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ERI Funding Opportunities

Welcome to the ERI Funding Opportunities Site

College of Engineering campus
Research drives excellence in the College of Engineering by serving as a magnet to attract and retain outstanding faculty and students. Funding opportunities relevant to the College of Engineering will be posted here. If you are interested in pursuing any of these opportunities please contact ERI at eri-pre@iastate.edu for assistance or additional information. New opportunities are posted weekly. To have the new opportunities delivered directly to your inbox please subscribe using your ISU email address. One email per week.

 

 

Supplemental Funding for Technology Demonstration, Verification, and Validation (DV&V) Projects to Sustain U.S. Manufacturing

Remade

Solicitation: REMADE-25-02

RFP 25-02

Posted Date: October 28, 2025

Concept Paper Due Date: December 10, 2025

Proposal Due Date: January 06, 2026

This RFP solicits proposals for supplemental funding for Technology Demonstration, Verification, and Validation2 (DV&V) Projects. These projects will be expected to demonstrate that the technology solution meets the performance levels the supply chain requires and the economic targets the marketplace will accept. The proposed technologies must be consistent with the REMADE Institute’s goals on the last page. To ensure proposals deliver solutions that will motivate subsequent industry investments, they must be consistent with the requirements of this RFP, align with the research agenda in the REMADE Institute Technology Roadmap, and complement the current R&D portfolio.

Magnetic property testing of synthesized solid materials

Halo / BASF

https://www.halo.science/request_for_solutions/measuring-magnetic-properties-of-catalyst-particles

Posted Date: November 03, 2025

Proposal Due Date: January 09, 2026

We are looking for a partner that has capabilities to determine the strength of the ferromagnetic properties of synthesized solid samples. This requires an existing setup capable of inducing a magnetic field and measuring the additional downward force exerted by the solids in response to that field. Due to the practical considerations of sample shipping and handling, preference will be given to partners based in the United States.

Our must-have requirements are:
  • Existing setup capable of generating a stable magnetic field of roughly 500 gauss using a Helmholtz, Merritt 3, or Ruben 5 coil (or equivalent)
  • Sample container connected to a scale to measure the forces induced on the particles with and without the applied magnetic field
  • Compatible with solid samples <100 g

Proprietary Education and Workforce Development Solicitation

Smart USA

Solicitation: P03-W25

www.smartusatwins.org/research/

Posted Date: October 29, 2025

Informational Webinar: November 11, 2025 at 12:00 pm ET  REGISTER HERE

Proposal Due Date: April 28, 2026 by 11:59 pm ET

SMART USA aims to address critical gaps in semiconductor manufacturing through the development of scalable digital twin technologies. Specific gaps identified for this call are identified in section 1.4. This program seeks to fund innovative projects that advance digital twin capabilities and their applications to optimize semiconductor design, manufacturing, packaging, assembly, and testing processes. Through collaborative research, SMART USA strives to enhance U.S. semiconductor manufacturing competitiveness, reduce costs, improve yields, and develop a skilled workforce that can leverage these transformative technologies.

 

Research Gaps to Achieve Digital Twin Innovation

Smart USA

Solicitation: P02-T25

www.smartusatwins.org/research/

Posted Date: October 29, 2025

Informational Webinar: November 11, 2025 at 12:00 pm ET  REGISTER HERE

Proposal Due Date: April 28, 2026 by 11:59 pm ET

SMART USA aims to address critical gaps in semiconductor manufacturing through the development of scalable digital twin technologies. Specific gaps identified for this call are identified in section 1.1. This program seeks to fund innovative projects that advance digital twin capabilities and their applications to optimize semiconductor design, manufacturing, packaging, assembly, and testing processes. Through collaborative research, SMART USA strives to enhance U.S. semiconductor manufacturing competitiveness, reduce costs, improve yields, and develop a skilled workforce that can leverage these transformative technologies.

 

Track at Big Distances with Track-Before-Detect (TBD2)

DoD

Solicitation: DARPA-PS-26-01

https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/1bc7be1d806a4ceeaad39b64ae0ae224/view

Posted Date: October 20, 2025

Proposal Due Date: November 20, 2025 by 12:00 pm ET

The goal of the TBD2 program is to enable continuous space-based detection and tracking of objects in cislunar space on relevant timelines. This effort will increase the safety of cislunar commercial and civilian traffic for the benefit of all nations and enable a sustainable space ecosystem. To accomplish this, TBD2 seeks to advance the state of the art for signal processing algorithms so that when combined with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) or quasi-COTS optical sensors and/or focal plane arrays (FPAs), they can a) detect and track faint objects at gigameter (Gm) distances b) operate using available onboard processing capabilities, and c) do so on relevant timelines (within hours).

Improving Efficiency, Reliability, and Flexibility of Coal-Based Power Plants

DOE

Solicitation: DE-FOA-0003606

https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/360814

Posted Date: October 31, 2025

Proposal Due Date: January 07, 2026 by 5:00 pm ET

The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to seek applications for projects to design, implement, test and validate three (3) compelling Topic Areas for strategic refurbishment/retrofit of existing coal power plants, providing a path for rapid and cost-effective restoration of stability to the nation’s bulk power system while supporting the nation’s industrial and energy security priorities by enabling coal powered systems to provide reliable, secure, and affordable electricity delivered in the near term at scale. Successful projects will lead to the implementation of transformational technologies that will significantly improve the efficiency, effectiveness, costs, emissions reductions, and environmental performance of coal and natural gas use.

NSF National Innovation Corps Teams (NSF National I-Corps (TM) Teams) program

NSF

Solicitation: 25-549

https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/nsf-national-innovation-corps-teams-nsf-national-i-corps-tm

Posted Date: October 26, 2025

Proposals Accepted Anytime

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) continues to develop and nurture a national innovation ecosystem that guides the output of scientific discoveries closer to the development of technologies, products, processes, and services that benefit all Americans. The goals of the NSF I-Corps™ program are to spur translation of foundational research to the marketplace, to encourage collaboration between academia and industry, and to train NSF-funded faculty, students and other researchers in innovation and entrepreneurship skills.

The NSF National I-Corps program utilizes experiential learning of customer and industry discovery, coupled with first-hand investigation of industrial processes, to quickly assess the translational potential of inventions. The NSF National I-Corps program is designed to support the commercialization of “deep technologies,” those revolving around foundational discoveries in science and engineering. The NSF National I-Corps program addresses the skill and knowledge gaps associated with the transformation of basic research into deep technology ventures (DTVs).

The purpose of the NSF National I-Corps Teams program is to provide NSF-funded researchers additional support in the form of entrepreneurial education, mentoring, and funding to accelerate the translation of knowledge derived from foundational research into emerging products, processes, and services that may attract subsequent third-party funding. The outcomes of NSF National I-Corps Teams’ projects are threefold: 1) a decision on a clear path forward based on an assessment of the business model, 2) substantial first-hand evidence for or against product-market fit, with the identification of customer segments and corresponding value propositions, and 3) a narrative of a technology demonstration for potential partners.

 

RFI – Active Nuclear Interrogation with Ghost Imaging (GI)

DARPA

Solicitation: DARPA-SS-26-02

https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/12b18f82305340caa0e9e0a93285ade9/view

Posted Date: October 24, 2025

Response Due Date: December 04, 2025 by 4:00 pm ET

This RFI is soliciting information that can advance and improve the performance metrics of GI based active nuclear interrogation techniques including resolution, specificity, dynamic range, S/N, and stand-off distance. Responses should include quantitative comparisons of these key performance parameters (e.g., 10x increase in S/N) to the state of the art.
Respondents are asked to think beyond incremental improvements and provide information that will shape the future of R&D initiatives including potential high-risk, high-reward concepts and research directions towards performance demonstrations.

Scope of Interest
DARPA seeks information on the potential advantages of classical or quantum correlations in GI
for active nuclear interrogation. Submissions should address the technical barriers to overcome
when applying GI techniques in active interrogation systems and quantify expected performance
improvements compared to all current methods. Ghost imaging concepts with beams of electrons, neutrons, gammas (x-rays)  and other beams and particles are of interest. Respondents are encouraged to respond to any or all of the following subtopics:

  1. Sources of correlated particles and beams
  2. Detectors
  3. Computational methods

 

Accelerating Speed to Power/Winning the Artificial Intelligence Race: Federal Action to Rapidly Expand Grid Capacity and Enable Electricity Demand Growth

DOE

DE-FOA-0003574

https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/360771

Posted Date: October 21, 2025

Close Date: November 21, 2025

 

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, impacted communities, and other stakeholders on issues related to gigawatt-scale generation and transmission investments driven by projected electricity demand growth from data centers, advanced manufacturing facilities, semiconductor fabrication plants, and other large energy users that are outpacing the capacity of the existing electric grid.

Advanced Technologies for combat casualty care (CCC) RFI

DARPA

DARPA-SN-26-06

https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/c22f60aa51424ec1b63fdb9743377871/view

Posted Date: October 23, 2025

Response Due Date: December 3, 2025, 4:00 pm ET

 

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to solicit input from industry, academia, government laboratories, and non-traditional performers regarding the most advanced medical sensing, computational, modeling, actuation, therapeutic and robotics technologies that could transform continuum of care in contested, resource-constrained environments.

This RFI is issued solely for information-gathering and planning purposes. It does not constitute a solicitation for proposals, abstracts, or quotations.

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