Multilateral Partnerships Leveraging Excellence
Last verified by NonDilute: 2026-06-08. Official notice and agency instructions control.
Lead an international research team tackling a global grand challenge across at least two countries and get NSF to fund only your U.S. side while your partners find their own support.
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What this is
The NSF Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) seeks ambitious, visionary proposals addressing urgent global research or societal challenges that require international collaboration across multiple countries and disciplines. You must partner with at least two countries outside the U.S., preferably across distinct geographic regions, and demonstrate how the multilateral approach enables breakthroughs impossible for narrower teams. The U.S. team receives NSF funding (typical 3-year awards); international partners fund themselves. This is not a replacement for existing OISE programs and proposals must be outside their scope.
Who can apply
Any entity type is eligible (unrestricted). U.S. institutions and research teams lead; you must have formal partners in at least two countries outside the U.S. International partners must secure their own funding. Proposals should demonstrate diverse U.S. institutional and individual participation.
Eligible applicant types
- Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility"
Full description — from the agency
Many of the most pressing challenges in research and innovation require collaboration across national and disciplinary boundaries to achieve important advances. A growing number of topics are best addressed on a multilateral basis, building partnerships that leverage diverse expertise, data, infrastructure, and perspectives to advance understanding on critical topics of regional or global importance. At the same time, funders, research organizations, and researchers alike typically have limited experience with multilateral partnerships. The Office of International Science and Engineering’s MultiPLEx program seeks to support visionary, and ambitious international multilateral research partnerships that are required to hasten progress in addressing grand challenges by leveraging research excellence in the U.S. and around the globe. The program also seeks to advance understanding of effective multilateral collaboration. MultiPLEx welcomes proposals that Address urgent research and/or societal challenge of global importance (including but not limited to critical and emerging technology research) and require an inherently international multilateral approach to achieve impactful research results, partnering with at least two countries other than the U.S. Proposals that engage partners across distinct geographic regions are an area of interest. Make clear how the proposed international collaboration will enable research advances and broader impacts that go beyond what can be accomplished by a narrower team. Include a diverse group of U.S. institutions and/or individuals, leveraging the full range of talent that society has to offer MultiPLEx funds support the U.S. research team. Research partners should seek funding from their own national funding agencies or from other sources. A typical MultiPLEx award will be up to three years in duration. The MultiPLEX program is not intended to replace existing OISE or directorate programs. Proposals submitted to MultiPLEX must fall outside the scope of existing OISE or directorate programs. Any proposal submitted to MultiPLEx that is not responsive to this Program Description may be transferred to another OISE program or returned without review. OISE may periodically issue a Dear Colleague Letter inviting MultiPLEx proposals in specific priority areas. PIs interested in submitting proposals that do not respond to a DCL are strongly encouraged to consult a MultiPLEx program director prior to submission to confirm appropriateness. Unless specified in a DCL, MultiPLEx proposals may be submitted any time.
Topics: international research partnerships · multilateral collaboration · global research challenges · critical and emerging technology · international science funding · cross-border research consortia
Public-source funding discovery only. This summary is generated from public agency data and may be incomplete or stale. NonDilute is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any government agency. Official notices and agency instructions control. NonDilute does not determine eligibility, provide grant-writing advice, or guarantee funding.