Funding opportunity: NSF Convergence Accelerator 2022 Joint NSF/DOD Phases 1 and 2 for Track G: Securely Operating Through 5G Infrastructure


The National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator is accelerating research and discovery into practice by issuing a new funding opportunity for a new research track topic: Securely Operating Through 5G Infrastructure. Partnering with the Department of Defense’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, OUSD(RE), the NSF Convergence Accelerator has published a Solicitation, NSF 22-538 and Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), NSFBAA-CA22-01 to provide two submission pathways for researchers and innovators to submit their proposal.

Solicitation Details 

Research Track:

Track G: Securely Operating Through 5G Infrastructure
The goal of this track is to seek enhancements to end devices and/or augmentations to 5G infrastructure to enable military, government, and critical infrastructure operators to have the capability to operate through public 5G networks, while meeting security and resilience requirements.

Who can Apply:

Researchers and innovators from academia, industry, government, non-profit, and other organizations are encouraged to submit a letter of intent (required) and full proposal.

Funding Opportunity:

Submit your proposal to one of the submission pathways 

Solicitation Key Dates:

  • Letter of Intent (required): February 16, 2022
  • Full Proposal Deadline: April 12, 2022

Full proposals are due 5 p.m. submitter’s local time.

Participating in the NSF Convergence Accelerator 

Selected teams begin in phase 1, participating in an accelerated 12 month planning effort, with grant funding up to $750,000. Phase 1 teams participate in the program’s innovation curriculum designed to strengthen each team’s convergence approach and to further develop the solution concepts. At the end of phase 1, teams participate in a formal NSF pitch and proposal evaluation. Selected teams advance to phase 2 to continue developing sustainable, impactful solutions. Teams are eligible to receive up to $5 million of funding during phase 2.

Informational Webinars

Join the NSF Convergence Accelerator and Department of Defense to learn about the program and the current solicitation opportunity.

During the webinars, participants will learn about:

  •  NSF Convergence Accelerator program,
  •  DoD’s 5G initiative, and
  • Joint DoD/NSF funding opportunity, research track focus and submission details

The goal of these webinars is to bring awareness of this exciting opportunity to develop use-inspired solutions to have a positive impact on national and societal challenges. 

Webinar details:

January 27, 2022 from 3:30 - 5 p.m. ET 

February 1, 2022 from 1:30 - 3 p.m. ET

February 3, 2022 from 3:30 - 5 p.m. ET

To register for a webinar, visit www.eventbrite.com/nsf-convergence-accelerator