The Infrastructure Systems and People (ISP) program, administered by the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) and the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (ENG/CMMI) of the National Science Foundation (NSF), supports fundamental research related to the design, optimization, sustainability, and resilience of infrastructure systems. These systems serve the essential needs of communities at all levels and must function reliably under normal and extreme conditions such as natural disasters, social crises, or technological disruptions. The ISP program seeks to address challenges associated with both operational efficiency and unexpected failures across interconnected infrastructure networks.

The program encourages multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research that fosters innovation in system integration, service design, data analytics, and socio-technical approaches to infrastructure. It promotes the creation and sharing of large-scale datasets that capture human-infrastructure interactions, particularly under extreme conditions, to provide foundational benchmarks for model development and validation. The ISP initiative explicitly supports investigations that contribute to national resilience programs such as the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP), and encourages leveraging NSF resources such as the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI).

Notably, while the program values research grounded in physical sciences, it does not fund studies focused solely on individual infrastructure components or disciplines such as geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, materials science, wireless communications, or hydrology unless these are incorporated into a broader systems research perspective. Researchers are urged to consider comprehensive approaches that account for systemic impacts, adaptation, and cascading effects from various disruptions.

Applicants are encouraged to submit a one-page summary of their proposal ideas to the ISP Program Officers prior to developing a full application. This is particularly important for interdisciplinary or overlapping proposals that might also be relevant to other funding agencies. Proposals may be submitted through Research.gov or Grants.gov, following the applicable guidelines from the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) or the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide.

The ISP program accepts proposals on a rolling basis, with no fixed deadlines. However, researchers submitting to specific programs such as CAREER, EAGER, or RAPID must adhere to their respective submission requirements and deadlines. For proposal guidance or questions, the primary contact is Daan Liang, reachable at ISP@nsf.gov or by phone at (703) 292-2441.

The program's terms and conditions align with revised federal guidelines that took effect on October 1, 2024. These are detailed in the updated NSF award conditions and are accessible on the NSF website. The latest information regarding proposal submission and eligibility criteria can be found in the official solicitation PD 25-342Y.