Recognising the importance of international collaborations in promoting scientific discoveries, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on research cooperation. To facilitate the support of collaborative work between US researchers and their German counterparts, the NSF and the DFG are pleased to announce a further Lead Agency Procedure in the area of data-driven materials research.

“Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future” (DMREF) seeks to foster the design, discovery and development of materials to accelerate their path to deployment by harnessing the power of data and computational tools in concert with experiment and theory. DMREF emphasises a deep integration of experiments, computation and theory, the use of accessible digital data across the materials development continuum and strengthening connections among theorists and computational scientists (including data scientists).

In this call, the NSF acts as lead agency. The review procedure follows the NSF Proposal Processing and Review Procedures as stated in the DMREF programme solicitation (Solicitation Number NSF 27-xxx). Each organisation will pursue its own decision-making processes. Only if both organisations come to a positive decision, funding can be granted. If granted, each organisation supports the researchers it is responsible for.

Participating Research Fields

Proposals eligible to apply for this Lead Agency Procedure will need to have a research focus relevant to the following research fields according to the DFG’s subject classification system(Download):

• 3.12 “Chemical Solid State and Surface Research”
• 3.16 “Polymer Research”
• 3.17 “Theoretical Chemistry”
• 3.21 “Condensed Matter Physics”
• 4.31 “Materials Engineering”
• 4.32 “Materials Science”

Proposal Preparation and Submission

Please note that proposals must be submitted in accordance with the proposal preparation requirements of NSF (lead agency). Within the NSF proposal, the work programme for the full period of 4 years must be described. This includes a description of the full proposed research programme and the research team, as well as the funds requested from the NSF. Researchers in Germany and the US must comply with the respective funding organisation’s eligibility criteria. 

The standard DFG eligibility rules, as described in the Guidelines for the Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01(interner Link)), apply to all applicants from Germany, including the duty to cooperate for non-university researchers which can only be fulfilled through cooperation with a partner at a German university. If in doubt, researchers are strongly encouraged to contact the corresponding programme officers.

In parallel, a supplement (max. 10 pages) must be prepared for the DFG. Please use the Project Data Form NSF DMREF(Download). This includes a detailed breakdown of the funding requested from the DFG for the first 36 months. The DFG allows a maximum funding period of 36 months for new proposals. To align with the four-year duration of DMREF projects, either a no-cost extension may be requested or a renewal proposal may be submitted to the DFG. In the latter case, funding for the remaining 12 months must be applied for in a renewal proposal six months before the start of the fourth year. 

Explanations regarding any possible safety-related aspects, 3.5) “Dual Use Research of Concern” and 3.6) “Risks in international cooperation”, have to be elaborated if relevant but are mandatory in case the US military agencies (AFRL, ONR, ARL and GVSC) are partners in the joint project. 

In addition, a CV of each German partner prepared using DFG form 53.200(interner Link) and the biographical sketches of the US investigator(s) as prepared for the NSF must be submitted.

Please use “Proposal for a Research Grant” in elan and select “USA-NSF-DFG DMREF 2027” to tag your proposal for this specific call. The submission to the DFG must contain the original proposal submitted to the NSF and the supplement mentioned above. In elan, the US investigator(s) should (each) be appointed as Cooperation Partner.

Timelines

The joint proposal must be submitted to the NSF’s DMREF programme as described in the NSF Notice of Funding Opportunities by 19 January 2027. In addition, the proposal and the supplementary documents have to be submitted to the DFG via elan by 21 January 2027 (4.00 pm CET).

Applicants must be registered in elan prior to submitting a proposal to the DFG. If you have not yet registered, please do so by 15 January 2027 to submit a proposal under this call. 

Notifications are expected by August 2027.

Projects with DFG partnerships are required to report to the NSF on the entirety of the activities and to the DFG by sending a final report to the DFG Head Office at the end of the project.

Equity and Diversity

The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness. With regard to the subject-specific focus of this call, the DFG encourages female researchers in particular to submit proposals.

Good Research Practice

According to a resolution of the DFG General Assembly, DFG funding may only be awarded to research institutions that have implemented the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct for Safeguarding Good Research Practice(externer Link) in their own regulations. The management of your institution is responsible for implementing the guidelines in a legally binding manner. In order to avoid delays in the disbursement of funding, please verify implementation within your institution in good time. For information regarding the implementation, please refer to the Research Integrity Portal(externer Link). If you have any questions on this subject, please contact the Research Integrity team(externer Link) at the DFG Head Office. 

Further Information 

NSF Notice of Funding Opportunities(externer Link)  

DFG elan portal(externer Link) (electronic proposal processing system) 

The FAQ on Proposal Submission(interner Link) may also be helpful.

Privacy Policy

We, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), take the protection of your personal data and its confidential treatment extremely seriously. Therefore, please refer to the DFG’s Privacy Policy(interner Link). If you intend to transmit personal data of third parties, please make sure to do so only if the necessary legitimation under data protection law exist. Before transmitting data of third parties to the DFG, please forward the DFG’s Data Protection Notice to the individuals affected (data subjects). If there is a legitimate interest not to inform individuals beforehand (e.g. for reasons of secrecy or in case of a nomination or candidate proposal), these individuals should be informed no later than at the time of publication.