Advanced Computing Systems & Services: Adapting to the Rapid Evolution of Science and Engineering Research | 23 518

Opportunity Information: Apply for 23 518

The National Science Foundation (NSF) grant opportunity titled "Advanced Computing Systems and Services: Adapting to the Rapid Evolution of Science and Engineering Research" (Funding Opportunity Number 23-518) is aimed at funding organizations that can operate as national-scale providers of advanced cyberinfrastructure resources. The core idea is to strengthen and expand the NSF Advanced Computing Systems and Services (ACSS) program by adding computing and data resources that are not just technically strong, but also run as reliable, production-grade services that researchers across the United States can actually use. In practice, NSF is looking for proposals from groups that can stand up and operate systems and/or services that support computationally intensive and data-intensive research across the full spectrum of science and engineering, rather than serving a narrow discipline or a single campus community.

A central requirement of the solicitation is broad, democratized, and equitable access. NSF wants these resources to be nationally available, so that researchers who do not have large local clusters or major regional facilities can still compete and succeed. The solicitation emphasizes that access should be open and peer-reviewed, meaning usage should largely be awarded through a national allocation process rather than private arrangements, informal collaborations, or pay-to-play models. NSF anticipates that at least 90 percent of the resource capacity provided under an award will be made available to the science and engineering research community through this open national allocation pathway, with users supported by shared community support services. Those allocation and user-support functions are expected to be coordinated through ACCESS (Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services and Support), which is NSF's national entry point for requesting allocations and getting help with using advanced computing resources. If a proposed resource cannot practically fit into ACCESS or an NSF-approved equivalent, the proposer is expected to explain, in detail, why that is not feasible and exactly how they will still make the resource accessible to the national community in a fair and usable way.

NSF frames this program as a complement to leadership-class computing investments. In other words, this solicitation is not primarily about building the single biggest supercomputer in the country; it is about funding a federation of nationally available high-performance computing (HPC) resources that are diverse in architecture and capabilities and that collectively enable research at a scale beyond what a typical university, college, or regional facility can provide. The portfolio concept matters: NSF wants a set of resources that, together, can serve many different workflows, from classic simulation to modern data analytics, AI-enabled science, and other emerging methods.

The solicitation is organized around two main categories of proposed resources. Category I, "Capacity Resources," focuses on production computational resources designed to maximize usable capacity for the broad community. These are the workhorse systems meant to handle large volumes of research computing and data analytics across many fields, with an emphasis on throughput, reliability, and operational maturity. Category II, "Innovative Prototypes/Testbeds," targets forward-looking capabilities, meaning systems or services that push new technologies, architectures, and usage models into a realistic environment where researchers can experiment and explore new paradigms. These projects may involve novel hardware approaches, new system designs, experimental software stacks, or new ways of using computing resources, with the goal of enabling future scientific and engineering discoveries and helping the community adapt to rapidly changing computational methods.

Beyond the technical and operational goals, NSF highlights a strong interest in broad participation and representation among both the organizations that win awards and the communities that use the resources. The program explicitly encourages proposals that reflect diversity among principal investigators, including women, underrepresented minorities, and individuals with disabilities. It also seeks to expand the set of institutions that serve as national resource providers, including organizations that have not historically operated nationally allocatable cyberinfrastructure. This is meant to grow not only the scale of available computing but also the diversity of leadership and the breadth of the user base across the science and engineering landscape.

In terms of the basic opportunity details provided, this is a discretionary NSF grant opportunity in the broad category of science and technology research and development (CFDA 47.070). The posted information lists an award ceiling of $10,000,000 and anticipates roughly four awards. The original closing date shown in the source data is February 21, 2023, and eligibility is listed as "Others," with clarification expected in the solicitation's eligibility section. Overall, the opportunity is designed for organizations capable of operating national-level advanced computing systems and services, integrating them into the NSF ecosystem for allocations and user support, and delivering measurable community benefit through high-impact, broadly accessible cyberinfrastructure.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Advanced Computing Systems & Services: Adapting to the Rapid Evolution of Science and Engineering Research" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.070.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 19, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 21, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $10,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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