Description
The National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) is issuing a solicitation for written proposals under the NSF X‑Labs Initiative focused on “AI for Physical Systems.” The program seeks early‑stage platform technologies that enable intelligent, adaptive, and scalable AI systems interacting with the physical world (e.g., robotics, embodied systems, human‑robot interfaces, advanced sensing, cyber‑physical systems). Awards will be made via Other Transaction (OT) contracts, with a Phase 0 pilot (≈9‑12 months, up to $1.5 M) followed by a Phase 1 development period (≈24‑36 months, up to $50 M per year) and optional Phase 2 extensions. Teams must be domestic entities, registered in SAM, and demonstrate operational autonomy, flexible governance, and an IP strategy that promotes broad technology adoption. Proposals are limited to 8 pages (excluding COI) and must include mission description, technology landscape, outcomes, senior/key personnel qualifications, and a governance plan. NSF will evaluate proposals on team qualifications/structure and mission clarity/outcomes, with a two‑step review (written proposal → optional oral proposal package).
**Key points**
- Open to any U.S. domestic organization (universities, companies, labs, nonprofits) that can form an independent X‑Lab team.
- Funding mechanism: Other Transaction (OT) contracts, not traditional grants.
- Phase 0 budget ceiling: $1.5 M; Phase 1 budget ceiling: $50 M per year.
- Project locations must be within the United States.
- Mandatory deliverables include milestone plans, data‑management, IP‑management, research‑security, and governance‑structure plans.
- Evaluation criteria: team expertise & autonomy, and clarity/impact of the proposed mission.
- No explicit submission deadline or pre‑bid meeting dates are provided in the text.
Attached files
Contact
X‑Labs