Advancing Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agent Ecosystems through the National Science Foundation Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems (NSF PESOSE) Program
NSF PESOSE funds research to develop secure, interoperable, open-source protocols and infrastructure for AI agent ecosystems, emphasizing security, scalability, and collaboration across diverse platforms.
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Due Dates (Anticipated): February 2027 (proposal submission deadline, projected)
Funding Amounts: Varies by project; typical NSF PESOSE awards range from hundreds of thousands up to several million dollars over 2–4 years.
Summary: Supports research to advance secure, interoperable AI agent ecosystems by strengthening open-source protocols and infrastructure.
Key Information: This is a forecasted opportunity; all dates are projected and subject to change.
Description
This opportunity encourages proposals to the NSF Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems (PESOSE) program focused on advancing protocols for artificial intelligence (AI) agent ecosystems. The PESOSE program aims to strengthen open-source ecosystems by supporting the development of software, hardware, models, and specifications that are publicly accessible, modifiable, and shareable. Emphasis is placed on security and interoperability, enabling autonomous AI agents to communicate and collaborate across diverse platforms and organizations.
Key priorities include:
- Developing open standards for interoperability among AI agents
- Creating scalable architectures for large, distributed agent networks
- Integrating robust security features and privacy protections
- Demonstrating applications for open science
- Fostering partnerships across academia, industry, nonprofits, and government
- Expanding education and training for contributors to AI agent ecosystems
Proposals should address one or more of these priorities and are expected to remain unclassified and publicly releasable.
