Engineering Research Initiation (ERI)

Needs review: generic eligibility text

Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) is a funding call from U.S. National Science Foundation that closes 16 September 2027. Funding: Total program funding $11,000,000. Eligibility: US federal opportunity; see the eligibility section of the funding notice.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Deadline: 16 Sep 2027 (336 days)
Amount: Total program funding $11,000,000
Region / eligibility: United States
Career stage: early-career, established / PI
Fields: chemistry
Reference: 24-590
Official call: Grants.gov listing · Program page

Eligibility in plain language

US federal opportunity; see the eligibility section of the funding notice.

Who should apply

Synthetic, physical and analytical chemists — best fit for postdocs and early-career researchers or PIs and research groups.

Summary from source

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/ ).

Raw eligibility text

*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 may not have 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 Federal funds but were distributed locally without naming the submitting ERI PI in the Federal funding proposal (such as: NASA Space Grant Project or other non-NSF federally-funded opportunities, NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program.). The Department Chair's/Dean'