Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A proposal for foundational AI/machine-learning research is routed within CISE to the Computing and AI Foundations thematic area.
- Is an instance
A request for shared, large-scale computing infrastructure is routed to Center-Scale and Testbeds and/or the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure within CISE.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A computing project whose primary goal is a clinical or patient-health outcome is generally not a fit for CISE alone, since NSF's mandate excludes medical research; NIH or an NSF/NIH joint program is typically more appropriate.
Editorial commentary
NSF CISE — the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering — is one of the National Science Foundation’s major organizational directorates. It funds fundamental research and education in computer science, information science, and computer engineering. For research administrators, the key distinction is that CISE is an organizational and budgetary unit, not a single program or solicitation: individual proposals are assigned to a specific thematic program area within CISE based on subject matter, and that assignment determines which program officers, review panels, and budget lines a proposal is associated with.
Current structure (post-December 2025 reorganization)
NSF announced an agency-wide reorganization in December 2025 intended to reduce organizational layers, streamline proposal review and engagement, and increase flexibility for emerging research areas. As part of that reorganization, CISE’s internal structure moved from its previous, longer-standing division model to six current thematic program areas:
- Computing and AI Foundations — foundational research in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, algorithms, communications, and intelligent systems.
- Software and Systems Foundations — research on new models, technologies, and foundations for software and computing systems, including unconventional or paradigm-shifting approaches.
- Cyber, Physical and Intelligent Systems — computational systems connected to physical systems and intelligent automation.
- Human-Centered Computing and Education — computing education research and human-computer interaction.
- Center-Scale and Testbeds — advanced computing infrastructure, testbeds, and larger center-scale awards.
- Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) — national-scale computing, data systems, networking resources, and research infrastructure. OAC is the one unit name that persists from CISE’s prior structure.
Research administrators who route or track proposals should treat any reference to CISE’s older division names (from before the December 2025 reorganization) as potentially stale, since institutional documentation, PI habits, and legacy solicitation text can lag an organizational change like this by some time.
Why the directorate/division distinction matters for research administrators
Proposals to CISE still follow the same NSF-wide rules as any other NSF submission — most importantly the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG). What changes at the directorate/thematic-area level is which program officer a proposal is assigned to, which review panel evaluates it, and which internal budget line it draws from. Getting this routing right matters for realistic timeline expectations and for identifying the correct program officer to contact with questions. CISE, like other NSF directorates, also issues its own Dear Colleague Letters (DCLs) to signal funding priorities within specific thematic areas.
Worked examples
Example 1: A proposal for foundational machine-learning algorithm research would typically be routed to the Computing and AI Foundations thematic area within CISE.
Example 2: A proposal requesting support for a large-scale computing testbed or shared research-computing infrastructure would typically involve Center-Scale and Testbeds and/or the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure.
Counter-example
A computing project whose primary aim is a human-health outcome (for example, a clinical decision-support algorithm evaluated mainly on patient outcomes) is generally a poorer fit for CISE alone — NSF’s mandate specifically excludes medical research, and such a project may be better suited to NIH or an NSF/NIH joint program instead.
Related terms
See also: National Science Foundation (NSF), NSF PAPPG, NSF Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), and the NSF grants overview guide. For CISE-adjacent funding mechanisms, see the NSF CAREER award proposal requirements guide.
Who handles CISE routing at the institutional level
A proposal’s thematic-area assignment within CISE is not something a PI declares unilaterally. At submission through Research.gov, the PI or the institution’s sponsored-programs office selects the directorate and, where the solicitation calls for it, a specific program; NSF’s own program staff can and do reassign a proposal to a different thematic area, or even a different directorate, after submission if the stated subject matter fits better elsewhere. A sponsored-programs office reviewing a CISE-bound proposal before submission should confirm the PI’s chosen program area against the current six-area structure above, not an older division name carried over from a boilerplate proposal template — a stale reference doesn’t block submission, but it is exactly the kind of routing-adjacent detail a program officer notices when reading the cover materials.
Checking this against the current guidance
The answer depends on the project’s actual primary aim rather than its methods, and that judgment call is one NSF program staff make case by case, not one this entry can resolve in general terms.
It answers with its sources linked, so you can open each one and check it yourself, and it says so when our sources don’t cover a question. Two questions a day are free while you are signed out, no account and no card. Everything CASRAI publishes stays free to read.
Frequently asked questions
What changed in NSF’s December 2025 reorganization of CISE?
CISE moved from its previous, longer-standing division structure to six current thematic program areas — Computing and AI Foundations, Software and Systems Foundations, Cyber, Physical and Intelligent Systems, Human-Centered Computing and Education, Center-Scale and Testbeds, and the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure — as part of an agency-wide effort to reduce organizational layers and increase flexibility for emerging research areas.
Which CISE program area should a foundational machine-learning proposal go to?
Typically Computing and AI Foundations, which covers foundational research in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, algorithms, and intelligent systems. A proposal centered on large-scale computing infrastructure rather than the algorithms themselves is more likely to sit with Center-Scale and Testbeds or the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure instead.
Can NSF reassign a proposal to a different CISE program area after submission?
Yes. Directorate and program-area assignment determines which program officers and review panels see a proposal, and NSF program staff can move a proposal to a better-fitting area after submission if the subject matter warrants it — the PI’s initial selection is a starting point, not a binding routing decision.
Is a health-outcomes computing project ever a good fit for CISE?
Rarely on its own. NSF’s mandate specifically excludes medical research, so a project whose primary aim is a health outcome is generally a poorer fit for CISE alone and may be better suited to NIH or a joint NSF/NIH program, even when the underlying methods are computational.
Also known as
CISE · Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Machine-readable encodings
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