Opportunity Information: Apply for 23 532
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Design for Environmental Sustainability in Computing (DESC) program is a discretionary grant opportunity focused on reducing the environmental footprint of computing across its full lifecycle, from initial design and manufacturing to deployment and operation, and finally to maintenance, reuse, recycling, and disposal. DESC is built around the idea that the biggest environmental harms from computing are not limited to electricity used during runtime. It emphasizes that manufacturing and supply chains can carry major "embodied" impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, heavy resource consumption (such as rare earth elements), and toxic byproducts, and that these can sometimes outweigh the emissions and energy associated with operating a system over its entire usable life. The program also highlights real-world effects from computing infrastructure, such as data center heat management that can affect local ecosystems and power capacity constraints that can stress regional grids.
DESC encourages research that treats environmental sustainability as a primary design objective on the same level as performance, security, reliability, and energy efficiency, and it seeks solutions that operate across all layers of the computing stack. This includes hardware and network architecture design, operating systems and middleware, programming languages and compilers, algorithms, data management, and workflow choices that influence provisioning, utilization, and system lifetimes. The solicitation makes clear that seemingly "software-only" decisions can still have substantial environmental consequences by driving hardware refresh cycles, overprovisioning, inefficient utilization, and shortened useful life of equipment, all of which increase the need for additional manufacturing and ultimately increase e-waste burdens.
A central expectation of DESC proposals is that they move beyond narrow energy-efficiency metrics to pursue a broader set of measurable environmental outcomes. Projects are expected to consider, quantify, and ideally improve metrics such as greenhouse gas emissions, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), use and disposal of scarce or hazardous materials, heat, wastewater, recyclability, and longevity, including how tradeoffs among these metrics might play out. The solicitation seeks "new and measurably different" approaches, with an overarching ambition of holistic, order-of-magnitude improvements in the environmental sustainability of computing rather than incremental gains focused only on power consumption.
The program also calls for research that supports practical decision making and accountability around sustainability. That includes tools and methods for assessing environmental impacts throughout the lifecycle, techniques for managing rapidly growing datasets and workloads more sustainably, and modeling and methodologies that help organizations and end users make better choices about adoption, operation, maintenance, repurposing, and end-of-life handling of computing systems. In other words, DESC is not just about inventing more efficient components; it is also about enabling better system-level and organizational behavior that reduces total environmental burden by extending lifetimes, avoiding unnecessary new manufacturing, and improving reuse and recycling outcomes.
In terms of fit, DESC is explicit about what it will not fund. Proposals that are purely about performance improvements or conventional energy efficiency (without a broader environmental sustainability frame and metrics) are considered out of scope. Likewise, projects that primarily use computing as a tool to improve sustainability in other sectors (for example, applying AI to optimize agriculture or transportation emissions) are not the target of this program; DESC is about making computing itself more environmentally sustainable. Finally, while sustainability is often described as having environmental, economic, and social pillars, DESC is specifically focused on environmental sustainability. Proposals aimed solely at economic or social sustainability outcomes, without a strong environmental sustainability contribution, are not aligned with the solicitation.
Key grant details included in the opportunity information are that it is an NSF grant (Funding Opportunity Number 23-532) in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category (CFDA 47.070). The solicitation anticipated approximately 18 awards, with an award ceiling of $2,000,000 for Type III projects. The opportunity was originally posted December 15, 2022, with an original closing date of March 17, 2023, and eligibility was listed as "Others" with additional clarification referenced in the full eligibility text.Apply for 23 532
- The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Design for Environmental Sustainability in Computing" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.070.
- This funding opportunity was created on Dec 15, 2022.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 17, 2023 Type III projects. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 18 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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NSF DESC Grant (Design for Environmental Sustainability in Computing) FAQs
What is the NSF Design for Environmental Sustainability in Computing (DESC) program?
DESC is a National Science Foundation (NSF) discretionary grant program focused on reducing the environmental footprint of computing across its full lifecycle, including design and manufacturing, deployment and operation, and end-of-life stages such as maintenance, reuse, recycling, and disposal.
What is the main goal of DESC?
The program aims to make environmental sustainability a primary design objective in computing, on the same level as performance, security, reliability, and energy efficiency, with an emphasis on holistic and measurable environmental improvements rather than narrow optimization of runtime electricity use.
Why does DESC emphasize more than just runtime energy use?
DESC highlights that major environmental harms can occur before a system is ever powered on, particularly through manufacturing and supply chains. These "embodied" impacts can include greenhouse gas emissions, heavy consumption of resources (including rare earth elements), and toxic byproducts, and they can sometimes outweigh the emissions and energy used during operation over the system's life.
What parts of the computing lifecycle does DESC expect projects to address?
DESC is concerned with the entire lifecycle: initial design choices, manufacturing and supply chain impacts, deployment and operation, maintenance and upgrades, reuse and repurposing, recyclability, and disposal.
What layers of the computing stack are relevant to DESC?
DESC encourages solutions across all layers of the computing stack, including hardware and network architecture design, operating systems and middleware, programming languages and compilers, algorithms, data management, and workflow choices that influence provisioning, utilization, and system lifetimes.
Can "software-only" research fit within DESC?
Yes. The solicitation explicitly notes that software decisions can have substantial environmental consequences, such as driving hardware refresh cycles, encouraging overprovisioning, causing inefficient utilization, or shortening equipment lifetimes, all of which can increase manufacturing demand and e-waste burdens.
What kinds of environmental outcomes and metrics does DESC expect proposals to consider?
Projects are expected to go beyond energy-efficiency metrics and consider, quantify, and ideally improve measurable outcomes such as greenhouse gas emissions, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the use and disposal of scarce or hazardous materials, heat, wastewater, recyclability, and longevity, including how tradeoffs among these metrics may occur.
What does DESC mean by "new and measurably different" approaches?
The program is seeking approaches that deliver clearly measurable environmental sustainability benefits and represent a meaningful departure from standard practices, with an overarching ambition for holistic, order-of-magnitude improvements rather than incremental gains focused only on power consumption.
Does DESC address real-world infrastructure impacts like data centers?
Yes. The opportunity description calls out real-world effects from computing infrastructure, including data center heat management that can affect local ecosystems and power capacity constraints that can stress regional electrical grids.
Is DESC only about inventing more efficient components?
No. DESC also emphasizes practical decision making and accountability, including tools and methods to assess lifecycle environmental impacts and methodologies that help organizations and end users make better choices about adoption, operation, maintenance, repurposing, and end-of-life handling.
What types of projects are out of scope for DESC?
DESC explicitly indicates it will not fund: (1) projects that are purely about performance improvements or conventional energy efficiency without a broader environmental sustainability framing and metrics; (2) projects that primarily use computing to improve sustainability in other sectors (for example, applying AI to optimize agriculture or transportation); and (3) proposals aimed solely at economic or social sustainability outcomes without a strong environmental sustainability contribution.
If a project improves energy efficiency, is it automatically a good fit?
Not necessarily. Energy efficiency alone is not sufficient under DESC unless it is part of a broader environmental sustainability approach with measurable environmental outcomes and lifecycle thinking.
Is DESC focused on sustainability in general (environmental, social, and economic)?
No. While sustainability is often described as having environmental, economic, and social pillars, DESC is specifically focused on environmental sustainability. Projects centered only on economic or social sustainability without strong environmental outcomes are not aligned.
What kinds of decision-support or assessment work does DESC encourage?
DESC calls for tools and methods that assess environmental impacts throughout the lifecycle, techniques for managing rapidly growing datasets and workloads more sustainably, and modeling/methodologies that support decisions about adoption, operation, maintenance, repurposing, and end-of-life handling to reduce total environmental burden.
How does DESC connect equipment lifetimes and e-waste to sustainability?
The program notes that choices that shorten the useful life of computing equipment or push frequent refresh cycles can increase manufacturing demand and lead to greater e-waste. DESC supports work that reduces these pressures by extending lifetimes and improving reuse and recycling outcomes.
What agency is offering this funding opportunity?
This is an NSF grant opportunity.
What is the Funding Opportunity Number for DESC?
The Funding Opportunity Number is 23-532.
What is the activity category and CFDA number listed for the opportunity?
The activity category is Science and Technology and other Research and Development, and the CFDA number is 47.070.
How many awards were anticipated under this solicitation?
The solicitation anticipated approximately 18 awards.
What is the maximum award amount mentioned for Type III projects?
The award ceiling mentioned is $2,000,000 for Type III projects.
When was the opportunity originally posted, and what was the original closing date?
It was originally posted on December 15, 2022, with an original closing date of March 17, 2023.
Who is eligible to apply?
The eligibility field is listed as "Others," with additional clarification referenced in the full eligibility text.
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