Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Research Initiation Initiative | 21 591

Opportunity Information: Apply for 21 591

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) offers the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Research Initiation Initiative, often referred to as CRII, as a targeted grant program meant to help early-career researchers establish independence and get their research programs off the ground. The central idea is to provide a meaningful first infusion of research support to people who are just starting in a primary academic role and who do not yet have the organizational resources, lab funding, or institutional backing that more established faculty typically rely on. In practice, this opportunity is designed to help a new principal investigator (PI) build momentum, generate early results, and put themselves in a stronger position for larger, longer-term competitive awards later on.

Eligibility is intentionally narrow and is focused on individuals who are still very early in their academic careers. The program expects the funding to be used by untenured faculty members or research scientists (or an equivalent position) who are within their first three years in a primary academic appointment after the PhD. There is also a time-since-PhD constraint: for proposals submitted in 2021, applicants must be no more than six years past PhD completion; for proposals submitted after 2021, the cap becomes five years past PhD completion. A major restriction is that applicants cannot have previously received any federal grants or contracts as a PI after earning the PhD, regardless of the size of that prior award, and this includes NSF CAREER awards as well as PI awards from any other federal department or agency. However, the program makes clear that participating in federally funded work in other roles does not disqualify someone: being a co-PI, Senior Personnel, a postdoctoral fellow, or holding other fellowship roles does not count against the eligibility rule. The intent is to prioritize people who truly have not yet had the chance to lead a federally funded project as the main award holder.

The funding is structured around the concept of providing "essential resources" that make it realistically possible to start a viable research program. CISE defines those essential resources as roughly enough support to cover 48 months of graduate student funding. In other words, the award is meant to be large enough to sustain substantial student research effort over multiple years, which is often the backbone of producing publishable results, prototypes, datasets, or other research outputs in computing fields. While graduate student support is the model baseline, the program is flexible in how funds can be used across common research needs. Proposals from any institution may allocate funds toward PI summer salary or other allowable salary support, postdoctoral researchers, travel, and research equipment, in addition to student support. This flexibility is important because early-career investigators often need a mix of personnel and startup purchases (such as computing resources, specialized instrumentation, or software and data expenses) to make meaningful progress.

The program also explicitly recognizes that many strong computing researchers work at institutions that may not have PhD programs or that emphasize undergraduate education. Faculty at undergraduate and two-year institutions are allowed to use CRII funds to support undergraduate researchers instead of, or in addition to, graduate students. They may also choose to submit with the optional Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) designation, which requires including an RUI Certification and an RUI Impact Statement. That option is meant to highlight how the proposed work will integrate research and undergraduate training in a way that fits the mission of those institutions and helps expand research participation.

From an administrative standpoint, this is an NSF discretionary grant opportunity in the science and technology research and development category (CFDA/Assistance Listing 47.070). For the specific posting referenced, the opportunity number is 21-591, it was created June 2, 2021, and it listed an original closing date of September 20, 2021. The award ceiling for that cycle is $175,000, and NSF anticipated making around 60 awards. Taken together, the scale and structure of the program signal that CRII is meant to be a practical, starter-level research grant: large enough to enable real progress and demonstrate independence, but focused tightly on launching a new PI's trajectory rather than funding a fully mature research center-scale effort.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Research Initiation Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.070.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 02, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 20, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $175,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 60 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 21 591

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