Mid-Career Advancement — U.S. National Science Foundation funding opportunity
U.S. National Science Foundation · Federal agency

Mid-Career Advancement

The MCA program offers an opportunity for scientists and engineers at the mid-career stage (see restrictions under Additional Eligibility Information) to substantively enhance and advance theirresearch program and career...

75
match
Deadline Mar 1 Location Alabama Type grant Level Federal Open posted Jun 11, 2022
✦ AI Summary
  • Who can apply: Federal-level applicants (see eligibility for details).
  • Funding amount: total funding pool ~$18,000,000.
  • Next deadline: March 1, 2027.
  • Issued by: U.S. National Science Foundation.
How was this generated?

The “key facts” mode pulls structured fields directly from the official source posting (amount, deadline, eligibility tags). The AI mode adds a short plain-English narrative on top, generated from the same source. Always verify with the agency before applying.

AI-generated. Always verify with the official source.

Deadline
Mar 1
Mar 1, 2027
Total pool
$18M

About this opportunity

The MCA program offers an opportunity for scientists and engineers at the mid-career stage (see restrictions under Additional Eligibility Information) to substantively enhance and advance theirresearch program and career trajectory. Mid-career scientists are at a critical career transition stage where they need to advance their research programs to ensure long-term productivity and creativity but are often constrained by other activities that limit the amount of time devoted to research. The MCA program provides protected the means to gain new skills through synergistic and mutually beneficial partnerships, typically at an institution other than the candidate's home institution. Partners from outside the Principal Investigator's (PI) own subdiscipline or discipline are encouraged, but not required, to enhance interdisciplinary networking and convergence across science and engineering fields. Research projects that envision new insights on existing problems or identify new problems made accessible with cutting-edge methodology or expertise from other fields are encouraged. A key component of a successful MCA will be the demonstration that the PI's currentresearchprogram could substantively benefit from the protected time, mentored partnership(s), and resources provided through this program, such thatthere is a substantial enhancement to the PI's research and career trajectory, enabling scientific and academic advancementnot likely without this support. The MCA is the only cross-directorate NSF program specifically aimed at providing protected time and resources to established scientists and engineers targeted at the mid-career stage.Participating programs in the Directorates for Biological Sciences (BIO), Geosciences (GEO), Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE), and Education and Human Resources (EHR) will accept MCA proposals. To help identify the disciplinary program in which the MCA should be reviewed, PIs are urged to investigate the research areas supported by the different directorates and participating programs. PIs are strongly encouraged to discuss the suitability of their MCA proposal with a Program Officer from the appropriate directorate (seehttps://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/mca-mid-career-advancement/announcements/111199).PIs from EPSCoR jurisdictions are especially encouraged to apply.

Funding agency

Tags

Want help applying?

Our specialists will check your eligibility, prepare the application, and walk you through every step — for free. Create a free account →

Who can apply

Eligibility details aren't on file yet — check the agency source link in the Documents tab for the latest rules.

Geographic eligibility

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • District of Columbia

How to apply

We don't have application instructions on file yet — head straight to the official source.

Apply on agency site
Tip from our team:

Read the agency's eligibility checklist before you start — it's almost always shorter than the full NOFO and will tell you in 90 seconds whether to keep going.

Need help getting in touch with the right agency contact?

Create a free account and our specialists will guide you through the application end-to-end.

Source documents

View on agency site
Canonical NOFO, application packet, and forms
No supplemental documents yet.

Direct downloads (NOFO PDFs, application forms, FAQs) will appear here once our team attaches them. For now, the agency site has the canonical packet.

Citation details

Source systemgrants.gov
Source ID341086
PostedJun 11, 2022

Frequently asked questions

No FAQs yet.

Have a question about this fund? Sign in to open a ticket about this fund.