NSF AI grant $9M: operationalizing the National Science Data Fabric (NSDF) for AI-driven discovery (NAIRR)

The NSF awarded about $9,000,000 to operationalize the National Science Data Fabric (NSDF) for AI-driven scientific discovery (NSF Award 2609465; program: NAIRR / IDSS; Tennessee).

Per the abstract, scientific research today generates data at a scale and pace far exceeding what most institutions can manage alone. Petabytes from telescopes, particle accelerators, weather sensors, and medical imaging sit in disconnected storage across the country, out of reach of many scientists who could use them for discovery and AI innovation. Universities with limited computing seldom join large-scale, data-driven research, limiting who contributes to progress, workforce training, and AI readiness.

The project operationalizes the NSDF — a national data infrastructure service funded through NSF's Integrated Data and Systems Sciences (IDSS) program — that connects researchers at institutions of all sizes to scientific data wherever it resides: national laboratories, experimental facilities, cloud platforms, leadership-class computing centers, campus clusters, or laboratory instruments, while reducing the need for costly, time-consuming data movement. By removing infrastructure gaps that limit participation in national-scale research, NSDF advances NSF's mission. It also builds the next generation of data- and AI-capable scientists through a national Fellows Program, summer training institutes, and hands-on workshops.