Robotics and Intelligent Mining Technology and Workplace Safety Research (U60)
🏛 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - ERA (HHS-CDC-HHSCDCERA)
✓ Free, no account · Source: Grants.gov · Last verified Jul 27, 2026
Can you apply?
This grant is for U.S. academic institutions that meet specific engineering program requirements. Eligible applicants must offer an ABET-accredited undergraduate program in mining or mineral engineering. Applicants must also offer graduate programs in both mining engineering and explosives engineering.
The grant supports applied research in automation, robotics, and intelligent systems for mining. Projects must deliver field-ready solutions improving safety through autonomy, sensing, and decision-support technologies. Research should address emergency communication, self-escape, refuge performance, and hazard reduction in mining operations.
Cooperative agreements include ongoing CDC-NIOSH collaboration and guidance throughout the project period.
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Key dates
- Jul 22, 2026 Applications open
- Feb 8, 2027 Application deadline in 194 days
- Aug 2, 2027 Award announced
- Sep 1, 2027 Project start
Program description
Purpose
This NOFO supports applied research to advance automation, robotics, and intelligent mining systems that improve safety and health in U.S. mining operations. Projects should deliver field-ready solutions that strengthen communication, self-escape, refuge performance, and overall safety through modern autonomy, sensing, and decision-support technologies.
Background
Mining remains hazardous. In 2025, MSHA recorded 33 fatalities, including powered-haulage and machinery incidents. Early 2026 data show continued roof and rib failures and pressure-vessel events. Although the 2025 injury rate reached a historic low, gaps persist in emergency communication reliability, low-visibility self-escape, and refuge performance. Advances in robotics and intelligent systems offer potential for rapid assessment, resilient communications, and improved decision-making.
Approach
The Miner Health Program, 2020–2030 Strategic Agenda provides a long term framework for improving miner health and well being through integrated research, evaluation, and community engagement.
This cooperative agreement aligns with that agenda by supporting research in robotics and intelligent mining to reduce hazardous exposures, strengthen emergency response, and improve miner safety and health.
Objectives
Objectives support research in automation, robotics, and intelligent systems that enhance mining safety and health. Projects should advance “assured autonomy,” ensuring autonomous equipment improves worker safety while maintaining productivity.
Potential impacts include:
- Advances and implementation of human-centered design principles for automated equipment and related systems.
- New methods, guidance, and best practices in change management, training/retraining, technology integration, and safety evaluation.
- New methods and evaluation techniques for safe design considering the full mining operation.
- Advances and availability of enabling technologies for assured autonomy, including sensors, data fusion, AI, and systems improving machine and operator situational awareness.
- Availability of new miner-rescue and post-disaster surveillance technologies.
Applicants are encouraged to leverage mining and explosives-engineering graduate program facilities. Proposals must clearly state goals, link them to documented burdens, and provide concise evidence on exposures, populations at risk, and expected impact. Include supporting data such as morbidity or mortality rates and indicators of population risk.
Eligibility
Congress intends for the award to go to a U.S. academic institution that (1) offers an ABET-accredited undergraduate program in mining or mineral engineering (under the Mining and Similarly Named Engineering Programs criteria) and (2) offers graduate programs in both mining engineering and explosives engineering.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants
How to apply
Application links
Key dates & requirements
Required documents
- SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance)
- Project Narrative with goals linked to documented mining safety burdens
- Budget and Budget Justification
- Institutional documentation of ABET accreditation status
- Evidence of mining and explosives engineering graduate programs
- Letters of support or collaboration agreements (if applicable)
Program contact
- 👤 Maria Lioce, MD, Scientific Program Official
- 📧 MLioce@cdc.gov
- 📞 404-498-2575
Funding track record
Recent awards under CFDA 93.262 from the last 3 years — real organizations that won funding through this same program.
Top 10 Largest Recent Awards
-
$119,835,396
-
$84,316,965
-
$32,293,512
-
$31,307,359
-
$31,273,504
-
$31,109,864
-
$30,624,479
-
$30,094,184
-
$29,920,153
-
$29,746,441
Top States by Funding
- NY 22 awards $229.1M
- MD 3 awards $121.4M
- CA 6 awards $109.6M
- MA 6 awards $80.8M
- MI 3 awards $76.4M
Source: USAspending.gov — federal spending transparency. Data covers last 3 years.
Funding history
Annual funding for this program — Federal obligations (CFDA 93.262). How funding has trended year over year.
| 2024 | $130,993,880 | |
| 2025 | $127,849,749 | |
| 2026 est. | $113,003,523 |
FAQ
Who is eligible to apply?
Only U.S. academic institutions with ABET-accredited mining/mineral engineering undergrad programs and graduate programs in both mining and explosives engineering. Institutions must meet both criteria.
What research topics are supported?
Applied research in robotics, automation, and intelligent systems for mining safety. Projects must address emergency communication, self-escape, refuge performance, or hazard reduction using modern autonomy, sensors, and AI.
When is the deadline?
February 8, 2027. This is a fixed deadline, not rolling acceptance.
What is the typical award amount?
Award amounts vary, with a funding pool of $10,000,000 available. Exact amounts depend on project scope and review quality.
Is cost-sharing required?
No. Cost-sharing is not required for this grant.
💡 Tips for applicants
- Start with documented mining safety burdens. Include morbidity, mortality rates, and clear evidence of exposures and populations at risk.
- Design projects with human-centered principles. Show how autonomous equipment will improve worker safety while maintaining productivity.
- Propose field-ready solutions. Avoid purely theoretical research; focus on practical implementation in actual mining operations.
- Leverage your institution's mining/explosives engineering programs. Clearly describe how you'll use existing facilities and expertise.
- Plan for CDC-NIOSH collaboration. Cooperative agreements require ongoing partner engagement, so outline communication and decision-making processes upfront.
⚠️ Common mistakes
Applications lack concrete mining safety data and clear links between proposed technology and documented hazards. Proposals underestimate the importance of human-centered design and fail to demonstrate field-readiness or practical implementation pathways. Applicants from institutions without full ABET accreditation in mining engineering or complete graduate program portfolios get rejected before review.
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