Engineering Design and Systems Engineering
The EDSE program funds research that advances design and systems understanding to create new knowledge about engineered artifacts through rigorous scientific inquiry and multidisciplinary collaborations in areas like robotics, design cognition, and data science.
Funder: National Science Foundation
Due Dates: Proposals accepted anytime
Funding Amounts: No specified ceiling; typical NSF awards range from 1–5 years and vary by project scope.
Summary: Supports fundamental, multidisciplinary research advancing design and systems science for engineered artifacts, including devices, processes, and systems.
Key Information: Proposals must follow the current NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG).
Description
The National Science Foundation's Engineering Design and Systems Engineering (EDSE) program funds fundamental research that advances design science and/or systems science, with a focus on the creation of new knowledge about the design of engineered artifacts. These artifacts include devices, products, processes, platforms, materials, organizations, systems, and systems of systems.
The program views design as a system, considering designers, their methods, the artifacts, and the environment as subjects of rigorous scientific inquiry. Interactions among these elements are also central to the program's interests.
EDSE strongly encourages multidisciplinary proposals and well-defined collaborations between experts in design/systems science and other domains, such as social, behavioral, computational, and natural sciences. Proposals should be grounded in theory, demonstrate potential to improve design, and include a plan for rigorous assessment of research methods across all involved domains.
Research areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Design representation
- Design optimization
- Design validation
- Mechanism design
- Robotics and intelligent system design
- Design of engineered materials systems
- Design cognition
- Design collaboration
- Data science and artificial intelligence in design
- Design in under-resourced communities
- Immersive design
- Design at extreme scales and in extreme environments
Prospective investigators are encouraged to discuss their research ideas with the Program Director before preparing and submitting a proposal.
