Start With Your Applicant Route
Reviewed September 5, 2026. This is a selected calendar, not a count of all NSF opportunities. September 1 has passed; later dates below remain subject to their program and track requirements. Institutional research: confirm that both the submitting organization and principal investigator qualify. A research topic matching the program does not establish eligibility. Individual fellowships: PRFB, AAPF, MSPRF and GRFP have separate citizenship, career-stage and host or degree rules. Small businesses: SBIR/STTR requires company eligibility plus the applicable invitation or prior-award gate. Read the date type first. A deadline or window end is a cutoff. A target date guides review timing; it is not an assurance that a late proposal reaches the same panel. A concept outline, preliminary proposal or required letter of intent (LOI) is an earlier step, not the full application. Use the time zone in the solicitation; GRFP uses 8 p.m. Eastern.
September: Research Targets, Windows and the Biology Fellowship
September 9: target date. SoS:BIO supports research on the biomedical research enterprise. This is an organizational submission route; unaffiliated individuals cannot submit. No LOI or preliminary proposal is required. September 10: target date. Future CoRe accepts proposals anytime, but later submissions may miss a review panel. Eligible submitting organizations include institutions of higher education, qualifying nonprofits and Tribal Nations; the solicitation limits a PI/co-PI to two proposals. September 1-15: division-specific window. For Computational and Data-Enabled Science and Engineering (CDS&E), this window applies to CBET (Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems) and CMMI (Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation). Other divisions have different dates. The overview retains legacy chemistry and astronomy references; use current receiving-program guidance rather than treating September 15 or 30 as a universal CDS&E cutoff. September 1-18: submission window. The Joint DMS/NIGMS Initiative supports research at the mathematics-biology interface. September 18 is the last day of this window. Unaffiliated individuals cannot submit; no LOI or preliminary proposal is required. September 28: target date. Security, Privacy, and Trust in Cyberspace (SaTC 2.0) accepts proposals anytime. Submitting after the target may mean missing a panel; confirm timing with the program contact. September 29: individual full-proposal deadline. Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB), NSF 26-504 now focuses on AI and biology. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals or permanent residents, earn the doctorate before starting, and select a sponsor and host. The early-career limit is at most 15 full-time months in positions requiring a doctorate before the deadline. Submit at most once per year and twice in total. No LOI or preliminary proposal is required. Anytime, starting September 1. MPS Chemistry Research Programs (MPS Chem) replaces CHE-DRP. The current program accepts full proposals anytime and applies a two-proposal annual limit per person across covered chemistry programs.
October: Individual Fellowship Applications
August 15-October 15: submission window. Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships (AAPF) closes its window October 15, 2026, at 5 p.m. local time. Check its postdoctoral eligibility and host requirements separately from the other fellowships. October 19, 20, 22 or 23: individual deadline, 8 p.m. Eastern. GRFP, NSF 26-526 assigns October 19 to Life Sciences; October 20 to CISE, Materials Research, Psychology and Social Sciences; October 22 to Engineering; and October 23 to Chemistry, Geosciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physics and Astronomy. GRFP requires U.S. citizenship, nationality or permanent residency and an eligible research-based STEM thesis degree at an accredited nonprofit U.S. institution. Eligible stages include senior undergraduates, bachelor's holders without prior graduate enrollment, joint bachelor's-master's students in the permitted final undergraduate or first graduate year, and first-year students in their first graduate program with less than one academic year completed. Second-year graduate students are ineligible. Submit only one application per annual competition; check the solicitation's field and prior-application restrictions. October 21: individual full-proposal deadline. Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (MSPRF) is the mathematics/statistics fellowship route, due at 5 p.m. local time. Its own eligibility rules and one-proposal-per-year limit apply.
October: Institutional and Education Routes
October 1: full-proposal deadlines. EDU Core Research (ECR:Core) has different award levels: up to $500,000 for Level I, $1.5 million for Level II and $2.5 million for Level III. Advanced Technological Education (ATE) focuses on technician education and partnerships involving two-year colleges. Check the appropriate project type and eligible submitting organization. October 9: full-proposal deadline. Mathematical Foundations of Artificial Intelligence (MFAI) supports collaborative work across mathematics, statistics, computer science and related disciplines. Check the solicitation's team and organizational requirements. October 14: full-proposal deadline. Research Experiences for Teachers in Engineering and Computer Science supports research experiences for K-14 educators through institutional proposals. This is not a direct fellowship application from an individual teacher. October 15, 2025-October 14, 2026: current TCUP window. Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) lists this window for TCUP Partnerships, CHAI and Pre-TI. The lead must meet TCUP institutional eligibility; Partnerships can involve non-TCUP institutions. Other TCUP tracks have separate dates. September 1 is not a shared deadline for this program. October 20: full-proposal deadline with a required July LOI. HBCU Excellence in Research, NSF 23-598 restricts submissions to accredited HBCUs, with an eligible full-time HBCU faculty member or researcher as PI. The July LOI requirement must already have been satisfied. The overview mixes 2026 and 2027 dates, so confirm the applicable cycle with the official program contact before treating October 20 as an available submission.
November and December: Check the Track and Earlier Gate
November 4: SBIR/STTR full-proposal deadline, 5 p.m. submitting organization's local time. NSF 26-510 requires a qualifying small business; STTR also requires a research-institution partner. Phase I, up to $305,000, needs a Project Pitch invitation valid for the next two deadlines after issue. Phase II, up to $1.25 million, is limited to NSF Phase I awardees submitting 6-24 months after that award's start. Fast-Track needs its own invitation and a full proposal within four months. November 16: target date, not a cutoff. The combined MPS Astronomical Sciences Research Programs (MPS Astro) replaces the older ATI/AAG routes. Full proposals are accepted anytime; use the current core-research or technology/instrumentation instructions. November 17: full-proposal deadline for TTP-T and TTP-P only. NSF Translation to Practice has separate track rules; TTP-E accepts proposals anytime in its stated window. View the TTP listing on FundingLandscape. November 18: FINDERS FOUNDRY Development deadline. Development proposals require a prior Planning award and can request up to $300,000. The $50,000 ceiling belongs to Planning, not this November competition. View the FINDERS FOUNDRY listing on FundingLandscape. November 19: required EFRI-WBC concept outline. EFRI Wave-Based Computing, NSF 26-524 requires a concept outline with a synopsis of no more than 500 words and NSF invitation before the February 11, 2027 full proposal. Track 1 supports up to $400,000; Track 2 up to $2 million. November 19 is not the full-proposal deadline. December 2: required preliminary proposal. Expeditions in Computing, NSF 26-525 lists July 27, 2027 for full proposals. The project ceiling is $15 million over seven years. A December preliminary proposal and the solicitation's later-stage rules govern progression. December 15: required LOI. EPSCoR Focused Collaborations has a January 26, 2027 full-proposal deadline. Teams must include at least two EPSCoR-eligible jurisdictions and meet the lead-organization restrictions. December 15: full-proposal deadline. Arctic Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants support Arctic dissertation research through an eligible U.S. organization. A doctoral student's research is supported through this institutional route, not a direct individual fellowship application.
Passed Dates, Replacements and Archived Programs
PESOSE: September 1 has passed; next listed full deadline March 2, 2027. Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems, NSF 26-506 supports sustainable open-source ecosystems. Track 1 allows up to $300,000; Tracks 2 and 3 up to $1.5 million. Check restricted organizational and track eligibility. POSE is archived and replaced by PESOSE, not a parallel open competition. CHE-DRP has been replaced by MPS Chem. The older ATI and AAG routes have been superseded by MPS Astro. Use the current links in the calendar for application instructions. Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowships (EAR-PF), International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) and Windows on the Universe: Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (WoU-MMA) are archived. No current competition was identified for these programs as of this review.
Before You Commit to a Submission
Confirm fit: open the current solicitation and check your organization, PI or fellowship stage, topic and track. Confirm any invitation, prior award, LOI or preliminary-proposal gate before planning around the full date. Confirm the submission: record the date type, time zone, required documents and submitting account. For institutional proposals, coordinate Research.gov roles and registration with your research office. Use the current PAPPG and program-specific instructions linked from NSF's proposal overview. Recheck the official date before submitting.