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Note: The following program summary is for informational purposes only. Always review the most recent version of the sponsor’s full announcement to verify that the deadline and requirements have not changed.

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The NSF Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) seeks to award grants intended to support research independence among early-career academicians who specifically lack access to adequate organizational or other resources. It is expected that funds obtained through this program will be used to support untenured faculty or research scientists (or equivalent) in their first three years in a primary academic position after the PhD, but not more than six years after completion of their PhD for proposals submitted in 2021, and not more than five years after completion of their PhD for proposals submitted after 2021. Applicants for this program may not yet have received any other grants or contracts in the PI role from any department, agency, or institution of the federal government, including from the CAREER program or any other program, post-PhD, regardless of the size of the grant or contract, with certain exceptions as noted below. Serving as co-PI, Senior Personnel, Postdoctoral Fellow, or other Fellow does not count against this eligibility rule.

Importantly, the CRII program seeks to provide essential resources to enable early-career PIs to launch their research careers. For the purposes of this program, CISE defines “essential resources” as sufficient funds for 48 months of graduate student support. Faculty at undergraduate and two-year institutions may use funds to support undergraduate students, and may optionally use the additional RUI designation (which requires inclusion of a RUI Certification and RUI Impact Statement) -- see for additional information. In addition, submissions from all institutions may use funds for PI salary, postdoctoral scholars, travel, and/or research equipment.

Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering

• Division of Computing and Communication Foundations
• Division of Computer and Network Systems
• Division of Information and Intelligent Systems
• Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure

Eligibility

Eligible PIs must:

Hold a primary appointment (or if applying to the CISE Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, hold a full- or part-time appointment) in computer and/or information science and/or engineering, or in a related field of computational or data science (where the PI would normally submit proposals to CISE programs);

Be untenured;

Be in the first three years of a tenure-track or research science or education position (or equivalent). The number of years includes any academic position held post-PhD, exclusive of postdoctoral appointments. Only official leaves of absence (for illness, family, etc.)

may be subtracted from the total time in the position, as certified by the PI's department chair/head in the required letter [], to be included in the Supplementary Documents section of the proposal; and

Must not already have resources available from all other sources sufficient for more than 24 months of full-time graduate student support, as also certified by the PI's department chair/head in the required letter. In calculating support available from other sources, all resources available to the PI since time of appointment should be counted, including those that were already spent or expired. The total of existing resources and budgeted resources must not exceed 48 months of graduate student support. This requirement does not apply to PIs at PUIs.

See solicitation for additional criteria.

Award Info

Each award will be up to $175,000 for a period of 24 months.

Application deadline

2022: September 19, Third Monday in September, Annually Thereafter

Program Page with Solicitation, FAQ, and Summaries of Recent Awards: