Community Infrastructure for Research in Computer and Information Science and Engineering
This grant funds the creation and enhancement of research infrastructure to support diverse computer and information science communities, offering awards for planning, development, and operation of shared resources and services.
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Due Dates: September 10, 2027 (Full proposal)
Funding Amounts: $50,000–$5,000,000 per award for up to 18 months–5 years, depending on category; $24 million total program funding
Summary: CIRC funds shared research infrastructure, user services, and community engagement enabling focused computer and information science and engineering research.
Key Information: Infrastructure must serve a broad CISE research community beyond the awardee organizations, not a closed group.
Description
NSF’s Community Infrastructure for Research in Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CIRC) program supports the creation and enhancement of shared research infrastructure in Computing and Communication Foundations, Computer and Network Systems, and Information and Intelligent Systems. Supported resources may include equipment, testbeds, software, and data repositories, together with integrated tools and user services.
The program emphasizes focused CISE research agendas, community involvement in infrastructure design and management, and long-term sustainability through community leadership. It seeks access for researchers across diverse institutions, including minority-serving and predominantly undergraduate institutions and nonprofit, non-academic organizations. CIRC funds infrastructure development rather than the individual research subsequently enabled by it. Projects must demonstrate why existing community resources cannot meet the proposed research needs.
