NSF/CASIS Transport Phenomena Research at the International Space Station to Benefit Life on Earth | 25 529

Opportunity Information: Apply for 25 529

This NSF/CASIS funding opportunity (NSF 25-529) supports research that uses the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory as a platform to study core transport-phenomena questions in ways that are difficult or impossible to replicate on Earth, with the explicit expectation that the results will translate into practical benefits on Earth. NSF is running the solicitation in partnership with The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), and the participating NSF units include CBET and CMMI within the Engineering Directorate (ENG), plus DMR within the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS). The work is positioned as fundamental and use-inspired science and engineering, centered on how momentum, heat, mass, and reactive processes behave in microgravity and other ISS-relevant conditions, and how that knowledge can improve technologies, materials, and manufacturing back on the ground.

The topic scope is broad but tightly themed around transport phenomena and related materials outcomes. The solicitation calls for projects in areas such as fluid dynamics; particulate, multiphase, and complex-fluid processes; combustion and fire systems; thermal transport processes; and nanoscale interactions where transport at small scales matters. It also encourages manufacturing methods that depend on these transport mechanisms, along with studies of resulting materials, including metallic materials, metal nanostructures, and ceramic materials. In practical terms, that means proposals should not just mention the ISS as a novelty; they should be designed around an ISS-enabled advantage (for example, reduced buoyancy-driven convection, altered sedimentation behavior, or different phase separation dynamics) and should explain how those conditions let researchers isolate mechanisms, validate models, or produce structures that can improve Earth-based processes and products.

Eligibility is restricted to entities and investigators that qualify as "U.S. Persons" under 22 U.S. Code section 6010. In this context, "United States person" includes U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, as well as corporations, partnerships, or other organizations organized under U.S. law. The solicitation allows proposals from three main applicant categories: (1) U.S.-based for-profit organizations, including small businesses, that have strong scientific or engineering R&D or education capabilities; (2) non-profit, non-academic organizations such as independent museums, observatories, research labs, and professional societies located in the U.S. and directly tied to research or educational activities; and (3) accredited U.S. institutions of higher education (two-year and four-year, including community colleges) submitting on behalf of their faculty. The principal investigator and any co-principal investigators must also meet the "U.S. Persons" requirement, so eligibility is not only about the submitting institution but also about who is leading the work.

There is a specific note about international branch campuses of U.S. universities. If a proposal includes funding that would flow to an international branch campus (including via subawards or consulting arrangements), the proposal must clearly explain why doing that work at the international branch is beneficial to the project and why the same work cannot be performed at the U.S.-based campus. This is essentially a justification requirement to ensure the project remains grounded in the solicitation's eligibility and performance expectations while allowing limited, well-defended exceptions.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant opportunity in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category, with CFDA numbers listed as 43.007, 47.041, and 47.049. The opportunity was created on 2025-01-01, and the original closing date is 2025-04-10. The public listing does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards in the provided text, so applicants would need to consult the full NSF solicitation for budget ranges, project duration norms, and any ISS integration constraints. The central takeaway is that NSF and CASIS are looking for well-justified ISS-based experiments or studies in transport phenomena and transport-enabled manufacturing/materials that produce insights, models, methods, or materials with clear pathways to improving life and technology on Earth.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NSF/CASIS Transport Phenomena Research at the International Space Station to Benefit Life on Earth" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 43.007, 47.041, 47.049.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-01-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-04-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for 25 529

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: