The U.S. National Science Foundation has opened NSF 26-513, U.S. National Science Foundation State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs: Expanding Access to Compute for Scientific Discovery.
The program will support state or multi-state regional consortia that expand access to computing, data, software, and AI resources for researchers, students, faculty, and educators. NSF funding focuses on consortium coordination, AI infrastructure workforce development, regional partnerships, faculty training, and instructional material and coursework development. Consortia are responsible for securing the resources needed for new or expanded AI infrastructure itself.
Funding
Approximately $100 million is available. NSF anticipates about 10 awards in each award cycle. Typical Hub proposals should request $4 million to $12 million over five years. Only one award per state or multi-state region will be made. Voluntary committed cost sharing is allowed but is not required.
Eligibility
Eligible lead applicants are U.S. accredited two-year and four-year institutions of higher education with a U.S. campus, and qualifying U.S. nonprofit nonacademic organizations directly associated with educational or research activities. Each PI institution may submit only one proposal per competition. An individual may participate in at most one proposal as PI, co-PI, or Senior/Key Personnel for each deadline.
Private industry, philanthropy, and state and local governments are strongly encouraged as consortium partners, but for-profit companies are not listed as eligible lead applicants.
Deadline and submission
The next full proposal deadline is November 4, 2026 at 5:00 PM in the submitting organization’s local time. No letter of intent or preliminary proposal is required. Proposals may be submitted through Research.gov or Grants.gov and must follow the applicable NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide and submission instructions.
Program priorities
Responsive proposals must address Hub stakeholders and governance, computing/data/AI infrastructure, regional partnerships, AI infrastructure workforce development, and faculty training and instructional materials for AI-enabled scientific discovery.
Potential applicants should coordinate early with other institutions and stakeholders in their state or proposed multi-state region because NSF intends to make only one Hub award per state or multi-state region.