NSF STC: Science and Technology Centers Guide

The NSF Science and Technology Centers (STC) program funds large, long-term, multi-partner centers that combine research, education, broadening participation and knowledge transfer. As described on the official NSF pages on 2026-10-29, the program page is archived, the latest solicitation (NSF 24-594) is labelled “Previous guidelines,” and the STC page says the program “is awaiting a new solicitation and is not currently accepting proposals.” This guide explains how the mechanism works, what the last published solicitation required stage by stage, and how it differs from nearby NSF mechanisms, so that a research office can plan before the next call appears.

What the NSF STC program is and who runs it

The STC program supports large-scale, sustained collaborations that enable scientific and technological advances. Partnerships can include universities, government laboratories, industry and nonprofit organizations, and each center pairs research with education and workforce training. The program sits in NSF’s Office of Integrative Activities (OIA) within the Office of the Director. The National Science Board established it in 1987, and the first class of centers began in 1989, according to the STC page.

The same page lists 17 active centers by class: Class of 2026 (3 centers: TEMPEST, GENIE, HRC), Class of 2023 (4: QCB, NewFoS, COMPASS, CBIKS), Class of 2021 (6: C-CoMP, STEPS, LEAP, COLDEX, CROPPS, IMOD) and Class of 2016 (4: CBB, CCC, CEMB, STROBE). It also keeps a roster of graduated centers going back to the first classes. NSF’s announcement of the newest class describes an investment of $90 million over five years for three new centers. Read together, the roster shows the program funds a few centers per competition, not a rolling stream of awards.

Eligibility, as stated in NSF 24-594

Eligibility is narrow, and the solicitation text is explicit. For the 2024 to 2026 competition:

The lead organization must be a U.S. institution of higher education (including U.S. territories) with doctoral degree-granting programs in NSF-supported areas.
The proposed Center Director, who is the PI, must be a full-time faculty member with an established record of leading research teams.
A single organization may submit at most three preliminary proposals as lead institution, and NSF will not support more than one Center from any one lead institution in the competition. There is no limit on how many proposals an organization joins as a partner.
Former STC directors may take part only if the proposed topics are substantially different from those pursued under prior NSF Center support.
Voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited.

Because three preliminary slots per institution can exceed what a campus wants to field, many universities run an internal selection step before the preliminary deadline. Check your own research office’s limited-submission process, since NSF’s solicitation sets only the cap.

What it funds or requires

NSF 24-594 describes support for “exceptionally innovative, complex research and education projects that require large-scale, long-term awards.” Each Center must integrate four things: research, education, broadening participation and knowledge transfer. The solicitation is open to all NSF-supported science and engineering areas.

Award type: a cooperative agreement made to the lead institution. A cooperative agreement differs from a standard grant because the agency expects substantial involvement in the funded work; see grant vs. contract vs. cooperative agreement.
Number and length: up to 5 awards, each with an initial five-year commitment and a possible five-year continuation, so a Center can be supported for up to ten years in total. Each year of support depends on a satisfactory annual review, and a continuation proposal is submitted in the fourth year.
Budget ceiling: proposed annual budgets may range up to $6 million per year of NSF support; full proposals above that range are ineligible and are not reviewed.

Application stages and what each one requires

The 2024 to 2026 competition ran in stages. A preliminary proposal came first (no letter of intent), then NSF invited a subset to submit full proposals, and a site visit followed. The requirements below come from NSF 24-594 and are the best published guide to how the next call may be structured, though a new solicitation can change them.

Stage	Core documents and limits	What reviewers weigh
Preliminary proposal	1-page Project Summary (Overview, Intellectual Merit, Broader Impacts); 12-page Project Description (Center Rationale, Center Plan, Team Description, Integration Strategies, Institutional Commitment to Broadening Participation); 2-page references; partner organization and personnel lists	Vision and impact, the need for a center mechanism, research plan, partnerships and integration
Full proposal (by invitation only)	25-page Project Description (Problem Description and Rationale; Research Objectives; Education; Broadening Participation; Knowledge Transfer; Management Plan; Institutional Commitment to Promoting Inclusion); 5-page references; 1-page Ethics Plan; 2-page Shared Experimental Facilities; Data Management and Sharing Plan; budget	Integration, partners, leadership and management, institutional commitments
Site visit	The visit team may cover the full scope of questions from earlier stages	Special attention to management and budget of the proposed Center and outstanding issues from earlier review

All stages are reviewed against NSF’s two merit review criteria, Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts; for how the second is judged, see NSF Broader Impacts review criteria. A separate budget is required for any subaward above $100,000 per year, and the solicitation points proposers to the current NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) for format rules.

Typical timeline phases

Without treating any date as current, the 2024 to 2026 cycle shows the sequence a campus should expect: a solicitation is posted; preliminary proposals are due; NSF informs applicants of an invited list a few months later; invited full proposals are due; site visits follow; and awards start more than a year after the full-proposal deadline. In that cycle the solicitation was posted in August 2024 and the anticipated award start date was September 1, 2026, so the process from posting to award spanned roughly two years. Plan internal selection, partner agreements and letters of commitment around that arc, not around a fixed calendar.

Common mistakes

Treating the archived solicitation as open. The program page says no proposals are being accepted; use NSF 24-594 as a planning reference only.
Proposing a project-sized team. The solicitation expects a center-mode argument: what the Center achieves that other NSF funding mechanisms could not.
Adding cost sharing. Voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited in the solicitation and should not appear in the budget.
Exceeding page limits. NSF states that preliminary page limitations “will be strictly enforced” and that no other sections may be included.
Leaving integration implicit. Reviewers look for how research, education, broadening participation and knowledge transfer connect, not four parallel plans.
Submitting a former center’s work as new. Prior directors must propose substantially different topics.

Related programs

Related item	How it relates	Where to read more
National Science Foundation (NSF)	The agency that funds and administers the STC program	National Science Foundation (NSF)
NSF AI Institutes	Another NSF multi-institution, center-style mechanism, focused on artificial intelligence	NSF AI Institutes
NSF vs. DOE requirements	Compares how two federal agencies’ grant requirements differ	NSF vs. DOE grant requirements
Cooperative agreements	The award type used for STCs	Grant vs. contract vs. cooperative agreement

FAQ

What does NSF STC stand for?

STC stands for Science and Technology Centers, the NSF program formally titled Science and Technology Centers: Integrative Partnerships.

Is the NSF STC program open for proposals?

As described on the official STC page on 2026-10-29, it is not. The page says the program is awaiting a new solicitation. Check the NSF funding page for updates.

How much does an STC award provide?

Under NSF 24-594, proposed annual budgets may be up to $6 million per year of NSF support, with an initial five-year commitment and a possible five-year continuation.