The National Science Foundation (NSF) is offering the Training-based Workforce Development for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (CyberTraining) program to enhance the nation's workforce in advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI). This program focuses on equipping researchers, educators, and CI professionals with the necessary skills to create, utilize, and support CI tools for advancing fundamental science and engineering research and education. It aims to foster the adoption of CI across disciplines, integrate CI literacy into undergraduate and graduate education, and broaden participation from underrepresented groups and under-resourced institutions. CI includes tools, methods, and services for advanced computation, large-scale data handling, and analytics, enabling transformative research and education.

The program supports two types of projects. Pilot Projects are exploratory initiatives with budgets up to $300,000 and durations of up to two years. Implementation Projects may be Small, with budgets up to $500,000, or Medium, with budgets up to $1,000,000, both spanning up to four years. These projects are designed to develop scalable, innovative training and educational materials or curriculum updates. Targeted beneficiaries include CI Professionals, CI Contributors, and CI Users, addressing a wide spectrum of needs from informal training to formal curricular changes. Activities may include workshops, retraining programs, online learning modules, and efforts to integrate CI-focused instruction into core academic programs.

Eligible applicants include institutions of higher education and other research organizations as defined in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide. Proposals must involve at least one investigator with expertise in advanced CI and encourage collaboration across S&E and CI disciplines. Institutions with low CI adoption and underrepresented groups are particularly encouraged to apply. Individual investigators may only participate in one proposal per competition, and there are no limits on the number of proposals an organization may submit.

The NSF anticipates funding up to 18 projects annually, with an overall budget of $9.3 million, contingent on the availability of funds. Proposals must be submitted via Research.gov or Grants.gov and adhere to the guidelines in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide. Submissions should include plans for evaluation, sustainability, and scalability. Proposals should also detail strategies for broadening participation and recruiting trainees, particularly from underrepresented groups. Deadlines for full proposals include January 18, 2024, and the third Thursday in January annually thereafter.

Applications will be evaluated based on intellectual merit, broader impacts, and program-specific review criteria, including how well they address workforce challenges, scalability, and fostering collaboration and community engagement. Projects must include a recruitment and evaluation plan, and Implementation Projects are required to develop partnerships with stakeholders to ensure relevance and adoption. Supplemental documents, such as management plans and letters of collaboration, may be required depending on the project type.

Successful applicants are expected to attend annual Principal Investigator meetings in Washington, D.C., with travel costs incorporated into the project budget. The program strongly encourages consultation with NSF program officers to ensure alignment with program goals. Further details, including contact information for program officers, are provided in the solicitation.