The NSF provides financial support in a wide range of scientific areas, from astronomy to zoology. In addition to funding research in the traditional academic areas, the agency also supports "high risk, high pay off" ideas, novel collaborations and projects that may seem like science fiction today, but may be commonplace tomorrow. Its grants are targeted to TRL levels 1-3.

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With an annual budget of $11.5 billion, NSF makes more than 12,000 new grant awards each year, providing support for all fields of fundamental science and engineering, including energy innovation and energy efficiency (information on which can be found in the Engineering Research Area).

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There are several ways to find relevant NSF grant opportunities. The first step is to go to the NSF website's home page, then click on "Find Funding & Apply."

You also can use the drop-down menus on NSF's search page to search by keywords, topic areas, and award types: