Engineering Research Initiation (ERI)

Additional information on eligibility (from the notice)

*Who May Serve as PI: The PI of an ERI proposal must hold a doctoral degree in a field supported by NSF and must hold an appointment at an ERI-eligible institution. Postdoctoral fellow researchers are not eligible to serve as PI on an ERI proposal. At the time of the proposal submission deadline, the PI may not have been a PI or Co-PI on any current or prior awarded NSF research grant (including subaward) or have had research support from any other Federal Agency (within the United States or abroad) totaling $200,000 or more within the past five (5) calendar years from the proposal submission deadline date, with the following exceptions: Grants not directly for research purposes such as workshops, conferences, travel, instrumentation and equipment (e.g., Major Research Instrumentation; MRI), Research Experiences for Undergraduate Students (REU) and Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Sites, etc.; Awards that exclusively support pre-tenure-track activities (postdoctoral fellowships and Graduate Research Fellowships/GRFP);  I-Corps, Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards; and Awards that originated as NSF or other Federal funds but were distributed locally without naming the submitting ERI PI in the Federal funding proposal (such as: NASA Space Grant Project or other non-NSF federally-funded opportunities, NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program.). The Department Chair's/Dean's letter must explicitly verify each of the PI eligibility criteria. See Section V.A. for additional information.