Strengthening the Cyberinfrastructure Professionals Ecosystem (SCIPE)

The Strengthening the Cyberinfrastructure Professionals Ecosystem (SCIPE) program, issued by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is designed to bolster the national ecosystem of Cyberinfrastructure Professionals (CIPs). It is led by the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure within the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering and includes contributions from various NSF directorates. The program addresses critical needs in the advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI) landscape, focusing on the integration and professional development of CIPs to support cutting-edge scientific and engineering research and education. SCIPE's primary goal is to democratize access to NSF’s advanced CI resources and foster a resilient, diverse, and sustainable CIP workforce. Projects under this program must articulate how they will enhance community access to CI, support researcher-facing CI services, and cultivate scalable and replicable models for CIP development. Emphasis is placed on workforce inclusivity, CIP career pathways, and collaborations that improve the effectiveness and reach of CI within scientific domains. These efforts align with national priorities such as the National Strategic Computing Initiative and NSF’s vision for workforce development in advanced computing environments. Eligible applicants must adhere to NSF’s Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide and submit through Research.gov or Grants.gov. Proposals must include a PI with expertise in OAC and, where relevant, additional PIs with domain-specific knowledge. Each institution is limited to one proposal submission per competition, and individuals can participate in only one proposal. Application packages should also include a project summary, a 15-page project description with a separate "Broader Impacts" section, a Management and Coordination Plan, a CI Professional Mentoring and/or Professional Development Plan, a Long-Term Sustainability Plan, and letters of collaboration. The SCIPE solicitation outlines that proposals must address specific challenges and objectives: broadening the adoption of CI infrastructure, integrating with the ACCESS Computational Science Support Network (CSSN), supporting the recognition and career development of CIPs, and implementing effective recruitment and evaluation strategies. Proposals must also commit at least 20% of funded CIP time to supporting broader research activities outside the submitting institution. The program emphasizes long-term sustainability and institutional support for CIP roles. Applications are reviewed using NSF’s standard merit review criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. Additional program-specific review criteria also apply, focusing on aspects such as scalability, sustainability, and coordination with national CI efforts. Awardees are expected to participate in annual PI meetings and comply with all NSF reporting requirements. Up to four awards are anticipated each year, with a total funding pool of $15 million. For inquiries, applicants are advised to consult with program officers, including Andrey Kanaev (akanaev@nsf.gov, 703-292-2841), Sharon Geva (sgeva@nsf.gov, 703-292-7058), and others listed in the solicitation. Deadlines for submission occur annually on the third Thursday of January. The solicitation does not allow for cost sharing and requires all proposals to adhere to a strict format, including adherence to specified supplementary documentation requirements.