Materials Innovation Platforms (MIP)
NSF cooperative agreement funding supports U.S. university-led mid-scale materials research infrastructure platforms with user access, in-house research, and integrated synthesis/processing, characterization, and theory/modeling/simulation on selected materials topics.
⚑ Third MIP competition (2025) accepts proposals on alloys, amorphous, and composite materials only; proposals mainly on biomaterials or polymer research will not be considered. · Applicants must be U.S.-based accredited institutions of higher education acting on behalf of faculty members. · Project must be led by a team of at least three Senior/Key Personnel with complementary expertise. · Cooperative Agreement mechanism; mid-scale infrastructure with user facility and in-house research components.
This is a materials-science infrastructure call for alloys, amorphous, and composite materials with heavy synthesis/characterization/modeling content. IPPRA’s work is social-behavioral—risk perception, policy, education, emergency communication, and public attitudes—not materials research, so this is not a plausible fit for any roster member as PI.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-10-10
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 90 strong | technical depth: central; funds data infrastructure |
| IPPRA | 58 good | portfolio topics: energy, environment; social/behavioral work is minor; funds data/survey infrastructure |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 30 weak | prototyping/demonstration stage; deep-tech content |
Description
Materials Innovation Platforms (MIP) is a mid-scale infrastructure program in the Division of Materials Research (DMR) designed to accelerate advances in materials research. MIPs respond to the increasing complexity of materials research that requires close collaboration of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary teams and access to cutting edge tools. These tools in a user facility benefit both a user program and in-house research, which focus on addressing grand challenges of fundamental science and meet national needs. MIPs embrace the paradigm set forth by the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), which strives to “discover, manufacture, and deploy advanced materials twice as fast, at a fraction of the cost,” and conduct research through iterative “closed-loop” efforts among the areas of materials synthesis/processing, materials characterization, and theory/modeling/simulation. In addition, they are expected to engage the emerging field of data science in materials research. Each MIP is a scientific ecosystem, which includes in-house research scientists, external users and other scientists who, collectively, form a community of practitioners and share tools, codes, samples, data and know-how. The knowledge sharing is designed to strengthen collaborations among scientists and enable them to work in new ways, fostering new modalities of research and training, for the purpose of accelerating discovery and development of new materials and novel materials phenomena/properties, as well as fostering their eventual deployment.
The scientific focus of the MIP program is subject to change from competition to competition. Information about the existing MIPs, from two previous competitions in 2015 and 2019, can be found at mip.org. The third MIP competition, in 2025, will accept proposals on alloys, amorphous, and composite materials. Given that the second MIP competition included an emphasis on biomaterials and polymer research, proposals mainly on these topics will not be considered in the third MIP competition.
Eligibility
*Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following: -Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) accredited in, and having a campus located in the U.S., acting on behalf of their faculty members.
*Who May Serve as PI: Each proposed project must be directed by a team of at least three Senior/Key Personnel with complementary expertise on materials synthesis/processing, characterization, theory/modeling/simulation, etc.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: U.S. National Science Foundation <grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov>
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
A one-page internal memo: fit assessment, submission requirements, document scaffold, and next steps dated back from the deadline — tailored to your project idea if you add one.
Proposal shell · National Science Foundation conventions SEE AN NSF EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — National Science Foundation's document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.