Funder: National Science Foundation
Due Dates: July 16, 2025 (CAREER) | Proposals accepted anytime (other types)
Funding Amounts: Typical unsolicited awards: up to 3 years, supporting 1 graduate student and 1 month PI time/year; CAREER awards: 5 years; total program funding estimated at $4.9M/year.
Summary: Supports fundamental research in chemical reaction engineering, process systems, and molecular thermodynamics to advance efficient, sustainable chemical processes and materials.
Key Information: Contact the program director before submitting proposals outside core areas or for RAPID/EAGER/GOALI types.
Description
This program supports fundamental engineering research on the rates and mechanisms of chemical reactions, systems engineering, and molecular thermodynamics, with a focus on the design and optimization of chemical reactors and the production of specialized materials. The program is part of the Chemical Process Systems cluster, which also includes catalysis, electrochemical systems, and interfacial engineering.
Research areas of interest include:
- Chemical Reaction Engineering: Interaction of transport phenomena and kinetics in reactive systems, novel reactor designs (e.g., catalytic, membrane, micro-reactors), supercritical fluids, advanced activation techniques (e.g., plasmas, microwaves), multifunctional/intensified systems (e.g., lab-on-a-chip), nanoparticle synthesis, and biomass conversion.
- Process Design, Optimization, and Control: Process modeling, design, control, and optimization theory and algorithms; process intensification; modular systems; smart manufacturing; large-scale CO₂ capture/conversion; computational tools (including quantum computing); real-time optimization and control; machine learning; and supply chain resilience.
- Reactive Polymer Processing: Integration of synthesis and processing to engineer nanoscale structures and compositions for polymers, focusing on biodegradability, recyclability, and environmental impact.
- Molecular Thermodynamics: Fundamental studies combining classical thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and atomistic simulations to improve chemical processing and enable novel functional materials (e.g., catalysts, polymers, solvents, colloids). Topics include self-assembly, machine learning for structure-property prediction, large-scale molecular dynamics, and nanoscale confinement effects.
The program encourages innovative, hypothesis-driven research, including proposals outside these areas (with prior discussion with the program director). Projects should emphasize novelty, transformative potential, and societal/industrial impact.
Due Dates
- Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) proposals: July 16, 2025 (estimated; typically mid-July each year)
- Unsolicited, RAPID, EAGER, GOALI, and other proposals: Accepted anytime
Funding Amount
- Unsolicited proposals: Awards generally up to 3 years; single-investigator budgets typically support one graduate student (or equivalent) and up to one month of PI time per year. Multi-investigator projects may be larger.
- CAREER awards: 5-year duration.
- Total program funding: Estimated at $4.9 million per year.
- Larger budgets: Discuss with the program director before submission.
Eligibility
- Eligible applicants: Unrestricted; open to all types of entities (universities, colleges, non-profits, for-profits, etc.), subject to NSF policies.
- Principal Investigators: Strongly encouraged to contact the program director before submitting proposals outside the core focus areas or for RAPID, EAGER, or GOALI proposals.
Application Process
- Submission: Proposals must be submitted in accordance with the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG).
- Proposal types: Unsolicited, CAREER, RAPID, EAGER, GOALI, and proposals for conferences/workshops/supplements are all considered.
- Pre-submission contact: Strongly recommended for proposals outside the main focus areas or for special proposal types (RAPID, EAGER, GOALI).
- Compliance: Proposals not compliant with the PAPPG will be returned without review.
Additional Information
- Novelty and Impact: Proposals should clearly articulate the novelty and/or potentially transformative nature of the work, its importance to engineering science, and its potential societal/industrial impact.
- Sustainability: Research promoting energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, and electrification of chemical processes is especially encouraged.
- Recent Awards: Browse funded projects for examples of successful proposals.
- Award Terms: See NSF award conditions and PAPPG.
External Links
Contact Information
For general NSF inquiries: NSF Contact Page