EMERGING FRONTIERS in RESEARCH and INNOVATION (EFRI-2026/27): Wave-Based Computing ( EFRI-WBC)

The Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program serves a critical role in helping the NSF Directorate for Engineering focus on important emerging areas in a timely way. The EFRI program invests in potentially transformative ideas that offer the opportunity for significant shifts in foundational engineering knowledge. EFRI-funded research must have strong potential for long-term impact on strategic technology priorities and/or national science and technology (S&T) missions identified in the Administration's Fiscal Year (FY) 2028 Research and Development (R&D) Budget Priorities Memorandum. Such impacts need not be fully realized within the duration of the research period; however, proposers are expected to articulate how a proposal is use-inspired and may lay the foundations for stated priorities. This EFRI solicitation leverages a portfolio of both two-year EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) awards and larger four-year awards in response to Science: A New Golden Age, which calls for a more flexible set of funding mechanisms that match the scientific challenges they seek to address.

The EFRI Wave-Based Computing (WBC) solicitation will support foundational and transformative research to advance the development of computing approaches that harness the principles of wave dynamics.

The EFRI WBC solicitation will support two tracks.

Track 1: Exploratory approaches may be funded through EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) awards.

Track 2: Larger, multidisciplinary projects may be funded through four-year awards of up to $2,000,000.

The EFRI WBC program encourages collaboration with industry. Proposers may consider using a formal mechanism, such as NSF Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI).