Measurement Science and Engineering (MSE) Research Grant Programs

Department of Commerce
National Institute of Standards and Technology

To support activities that develop, expand, strengthen, or sustain NIST partnership programs and/or support the conduct of research or a recipient's portion of collaborative research in a variety of areas including, but not limited to: Metrology; Standards; Nanotechnology; Artificial Intelligence; Advanced Communications; Advanced Manufacturing; Promotion of U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness; Measurements in Sciences; Neutron Research; and enhancing coordination of the U.S. Standards System with government and private sector organizations.

1. CHIPS Research & Development Program Office (CRDO) Grant Program: The CRDO supports advanced microelectronics research to advance the development of semiconductor technologies. The CRDO is focused on establishing the capacity of inventing, developing, prototyping, and deploying the foundational semiconductor technologies of the future in the United States. The CRDO’s activities enable advances and breakthroughs in measurement science, standards, material characterization, instrumentation, testing, and manufacturing capabilities to ensure U.S. competitiveness and leadership in microelectronics.

• FY 2025, the CRDO anticipates funding individual projects in the $5,000 - $250,000 per year range with project performance periods that do not extend beyond September 30, 2027).

CHIPS Metrology Program: All objectives of interest will focus on conducting the measurement science, or metrology, critical to the development of new materials, packaging, and

production methods for semiconductors. Specific objectives of interest include but are not limited to researching, developing, promoting, prototyping, measuring, and deploying emerging technologies, standards and test methods related to the following seven Metrology Grand Challenges:

• Metrology for Materials Purity, Properties, and Provenance
• Advanced Metrology for Future Microelectronics Manufacturing
• Enabling Metrology for Integrating Components in Advanced Packaging
• Modeling and Simulating Semiconductor Materials, Designs, and Components
• Modeling and Simulating Semiconductor Manufacturing Processes
• Standardizing New Materials, Processes, and Equipment for Microelectronics
• Metrology to Enhance Security and Provenance of Microelectronic based Components and Products

3. Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL) Grant Program: The CTL Grant Program provides financial assistance to support the conduct of mission in the broad areas of public safety research, RF technologies, wireless networks including 6G and beyond, smart connected systems, quantum communications including both network and components, spectrum sharing and sensing, and space communications.

In FY 2025, the CTL anticipates funding individual projects in the $3,000 - $2,500,000 per year range and with project performance periods for up to five (5) years.

4. Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) Grant Program

The MML supports the NIST mission by serving as the national reference laboratory for measurements in the chemical, biological, and material sciences. The MML is entrusted with developing, maintaining, advancing, and enabling measurement systems in these areas for the nation.

The MML activities range from fundamental and applied research on the composition, structure, and properties of industrial, biological, and environmental materials and processes to the development and dissemination of certified reference materials, critically evaluated data and other programs that help assure measurement quality.

In FY 2025, the MML anticipates funding individual projects in the $5,000 - $12,000,000 per year range and with project performance periods of up to five (5) years.

5. Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) Grant Program: The PML Grant Program provides financial assistance to support the conduct of research or a recipient’s portion of collaborative research consistent with the PML mission to support research in the broad areas of mechanical metrology, semiconductors, ionizing radiation physics, medical physics, biophysics, neutron physics, atomic physics, optical technology, optoelectronics, electromagnetics, time and frequency, quantum physics, weights and measures, quantum electrical metrology, temperature, pressure, flow, far UV physics, nanotechnology, and metrology with synchrotron radiation.

In FY 2025, the PML anticipates funding individual projects in the $5,000 $250,000 per year range and with project performance periods of up to five (5) years.

From Leah:

This solicitation has significant opportunities related to semiconductor manufacturing/nanotechnology/AI. We recommend contacting programs to determine if they have any internal deadlines. Please share and encourage PIs to reach out to our team as soon as possible if they are considering leading or partnering on one of the larger ($5M+ total request) opportunities in this solicitation. We recommend contacting programs to determine if they have any internal deadlines. Please share and encourage PIs to reach out to our team as soon as possible if they are considering leading or partnering on one of the larger ($5M+ total request) opportunities in this solicitation. In addition to the scientific/engineering topics below there are also programs that support convenings and workforce development.

Leah Gorman
Lead Large Proposal Strategist
Office for Research Advancement
Division of Research and Innovation