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Grants / National Science Foundation / U.S. National Science Foundation

NSF 16-596: Condensed Matter and Materials Theory

Closed Closed Opportunity NSF 16-596

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Major Research Instrumentation Program: (MRI) (NSF 27-500). Status: Closes January 29, 2027 (83 days left). It is in our archive of U.S. National Science Foundation notices from 2025.

U.S. National Science Foundation offered grants to the applicants described in the notice. It expected to make $15.0 million in total. It is no longer open on Grants.gov.

From the official notice on Grants.gov, last changed June 7, 2025. Checked November 7, 2026.

Other notices with this title

U.S. National Science Foundation has posted this title under other numbers: earlier or later rounds, or the same competition for another area. Each has its own dates and may change its rules.

NoticePostedDeadlineStatus
NSF 22-610June 6, 2025ClosedClosed
NSF 18-500June 6, 2025ClosedClosed
NSF 20-582June 6, 2025ClosedClosed

Key dates

PostedJune 6, 2025
Archived by Grants.govJune 7, 2025

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

*Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following: -Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies and similar organizations located in the U.S. that are directly associated with educational or research activities. -Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs): Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Special Instructions for International Branch Campuses of US IHEs: If the proposal includes funding to be provided to an international branch campus of a US institution of higher education (including through use of sub-awards and consultant arrangements), the proposer must explain the benefit(s) to the project of performance at the international branch campus, and justify why the project activities cannot be performed at the US campus. *Who May Serve as PI: See "Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI" below.

Is this a realistic fit?

What the grant funds

CMMT supports theoretical and computational materials research in the topical areas represented in DMR's core or individual investigator programs, which include: Condensed Matter Physics (CMP), Biomaterials (BMAT), Ceramics (CER), Electronic and Photonic Materials (EPM), Metals and Metallic Nanostructures (MMN), Polymers (POL), and Solid State and Materials Chemistry (SSMC). The program supports fundamental research that advances the conceptual understanding of hard and soft materials, and materials-related phenomena; the development of associated analytical, computational, and data-centric techniques; as well as predictive materials-specific theory, simulation, and modeling for materials research. The broad spectrum of research supported in CMMT includes first-principles, quantum many-body, statistical mechanics, classical and quantum Monte Carlo, and molecular dynamics methods. Computational efforts span from workstations to advanced and high-performance scientific computing. Emphasis is on approaches that begin at the smallest appropriate length scale, such as electronic, atomic, molecular, nano-, micro-, and mesoscale, required to yield fundamental insight into material properties, processes, and behavior, to predict new materials and states of matter, and to reveal new materials-related phenomena. Approaches that span multiple scales of length and time may be required to advance fundamental understanding of materials properties and phenomena, particularly for polymeric materials and soft matter. Examples of areas of recent interest appear in the program description. CMMT encourages potentially transformative theoretical and computational materials research, which includes but is not limited to: i) developing materials-specific prediction and advancing understanding of properties, phenomena, and emergent states of matter associated with either hard or soft materials, ii) developing and exploring new paradigms including cyber- and data-enabled approaches to advance fundamental understanding of materials and materials related phenomena, oriii) fostering research at interfaces among subdisciplines represented in the Division of Materials Research.

Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

Who has won Mathematical and Physical Sciences grants before

From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Mathematical and Physical Sciences (47.049) awarded $8.5 billion across 14,898 grant awards, an average of $568,976 per award.

Largest recipients, fiscal 2021 to 2025
RecipientStateAwardsAmount
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.Arizona22$725 million
Associated Universities IncVirginia18$646 million
California Institute of TechnologyCalifornia148$316 million
Cornell UniversityNew York179$256 million
Florida State UniversityFlorida92$228 million

Top states: California ($1.2 billion), Arizona ($814 million), Virginia ($777 million), New York ($719 million), Illinois ($475 million).

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, NSF 27-500, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.

Questions people ask

Is NSF 16-596 still open?

No. It is no longer open on Grants.gov. A newer notice is open: NSF 27-500, closes January 29, 2027 (83 days left).

Who can apply for Condensed Matter and Materials Theory?

U.S. National Science Foundation accepted applications from the applicants described in the notice. The notice adds further conditions, so read its eligibility section.

What is the deadline for Condensed Matter and Materials Theory?

Closed. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.

How much funding is available?

About $15.0 million in total.

Who has won Mathematical and Physical Sciences grants before?

The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., Associated Universities Inc, California Institute of Technology. The program made 14,898 awards worth $8.5 billion in that time.

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