NSF PD-12-8086: Design of Engineering Material Systems
Closed
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 any type of organization. It expected to make about 15 awards. It is no longer open on Grants.gov.
From the official notice on Grants.gov, last changed June 7, 2025. Checked November 7, 2026.
- Expected awards15
- Award amountsNot given on Grants.gov
- Cost sharingNot required
- Funding typeGrant
Key dates
| Posted | June 6, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Archived by Grants.gov | June 7, 2025 |
Who can apply
This opportunity was open to any type of organization.
- Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility"
Is this a realistic fit?
- Most of the program's money (89% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
- No cost sharing or match is required.
What the grant funds
The Design of Engineering Material Systems (DEMS) program supports fundamental research intended to lead to new paradigms of design, development, and insertion of advanced engineering material systems. Fundamental research that develops and creatively integrates theory, processing/manufacturing, data/informatics, experimental, and/or computational approaches with rigorous engineering design principles, approaches, and tools to enable the accelerated design and development of materials is welcome. Research proposals are sought that strive to develop systematic scientific methodologies to tailor the behavior of material systems in ways that are driven by performance metrics and incorporate processing/manufacturing. While an emphasis on a specific material system may be appropriate to provide the necessary project focus, techniques developed should transcend materials systems. Ultimately it is expected that research outcomes will be methodologies to enable the discovery of materials systems with new properties and behavior, and enable their rapid insertion into engineering systems. Proposals that focus on modeling, simulation, and prediction of material performance (even when research is coupled with experiments for validation or guidance) without an intellectual emphasis on design are not appropriate for this program and should be submitted to other disciplinary programs.
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.
| Recipient | State | Awards | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia Tech Research Corp | Georgia | 193 | $106 million |
| Purdue University | Indiana | 238 | $106 million |
| Regents of the University of Michigan | Michigan | 250 | $101 million |
| University of California, San Diego | California | 114 | $96.4 million |
| The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania | 59 | $80.6 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 PD-12-8086 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 Design of Engineering Material Systems?
U.S. National Science Foundation accepted applications from any type of organization.
What is the deadline for Design of Engineering Material Systems?
Closed. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.
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.