SoftwareInfrastructure for Sustained Innovation (SI2) is a long-term investment focused on realizing a portion of the Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CIF21, http://www.nsf.gov/fund...
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Award$500k–$20MDeadlineFixedLocationAlabamaTypegrantLevelFederalOpenposted Jun 6, 2025
✦ AI Summary
Who can apply: Federal-level applicants (see eligibility for details).
Funding amount: $500,000 – $20,000,000, total pool ~$13,500,000.
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Award amount
$500k–$20M
Deadline
Fixed
Total pool
$13.5M
About this opportunity
SoftwareInfrastructure for Sustained Innovation (SI2) is a long-term investment focused on realizing a portion of the Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CIF21, http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504730) vision and catalyzing new thinking, paradigms and practices in science and engineering. CIF21 envisions a linked cyberinfrastructure architecture that integrates large-scale computing, high-speed networks, massive data archives, instruments and major embedded sensors and actuators, across the nation and the world, and that enables research at unprecedented accuracy by integrating experiments in novel ways. Software is a primary modality through which CIF21 innovation and discovery will be realized. It permeates all aspects and layers of cyberinfrastructure (from application codes and frameworks, programming systems, libraries and system software, to middleware, operating systems, networking and the low-level drivers). The CIF21 software infrastructure must address the complexity of this cyberinfrastructure, accommodating: disruptive hardware trends; ever-increasing data volumes; data confidentiality; security; complex application structures and behaviors; and emerging concerns such as fault-tolerance and energy efficiency. The programs must focus on building robust, reliable and sustainable software that will support and advance sustained scientific innovation and discovery. The Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure in the Computer & Information Science & Engineering Directorate (CISE/ACI) is partnering with Directorates and Offices across the NSF to support SI2, a long-term comprehensive program focused on realizing a sustained software infrastructure that is an integral part of CIF21. The goal of this program is to catalyze and nurture the interdisciplinary processes required to support the entire software lifecycle, resulting in sustainable community software elements and reusable components at all levels of the software stack. The program addresses software in all aspects of cyberinfrastructure, from embedded sensor systems and instruments, to desktops and high-end data and computing systems,to major instruments and facilities. The goal of the overall SI2 program is to create a software ecosystem that scales from individual or small groups of software innovators to large hubs of software excellence. It is envisioned that the SI2 program will collectively support vibrant partnerships between academia, government laboratories and industry, including international entities, for the development and stewardship of a sustainable software infrastructure that can enhance productivity and accelerate innovation in science and engineering. The SI2program includes three classes of awards: 1. Scientific Software Elements (SSE): SSE awards target small groups that will create and deploy robust software elements for which there is a demonstrated need that will advance one or more significant areas of science and engineering. 2. Scientific Software Integration (SSI):SSI awards target larger, interdisciplinary teams organized around the development and application of common software infrastructure aimed at solving common research problems faced by NSF researchers in one or more areas of science and engineering. SSI awards will result in a sustainable community software framework serving a diverse community or communities. 3. Scientific Software Innovation Institutes (S2I2): S2I2s are an integral part of the SI2 software ecosystems and focus on the establishment of long-term hubs of excellence in software infrastructure and technologies, which will serve a research community of substantial size and disciplinary breadth. The outcomes of S2I2 go beyond the software itself, including the software development infrastructure and process, successfully responding to science challenges, and enabling transformative new science.
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