Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-2 | 23 570

Opportunity Information: Apply for 23 570

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-2 (Mid-scale RI-2) grant opportunity is designed to fund the implementation of major research infrastructure projects that are too large for the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program but not large enough to be classified as a Major Facility Project. In other words, it fills the mid-range gap in NSF infrastructure funding by supporting substantial, shared research capabilities that enable cutting-edge science and engineering across NSF-supported fields. The program is Foundation-wide and proposals are handled by a cross-disciplinary team of NSF Program Directors, reflecting NSF's interest in convergent research that benefits from multiple disciplinary perspectives.

Mid-scale RI-2 supports "research infrastructure" in a broad sense, including facilities, equipment, instrumentation, cyberinfrastructure (computing systems, software platforms, and related components), and even broadly used large-scale datasets, along with the personnel and commissioning work required to successfully bring the capability online. Projects can also include upgrades to existing infrastructure when the upgrade produces a unique and compelling capability for the community. The central idea is that the funded infrastructure should meet a clearly articulated scientific need defined by the research community or respond to a national research priority, with the end goal of keeping U.S. researchers and the STEM workforce competitive internationally. Importantly, NSF frames these awards as enabling infrastructure: the infrastructure should directly accelerate advances in research areas across NSF, including STEM education research and translational research.

Budget and scale are a defining feature of Mid-scale RI-2. The total project cost must be between $20 million and less than $100 million (the current threshold for a Major Facility Project). NSF is explicit that preliminary or full proposals that fall outside these budget limits will be returned without review, so the cost range is not flexible. The solicitation anticipates around five awards, with an award ceiling listed at $100,000,000, and it is offered as a discretionary grant opportunity in the science and technology R and D category (CFDA numbers include 47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076, 47.079, 47.083, 47.084). The original closing date for this specific opportunity was December 18, 2023, and the opportunity was created March 21, 2023, under funding opportunity number 23-570.

A major emphasis of Mid-scale RI-2 is readiness to implement. NSF will only fund the implementation phase, typically construction or acquisition, and potentially a limited amount of final development or production design that is immediately necessary to begin implementation. The program is not meant for early design or pre-implementation development work; projects are expected to have already matured through prior investments and to be in a well-developed state of technical and project management readiness. Likewise, the program does not fund post-implementation activities such as research conducted using the new infrastructure, ongoing operations, or maintenance. Instead, proposers are expected to explain how operations and maintenance will be supported after implementation, but those costs are not what Mid-scale RI-2 pays for.

Because of the size and complexity of these projects, NSF places strong weight on project management and planning. Proposals are expected to reflect serious project execution capability, and teams are encouraged to bring in professional project management expertise early in proposal development. NSF points applicants to the NSF Research Infrastructure Guide (RIG), NSF 21-107 (formerly the Major Facilities Guide), which provides definitions and expectations for planning documents such as the Project Execution Plan (PEP). For Mid-scale projects, the PEP is expected to be scaled appropriately to the project complexity and may not need every element described for much larger major facilities, but it still serves as a key tool for demonstrating credible execution plans, schedules, governance, risk management, and oversight.

Workforce development is not treated as an add-on in Mid-scale RI-2; it is a core expectation. NSF highlights the need for a well-developed student training plan covering activities that lead to, and include, the implementation of the infrastructure. The solicitation stresses that training students in the design and implementation process is essential, which signals that reviewers will likely look for concrete roles for students and early-career personnel in the buildout, commissioning, data workflows, and related technical work, rather than limiting student involvement to later research use.

The program also places a clear priority on broadening participation and building a more inclusive and geographically distributed infrastructure portfolio. NSF states an intention to broaden representation among principal investigators and institutions, including institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions, and encourages applications from women, early-career researchers, members of groups underrepresented in STEM, and persons with disabilities. In addition, proposers are encouraged to incorporate accessibility into Mid-scale RI-2 projects to improve participation in science and engineering research for persons with disabilities. This can apply both to physical infrastructure (for example, facility access and user interfaces) and to digital components such as software platforms, data portals, documentation, and user support models.

Finally, it helps to understand where Mid-scale RI-2 sits relative to NSF's other infrastructure programs. MRI covers smaller-scale instrumentation, Major Facilities covers the very largest multi-user facility projects, and Mid-scale RI-2 targets implementation of infrastructure in the $20M to under $100M range. NSF also notes that infrastructure just above the MRI threshold but below the Mid-scale RI-2 lower limit is handled under the separate Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1 solicitation (NSF 22-637), reinforcing that applicants should match the program to the project scale and maturity level.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-2" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076, 47.079, 47.083, 47.084.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 21, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 18, 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 $100,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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