Opportunity Information: Apply for 26 506
Apply for 26 506
- The U.S. National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076, 47.084.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2026-02-19.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-09-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 60 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others.
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Opportunity Summary:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems (PESOSE) program is a grant opportunity aimed at turning strong open-source research outputs into durable, well-governed, and secure open-source ecosystems that can be relied on to meet national and societal needs. The program recognizes that open-source products are not just code repositories or one-off releases; to deliver real-world impact, they need long-term stewardship, clear governance, healthy contributor pipelines, and broad adoption across academia, industry, and government. PESOSE is designed to help teams build those surrounding structures so that important open-source software, hardware, machine learning models, languages, and data platforms can grow into sustainable ecosystems that continue to innovate and remain trustworthy over time.
A central focus of PESOSE is strengthening the safety, security, and privacy posture of open-source ecosystems (OSE) and the products they produce. NSF is explicitly interested in addressing major vulnerabilities, including both technical issues (for example, insecure dependencies, weak release processes, poor vulnerability handling, lack of testing, or fragile build pipelines) and socio-technical risks (for example, governance gaps, unclear maintainer roles, inadequate contributor vetting practices, community conflict, weak decision-making transparency, or overreliance on a small number of maintainers). The intent is to make open-source ecosystems more resistant to real threats, including those relevant to national security and cybersecurity, while still preserving the openness that makes these tools so innovative and widely useful. The program’s scope is intentionally broad because open-source infrastructure now underpins critical areas such as AI, cloud computing, banking, healthcare, education, advanced manufacturing, mobility, research, and government operations.
PESOSE invites three main kinds of proposals, giving applicants multiple entry points depending on how mature their open-source effort is. First, teams can request support to scope and plan the establishment of a new open-source ecosystem, which is essentially an early-stage pathway focused on strategy, governance design, community building plans, and the foundational choices needed before scaling. Second, teams can propose to establish and expand a sustainable ecosystem around a robust, promising open-source product that addresses an emerging societal or national need; this pathway is about moving from a strong project to a functioning ecosystem with distributed development, adoption growth, and a managing organization that can steward the work beyond the grant period. Third, teams can propose activities to improve the safety, security, and privacy of an existing open-source ecosystem and its products, which targets mature communities that need to harden their processes and technical foundations to reduce risk and improve resilience.
The solicitation emphasizes the creation or support of managing organizations for these ecosystems. In practice, this means NSF expects attention to governance models, decision-making processes, sustainability planning, contributor and user community development, and mechanisms that enable distributed, multi-stakeholder participation. The goal is not only to fund development work, but to ensure the ecosystem has the institutional capacity to continue operating responsibly: handling releases, managing security disclosures, coordinating contributions, setting standards, and keeping the community healthy and productive. PESOSE is therefore as much about stewardship and ecosystem health as it is about new features or research outputs.
Eligibility to submit proposals is limited to specific U.S.-linked organizational types. Eligible applicants include U.S.-based for-profit organizations (including small businesses) with strong scientific or engineering research or education capabilities; non-profit, non-academic organizations in the U.S. such as museums, observatories, research laboratories, and professional societies tied to education or research; state and local governments; federally recognized Tribal Nations; and Institutions of Higher Education (two- or four-year, including community colleges) that are accredited and have a U.S. campus. Other Federal Agencies and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) may also apply, but they must follow NSF’s proposal and award policies (PAPPG Chapter I.E.2) concerning eligibility and restrictions. The program includes special handling for international branch campuses of U.S. universities: if project funds would flow to an overseas branch campus (including via subawards or consultants), the proposal must clearly explain the benefit of doing work there and why the work cannot be performed at the U.S. campus.
Principal Investigator (PI) rules depend on the applicant type. For proposals submitted by Institutions of Higher Education, any PI, co-PI, or other senior/key person must, by the deadline, hold a tenured or tenure-track position, or have a primary full-time paid research or teaching appointment, or hold a staff leadership role in an Open-Source Program Office (or an equivalent position) at a U.S.-based campus; limited exceptions may be allowed for family or medical leave as determined by the institution. Individuals whose primary appointments are at overseas branch campuses of U.S. universities are not eligible to serve in those roles. Foreign academic researchers may participate if they bring essential expertise, but they cannot receive NSF funding. For all other eligible organizations (such as companies, non-profits, governments, or Tribal Nations), the PI must be an employee of the proposing organization, normally resident in the U.S., and acting in their employee capacity while carrying out PI responsibilities; temporary travel outside the U.S. is allowed. Individuals with primary appointments at non-U.S.-based for-profit or non-profit organizations are not eligible.
From the opportunity listing, PESOSE is an NSF discretionary grant program in the science and technology research and development category. The funding opportunity title is “Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems,” with funding opportunity number 26-506. The agency is the U.S. National Science Foundation, and the original closing date is 2026-09-01. The opportunity anticipates roughly 60 awards, and it is associated with multiple NSF CFDA numbers (47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076, 47.084), reflecting that the program spans several NSF directorates or research domains. The award ceiling is not specified in the provided source text, so applicants would need to consult the full solicitation for budget ranges, project durations, and any track-specific limits.
Overall, PESOSE is best understood as NSF support for the “missing middle” between a promising open-source research result and a secure, trusted, and self-sustaining ecosystem that others can safely build on. It funds the work required to professionalize stewardship, expand and diversify contributor and user communities, and reduce security and privacy risks that can undermine even technically excellent open-source projects.
FAQs: NSF Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems (PESOSE) (NSF 26-506)
1) What is the NSF PESOSE program?
PESOSE (Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant program intended to help turn strong open-source research outputs into durable, well-governed, and secure open-source ecosystems that can be relied on to meet national and societal needs.
2) What problem is PESOSE trying to solve?
PESOSE targets the "missing middle" between a promising open-source research result and a trustworthy, self-sustaining ecosystem. The program focuses on the real-world structures that allow open-source to deliver lasting impact: long-term stewardship, clear governance, healthy contributor pipelines, broad adoption, and stronger security and privacy practices.
3) What counts as an "open-source ecosystem" under PESOSE?
Based on the provided description, an open-source ecosystem is more than a code repository or a one-time release. It includes the product(s) (software, hardware, machine learning models, languages, and data platforms) plus the surrounding community, governance, decision-making processes, release practices, security handling, contributor pathways, and stewardship capacity needed to sustain and evolve the work over time.
4) What types of open-source products are in scope?
The program scope explicitly includes open-source software, hardware, machine learning models, languages, and data platforms. The solicitation also indicates the scope is intentionally broad because open-source infrastructure underpins many critical application areas.
5) What application areas does NSF associate with this program?
The provided information notes that open-source infrastructure supports critical areas such as AI, cloud computing, banking, healthcare, education, advanced manufacturing, mobility, research, and government operations.
6) What is the central focus of PESOSE?
A central focus is strengthening the safety, security, and privacy posture of open-source ecosystems and the products they produce. This includes addressing major vulnerabilities and making ecosystems more resistant to real threats, including threats relevant to national security and cybersecurity, while preserving the openness that drives innovation and adoption.
7) What kinds of vulnerabilities and risks does PESOSE want teams to address?
PESOSE highlights both technical and socio-technical risks. Technical examples include insecure dependencies, weak release processes, poor vulnerability handling, lack of testing, and fragile build pipelines. Socio-technical examples include governance gaps, unclear maintainer roles, inadequate contributor vetting practices, community conflict, weak decision-making transparency, and overreliance on a small number of maintainers.
8) What are the main types of proposals PESOSE invites?
PESOSE invites three main proposal types:
- Scoping and planning a new open-source ecosystem (an early-stage pathway focused on strategy, governance design, community-building plans, and foundational choices before scaling).
- Establishing and expanding a sustainable ecosystem around a robust, promising open-source product that addresses an emerging societal or national need (moving from a strong project to a functioning ecosystem with distributed development, adoption growth, and a managing organization that can steward beyond the grant period).
- Improving the safety, security, and privacy of an existing open-source ecosystem and its products (hardening processes and technical foundations to reduce risk and improve resilience in more mature communities).
9) Does PESOSE fund only technical development work?
No. The solicitation emphasizes stewardship and ecosystem health in addition to any development work. The program expects teams to build the institutional and community capacity required for responsible long-term operation.
10) What does PESOSE mean by "managing organizations" for ecosystems?
PESOSE emphasizes creating or supporting managing organizations that can steward an ecosystem. In practice, this includes attention to governance models, decision-making processes, sustainability planning, contributor and user community development, and mechanisms for distributed, multi-stakeholder participation.
11) What responsibilities is a managing organization expected to support?
The provided text indicates responsibilities such as handling releases, managing security disclosures, coordinating contributions, setting standards, and maintaining a healthy and productive community.
12) Who is eligible to submit a PESOSE proposal?
Eligibility is limited to certain U.S.-linked organizational types, including:
- U.S.-based for-profit organizations (including small businesses) with strong scientific or engineering research or education capabilities
- Non-profit, non-academic U.S. organizations (for example, museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies tied to education or research)
- State and local governments
- Federally recognized Tribal Nations
- U.S.-accredited Institutions of Higher Education (two- or four-year, including community colleges) with a U.S. campus
- Other Federal Agencies and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), subject to NSF proposal and award policies (PAPPG Chapter I.E.2)
13) Are foreign organizations eligible to apply?
The provided eligibility language is U.S.-linked and does not list foreign organizations as eligible applicants. It also states that individuals with primary appointments at non-U.S.-based for-profit or non-profit organizations are not eligible to serve as PI for non-IHE proposals.
14) Can international branch campuses of U.S. universities be involved?
Yes, but with special handling. If project funds would flow to an overseas branch campus (including via subawards or consultants), the proposal must clearly explain the benefit of doing work there and why the work cannot be performed at the U.S. campus.
15) Who can serve as PI/co-PI/senior personnel for proposals submitted by Institutions of Higher Education?
For proposals submitted by Institutions of Higher Education, any PI, co-PI, or other senior/key person must, by the deadline, hold one of the following at a U.S.-based campus: (1) a tenured or tenure-track position, (2) a primary full-time paid research or teaching appointment, or (3) a staff leadership role in an Open-Source Program Office (or equivalent position). Limited exceptions may be allowed for family or medical leave as determined by the institution.
16) Are individuals based at overseas branch campuses eligible to be PI/co-PI/senior key personnel on IHE proposals?
No. Individuals whose primary appointments are at overseas branch campuses of U.S. universities are not eligible to serve in those roles.
17) Can foreign academic researchers participate in a PESOSE project?
Yes, they may participate if they bring essential expertise, but they cannot receive NSF funding.
18) What are the PI requirements for non-IHE applicants (companies, non-profits, governments, Tribal Nations)?
For all other eligible organizations, the PI must be an employee of the proposing organization, normally resident in the U.S., and acting in their employee capacity while carrying out PI responsibilities. Temporary travel outside the U.S. is allowed.
19) Are individuals with primary appointments at non-U.S.-based organizations eligible to serve as PI?
No. The provided text states that individuals with primary appointments at non-U.S.-based for-profit or non-profit organizations are not eligible.
20) What is the funding opportunity number and title?
The title is "Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems" and the funding opportunity number is 26-506.
21) Which agency is offering this opportunity?
The agency is the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).
22) What kind of grant program is PESOSE?
From the opportunity listing, PESOSE is described as an NSF discretionary grant program in the science and technology research and development category.
23) What is the closing date listed for this opportunity?
The original closing date provided is 2026-09-01.
24) How many awards does PESOSE anticipate making?
The opportunity anticipates roughly 60 awards.
25) What CFDA numbers are associated with PESOSE?
The opportunity is associated with multiple NSF CFDA numbers: 47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076, and 47.084. This reflects that the program spans several NSF directorates or research domains.
26) Is the maximum award amount (award ceiling) specified?
No. The award ceiling is not specified in the provided text. Applicants would need to consult the full solicitation for budget ranges, project durations, and any track-specific limits.
27) Does PESOSE require broad adoption and multi-stakeholder participation?
The program description emphasizes broad adoption across academia, industry, and government, and it also emphasizes mechanisms that enable distributed, multi-stakeholder participation as part of ecosystem management and governance.
28) Is PESOSE aimed at early-stage projects or mature ecosystems?
Both. PESOSE includes an early-stage pathway for scoping and planning a new ecosystem, a pathway for expanding an ecosystem around a robust open-source product, and a pathway specifically aimed at improving safety, security, and privacy for existing (more mature) ecosystems.
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