Engineering Research Initiation

About this funding opportunity

The NSF Directorate for Engineering (ENG) seeks to build engineering research capacity across the nation by investing in new academic investigators who have yet to receive sufficient research funding from Federal Agencies. The Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) program will support new investigators as they initiate their research programs and advance in their careers as researchers, educators, and innovators. This funding opportunity aims to broaden the base of investigators involved in engineering research and therefore is limited to investigators that are not affiliated with “very high research activity” R1 institutions (according to the Carnegie Classification https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/).

Topic areas: General and Cross-cutting R&D, Education and Training, Workforce Development.

Funding amount

This grant provides From $200K in funding.

Deadline

Applications are due Oct 09, 2026. Confirm the exact closing time on the official program page before applying.

Who can apply

This opportunity is open to the following applicant types:

• Other
• University

Eligibility

*Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following: - In line with the program goals, ERI welcomes the submission of proposals to this funding opportunity from Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) not currently classified as a Doctoral University with “Very High Research Activity” (R1 institutions) according to the 2021 Carnegie Classification: https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/. These include two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Eligibility is based on Classification on the date of proposal submission deadline. NSF encourages su b m issions from Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) and two-year colleges, and institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions.

*Who May Serve as PI:

The PI of an ERI proposal must hold a doctoral degree in a field supported by NSF and must hold an appointment at an ERI-eligible institution. Postdoctoral fellow researchers are not eligible to serve as PI on an ERI proposal.

At the time of the proposal submission deadline,the PI maynothave been a PI or Co-PI on any current or prior awarded NSF research grant (including subaward) or have had research support from any other Federal Agency (within the United States or abroad) totaling $200,000 or more within the past five (5) calendar years from the proposal submission deadline date, with the following exceptions:

Grants not directly for research purposes such as workshops, conferences, travel, instrumentation and equipment (e.g., Major Research Instrumentation; MRI), Research Experiences for Undergraduate Students (REU) and Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Sites, etc.;

Awards that exclusively support pre-tenure-track activities (postdoctoral fellowships and Graduate Research Fellowships/GRFP);

I-Corps, Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards; and

Awards that originated as NSF or other F

Agency

Engineering Research Initiation is administered by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), listed via Grants.gov.