Collaborations in Artificial Intelligence and Geosciences | 25 530

Opportunity Information: Apply for 25 530

The Collaborations in Artificial Intelligence and Geosciences (CAIG) program is a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant opportunity designed to push forward both artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and geoscience discovery at the same time. The central goal is to accelerate scientific understanding of the Earth system by supporting projects where advanced AI methods are not just applied to geoscience data, but are developed, adapted, or used in genuinely new ways to unlock major progress on important geoscience research questions. A defining feature of CAIG is that it is intentionally built around true cross-disciplinary collaboration: strong proposals are expected to bring together expertise from both AI and geosciences in a way that benefits each field, meaning the work should ideally produce geoscience breakthroughs while also improving AI techniques, workflows, or capabilities.

CAIG emphasizes partnerships where AI specialists and geoscientists jointly shape the research, rather than operating in parallel. In practice, that means the project should have a clear geoscience problem that matters to Earth system science and a clear AI component that goes beyond routine analytics. The program is looking for efforts that advance AI methods themselves and/or demonstrate sophisticated, innovative uses of AI that are necessary to achieve the scientific goals. The overall expectation is that AI is a core driver of the research outcomes, enabling advances that would be difficult or impossible with standard approaches, while the geoscience setting provides real, demanding scientific constraints that can motivate new AI developments.

Eligibility to submit proposals is limited to specific categories of organizations. Eligible applicants include non-profit, non-academic organizations in the United States that are directly tied to education or research activities, such as independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, and professional societies. U.S.-based Institutions of Higher Education are also eligible, including accredited two-year and four-year colleges and universities (community colleges included), as long as they have a campus located in the United States and submit on behalf of their faculty. Federally recognized Tribal Nations are eligible as well, defined as American Indian or Alaska Native tribes, bands, nations, pueblos, villages, or communities formally acknowledged by the Secretary of the Interior under the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994. In addition, Other Federal Agencies and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) may participate, but they must follow NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) guidance regarding eligibility limits and requirements for those entities.

For U.S. universities that have international branch campuses, the opportunity includes a specific instruction: if any of the proposed funding would support work performed at an international branch campus (including through subawards or consultants), the proposal must clearly explain why that international location benefits the project and why the same work cannot be carried out at the U.S. campus. This is essentially a justification requirement meant to ensure that overseas project performance is necessary and adds value, rather than being incidental.

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity is listed as a discretionary NSF program under the grant funding instrument, categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development. The funding opportunity title is "Collaborations in Artificial Intelligence and Geosciences," with opportunity number 25-530. It references CFDA numbers 47.049, 47.050, and 47.070. The original closing date is 2025-04-02, the opportunity was created on 2025-01-03, and NSF anticipates making about 9 awards. The posted materials do not specify an award ceiling in the provided text.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Collaborations in Artificial Intelligence and Geosciences" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.049, 47.050, 47.070.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-01-03.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-04-02. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 9 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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