Research and Innovation Office

Extramural Coordinated Funding


UM Submission Instructions: Accelerating Research Translation (ART), Track 5 2026

Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Award Title: Accelerating Research Translation (ART), Track 5
Amount: $3M
The Track 5 Coordinating Accelerating Research Translation (CART) cooperative agreement award may be budgeted up to a total of $3 million for a duration of 5 years. Subject to availability of funds and quality of proposals, NSF plans to make up to 2 awards under the CART Track.
UM Deadline: 11/14/2025
Sponsor Deadline: 01/15/2026
Description: The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) seeks to increase the scale and pace of advancing discoveries resulting from academic research into tangible solutions that benefit the public. The overarching goal for the Accelerating Research Translation (ART) program is to advance the U.S. scientific and economic leadership by building capacity and increasing the number of robust translational research ecosystems in Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) that span across the full geography of our nation.?

The ART program is aimed at providing resources that will ultimately facilitate a wide range of IHEs to achieve research translation, accelerate technology transfer, and create sustained economic and collective impacts across the U.S. It is understood that, like technology readiness levels (TRLs), there is no one measure or a combination of measures that can be used to describe the capacity of or measure the research translation readiness level (RTRL) for an IHE. .

The ART program framework is built around five distinct Tracks that are interconnected. These Tracks are differentiated by the RTRL. Track 5 is designed and intended for providing support to an IHE that can coordinate research translation-related activities for teams across all the other Tracks.

Track 5: Coordinating Accelerating Research Translation (CART)
This Track invites proposals for the creation of a unifying center that will facilitate the development of an integrated platform for coordinating, evaluating, and monitoring the progress being made by teams that are supported under both Tracks 1 and 2. The CART awardee would also coordinate activities to be carried out under awards pursuant to Tracks 3 and 4. The Track 5 CART cooperative agreement award may be budgeted up to a total of $3 million for a duration of 5 years. Subject to availability of funds and quality of proposals, NSF plans to make up to 2 awards under the CART Track. Some awardees demonstrating strong performance, as demonstrated by successfully meeting evaluation criteria during the award, including progress toward self-sustainability, may have an opportunity to receive renewal for up to 5 more years and additional funding up to $3 million, subject to the availability of funds. Proposals for this Track must be led by one IHE with a high RTRL with significant expertise and experience in areas related to technology transfer, intellectual property management, entrepreneurship as well as initiatives and programs directed at sustained economic and collective impacts.
Number of Applicants University is Allowed to submit: 1
Additional Requirements: None
Sponsor Guidelines: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/art-accelerating-research-translation/nsf25-548/solicitation#summary
UM Nominations Process: The University of Minnesota is eligible to submit one proposal in Tracks 3, 4, and 5; see the full RFP language for detailed descriptions. A separate opportunity posting was made for Tracks 3 and 4 given the different submission deadline.

Those interested in applying should submit the following as a single pdf document to collabor@umn.edu no later than 4pm on: 11/14/2025

1. Cover page including PI name, department, contact information, project title, any co-PI's name and department, and one paragraph project abstract.
2. Project summary - to include solicitation specific information. (not more than three pages)
3. Biosketch of PI and any co-PI's (2 - 5 pages, NSF, NIH, or other relevant format).
4. 2-3 names of possible UMN reviewers (NOT References) (with no Conflicts of Interest) plus 5 keywords to be used as search terms for possible reviewers (can be added to Cover Page)

Any questions can be submitted to collabor@umn.edu
Peer Review Coordination: Research and Innovation Office contact email
Status: The internal deadline has passed with no applicants. Contact us if interested.
Please note: To be considered for peer review and internal selection, faculty must follow the above submission guidelines and meet the UM deadline as set by the office coordinating the peer review for this opportunity.


General Information

  • Each posting has information about the external sponsor and opportunity as well as the internal application instructions.
  • Opportunities can be sorted by column headings; just click on the heading to re-sort by that column.
  • When a link redirects you to another site, it opens in a new browser window.
  • If you know of an opportunity that is not on the list, please contact Kristin Mead.
Internal Requirements

  • Sponsor: Name of funder.
  • Award Title: Funding opportunity nameAmount: Range/Maximum dollar amount awarded.
  • UMN Deadline: Submission deadline for internal proposal as determined by the coordinating office.
  • Sponsor Deadline: External deadline identified by the sponsor.
  • Description: General information about the sponsor and the funding opportunity. Usually describes the purpose of the funding opportunity, overview of what the sponsor is looking for, including distinctive criteria. This is not meant to take the place of the sponsor guidelines; please read the sponsor guidelines before deciding to apply.
  • Number of Applicants University is Allowed to Submit: The maximum number of applications the sponsor will allow the university to submit.
  • Additional Requirements: Identifies any special requirements such as cost sharing, partners, etc.
  • Sponsor Guidelines: Link to the sponsor’s funding opportunity website.
  • UMN Nominations Process: Contains specific internal submission requirements including internal proposal instructions, deadline, eligibility, internal nomination process, contact information.
  • Peer Review Coordination: The name and contact email of the office coordinating the funding opportunity. RIO coordinates most limited submissions, but opportunities coordinated by other offices or programs are also posted on this webpage.
  • Status:
    • Open: UM deadline has not passed and the opportunity is open for application.
    • Forecasted: The funder has not yet formally published the opportunity. The deadline has yet to be determined.
    • Archived: The opportunity has been archived by the funder.
    • Spots Remaining: UMN deadline has passed, with some applicant spots still available. Contact collabor@umn.edu if interested
    • First-Come, First-Served: Applicants accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact collabor@umn.edu if interested
    • Contact Us: The internal deadline has passed, but no applicants were selected. Please contact the office coordinating the peer review for more information.
    • In Review: Peer review process is in progress for the opportunity.
    • PI Selected: The PI(s) have been selected as the official UMN nominees.
    • Closed: UMN is no longer accepting applications.
UMN Selection Process

  • Once the internal deadline has passed, if the number of applicants is less than or equal to the number of spots the university is allowed to send forward, the applicants automatically become the UMN nominee(s).
  • If the status of an opportunity is "First-Come, First-Served", there was not time to hold an internal review. Applicants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • If there are no applicants, the status will change to "Contact Us". At this point, the opportunity changes to a first-come, first-served opportunity.
  • If there are multiple applicants, the office coordinating the nomination will determine the review criteria and coordinate the review process. The status will change to "In Review".
  • Once the review has been completed all parties will be notified via email.
  • Nominees will be provided with an email from RIO (or the designated coordinating office) indicating that they are the university's nominee. This letter should accompany the nominee's proposal.
  • SPA is notified of the university's nominee(s) and the status is updated to "PI(s) Selected".


*If you have questions about the University's process related to extramural funding opportunities requiring nomination or if you have any technical issues with the site, contact collabor8@umn.edu.

For questions, please contact RIO's Research Advancement group.