also highlights participation and support for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, recognizing that training and workforce development are essential to keeping LIGO and gravitational physics productive over the long run. Taken together, the funding is meant to sustain not only the hardware and software needed for discovery, but also the collaborations, shared expertise, and research culture that make large-scale gravitational-wave science work.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant program with no cost sharing or matching requirement. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning proposals can come from any type of entity, with the caveat that applicants should review any clarifications provided in the full program text. Key dates in the provided listing include an original closing date of October 30, 2013, and a recurring annual target date described as the last Wednesday in October (noted as the "PHY Target Date"). The listing also shows a later closing date of October 28, 2015 and an archive date of November 30, 2018, which indicates the specific posting referenced is no longer active, even though the underlying research area continues through NSF programs. For access issues, the notice directs applicants to NSF Grants.gov support at grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov, and it references an additional information link to the NSF program description for PD 13-1252.

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