For a full report, view the Lewis-Burke write-up. The National Science Foundation recently announced a new round of the Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1 program. The Mid-scale RI-1 program supports the design or implementation of unique and compelling research infrastructure projects that respond to an identified need of the research community and/or fulfillment of a national need to enable U.S. researchers to be competitive in a global research environment. Mid-scale implementation projects may include any combination of equipment, instrumentation, cyberinfrastructure, broadly used large scale datasets and the personnel needed to successfully commission the project. Mid-scale RI-1 design activities include the design efforts intended to lead to eventual implementation of a mid-scale class RI project.
The Mid-scale RI-1 program permits total project costs less than $20 million. Applicants may submit proposals in either of two project categories:
- Implementation projects may request between $4 million and $20 million.
- Design projects may request between $400,000 and $20 million.
A separate NSF program, the Mid-scale RI-2, supports projects in the $20-100 million range. A new RI-2 solicitation is expected in spring/summer 2025