Infrastructure Systems and People
Research grant focused on enhancing the design, operations, and resilience of complex infrastructure systems to support communities under varying conditions, including extreme events, through interdisciplinary collaborations and innovative approaches.
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Due Dates: Proposals accepted anytime
Funding Amounts: No specified ceiling or floor; award size and duration vary by project.
Summary: Supports fundamental research to improve the design, sustainability, and resilience of infrastructure systems under normal and extreme conditions.
Key Information: Proposers are encouraged to email a one-page summary to program officers for scope guidance before submitting a full proposal.
Description
This grant program supports fundamental research on the design, optimization, sustainability, and resilience of infrastructure systems that serve communities at all scales. Infrastructure systems—comprising physical components, organizational structures, and operational methods—are critical to public health, economic prosperity, and national security, and must function reliably under both normal and extreme conditions, such as natural disasters or crises.
The program encourages interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research that opens new frontiers and transforms research communities. It welcomes projects that address:
- System integration and user-inspired system/service design
- Data analytics and socio-technical studies
- Engineering and system innovation during both normal and extreme events
- Development and sharing of large-scale databases on infrastructure and people-infrastructure interactions
Research focusing solely on individual infrastructure components (e.g., only geotechnical or structural engineering) without a broader systems perspective is not supported. Projects leveraging NSF’s Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) are particularly encouraged.
The program also contributes to national initiatives such as the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP).
