The NSF Expeditions in Computing 2026 program offers research teams up to $15 million over seven years for ambitious foundational computing research led by eligible U.S. institutions. The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) expects to make only 2 to 4 awards, with up to $60 million available across the competition. Teams must first submit a required preliminary proposal by December 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. in the submitting organization’s local time.
NSF will invite selected teams to submit full proposals by July 27, 2027. The program targets large, multidisciplinary projects in computing and information science that pursue research questions too complex or long-term for a conventional grant. The real challenge is not assembling a large team or requesting a large budget. Your proposal needs to show why the research requires seven years, multiple disciplines, and an investment of this scale rather than several smaller NSF-funded projects.
NSF Expeditions in Computing 2026–2027: Quick Overview
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Host Country | United States |
| Funding Agency | U.S. National Science Foundation |
| Directorate | Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) |
| Program | Expeditions in Computing |
| Solicitation | NSF 26-525 |
| Research Level | Large-scale multidisciplinary research |
| Maximum Project Budget | Up to $15 million |
| Project Duration | Up to 7 years |
| Competition Funding | Up to $60 million |
| Expected Awards | 2–4 |
| Preliminary Proposal Deadline | December 2, 2026, 5:00 p.m. submitting organization’s local time |
| Full Proposal Deadline | July 27, 2027, 5:00 p.m. submitting organization’s local time |
| Preliminary Proposal | Required |
| Full Proposal | Invitation only |
| Preliminary Submission | Research.gov |
NSF states that Expeditions projects rank among CISE’s largest single investments. The program supports research questions that need sustained collaboration across fields rather than a collection of loosely connected individual projects.
What Does NSF Expeditions in Computing Fund?
NSF CISE supports large multidisciplinary teams pursuing transformative foundational computing research through the Expeditions program.
The research agenda should look ahead by at least a decade and pursue advances capable of changing the future direction of computing and information science.
NSF identifies potential areas that include:
- New architectures for intelligence and their hardware and computing substrates
- Physical and mathematical theories of learning, generalization and interpretability
- Neuroscience-inspired learning, memory and reasoning
- General physical intelligence
- Advanced robotics hardware
- New architectures and learning approaches for embodied systems
- Next-generation communication and networking
- High-risk research that requires contributions from multiple disciplines
These examples do not create a closed list. NSF explicitly frames the program around ambitious foundational research rather than one narrowly prescribed computing topic.
If your project needs a smaller funding structure, consider NSF Research Funding Opportunities rather than forcing a conventional project into an Expeditions-scale proposal.
What Makes an NSF Expeditions Project Different?
Scale alone does not qualify a proposal.
NSF expects the project to integrate different research contributions so that the combined effort produces something that individual components cannot achieve separately. Teams should also create environments that support informed risk-taking, advance CISE knowledge and technology, accelerate use-inspired foundational research, and use experimental systems or shared facilities where appropriate.
That distinction matters.
A proposal built around five strong investigators running five parallel work packages can still miss the purpose of the program. Reviewers need to see why the scientific problem itself demands integration.
Who Can Apply for NSF Expeditions in Computing?
Eligible U.S. institutions of higher education submit NSF Expeditions proposals on behalf of faculty members. Lead or collaborative institutions must have a U.S. campus and undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs in computer and information science and engineering fields. The solicitation places no restriction on who may serve as PI.
Eligible lead or collaborative institutions include qualifying accredited U.S. higher education institutions.
U.S.-based nonprofit, non-academic organizations associated directly with CISE education or research can participate as subawardees under the conditions in the solicitation.
International organizations, national laboratories and for-profit organizations can participate in project activities only when they bring independent sources of support. NSF will not fund those organizations through this opportunity.
For international researchers, this creates an important distinction: participation in a research team does not automatically mean eligibility to receive NSF funding through your overseas institution.
If you need research funding designed around international mobility instead, compare Humboldt Research Fellowship or Georg Arnhold Senior Fellowship 2028.
One-Proposal Rule You Should Check Before Joining a Team
NSF imposes a strict participation limit.
An individual can participate in no more than one preliminary proposal in a competition as PI, co-PI or senior/key personnel. If NSF invites that project forward, the same one-proposal restriction applies at the full-proposal stage.
This rule changes team-building strategy.
A prominent collaborator cannot casually appear on several competing Expeditions teams. Before you finalize the consortium, confirm every senior participant’s commitment.
How Much Funding Does NSF Expeditions Provide?
NSF anticipates up to $60 million for each competition, subject to available funds, with approximately 2 to 4 new awards.
Each Expeditions project can request a total budget of up to $15 million across seven years.
At the full-proposal stage, NSF divides the seven-year budget into three phases:
- Years 1–2: Acceleration Phase: up to $3 million total
- Years 3–5: Steady-State Phase: up to $3 million per year, or $9 million total
- Years 6–7: Wrap-Up Phase: up to $3 million total
Funding for Years 6 and 7 depends on a successful Year 5 site visit.
So the headline $15 million does not function as an unrestricted seven-year allocation. Your research plan needs to fit NSF’s staged funding logic.
Researchers looking for a more conventional investigator-led funding structure can also compare ERC Consolidator Grant 2027.
Preliminary Proposal Requirements
You cannot skip directly to the full proposal.
NSF requires the preliminary proposal through Research.gov. The preliminary package includes several tightly controlled components.
Review the complete NSF 26-525: Expeditions in Computing (Expeditions)
Project Summary
You get one page.
You need to explain the unique foundational research opportunity, overarching goals, distinguishing features, potential impact on strategic technologies, collaborative institutions and each institution’s major contribution.
Project Description
The preliminary Project Description has an 11-page limit, including tables and illustrations.
It needs to explain the overarching vision, the contributing research and, critically, why the complete project produces more value than its individual components.
You must also address leadership and collaboration. Where appropriate, explain experimental systems, platforms, instruments, testbeds or shared facilities.
Budget
Teams provide a one-page budget summary covering the full seven-year period at this stage.
Partner and Personnel Information
The preliminary proposal also requires lists of partner institutions and project personnel. NSF uses this information during the merit-review process, including reviewer selection.
Do not treat the preliminary application as a casual concept note. NSF has already built substantial scientific, organizational and budget scrutiny into this stage.
If you want to compare the NSF research grants with Horizon Europe then explore the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership Call 2026.
One Easy-to-Miss Requirement After Submission
There is an unusual step worth flagging.
Immediately after submitting the preliminary proposal and receiving the Research.gov proposal number, the lead proposer needs to email NSF one Microsoft PowerPoint slide summarizing the vision of the Expeditions proposal.
NSF uses that slide during review-panel discussions.
That makes the slide more important than its size suggests. A technically accurate but overloaded slide can weaken how quickly reviewers understand the central research idea.
What Happens After the Preliminary Proposal?
NSF accepts full proposals by invitation only.
A team cannot independently submit a full proposal because it believes its preliminary proposal was competitive. NSF will return an uninvited full proposal without review.
Invited teams then prepare a substantially expanded application, including a Project Description of up to 25 pages, detailed seven-year budgeting, leadership and collaboration information, and a required intellectual property and ethics component.
There is another Horizon Europe Research grants called ERC Starting Grant 2027 for independent researcher.
Careers Help Desk Counter Angle: The $15 Million Is Not the Main Selling Point
The most dangerous way to approach Expeditions is to start with a large team and ask, “What can we build for $15 million?”
Start with the opposite question: What computing problem becomes scientifically unrealistic if we break it into several normal grants?
NSF effectively asks reviewers this question. Its additional review criteria examine whether the research has enough importance, scale or complexity to justify an Expeditions-level investment and whether the proposed work genuinely requires seven years.
Three practical implications follow.
First, build around scientific dependency, not famous names. Every major research component should need another component. A long list of respected investigators does not demonstrate integration.
Second, justify seven years scientifically. Show what becomes possible in Years 3–7 that cannot happen through a shorter award. NSF explicitly asks reviewers whether the timeline demonstrates the necessity of a seven-year project.
Third, treat project management as part of scientific credibility. NSF evaluates leadership, coordination, institutional commitments and collaboration. At this scale, a brilliant research concept with vague governance creates an obvious execution risk.
That is where many applicants can misread the call. Expeditions does not simply reward a bigger version of a strong NSF proposal. It asks teams to prove that the research problem itself requires the scale.
How NSF Reviews Expeditions Proposals
NSF applies its standard Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria, then adds Expeditions-specific questions.
Reviewers examine the scale and importance of the research goals, necessity of the seven-year structure, leadership capacity, project coordination, institutional commitments, budget, collaboration and the value created by funding the work specifically as an Expeditions project.
Your proposal therefore needs to answer two different questions:
Is this excellent research?
And then:
Why does this excellent research need an Expedition?
The second question separates this competition from many conventional research grants.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating the preliminary proposal as a lightweight expression of interest
- Building parallel research themes without demonstrating scientific interdependence
- Failing to justify why the project requires seven years
- Assuming international partners automatically qualify for NSF financial support
- Listing senior researchers on multiple competing preliminary proposals
- Submitting extra preliminary-proposal appendices that NSF does not permit
- Forgetting the required PowerPoint vision slide after submission
- Treating the $15 million maximum as a reason to inflate the project budget
NSF explicitly warns that preliminary proposals containing items beyond those permitted in the solicitation will not receive review or funding consideration.
Ready to Apply for NSF Research Grants
The NSF Expeditions in Computing 2026–2027 competition targets research teams with a computing problem too integrated, ambitious and long-term for a conventional collection of grants. With up to $15 million over seven years and only 2 to 4 expected awards, simply assembling a large consortium will not create a competitive case. Your preliminary proposal needs to show why the research requires this particular team, this scale and this length of support. The immediate deadline is December 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. in the submitting organization’s local time.
Review the complete NSF 26-525 solicitation before preparing or submitting your proposal:
Official Source: NSF Expeditions in Computing Grant Call for Applications
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is the NSF Expeditions in Computing program open for 2026?
Yes. The required preliminary proposal deadline is December 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. in the submitting organization’s local time.
How much funding can an NSF Expeditions project receive?
Up to $15 million over seven years. NSF anticipates up to $60 million across the competition and expects approximately two to four awards.
Can international universities apply directly for NSF Expeditions funding?
No. Eligible U.S. institutions lead or submit qualifying proposals. Organizations in other countries can participate only with independent sources of support and will not receive NSF support through this program.
Can I submit a full proposal without submitting a preliminary proposal?
No. NSF requires the preliminary proposal, and only teams that receive an invitation can submit a full proposal.
Can a researcher participate in two NSF Expeditions proposals?
No. An individual can participate in no more than one preliminary proposal, and if invited, one corresponding full proposal per competition as PI, co-PI or senior/key personnel.
When is the NSF Expeditions full proposal deadline?
July 27, 2027, at 5:00 p.m. in the submitting organization’s local time. Only NSF-invited teams can submit at this stage.
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