MPS Materials Research Programs (MPS Materials)
NSF MPS funds basic research on materials and their properties across areas like biomaterials, ceramics, polymers, and more, seeking ambitious, foundational science without requiring immediate applications.
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Due Dates: August 17, 2076: Application deadline
Funding Amounts: ~$100,000,000 total funding; 200–300 awards anticipated; standard or continuing grants; typical project duration up to 5 years
Summary: Supports fundamental materials research in areas such as biomaterials, ceramics, condensed matter, polymers, and related fields, with an emphasis on foundational and potentially transformative science.
Description
This funding opportunity from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences supports a wide range of materials research programs aimed at advancing the fundamental understanding of materials, their properties, and their potential applications. Projects may be experimental, theoretical, or computational, and should be intellectually ambitious and potentially transformative. Proposals are encouraged in areas such as biomaterials, ceramics, condensed matter and materials theory, condensed matter physics, electronic and photonic materials, metals and metallic nanostructures, polymers, and solid state and materials chemistry. Interdisciplinary and high-risk/high-reward research is particularly welcomed.
Proposals do not need to promise near-term products or commercial outcomes; the focus is on foundational science. The program supports a variety of project sizes and durations, including rapid exploratory grants and longer, larger awards for sustained research efforts.
