NSF Integrated Data Systems & Services

NSF Integrated Data Systems & Services

Below is a summary assembled by the Research & Innovation Office (RIO). Please see the full solicitation for complete information about the funding opportunity. This internal call is for Category I and Category II proposals; Category III is unlimited. Per NSF guidance below, applicants are strongly encouraged to consult NSF program officers to vet their ideas before submitting to the internal competition.

Program Summary

The Integrated Data Systems and Services (IDSS) program supports operations-level national-scale cyberinfrastructure systems and services that broadly advance and facilitate open, data-intensive and artificial intelligence-driven science and engineering research, innovation, and education. Through this solicitation, the IDSS program is accepting proposals for three categories of projects: 

• Category I. Development, deployment, and operation of novel national-scale integrated data systems and services, which may include interfacing with or leveraging other existing capabilities, systems and services, as appropriate to the project;
• Category II.  Transition of established smaller scale, regional, pilot, or prototype data-focused systems and services to national-scale production/operational quality/level. This may also include enhancement and expansion of existing national-scale data-focused operational systems and services; and
• Category III. Planning grants for future potential development/deployment or transition/enhancement IDSS projects. 

NSF and the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) have long supported the development of innovative foundational and application-specific cyberinfrastructure resources and systems to address data-intensive research needs at the campus, regional, and community scales, through programs such as Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI), Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CC*), and other investments. The primary goal of the IDSS program is to support national-scale foundational data cyberinfrastructure that broadly enables data- and artificial intelligence-driven research for many communities. The IDSS program supports foundational transdisciplinary and demonstrably multi-disciplinary projects aimed to broadly impact the science and engineering research and education community.

Projects that aim to primarily benefit a single science discipline, domain, project, or application are not supported.

All projects must be submitted as single proposals. Collaborative research proposals are not permitted and will be returned without review.

It is recommended that prospective PIs contact program officer(s) from the list of Cognizant Program Officers to gain insight about alignment of their project ideas with the priorities of the IDSS program and Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure. As part of contacting Cognizant Program Officers, prospective PIs are also encouraged to ascertain that the focus and budget of their proposed work are appropriate for this solicitation. 

See the solicitation for complete details.

Deadlines

• CU Internal Deadline: 11:59pm MST October 13, 2025
• Sponsor Deadline: 5:00pm MST December 4, 2025

Internal Application Requirements (all in PDF format)

• Proposal Type:
  • Category I. Development, deployment, and operation of novel national-scale integrated data systems and services, which may include interfacing with or leveraging other existing capabilities, systems and services, as appropriate to the project;
  • Category II.  Transition of established smaller scale, regional, pilot, or prototype data-focused systems and services to national-scale production/operational quality/level. This may also include enhancement and expansion of existing national-scale data-focused operational systems and services; and
• Project Summary (3 pages maximum): Please include details on the following: 1) Vision, goals, and driving requirements; 2) Project definition and specification; 3) Concept of Operations; 4) Performance objectives and measures; and 5) Project management. Reference the full NSF solicitation and the internal call’s review criteria for additional details. Note: Collaborative research proposals are not permitted and will be returned without review.
• Curriculum Vitae of the Lead PI
• Budget Overview (1 page maximum): A basic budget outlining project costs is sufficient; detailed OCG budgets are not required.

To access the online application, visit: https://cuboulderovcr.secure-platform.com/a/solicitations/7107/home

Eligibility

An individual may participate as PI, co-PI, or other Senior Personnel on at most one proposal across Categories I and II for each solicitation deadline. Thus, if an individual participates on a Category I proposal, the individual may not participate in a Category II proposal, or vice versa. Note that any individual whose biographical sketch is provided as part of the proposal will be considered as Senior Personnel in the proposed activity, with or without financial support from the project. Other staff who will be funded under an IDSS proposal are not subject to this restriction. This restriction does not apply to Category III proposals.   

Limited Submission Guidelines

An organization may submit only one proposal as lead institution for each of Category I and Category II for each solicitation deadline but may be a subawardee on other Category I and II proposals responding to this solicitation.There are no restrictions or limits for Category III.

Award Information

• Category I: 1–2 awards, $10M–$30M over 5 years
• Category II: 1–2 awards, up to $9M over 3 years
• Category III: 1–5 awards, up to $500K over 2 years

Review Criteria

For Category I and Category II proposals, reviewers will be asked to use the following guiding questions to assess the adequacy of the information provided in the required sections of the Project Description and supplementary documents (as described in Section V.A.3a, Proposal Preparation Instructions above): 

• Does the proposal provide convincing evidence that the project is needed, relative to other existing systems and services, to advance integrative data-intensive and AI-driven science and engineering research and education, in integrative ways for an appropriately broad array of use cases?
• Does the proposal provide a clear definition of the proposed systems and services and provide the technical specifications at an appropriate level of detail?
• Is there a convincing plan for transitioning the project to full operations by the end of the first award year?
• Does the Operations Plan clearly describe how the systems and services will provide continuous operations to the intended users while ensuring security and trustworthiness?
• Does the proposal describe an adequate and convincing set of comprehensive performance objectives and appropriate targets for the proposed system or services?   
• Are the project management plans, risk management plan, and budget well-described and appropriate?