Closed · PD-20-144Y · CFDA 47.041;47.070 · Discretionary
Foundational Research in Robotics
Federal grant opportunity posted by U.S. National Science Foundation, cataloged on Grants.gov.
- Varies
- Award range
- Closed
- Status
- -
- Close date
- -
- Expected awards
The verdict
Foundational Research in Robotics is a closed discretionary listing from U.S. National Science Foundation that offered Varies by applicant. Future funding cycles may be published under the same CFDA number.
- Varies
- award range
- Closed
- application status
- 47.041;47.070
- CFDA program
Opportunity snapshot. This Grants.gov announcement - Foundational Research in Robotics - is cataloged under number PD-20-144Y and tied to CFDA assistance listing 47.041;47.070, posted by U.S. National Science Foundation. Grants.gov currently shows the opportunity as closed, first posted on February 12, 2020 and last updated on June 18, 2025. The funding category is Discretionary, delivered as a grant.
Award economics. The award range on file is Varies by applicant. Cost sharing is not required, so applicants do not need to commit matching funds to be competitive on this opportunity. Federal award ranges are often upper bounds; actual allocations reflect program appropriations, the strength of the applicant pool, and the evaluation committee's scoring.
Deadline and action path. This opportunity is closed. Monitoring the parent program page is the most reliable way to catch re-announcements in the next funding cycle. Every Grants.gov submission requires an active SAM.gov registration and a Unique Entity ID. Review the Eligibility section below carefully, federal eligibility categories (nonprofit, state or local government, tribal, individual, educational institution, small business) have distinct registration and reporting requirements. Pre-application outreach to the listed agency contact is permitted and often welcomed, it helps clarify scope and scoring priorities. Before acting on the deadline or award figures above, verify them directly on the official Grants.gov listing, amendments can change dates and amounts after this page was last refreshed.
Award Range
Varies by applicant
Close Date
Not specified
Proposals accepted anytime
Posted
February 12, 2020
Instrument
Grant
Description
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: The focus of the research project should be a robot or a class of robots, as defined above. [Is there a robot?] 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?] 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.
Eligibility
Grants.gov lists this opportunity under eligibility category code 99. These codes correspond to applicant types (state/local government, tribal organization, nonprofit, educational institution, individual, small business, etc.) defined in Grants.gov's own eligibility reference. See the current Grants.gov eligibility categories or check the official listing below for this opportunity's exact eligibility statement.
Official Listing on Grants.gov
View full details, application forms, and submission instructions.
Agency Contact
NSF grants.gov support grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov
Key Dates
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