U.S. National Science Foundation State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs:
Applications close Nov 4, 2026
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- Agency
- U.S. National Science Foundation
- Opportunity number
- 26-513
- Posted
- Aug 6, 2026
- Closes
- Nov 4, 2026
- Estimated program funding
- $100,000,000
- Cost sharing required
- false
About this opportunity
The NSF State and Regional AI Infrastructure Hubs program aims to expand access to the compute required for AI-enabled scientific discovery and to transform the research, education, and training opportunities offered by institutions of higher education. AI Infrastructure Hubs will connect researchers to new compute infrastructure that leverages contributions from state governments, research institutions, industry, and philanthropy, accelerating AI-enabled discovery across science and engineering and developing a skilled technical workforce for AI use in the scientific enterprise.
The program responds to a core tenet of Science: A New Golden Age to renew America’s research and development (R&D) for changes in today’s scientific enterprise, including the role of AI in laying the foundation for a new era of scientific discovery and the growing role of industry and philanthropy in funding R&D. In response, the Administration’s FY28 R&D Priorities Memorandum called for investing in AI for science as a national mission and expanding the scale of, and flexible access to, advanced compute and data infrastructure that researchers now require for frontier scientific discovery.
Each AI Infrastructure Hub will be organized as a flexible state or regional consortium of state and local governments, research institutions, philanthropies, and the private sector. Consortia will be responsible for all funding for new or expanded computing, data, and AI resources, whether on-premises or cloud-based. NSF will fund each Hub’s consortium coordination, AI infrastructure workforce development, and faculty training and coursework development in leveraging AI for science.
Who can apply
*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.
How to apply
- 1Register your organization
Applications are submitted by your institution, not individuals. Make sure your organization has an active SAM.gov registration (with a UEI) and a Grants.gov account with an Authorized Organization Representative.
- 2Read the full notice
Open the official notice for the complete eligibility rules, review criteria, page limits, and required forms. Applications close Nov 4, 2026.
- 3Download the application package
From the Grants.gov opportunity page, download the package (or apply via your agency's system where required) and prepare each component.
- 4Build and submit
Prepare the budget and narrative, route for institutional sign-off, and submit before the deadline: GrantsManager can track every step for you.
Agency contact: U.S. National Science Foundation · grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov
Details are pulled from Grants.gov and can change, always confirm against the official notice. GrantsManager isn't affiliated with these agencies.
Resources for applying
All NSF grants and resources- Research.gov guide
How to sign in to Research.gov, the NSF roles that control who can prepare and submit, and a walkthrough of preparing and submitting an NSF proposal under the PAPPG.
- Proposal submission checklist
A pre-submission checklist for research proposals: solicitation review, internal routing, budget, compliance, and sponsor-system steps to hit the deadline cleanly.
- Direct vs. indirect costs
The difference between direct and indirect costs on research grants, with examples of each, the gray areas like administrative salaries, and how indirect costs are calculated from your F&A rate.
- Reading your Notice of Award
The parts of a Notice of Award that determine what you can spend, when, and what needs prior approval, plus the terms that cause disallowed costs if missed.
- NSF Letter of Collaboration Template
A free NSF letter of collaboration template using the single-sentence format in the NSF PAPPG, with rules on endorsements, where to upload, and the NIH version planned under NOT-OD-26-094.
- Budget Justification Template
A free budget justification (budget narrative) template for research grants, organized by the federal R&R budget categories, with example language for personnel, fringe, equipment, travel, other direct costs, subawards, and F&A.
- Grant Budget Template
A five-year research grant budget in Excel that calculates fringe, the NIH salary cap, the MTDC base, and F&A automatically.
- Grant Tracking Spreadsheet Template
A free grant tracking spreadsheet in Excel for proposals, active awards, and deadlines, with burn rate and time-elapsed formulas, days-until-due countdowns, and status flags.
- NSF summer salary
Calculate summer salary for NSF proposals from a 9- or 12-month base salary, and check the request against the NSF limit of two months of salary per year across all NSF awards.
- F&A & MTDC calculator
Build the Modified Total Direct Cost base, apply your F&A rate, and see total direct costs, indirect costs, and the full award total, with the usual MTDC exclusions handled.
- Grant burn rate
Compare the share of a grant spent and encumbered with the share of the award period elapsed, see the average monthly burn, the monthly spend needed to finish on budget, and the projected run-out date.
- NSF Research.gov
NSF proposal preparation, submission, and annual project reports.
- SciENcv
Biosketches and Current & Pending (Other) Support documents.
- NSF PAPPG
NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide.
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