Assistance program
Mathematical and Physical Sciences
$13.7 Billion committed in FY2018–FY2026
- Agency
- National Science Foundation, National Science Foundation
- Assistance
- Project Grants
- CFDA number
- 47.049
- What it does
- To promote the progress of the mathematical and physical sciences and thereby strengthen the Nation's scientific enterprise; to increase the store of scientific knowledge and enhance understanding of major problems confronting the Nation. Most of the research supported is basic in character. The program includes support of research project grants in the following disciplines: astronomical sciences, chemistry, materials research, mathematical sciences, physics, as well as support for symposia and conferences. Basic research in multidisciplinary areas related to these disciplines is especially encouraged. Support is also provided for state-of-the-art user facilities in astronomy, physics, and many areas of materials science; science and technology centers; institutes; undergraduate student research; faculty enhancement; curriculum development; instrumentation; laboratory improvement; and for research opportunities for women, minority, and disabled scientists and engineers.
- Who benefits
- Not applicable.
- Who applies
- Except where a program solicitation establishes more restrictive eligibility criteria, organizations in the following categories may submit proposals: Institutions of Higher Education; Non-profit, non-academic organizations; For-profit organizations and State and local governments. See the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), Chapter I.E., for a full description of eligibility requirements: https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=pappg
- Authorized by
- National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1861 et seq.
- Program site
- http://nsf.gov/dir/index.jsp?org=mps ↗
Committed by fiscal year
* FY2026 is year-to-date — the fiscal year is still in progress, so its total is still filling in. The striped band and dashed line mark that provisional stretch.
Top recipients
By dollars committed.
How to read these numbers
- Committed through this program
Money committed under this assistance listing (its CFDA program), counted in the year each action happened.
- How it's paid
Most programs pay out one way — a grant, or a direct payment to individuals; the flow bar only appears when a program genuinely mixes types.
- Some recipients aren't itemized
For entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, the government reports one aggregate instead of naming tens of millions of people, so the recipient roster isn't part of the public record.
- Awards, counted once
An award count is the number of distinct awards with at least one action that year — each counted once, however many times it was amended.
- The colored bars
Every bar on this page splits by how the money moves:
Direct payments