No. 24-590 · U.S. National Science Foundation
Engineering Research Initiation (ERI)
Not reimbursement-only
“The award funds may be used for research expenses, trainee support (e.g., students and/or postdocs), Principal Investigator (PI) salary and may include modest equipment cost necessary for the successful initiation and conduct of the proposed research.” — From the announcement
- Award range
- From $200,000
- Expected awards
- Not specified
- Application deadline
- Oct 9, 2026
- Posted
- Jul 17, 2026
- Last verified
- 2 days ago
At a glance
No plain-language summary yet for this grant — the official description below is the best source.
What it funds
Official description from grants.gov
The NSF Directorate for Engineering (ENG) seeks to build engineering research capacity across the nation by investing in new academic investigators who have yet to receive sufficient research funding from Federal Agencies. The Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) program will support new investigators as they initiate their research programs and advance in their careers as researchers, educators, and innovators. This funding opportunity aims to broaden the base of investigators involved in engineering research and therefore is limited to investigators that are not affiliated with “very high research activity” R1 institutions (according to the Carnegie Classification https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/ ).
Who can apply
- Others
Program history
USASpending.govAssistance listing 47.041 · Engineering
Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (47.041), not just this notice.
| Fiscal year | Awards | Median award | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2026 (so far) | 604 | $407,608 | $200,000 – $550,000 |
| FY 2025 | 1,537 | $389,666 | $282,237 – $549,621 |
| FY 2024 | 1,761 | — | — |
| FY 2023 | 1,862 | — | — |
| FY 2022 | 2,238 | — | — |
| FY 2021 | 2,436 | — | — |
For comparison, this notice advertises From $200,000.
Dollar figures are based on the 1,000 most recent awards we store, not all 10,438 — award counts are complete.
- NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY $7,674,141 · FY 2026
- VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY $4,000,000 · FY 2025
- NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY $3,848,048 · FY 2025
- CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY $3,000,000 · FY 2025
- NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY $3,000,000 · FY 2025
Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 19, 2026
Change history
Since we first indexed it- Aug 23, 2026 Eligibility text updated
- Aug 21, 2026 Grant announcement document replaced
- Aug 21, 2026 Title updated
- Jul 25, 2026 Grant announcement document replaced
- Jul 22, 2026 Grant announcement document replaced