Grants to USA and Israel Scientist Teams for Research Projects in the Mathematical Sciences

NSF-BSF Mathematics

Agency

Federal

GrantWatch ID#

199426

Funding Source

United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF)

Geographic Focus

All USA
Israel.

Important Dates

Deadline: 09/16/25 5:00 PM Submitter's Time - NSF Deadline for Probability; 9/25/25 NSF Deadline

Grant Description

Grants to USA and Israel scientist teams associated with nonprofit organizations, including government research institutions, IHEs, and hospitals, for projects in mathematical sciences. The purpose of the program is to fund research projects that explore and develop the properties and applications of mathematical structures.

As part of the NSF-BSF joint program, the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) invites collaborative research proposals in Mathematical Sciences (DMS), Directorate at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).

Proposals are welcome in:

Algebra and Number Theory
Analysis
Applied Mathematics
Combinatorics
Computational Mathematics
Foundations
Geometric Analysis
Mathematical Biology
Probability
Statistics
Topology

For eligible expenses, see page 12 of the Regulations document in Attached Files.

Recipient

Additional Eligibility Criteria

Applications must be developed and written jointly by a team of Israeli and U.S. scientists that hold academic appointments in their respective countries and are eligible to apply for external funding at organizations such as NSF and BSF.

Eligibility:
1. For the BSF submission: Israeli principal investigators must have obtained a PhD, MD or an equivalent degree, and must be faculty members or the equivalent of the submitting institutions.
2. Scientists who wish to apply for grants must submit their applications through a legal entity. The BSF accepts research applications from non-profit organizations only, including institutions of higher learning, government research institutions and hospitals. Although applications cannot be submitted by for-profit or industrial organizations, one of the principal investigators may be affiliated with such an organization. However, the research performed by the investigator affiliated with a for-profit organization will not be funded by the BSF, unless specified differently.
3. In keeping with an amendment, signed on 28 October 2020, to the original agreement between the U.S. and Israeli governments, the Foundation sponsors US-Israel collaborative research with participation of all Israeli academic institutions, including research carried out in geographic areas that came under the administration of the Government of Israel after June 5, 1967.
4. It is noted here that the BSF does not invite applications involving, directly or indirectly, the Arab-Israeli conflict. Any application that is related to any aspect of the Arab-Israeli conflict should be discussed with the BSF staff before submission. The Foundation reserves the right to reject such applications, if in its sole discretion, it deems these not consistent with its mission.

Ineligible

- Graduate students or postgraduate fellows are not eligible to submit applications.
- Principal investigators are not entitled to receive any part of their salary or supplement to their salary from the BSF. This rule applies also to Research Associates who draw their salaries from external sources.
- No scientist on the full-time paid staff of the grantee institution may receive any salary, or supplement to salary, from a BSF grant. In the case of a scientist employed part-time by the institution, a salary may be paid commensurate with the time to be devoted to the project, provided that such salary, together with the institution's salary, does not exceed 100%.
- Consultants are not allowed to receive part of their salary from the grant if they are permanent employees of a research institution.
- The BSF will not pay for travel to countries other than Israel and the U.S., unless they are required for the research and are stated in the research proposal and specifically approved by the BSF prior to travel.
- Because the BSF encourages meetings of the PIs, money budgeted for travel is restricted to travel and cannot be used to cover other budget line items without prior approval of the BSF.

Pre-Application Information

Timetable:
Full proposals should be submitted to the BSF according to the following deadlines:
• Algebra and Number Theory: no later than 5 pm (Israel time) on Oct. 16, 2025 (NSF deadline is Oct. 10, 2025).
• Analysis: no later than 5 pm (Israel time) on Oct. 5, 2025 (NSF deadline is Sept. 30, 2025). o Applied Mathematics: no later than 5 pm (Israel time) on Nov. 21, 2025 (NSF deadline is Nov. 17, 2025).
• Combinatorics: no later than 5 pm (Israel time) on Sept. 29, 2025 (NSF deadline is Sept. 23, 2025).
• Computational Mathematics: no later than 5 pm (Israel time) on December 7, 2025 (NSF deadline is Dec. 1, 2025).
• Foundations: no later than 5 pm (Israel time) on Sept. 29, 2025 (NSF deadline is Sept. 23, 2025).
• Geometric Analysis: no later than 5 pm (Israel time) on Nov. 11, 2025 (NSF deadline is Nov. 4, 2025).
• Mathematical Biology: no later than 5 pm (Israel time) on Oct. 20, 2025 (NSF deadline is Oct. 14, 2025).
• Probability: no later than 5 pm (Israel time) on Sept. 25, 2025 (NSF deadline is Sept. 16, 2025).
• Statistics: no later than 5 pm (Israel time) on December 21, 2025 (NSF deadline is Dec. 15, 2025).
• Topology: no later than 5 pm (Israel time) on Nov. 10, 2025 (NSF deadline is Nov. 4, 2025).

The full proposals will be submitted to the program twice.
- Step 1.The U.S. applicant will submit the NSF-BSF proposal following the NSF regulations and submission procedures (Regulations and submissions: hhttps://www.nsf.gov/policies/pappg/24-1).
- Step 2. The Israeli applicant will submit the identical proposal as a pdf document to the BSF, including all information regarding the U.S. applicant(s), and adhere to relevant BSF regulations regarding proposal submission: see Attached Files.

The NSF accepts applications only from U.S. scientists and submission to the NSF-BSF program should be made only by the U.S. applicant. The proposal is recognized as an NSF-BSF application by adding the prefixed “NSF-BSF:” to the proposal title. The role of the Israeli applicant(s) and the nature of the collaboration must be described in the different sections of the proposal, e.g. sections with details of work plan, time line etc. Furthermore, it should be clearly explained why the contribution of the Israeli PI is critical to the success of the proposed study.

All inquiries regarding the suitability of the research topic must be made by the U.S. applicant(s) to the relevant program directors at NSF. BSF will not respond to any query regarding topic eligibility.

Israeli applicants are advised that they should pay particular attention to the NSF evaluation criteria, http://nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/merit_review/, which may include requirements such as broader impacts, data management plan etc.

The following additional rules apply to this program:
• A U.S. scientist submitting an application with an Israeli colleague to the NSF is only subject to the NSF eligibility rules.
• Each Israeli scientist is now permitted to submit up to two NSF-BSF applications each academic year (1 Oct – 30 Sept.).
• An Israeli with an active BSF research grant is allowed to submit an application to any of the NSF-BSF programs.
• An Israeli with an active NSF-BSF grant is allowed to submit one more NSF-BSF application. In any case, at any given time an Israeli scientist can only be involved in two proposals/grants simultaneously.
• It is allowed to submit both to an NSF-BSF program and the regular BSF program, including similar applications. In the event that grants are awarded in both programs, both will be funded, unless the research applications are mostly similar, or significantly overlap, in which case only the NSF-BSF program will be funded by the BSF.
• In case of similar NSF-BSF and regular BSF applications, in which the NSF evaluation of the NSFBSF application was not completed by the time the regular BSF awards are made, the BSF will defer its decision regarding a possible grant to this application, until the NSF-BSF awards are announced.

View this opportunity on the NSF website: https://www.nsf.gov/mps/dms/about

FAQs: https://www.bsf.org.il/faq/#section--regular-bsf-grant-program

Regulations and submissions: hhttps://www.nsf.gov/policies/pappg/24-1

Submission information: https://www.bsf.org.il/funding-opportunities/nsf-bsf-joint-research-grants/submission/

Estimated Size of Grant

The size of the grant to the Israeli is expected to be larger than traditional BSF grants, possibly up to $95,000/year for experimental studies and $75,000/year for theoretical and computer-based studies. These sums are subject to the availability of funds. If more than a single Israeli group is involved in the research, the budget may be increased by up to 50%.

Term of Contract

Grant period for the Israeli will follow that requested by the U.S. partner.

Contact Information

Apply online (USA/NSF applicants only): https://www.research.gov/ or https://www.grants.gov/

Apply online (Israeli/BSF applicants only): https://login.bsf.org.il/login

Questions regarding the suitability of the proposed research for this program should be directed by the U.S. applicant(s) to program officer in the relevant programs at the NSF.

Other questions regarding this call for proposals can be discussed with the BSF staff by mail or by phone (972-2-5828239): Dr. Rachel (Heni) Haring (heni@bsf.org.il ext. 205) or Ms. Yael Dressler (yael@bsf.org.il ext. 203).

Questions regarding the online application system should be directed to Ms. Orli Rozencwajg (orli@bsf.org.il ext. 206).

United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF)
RAD Tower
16 Hartum Street
Har Hotzvim
P.O. Box 45086
Jerusalem 91450
Israel

Tel: 972-2-5828239
Fax: 972-2-5828306
Email: bsf@bsf.org.il

RFP & Supporting Documents

Before starting your grant application, please review the funding source's website listed below for updates / changes / addendums / conferences / LOIs.