NSF Funding Opportunities Relevant to the OOI Community

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced two funding opportunities that may be of interest to researchers working with ocean observing technologies, infrastructure, and data.

NSF X-Labs: AI for Physical Systems

NSF X-Labs is inviting proposals from interdisciplinary teams developing early-stage technologies that enable new forms of artificial intelligence (AI) integration in physical systems. Areas of interest include advanced sensors, robotics, embodied systems, human-robot interfaces, and cyber-physical systems.

The opportunity may be relevant to researchers exploring applications of AI in ocean observing, autonomous systems, sensing technologies, and other tools that support ocean science and scientific discovery.

Learn more about NSF X-Labs: AI for Physical Systems →

NSF 26-512: Unlocking Dataset Value for AI-Enabled Scientific Discovery (AI Datasets)

The AI Datasets program supports efforts to increase the scientific value of existing datasets by making them more accessible, easier to integrate, and better prepared for AI-driven and automated analysis.

The program includes opportunities to develop data pipelines, improve metadata and feature extraction, integrate multiple datasets, and augment or harmonize existing datasets. These goals may be particularly relevant to researchers interested in using long-term ocean observing datasets for AI-enabled scientific discovery.

NSF anticipates Planning grants of up to $200,000, Impact awards of up to $2 million, and Flagship awards of up to $5 million. The next full proposal deadline is November 4, 2026.

Learn more about NSF 26-512: AI Datasets →

Researchers interested in these opportunities should review the full NSF announcements and solicitation for eligibility, requirements, deadlines, and application guidance.