Opportunity Information: Apply for 17 529
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) grant opportunity supports research and education aimed at advancing the science and engineering foundations needed to build complex systems that tightly integrate computation, networking, and the physical world. CPS refers to engineered systems where software and algorithms interact continuously with physical components through sensing and actuation, and where performance depends on that integration working reliably under real-world conditions. The program frames CPS as a major driver of future innovation, with expected impacts across agriculture, energy, transportation, building automation, healthcare, and manufacturing, and it highlights CPS as a critical national priority tied to U.S. security and economic competitiveness.
A central motivation in the solicitation is that, despite strong progress in embedded systems and related fields, the U.S. still lacks a mature, widely applicable system science for engineering "high-confidence" CPS at scale. Traditional analysis and design tools often fall short when systems become deeply interconnected, distributed across space and time, and exposed to uncertainty in open environments. The opportunity emphasizes that emerging realities like the Internet of Things (IoT), potentially involving billions of connected devices that sense and influence the physical world, dramatically raise the bar for dependability, safety, security, privacy, and resilience. The solicitation calls out hard technical gaps: modeling and reasoning about tight cyber-physical interdependencies; architectural approaches that reconcile continuous physical dynamics with discrete computation; methods that go beyond classic real-time guarantees for large distributed systems whose configurations can change rapidly; and techniques that improve verification, interoperability, modularity, and the trustworthiness of autonomous and cooperative behavior.
The goal of the CPS program is to develop cross-cutting fundamental principles that apply across application domains, rather than funding only domain-specific demonstrations. NSF is looking for work that advances core system science and also helps transition that science into engineering practice. This includes the development of methods, tools, and reusable hardware/software components grounded in those principles, as well as validation through prototypes and testbeds to show the ideas hold up in realistic settings. The solicitation also notes convergence between CPS research and efforts underpinning Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) and IoT, positioning these as both fertile application areas and sources of new foundational research challenges, with opportunities ranging from near-term maturation to longer-horizon breakthroughs.
The 2017 solicitation reflects a multi-agency partnership approach. NSF indicates coordination with several federal organizations to identify shared foundational research directions and accelerate transition to practice, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate, the Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the ITS Joint Program Office, NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) components (including NIBIB, OBSSR, NCI, and NCATS), and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). This multi-agency involvement signals an emphasis on broad relevance and real-world impact, while keeping the core focus on fundamental research contributions that generalize.
NSF offers three project sizes, each aligned with different scopes of ambition. Small projects support emerging, high-impact ideas with budgets up to $500,000 over up to 3 years. Medium projects fund more integrated, multidisciplinary efforts with total budgets from $500,001 to $1,000,000 over up to 4 years, aimed at achieving defined goals that require multiple perspectives. Frontier projects target major, clearly identified CPS challenges that are not realistically achievable through a set of smaller awards, with budgets from $1,000,001 up to $7,000,000 over 4 to 5 years. The overall solicitation lists an award ceiling of $7,000,000, an expectation of about 32 awards, and is categorized as a discretionary grant for science and technology research and development.
Key administrative details from the listing include the funding opportunity title "Cyber-Physical Systems" and opportunity number 17-529, with NSF as the lead agency. The posting date is December 30, 2016, and the original closing date is March 6, 2017. The solicitation references multiple CFDA numbers reflecting the multi-agency participation (10.310, 20.200, 43.001, 47.041, 47.070, 93.286, 93.350, 93.396). Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with additional clarification provided in the full eligibility text of the solicitation.Apply for 17 529
- The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cyber-Physical Systems" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.310, 20.200, 43.001, 47.041, 47.070, 93.286, 93.350, 93.396.
- This funding opportunity was created on Dec 30, 2016.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 06, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $7,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 32 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - NSF Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) Grant (Opportunity 17-529)
What is the NSF Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) grant opportunity?
The NSF Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) grant opportunity supports research and education that advance the science and engineering foundations needed to build complex systems that tightly integrate computation, networking, and the physical world. The program emphasizes foundational advances that enable CPS to operate reliably under real-world conditions.
What does NSF mean by "Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS)" in this solicitation?
In this program, CPS refers to engineered systems where software and algorithms interact continuously with physical components through sensing and actuation. A defining idea is that system performance depends on the cyber components and physical components working together as an integrated whole, including in uncertain, open, and dynamic environments.
What kinds of impacts or application areas does NSF associate with CPS?
The solicitation highlights expected impacts across agriculture, energy, transportation, building automation, healthcare, and manufacturing. CPS is presented as a major driver of future innovation and a national priority tied to U.S. security and economic competitiveness.
What is the central motivation behind this CPS program?
NSF notes that, despite progress in embedded systems and related fields, the U.S. still lacks a mature, widely applicable "system science" for engineering high-confidence CPS at scale. Traditional analysis and design tools often fall short when systems become deeply interconnected, distributed across space and time, and exposed to uncertainty in open environments.
What does the solicitation mean by "high-confidence" CPS?
Based on the description, "high-confidence" CPS are systems engineered to be dependable in the real world, where safety, security, privacy, resilience, and correct behavior matter even as conditions and configurations change. The emphasis is on trustworthiness at scale, not just functionality in controlled settings.
Why does the solicitation emphasize IoT and large-scale connectivity?
The program calls out the Internet of Things (IoT) as a key emerging reality, potentially involving billions of connected devices that sense and influence the physical world. This scale and openness increases the difficulty of achieving dependability, safety, security, privacy, and resilience, and it creates new foundational research challenges for CPS.
What technical gaps or research challenges does NSF specifically highlight?
The solicitation identifies several hard technical gaps, including:
- Modeling and reasoning about tight cyber-physical interdependencies.
- Architectural approaches that reconcile continuous physical dynamics with discrete computation.
- Methods that go beyond classic real-time guarantees for large distributed systems whose configurations can change rapidly.
- Techniques that improve verification, interoperability, modularity, and the trustworthiness of autonomous and cooperative behavior.
Is NSF looking for domain-specific demonstrations, or cross-cutting research?
The CPS program goal is to develop cross-cutting fundamental principles that apply across application domains, rather than funding only domain-specific demonstrations. While prototypes and testbeds are encouraged for validation, the core expectation is that the contributions generalize beyond a single vertical application.
What types of outputs or deliverables does the program encourage?
The solicitation emphasizes advances in core system science and transition into engineering practice. This includes developing methods, tools, and reusable hardware/software components grounded in foundational principles, along with validation through prototypes and testbeds to demonstrate that the ideas hold up in realistic settings.
How does this CPS program relate to Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) and IoT?
The solicitation notes convergence between CPS research and efforts underpinning Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) and IoT. These areas are positioned as both promising application spaces and sources of new foundational CPS challenges, spanning near-term maturation through longer-horizon breakthroughs.
Is this a multi-agency opportunity, or NSF-only?
The 2017 solicitation reflects a multi-agency partnership approach. NSF indicates coordination with several federal organizations to identify shared foundational research directions and accelerate transition to practice, while keeping the core focus on fundamental research contributions that generalize.
Which federal organizations are mentioned as coordinating with NSF for this solicitation?
The solicitation mentions coordination with:
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate
- Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the ITS Joint Program Office
- NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) components, including NIBIB, OBSSR, NCI, and NCATS
- USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
What project sizes are available under this CPS opportunity?
NSF offers three project sizes aligned with different scopes:
- Small: Emerging, high-impact ideas
- Medium: More integrated, multidisciplinary efforts
- Frontier: Major CPS challenges not realistically achievable through a set of smaller awards
What is the budget and duration limit for a Small CPS project?
Small projects support emerging, high-impact ideas with budgets up to $500,000 over up to 3 years.
What is the budget range and duration for a Medium CPS project?
Medium projects have total budgets from $500,001 to $1,000,000 over up to 4 years and are intended for integrated efforts aimed at defined goals that require multiple perspectives.
What is the budget range and duration for a Frontier CPS project?
Frontier projects range from $1,000,001 up to $7,000,000 over 4 to 5 years and target major, clearly identified CPS challenges that are not realistically achievable through a set of smaller awards.
What is the maximum award amount mentioned in the solicitation?
The overall solicitation lists an award ceiling of $7,000,000.
About how many awards does NSF expect to make under this solicitation?
The solicitation indicates an expectation of about 32 awards.
What is the funding opportunity title and number?
The funding opportunity title is "Cyber-Physical Systems" and the opportunity number is 17-529.
Who is the lead agency for this opportunity?
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is listed as the lead agency.
What is the posting date and the original closing date?
The posting date is December 30, 2016, and the original closing date is March 6, 2017.
How is this opportunity categorized (grant type and purpose)?
The listing categorizes this as a discretionary grant for science and technology research and development.
What CFDA numbers are referenced in the listing?
The solicitation references multiple CFDA numbers reflecting multi-agency participation: 10.310, 20.200, 43.001, 47.041, 47.070, 93.286, 93.350, 93.396.
Who is eligible to apply, based on the listing?
Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," with additional clarification provided in the full eligibility text of the solicitation.
Does the program emphasize research only, or research and education?
The opportunity supports research and education aimed at advancing CPS foundations.
Does NSF expect projects to transition into practice?
Yes. The solicitation explicitly emphasizes work that advances core system science and helps transition that science into engineering practice, including through methods, tools, reusable components, and validation in realistic prototypes and testbeds.
What kinds of CPS system properties are emphasized as important?
The solicitation stresses that large-scale CPS and IoT raise expectations for dependability, safety, security, privacy, and resilience, particularly in open environments and under uncertainty.
What makes CPS engineering challenging according to the solicitation?
The program points to challenges that arise when systems are deeply interconnected and distributed across space and time, must reconcile continuous physical dynamics with discrete computation, and must remain trustworthy as configurations change rapidly in the real world.
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