NSF 26-513 NSF State and Regional AI Infrastructure Hubs
Sponsor: NSFInternal Deadline: 08/14/2026Institutional Submission Limit: 1Sponsor Deadline: 11/04/2026Program Website
The NSF State and Regional AI Infrastructure Hubs program aims to expand access to the compute required for AI-enabled scientific discovery and to transform the research, education, and training opportunities offered by institutions of higher education. AI Infrastructure Hubs will connect researchers to new compute infrastructure that leverages contributions from state governments, research institutions, industry, and philanthropy, accelerating AI-enabled discovery across science and engineering and developing a skilled technical workforce for AI use in the scientific enterprise.
Specifically, NSF will invest in AI infrastructure professionals with the technical expertise to support researchers, students and educators in applying AI infrastructure for scientific discovery; connect meritorious research with AI Infrastructure hubs in their regions; and invest in faculty and educator training and instructional material development to build students' skills, proficiency and knowledge in using computing, data and software systems for scientific research.
Each AI Infrastructure Hub will be organized as a flexible state or regional consortium of state and local governments, research institutions, philanthropies, and the private sector. Consortia will be responsible for all funding for new or expanded computing, data, and AI resources, whether on-premises or cloud-based. NSF will fund each Hub's consortium coordination, AI infrastructure workforce development, and faculty training and coursework development in leveraging AI for science.
Proposals must address the five required elements:
- Hub consortium stakeholders, vision, and key deliverables: The proposal should have a consortium of institutions of higher education and other stakeholders, with an agreed-upon vision, governance structure, and timeline on key deliverables.
- Computing, data, and AI infrastructure: The proposal should describe the infrastructure the consortium will maintain and demonstrate that the necessary resources are either already in hand or planned to be secured for the full five-year award period.
- Partnerships with regional stakeholders: The proposal should describe how the Hub will coordinate with stakeholders across the broader regional ecosystem.
- Development of an AI infrastructure workforce: The proposal should lay out a workforce development plan with NSF to fund the professionals who would maintain the Hub’s infrastructure. It also encourages involving student employees in hands-on experience.
- Faculty training and instructional material development: The proposal should support faculty and educators in developing instructional and training materials.
Measure of success for the program included in the solicitation are:
- Discovery and Innovation: New scientific output from Hub resources; new technologies, tools, or techniques; translational activities.
- STEM Education and Workforce: Improved education and career outcomes; more trained people in critical areas; creation of new “communities of practice”; new AI infrastructure and AI for science curriculum.
- Research Infrastructure: New infrastructure built and utilization of new and legacy infrastructure.
Eligibility:
Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: 1
An institution may appear as a participant in at most one proposal. If more than one proposal contains an institution as a participant then only the first one will be reviewed. All others will be returned without review.
Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or co-PI: 1
An individual may participate in at most one State and Regional AI Infrastructure Hubs proposal as PI, co-PI, or Senior/Key Personnel for each deadline. If an individual exceeds this limit, only the first proposal received will be accepted, and the remainder will be returned without review. This rule does not apply to advisory roles.
Award Size and Duration: Only one award per state or multi-state region will be made. NSF anticipates typical proposals to State and Regional AI Infrastructure Hubs Program should request 5 years and between $4,000,000 - $12,000,000 total budget.
Submission Process
Limited submissions MUST be coordinated with the Office of the Vice President for Research. Also, if you will be listed on another institution’s proposal as co-PI or Senior/Key Personnel, please email Emily Devereux, Associate VP for Research Development, at devereue@mailbox.sc.edu.
If interested in applying for this opportunity, please combine the following items into a single PDF and email to resdev@mailbox.sc.edu by 5pm on the INTERNAL DEADLINE above:
- Cover page with the following information:
- Header: NSF 26-513 NSF State and Regional AI Infrastructure Hubs
- Project title
- PI (name, department/unit, & email)
- List of co-PIs/key collaborators (name & department/unit)
- List of industry and community partners, names of collaborators for each listed
- Two-page project abstract addressing key components/criteria listed above for this specific grant program
- 2-3 page CV/biosketch for the PI (SCiENcv preferred)