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

NSF 24-541: ACED: Accelerating Computing-Enabled Scientific Discovery

Closed Closed Opportunity NSF 24-541

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of U.S. National Science Foundation notices from 2025.

U.S. National Science Foundation offered grants of up to $3.0 million (at least $500,000) 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.

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: Interdisciplinary teams are expected to include at least one researcher from a CISE discipline and one researcher from another NSF discipline. By the submission deadline, any PI or co-PI must hold either: <ul type="disc"> <li>a tenured or tenure-track position,or</li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li>a primary, full-time, paid appointment in a research or teaching position</li> </ul> Be at a US-based campus of an organization eligible to submit to this solicitation (see above), with exceptions granted for family or medical leave, as determined by the submitting organization. Individuals withprimaryappointments at for-profit non-academic organizations or at overseas branch campuses of US IHEs are not eligible.

Is this a realistic fit?

What the grant funds

The ACED program seeks to harness computing to accelerate scientific discovery, while driving new computing advancements. The intent is to catalyze advancements on both sides of a virtuous cycle that: (a) benefit scientific disciplines through computational technologies and (b) foster novel computing technologies that will enable advances beyond the specific use cases or domains originally targeted. The program seeks continuous collaborations between at least two groups of researchers. One group is expected to consist of researchers in computing, which, for the purposes of this solicitation are those disciplines that are supported by the Core Programs of National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) directorate. The other group of researchers are expected to represent another scientific or engineering discipline, which, for the purposes of this solicitation, are defined as those supported within existing programs of the following NSF directorates: Biological Sciences, Engineering, or Mathematical and Physical Sciences. The ACED program solicits proposals in two tracks: Track I: Emerging Ideas Proposals:This track is intended to support speculative multidisciplinary projects that explore bold new research directions. The goal of these projects should be to obtain preliminary results, refine the overall research plan based on these results, and garner insights into whether these advances generalize beyond the targeted use case or domain. Projects are limited to $500,000 in total budget, with durations of up to 18-24 months. Proposals accepted in 2024 Deadline Date. Track II: Discovery Proposals: The objective of this track is to support transformative interdisciplinary research that will significantly advance both computing and the scientific discipline(s) to be studied. Proposals should clearly identify the scientific problem(s) to be addressed; the specific computing techniques to be developed; and be supported by preliminary collaborations and/or results that demonstrate the potential of the proposed ideas. Projects are limited to $750,000 per year for a duration of up to 4 years for a total budget of up to $3,000,000. Proposals accepted in 2025-2026 Deadline Dates.

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).

Who has won Computer and Information Science and Engineering grants before

From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Computer and Information Science and Engineering (47.070) awarded $5.3 billion across 10,918 grant awards, an average of $481,712 per award.

Largest recipients, fiscal 2021 to 2025
RecipientStateAwardsAmount
University of Texas at AustinTexas168$379 million
University of California, San DiegoCalifornia201$222 million
University of IllinoisIllinois208$208 million
Carnegie-Mellon UniversityPennsylvania296$153 million
Georgia Tech Research CorpGeorgia211$142 million

Top states: California ($719 million), Texas ($579 million), Illinois ($396 million), New York ($365 million), Massachusetts ($342 million).

Who has won Engineering grants before

From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Engineering (47.041) awarded $4.3 billion across 11,244 grant awards, an average of $385,774 per award.

Largest recipients, fiscal 2021 to 2025
RecipientStateAwardsAmount
Georgia Tech Research CorpGeorgia193$106 million
Purdue UniversityIndiana238$106 million
Regents of the University of MichiganMichigan250$101 million
University of California, San DiegoCalifornia114$96.4 million
The Trustees of the University of PennsylvaniaPennsylvania59$80.6 million

Top states: California ($485 million), Texas ($346 million), New York ($297 million), Pennsylvania ($269 million), Massachusetts ($265 million).

Other programs behind this notice

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

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

Questions people ask

Is NSF 24-541 still open?

No. It is no longer open on Grants.gov.

Who can apply for ACED: Accelerating Computing-Enabled Scientific Discovery?

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 ACED: Accelerating Computing-Enabled Scientific Discovery?

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

How much funding is available?

Awards of up to $3.0 million each. About $15.0 million in total.

Who has won Engineering grants before?

The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Georgia Tech Research Corp, Purdue University, Regents of the University of Michigan. The program made 11,244 awards worth $4.3 billion in that time.

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