Official funding announcement — preliminary draft
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Opportunity number: 22-603
Official listed status: posted
Closing information: 2027-03-01 (official deadline clock time and time zone must be checked in NOFO)
Award disclosure: Applicant-level ceiling not stated in the retrieved federal synopsis; verify in full NOFO.
Applicant categories in federal synopsis: Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
Federal synopsis
The MCA program offers an opportunity for scientists and engineers at the mid-career stage (see restrictions under Additional Eligibility Information) to substantively enhance and advance their research program and career trajectory. Mid-career scientists are at a critical career transition stage where they need to advance their research programs to ensure long-term productivity and creativity but are often constrained by service, teaching, or other activities that limit the amount of time devoted to research. The MCA program provides protected time, resources, and the means to gain new skills through synergistic and mutually beneficial partnerships, typically at an institution other than the candidate's home institution. Partners from outside the Principal Investigator's (PI) own subdiscipline or discipline are encouraged, but not required, to enhance interdisciplinary networking and convergence across science and engineering fields. Research projects that envision new insights on existing problems or identify new problems made accessible with cutting-edge methodology or expertise from other fields are encouraged. A key component of a successful MCA will be the demonstration that the PI's current research program could substantively benefit from the protected time, mentored partnership(s), and resources provided through this program, such that there is a substantial enhancement to the PI's research and career trajectory, enabling scientific and academic advancement not likely without this support. The MCA is the only cross-directorate NSF program specifically aimed at providing protected time and resources to established scientists and engineers targeted at the …
Draft intake record. Eligibility, program terms, current amendments and applicant ceiling must be independently verified before publishing.