The U.S. National Science Foundation has released 12 new Notices of Funding Opportunity totaling more than $1.5 billion for foundational research. The announcements span biological sciences, computing, engineering, geosciences, mathematics, materials, physics, chemistry, and astronomy.
This is not a single funding program, and it should not be read as one. It is a coordinated signal from NSF that foundational research remains central to U.S. competitiveness, national security, and future technology development. The opportunities range from rapid, exploratory awards to large, long-horizon research investments built to support ideas that may take years to prove out.
For our life sciences and technology network, two of the announcements stand out: Core Research in Biological Sciences (BIO Core) and Expeditions in Computing. Together, they show where NSF is placing substantial bets on the basic science and computing foundations that will feed tomorrow’s biotechnology, AI, advanced manufacturing, health, and national-security capabilities.
The 12 New Opportunities
NSF’s 12 announcements cover a broad cross-section of foundational research:
BIO: Core Research in Biological Sciences
CISE: Expeditions in Computing
ENG: Electrical, Communications, and Computing Systems
ENG: Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation
ENG: Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems
ENG: Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation: Wave-Based Computing
GEO: Geosciences Core Research
MPS: Mathematical Sciences Research Programs
MPS: Materials Research Programs
MPS: Physics Research Programs
MPS: Chemistry Research Programs
MPS: Astronomical Sciences Research Programs
Not every opportunity will fit every innovator, and that is the point. NSF is funding the research base beneath the technologies that later show up in commercial products, defense capabilities, industrial systems, and clinical applications. A company does not need to be a direct applicant to benefit from this activity. These opportunities can create meaningful openings for university partnerships, sponsored research arrangements, access to emerging IP, and long-term technical positioning.
BIO Core: A Broader Doorway for Foundational Biology
NSF’s new BIO Core solicitation consolidates core biological research previously handled across several NSF BIO divisions into one central entry point. Instead of asking applicants to navigate legacy program structures, NSF will centrally route proposals to the appropriate review unit. That is a meaningful operational change for interdisciplinary teams whose work does not fit neatly into one scientific category.
BIO Core supports foundational and interdisciplinary research across biology, from molecules and cells to organisms, ecosystems, and biomes. The program includes three broad thematic areas:
- Foundations of Life: Natural and synthetic molecules, cells, tissues, and physiology
- Living Systems: Evolution, species interactions, and biodiversity
- Bioinnovation and Infrastructure: Functional genomics, research tools, data, and technologies that advance biological discovery
NSF expects BIO Core to support both single- and multi-investigator projects, including smaller exploratory studies and longer-horizon work. The agency anticipates 250 to 300 awards and an estimated program budget of $280 million, subject to available funds. Proposals are accepted at any time.
The most important strategic takeaway is that BIO Core is explicitly built for science before the product. NSF is seeking research that challenges prevailing paradigms, develops new theories or methods, creates enabling tools and datasets, or opens new lines of inquiry. A near-term commercial product or deployment path is not required to be competitive.
BIO Core also calls out the scientifically justified use of AI, advanced computation, and laboratory automation. The operative word is “justified.” Adding AI to a proposal will not make it more competitive by default. Applicants need to show that computation or automation enables a new research question, measurement approach, experimental scale, or biological insight that would otherwise be inaccessible.
For more information, visit NSF.
CISE Expeditions: Computing Research at a Different Scale
Expeditions in Computing is NSF CISE’s flagship mechanism for large, ambitious, multidisciplinary computing research agendas. Unlike BIO Core, this is not a flexible general entry point. It is a highly selective opportunity intended for teams pursuing foundational research that can define the future of computing over the next decade or longer.
NSF expects to make two to four awards in each competition, with up to $60 million available per competition. Individual projects can receive up to $15 million over seven years.
The solicitation explicitly encourages research into areas such as new architectures for intelligence, the hardware and compute substrates that enable them, theories of learning and interpretability, neuroscience-inspired approaches to learning and reasoning, embodied intelligence and robotics, next-generation communications and networking, and other high-risk, high-reward challenges that cannot be solved by a single discipline.
The required preliminary proposal is due December 2, 2026, with invited full proposals due July 27, 2027, both by 5:00 p.m. local time of the submitting organization.
For more information, visit NSF.
The Bottom Line
The $1.5 billion headline is significant, but the more meaningful takeaway is NSF’s emphasis on foundational research that is bold, technically rigorous, multidisciplinary, and built for long-term impact. Organizations should not necessarily submit to every program but identify one or two opportunities where their research, team structure, institutional eligibility, and long-term strategy truly align with the agency’s mission.
This new portfolio is a reminder that the federal funding ecosystem is not only about near-term procurement, applied development, or a single defined customer requirement. Foundational research programs shape the technologies, platforms, datasets, talent pipelines, and partnerships that later become commercially and strategically valuable.
EverGlade is a national advisory firm helping innovators navigate the federal funding ecosystem. We support companies across the funding lifecycle, from early-stage strategy through proposal development, negotiations, and post-award execution, ensuring you win the award and deliver the program.
For additional information on where your capabilities could plug into these programs, schedule a conversation with our team.
