NSF CAREER Award
NSF's most prestigious award for early-career faculty: five years of support for an integrated research and education plan. Still running under solicitation NSF 22-586, with NSF's 2025 priorities now applied to Broader Impacts.
Scheme details
- Funding range
- At least $400,000 over 5 years including indirect costs; $500,000 for BIO, ENG and the Office of Polar Programs. NSF estimates 500 awards a year
- Career stage
- Early career
- Scheme type
- Individual
- Eligibility
- Untenured assistant professor or equivalent, with a doctorate and at least a 50% tenure-track or equivalent post at an eligible US organisation. No previous CAREER award and at most three competitions. Associate professors are not eligible. No limit on years since the PhD; no co-PIs.
- Format & limits
- Project Summary: 1 page in three boxes; Project Description: 15 pages covering research, education, their integration and other broader impacts; Departmental Letter: required, up to 2 pages; single-sentence letters of collaboration only, no letters of support; Budget Justification: 5 pages
- Deadline
- Upcoming 2026: closed 22 July 2026 · next deadline 28 July 2027, 5 pm submitter's local time (fourth Wednesday in July)
View official scheme page
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/career-faculty-early-career-development-program
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Last updated: 2026-09-24
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