Extramural Coordinated Funding

UM Submission Instructions: TechAccess: AI-Ready America 2026

Sponsor:	National Science Foundation (NSF)
Award Title:	TechAccess: AI-Ready America
Amount:	$3M NSF will make up to 56 awards; one for every state, the District of Columbia, or territory in the U.S. Coordination Hubs will be selected over three rounds: 10 Coordination Hubs in round one, 20 in round two, and the remainder in round three. Each Coordination Hub Award will receive support of $1M/year for three years, with the possibility for one additional year of support if the Coordination Hub can demonstrate a compelling need as it phases out or transitions to other sources of funding. Each Coordination Hub award will be made as a Standard Grant or Continuing Grant.
UM Deadline:	04/13/2026
Sponsor Deadline:	06/16/2026
Description:	TechAccess: AI-Ready America TechAccess: AI-Ready America is a national-scale initiative to accelerate Artificial Intelligence (AI) readiness and adoption across the U.S. by strengthening coordination, leveraging partnerships and resources, filling gaps, and scaling what works — so local and state priorities can lead in shaping an AI-driven economy that benefits all Americans. The program goals are to: Enable all Americans to be AI-literate and AI-ready; Empower businesses — especially small and emerging enterprises — to adopt AI to increase competitiveness, productivity, and growth; Support local governments and organizations in harnessing the power of AI to improve public services and spur local innovation; Strengthen workforce capacity to apply and innovate with AI across education, business and economic sectors, and public services. The program is structured around three funding support mechanisms: State/Territory Coordination Hubs, which accelerate statewide AI readiness; a National Coordination Lead, which provides national strategy and alignment; and AI-Ready Catalyst Awards competitions, which rapidly pilots innovative approaches for potential national scaling. This funding opportunity focuses on Coordination Hubs. Coordination Hubs are limited to one proposal per institution.
Number of Applicants University is Allowed to submit:	1
Additional Requirements:	Letter of Intent
Sponsor Guidelines:	https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/techaccess-ai-ready-america/nsf26-508/solicitation#awd_info
UM Nominations Process:	Those interested in applying should submit the following as a single pdf document to collabor@umn.edu no later than 4pm on: 04/13/2026 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 (3 pages maximum, NSF format). 4. 3-5 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.
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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.