Grant opportunity
NSF Unlocking Dataset Value for AI-Enabled Scientific Discovery 2026
NSF will support teams that prepare, curate and make scientific datasets more valuable for artificial intelligence and data-intensive research.
- Funder
- U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Full proposals due 4 November 2026
- Full proposals due 4 November 2026: Nov 4, 2026
- Award
- Planning projects up to USD 200,000; Impact projects up to USD 2 million; Flagship projects up to USD 5 million
- Applicant
- NSF-eligible United States organisations, including eligible institutions of higher education and non-profit research organisations, proposing reusable scientific datasets for AI-enabled discovery.
- Discipline
- Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
- Region
- United States
- Posted
- Jul 27, 2026
Call summary
Overview
AI Datasets is a cross-disciplinary NSF programme designed to unlock existing and emerging datasets for responsible, reusable AI-enabled scientific discovery.
Who can apply
Proposals must be submitted by organisations eligible under NSF's Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide. Teams should combine domain, data, computing and stewardship expertise appropriate to the proposed dataset.
What it supports
- Planning projects that assess readiness, partnerships and technical requirements.
- Impact projects that develop high-value datasets and demonstrate scientific use.
- Flagship projects that create broadly enabling, large-scale data resources.
Funding and duration
- Planning awards may request up to USD 200,000.
- Impact awards may request up to USD 2 million.
- Flagship awards may request up to USD 5 million.
- NSF anticipates 25 to 50 awards from a total programme budget of USD 60 million to USD 100 million.
Full proposals due 4 November 2026
Full proposals due 4 November 2026: Nov 4, 2026
How to apply
Prepare the proposal in Research.gov or Grants.gov and follow the programme solicitation and NSF submission requirements by 4 November 2026.
Call details
Source-based overview
The National Science Foundation invites interdisciplinary teams to turn scientific datasets into durable resources for AI-enabled discovery. The programme supports projects at planning, impact and flagship scales, with emphasis on responsible data stewardship, interoperability, community value and credible scientific use cases.
Eligibility
Proposals must be submitted by organisations eligible under NSF's Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide. Teams should combine domain, data, computing and stewardship expertise appropriate to the proposed dataset.
Funding and benefits
Planning awards may request up to USD 200,000.
Impact awards may request up to USD 2 million.
Flagship awards may request up to USD 5 million.
NSF anticipates 25 to 50 awards from a total programme budget of USD 60 million to USD 100 million.
Themes and supported activities
Planning projects that assess readiness, partnerships and technical requirements.
Impact projects that develop high-value datasets and demonstrate scientific use.
Flagship projects that create broadly enabling, large-scale data resources.
Deadline and timeline
Full proposals due 4 November 2026: Full proposals due 4 November 2026: Nov 4, 2026.
Applicants should confirm the exact deadline time, time zone, required documents, portal steps and any institutional approvals on the official call page before submitting.
How to apply
Prepare the proposal in Research.gov or Grants.gov and follow the programme solicitation and NSF submission requirements by 4 November 2026.
Before applying, check eligibility rules, budgets, attachments, page limits, partner requirements, cost-share conditions and whether the opportunity uses an expression of interest, full proposal, registration or nomination stage.