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Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR)

Important information about NSF’s implementation of the revised 2 CFR

NSF Financial Assistance awards (grants and cooperative agreements) made on or after October 1, 2024, will be subject to the applicable set of award conditions, dated October 1, 2024, available on the NSF website. These terms and conditions are consistent with the revised guidance specified in the OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance published in the Federal Register on April 22, 2024.

Important information for proposers

All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in this funding opportunity and in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) that is in effect for the relevant due date to which the proposal is being submitted. It is the responsibility of the proposer to ensure that the proposal meets these requirements. Submitting a proposal prior to a specified deadline does not negate this requirement.

Synopsis

The Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR) program, jointly led by the CISE and ENG Directorates, supports research on robotic systems that exhibit significant levels of both computational capability and physical complexity. For the purposes of this program, a robot is defined as intelligence embodied in an engineered construct, with the ability to process information, sense, plan, and move within or substantially alter its working environment. Here intelligence includes a broad class of methods that enable a robot to solve problems or to make contextually appropriate decisions and act upon them. The program welcomes research that considers inextricably interwoven questions of intelligence, computation, and embodiment. Projects may also focus on a distinct aspect of intelligence, computation, or embodiment, as long as the proposed research is clearly justified in the context of a class of robots.

The focus of the FRR program is on foundational advances in robotics. Robotics is a deeply interdisciplinary field, and proposals are encouraged across the full range of fundamental engineering and computer science research challenges arising in robotics. To be responsive to the FRR program, each proposal should clearly articulate the following three points:

  1. The focus of the research project should be a robot or a class of robots, as defined above. [Is there a robot?]
  2. The goal of the project should be to endow a robot or a class of robots with new and useful capabilities or to significantly enhance existing capabilities. [Will a robot gain a new or significantly improved capability?]
  3. The intellectual contribution of the proposed work should address fundamental gaps in robotics. [Is robotics essential to the intellectual merit of the proposal?]

Meaningful experimental validation on a physical platform is encouraged.

Projects that do not represent a direct fundamental contribution to the science of robotics or are better aligned with other existing programs at NSF should not be submitted to the FRR program.

Potential investigators are strongly encouraged to discuss their projects with an FRR Program Officer before submission. Non-compliant proposals may be returned without review.

Program contacts

Name Email Phone Organization
Jordan M. Berg
Robotics@nsf.gov (703) 292-5365 ENG/CMMI
Cindy Bethel
Robotics@nsf.gov (703) 292-4420 CISE/IIS
Peter Brass
Robotics@nsf.gov (703) 292-2182 CISE/CCF
David Corman
Robotics@nsf.gov (703) 292-8754 CISE/CNS
Huaiyu Dai
Robotics@nsf.gov (703) 292-4568 ENG/ECCS
Tony Kuh
Robotics@nsf.gov (703) 292-4714 ENG/ECCS
Alexander Leonessa
Robotics@nsf.gov (703) 292-2633 ENG/CMMI
Pavithra Prabhakar
Robotics@nsf.gov (703) 292-8910 CISE/CCF
Siddiq M. Qidwai
Robotics@nsf.gov (703) 292-2211 ENG/CMMI
Ralph F. Wachter
Robotics@nsf.gov (703) 292-8950 CISE/CNS
Yue Wang
Robotics@nsf.gov (703) 292-4588 ENG/CMMI
Cang Ye
Robotics@nsf.gov (703) 292-4702 CISE/IIS

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