Community Infrastructure for Research in Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CIRC)
🏛 U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)
✓ Free, no account · Source: Grants.gov · Last verified Oct 20, 2026
Can you apply?
This grant is for research institutions and nonprofit organizations seeking to develop or enhance computing research infrastructure. Eligible applicants include U.S. institutions of higher education (including community colleges) and nonprofit research organizations like museums, observatories, and professional societies. PIs must hold tenured, tenure-track, or primary research positions at eligible U.S. organizations by the submission deadline. The program funds infrastructure serving diverse CISE research communities across multiple project types, from planning to large-scale infrastructure development.
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Program description
The Community Infrastructure for Research in Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CIRC) program drives discovery and learning in the core disciplines of the three participating CISE divisions [Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF), Computer and Network Systems (CNS), and Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS)] of the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) by funding the creation and enhancement of world-class research infrastructure. This research infrastructure will specifically support diverse communities of CISE researchers pursuing focused research agendas in computer and information science and engineering. This support involves developing the accompanying user services and engagement needed to attract, nurture, and grow a robust research community that is actively involved in determining directions for the infrastructure, as well as management of the infrastructure. This should lead to research infrastructure that can be sustained through community involvement and community leadership, and that will enable advances not possible with existing research infrastructure. Further, through the CIRC program, CISE seeks to ensure that researchers from a diverse range of institutions of higher education (IHEs), including minority-serving and predominantly undergraduate institutions, as well as researchers from non-profit, non-academic organizations, have access to such infrastructure.
The CIRC program supports four classes of awards:
- Planning Community Infrastructure (Planning) awards support planning efforts to engage research communities to develop new CISE community research infrastructures. Such an infrastructure could be eventually funded through the CIRC program (Planning-C) or the NSF Mid-scale Research Infrastructure (MsRI) program (Planning-M). For the scope of Mid-scale RI proposals, see the Mid-scale RI-1 and Mid-scale RI-2 program pages.
- Exploratory Development (Dev) awards support activities that involve the validation of one or more unproven infrastructure designs and/or technologies, which, if validated, could enable transformative community research infrastructure in the future. Successful projects are expected to provide the technical foundations necessary to pursue subsequent CIRC (New or Grand), Mid-scale RI-1, or Mid-scale RI-2 projects.
- Medium Community Infrastructure (Medium) awards support the creation of new CISE community research infrastructure or the enhancement of existing CISE community research infrastructure with integrated tools, resources, user services, and research community outreach to enable innovative CISE research opportunities to advance the frontiers of the CISE core research areas. The Medium award class includes New (New) and Enhance/Sustain (ENS) awards.
- Grand Community Infrastructure (Grand) awards support projects involving significant efforts to develop new CISE community research infrastructure or to enhance and sustain an existing CISE community research infrastructure to enable world-class CISE research opportunities for broad-based communities of CISE researchers that extend well beyond the awardee organization(s).
Each CIRC Medium or Grand award may include support for operation of the infrastructure, ensuring that the awardee organization(s) is (are) well positioned to provide a high quality of service to CISE community researchers expected to use the infrastructure to realize their research goals.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants
How to apply
Application links
Key dates & requirements
Required documents
- NSF PAPPG proposal form (SF-424)
- Project Narrative/Technical description
- Budget and budget justification
- Facility and Equipment description (if applicable)
- Letters of support from research community members
- Curriculum Vitae for PI and co-PIs
- Institutional commitment letters (if subawards involved)
Program contact
- 👤 U.S. National Science Foundation
- 📧 grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov
- 📞 703-292-4203
Funding track record
Recent awards under CFDA 47.075 from the last 3 years — real organizations that won funding through this same program.
Top 10 Largest Recent Awards
-
$38,357,018
-
$18,499,999
-
$13,999,656
-
$10,999,998
-
$8,993,747
-
$8,043,354
-
$5,237,549
-
$5,200,000
-
$5,047,151
-
$4,500,000
Top States by Funding
- MI 9 awards $94.1M
- DC 6 awards $20.7M
- MA 7 awards $18.5M
- NY 9 awards $17.0M
- CA 8 awards $14.8M
Source: USAspending.gov — federal spending transparency. Data covers last 3 years.
Funding history
Annual funding for this program — Federal obligations (CFDA 47.075). How funding has trended year over year.
| 2024 | $292,390,000 | |
| 2025 | $219,410,000 | |
| 2026 est. | $92,200,000 |
FAQ
What types of institutions can apply?
U.S. colleges, universities, and nonprofit research organizations like museums and observatories can submit. For-profit companies and overseas campuses are ineligible.
Who can be a PI?
PIs must hold tenured, tenure-track, or primary research appointments at eligible U.S. institutions by the deadline. Family or medical leave may be exceptions.
What can the funds support?
The program funds infrastructure creation, enhancement, operations, user services, and community engagement in computer science and engineering research areas.
When is the deadline?
The fixed deadline is September 10, 2027. There is no rolling acceptance for this program.
What are the award amounts?
Awards typically range from $50,000 to $5,000,000 depending on the project class (Planning, Development, Medium, or Grand).
💡 Tips for applicants
- Clearly identify which CIRC award class fits your project: Planning, Development, Medium, or Grand. Each has different scope and funding levels.
- Focus on community benefit. Emphasize how the infrastructure will serve diverse researchers beyond your institution.
- Detail your operational and sustainability plan. Reviewers want to see long-term viability and community stewardship.
- Demonstrate technical feasibility. For Development awards, show how you'll validate your infrastructure design or technology.
- Engage your research community early. Letters of support from potential users strengthen your proposal significantly.
⚠️ Common mistakes
Confusing award classes and proposing scope mismatched to funding level. Focusing only on your institution instead of broader research community benefits. Weak sustainability and operations plans that don't show long-term commitment or community involvement.
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