Environmental Sustainability
🏛 U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)
✓ Free, no account · Source: Grants.gov · Last verified Jul 15, 2026
Can you apply?
This grant is for academic researchers, universities, and research institutions proposing engineering research on sustainable systems. Applicants must involve at least one graduate student and undergraduates in the proposed research. Projects must be driven by engineering principles and framed in an environmental sustainability context.
The program supports five main research areas: circular bioeconomy engineering, industrial ecology, green engineering, ecological engineering, and earth systems engineering. Research should balance ecological protection with economic stability.
Researchers proposing work on water treatment, air pollution, soil remediation, or solid waste treatment should submit to the Environmental Engineering program instead. PIs proposing innovative work outside core areas should contact the program director before submitting.
Not the right fit? Find grants for your organization in 5 questions →
Program description
TheEnvironmental Sustainability program is part of theEnvironmental Engineering and Sustainabilitycluster together with 1) theEnvironmental Engineeringprogram and 2) theNanoscale Interactionsprogram.
The goal of theEnvironmental Sustainabilityprogram is to promote sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being and that are also compatible with sustaining natural (environmental) systems. These systems provide ecological services vital for human survival. Research efforts supported by the program typically consider long time horizons and may incorporate contributions from the social sciences and ethics. The program supports engineering research that seeks to balance society’s need to provide ecological protection and maintain stable economic conditions.
There are five principal general research areas that are supported.
- Circular Bioeconomy Engineering:This area includes research that enables sustainable societal use of food, energy, water, nitrogen, phosphorus, and materials, with the reduction and eventual elimination of fossil fuel combustion that lacks carbon capture. The program encourages research that helps build the raw material basis for the functioning of society principally on biomass, drawing heavily on sustainable agriculture and forestry. Additionally, material flows must reduce or preferably eliminate waste, with an emphasis on closed-loop or “circular” processing.
- Industrial ecology:Topics of interest include advancements in modeling such as life cycle assessment, materials flow analysis, net energy analysis, input/output economic models, and novel metrics for measuring sustainable systems. Innovations in industrial ecology are encouraged.
- Green engineering:Research is encouraged to advance the sustainability of manufacturing processes, green buildings, and infrastructure. Many programs in the Engineering Directorate support research in environmentally benign manufacturing or chemical processes. The Environmental Sustainability program supports research that would affect more than one chemical or manufacturing process or that takes a systems or holistic approach to green engineering for infrastructure or green buildings. Improvements in distribution and collection systems that will advance smart growth strategies and ameliorate effects of growth are research areas that are supported by Environmental Sustainability. Innovations in management of storm water, recycling and reuse of drinking water, and other green engineering techniques to support sustainability may also be fruitful areas for research.
- Ecological engineering:Proposals should focus on the engineering aspects of restoring ecological function to natural systems. Engineering research in the enhancement of natural capital to foster sustainable development is encouraged.
- Earth systems engineering:Earth systems engineering considers aspects of large-scale engineering research that involve mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation to climate change, and other global concerns.
All proposed research should be driven by engineering principles, and be presented explicitly in an environmental sustainability context. Proposals should include involvement in engineering research of at least one graduate student, as well as undergraduates. Incorporation of aspects of social, behavioral, and economic sciences is welcomed.
NOTE: Water treatment, air pollution (both outdoor and indoor), soil remediation, and solid waste treatment proposals are to besubmitted to theEnvironmental Engineeringprogram (CBET 1440).
Innovative proposals outside the scope of the four core areas mentioned above may be considered. However, prior to submission, it is recommended that the Principal Investigator contact the program director to avoid the possibility of the proposal being returned without review. For proposals that call for research to be done on regions that are outside of the United States, an explanation must be presented of the potential benefit of the research for the United States.
INFORMATION COMMON TO MOST CBET PROGRAMS
Proposals should address the novelty and/orpotentially transformative natureof the proposed work compared to previous work in the field. Also, it is important to address why the proposed work is important in terms of engineering science, as well as to also project the potential impact on society and/or industry of success in the research. The novelty or potentially transformative nature of the research should be included, as a minimum, in the Project Summary of each proposal.
The duration of unsolicited proposal awards in CBET is generally up to three years. Single-investigator award budgets typically include support for one graduate student (or equivalent) and up to one month of PI time per year(awards for multiple investigator projects are typically larger). Proposal budgets that are much larger than typical should be discussed with the program director prior to submission. Proposers can view budget amounts and other information from recent awards made by this program via the “What Has Been Funded (Recent Awards Made Through This Program, with Abstracts)” link towards the bottom of this page.
Faculty Early Career Development(CAREER)program proposals are strongly encouraged. Award duration is five years. The submission deadline for Engineering CAREER proposals is in July every year. Learn more in theCAREER program description.
Proposals for Conferences, Workshops, and Supplements: PIs are strongly encouraged to discuss their requests with the program director before submission of the proposal.
Grants forRapid Response Research(RAPID)andEArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research(EAGER)are also considered when appropriate.Please note that proposals of these types must be discussed with the program director before submission.Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI)proposals that integrate fundamental research with translational results and are consistent with the application areas of interest to each program are also encouraged. Please note that RAPID, EAGER, and GOALI proposals can be submitted anytime during the year. Details about RAPID, EAGER, and GOALI are available in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide(PAPPG), Part 1, Chapter II, Section E:Types of Proposals.
Compliance: Proposals that are not compliant with theProposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG)will be returned without review.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants
How to apply
Application links
Key dates & requirements
Required documents
- SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance)
- Project Narrative (research proposal)
- Budget and Budget Justification
- CV or Biosketch for Principal Investigator
- Letters of support (if applicable)
- Disclosure of conflicts of interest
Program contact
- 👤 National Science Foundation
- 📧 grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov
- 📞 703-292-4261
Funding track record
Recent awards under CFDA 47.041 from the last 3 years — real organizations that won funding through this same program.
Top 10 Largest Recent Awards
-
$41,946,862
-
$39,155,237
-
$38,277,956
-
$37,936,436
-
$36,940,111
-
$36,277,271
-
$36,183,087
-
$32,471,912
-
$32,414,114
-
$31,561,058
Top States by Funding
- TX 3 awards $90.6M
- CA 7 awards $85.0M
- IL 5 awards $83.9M
- AZ 2 awards $68.7M
- NC 2 awards $63.3M
Source: USAspending.gov — federal spending transparency. Data covers last 3 years.
Funding history
Annual funding for this program — Federal obligations (CFDA 47.041). How funding has trended year over year.
| 2024 | $752,230,000 | |
| 2025 | $727,730,000 | |
| 2026 est. | $181,990,000 |
FAQ
Who can apply for this grant?
Academic researchers, universities, and research institutions can apply. Your team must include at least one graduate student and undergraduates.
What types of research does this program fund?
The program funds engineering research in circular bioeconomy, industrial ecology, green engineering, ecological engineering, and earth systems engineering. All work must use engineering principles and address environmental sustainability.
Are there restrictions on what I can propose?
Yes, do not propose water treatment, air pollution, soil remediation, or solid waste treatment—those belong in Environmental Engineering (CBET 1440). Contact the program director before submitting innovative proposals outside the five core areas.
What is the application deadline?
This program uses a rolling deadline, meaning you can submit proposals throughout the year rather than on a single date.
Can my project incorporate non-engineering disciplines?
Yes, the program welcomes collaboration with social, behavioral, and economic sciences to strengthen sustainability research.
💡 Tips for applicants
- Contact the program director early if your proposal falls outside the five core research areas to get guidance and avoid desk rejection.
- Make sure your proposal emphasizes engineering principles explicitly—this is not a policy or social science grant, it is engineering-focused.
- Include a clear plan showing graduate and undergraduate student involvement from the start; this is a requirement, not optional.
- Use systems-thinking language: discuss how your work balances ecological protection with economic needs over long time horizons.
- Frame your budget and timeline to reflect the long-term nature of sustainability research; short-term projects may not be competitive.
⚠️ Common mistakes
Submitting proposals on water treatment, air pollution, soil remediation, or solid waste treatment—these belong in Environmental Engineering (CBET 1440), not this program.
Failing to clearly tie the work to engineering principles and environmental sustainability context from the proposal introduction.
Proposing research without explicit plans for graduate and undergraduate student involvement, which is a stated requirement.
Similar grants
- ROLLING Environmental Engineering — U.S. National Science Foundation
- ROLLING Long Term Research in Environmental Biology — U.S. National Science Foundation
- ROLLING Electrochemical Systems — U.S. National Science Foundation
- OPEN Biological Oceanography — U.S. National Science Foundation
- ROLLING Division of Environmental Biology — U.S. National Science Foundation