NSF Award Search Scraper

Extract research award data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) — the US federal agency that funds fundamental research across science, engineering, and education. This actor gives you structured, export-ready access to NSF's public award database.

Search by keyword, filter by date range or US state, or look up specific awards by ID to retrieve funding amounts, principal investigator names, awardee organizations, project abstracts, and more.

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What You Can Scrape

• Award Search — Retrieve awards matching a keyword with optional filters for date range and awardee state.
• Award Detail Lookup — Fetch complete award details for specific NSF Award IDs, including project outcomes reports.

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Key Features

• Search NSF awards by any keyword (topic, technology, research area)
• Filter by award start date range (MM/DD/YYYY format)
• Filter by US state of the awardee institution (all 50 states + DC)
• Look up specific awards by NSF Award ID
• Award amounts parsed from formatted strings (e.g. "1,500,000" → 1500000)
• Includes project outcomes reports when available
• Direct links to NSF Award Search for every record
• No authentication or API key required

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Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
mode	Select	searchAwards or getAwardDetail	searchAwards
keyword	Text	Keywords to search in award titles and abstracts	machine learning
dateStart	Text	Filter awards starting on or after this date (MM/DD/YYYY)	—
dateEnd	Text	Filter awards starting on or before this date (MM/DD/YYYY)	—
awardeeState	Select	US state code to filter by awardee location	Any
awardIds	Array	List of specific NSF Award IDs (for getAwardDetail mode)	[]
maxItems	Integer	Maximum records to return (1–5,000)	50

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Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
awardId	String	NSF Award ID
title	String	Award title
abstractText	String	Project abstract describing the research
estimatedTotalAmt	Integer	Total estimated award amount in USD
startDate	String	Award start date (MM/DD/YYYY)
expDate	String	Award expiration date (MM/DD/YYYY)
awardeeName	String	Name of the awardee institution
awardeeCity	String	City of the awardee institution
awardeeStateCode	String	US state code of the awardee
awardeeCountryCode	String	Country code of the awardee
pdPIName	String	Program Director / Principal Investigator name
agency	String	Funding agency (typically NSF)
fundProgramName	String	NSF funding program name
projectOutcomesReport	String	Project outcomes report text (when available)
sourceUrl	String	Direct link to the NSF Award page
recordType	String	Always award
scrapedAt	String	ISO timestamp when the record was scraped

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Example Use Cases

1. Grant intelligence — Find all NSF awards on quantum computing from 2020–2023 in California.
2. Researcher discovery — Identify PIs funded by NSF in specific research areas.
3. Competitive analysis — Track which universities receive the most NSF funding.
4. Policy research — Monitor NSF funding trends across states and research domains.
5. Award verification — Look up specific award details by Award ID for reporting or compliance.
6. Literature mapping — Cross-reference NSF award IDs with publications.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an API key? No. The NSF award data is publicly accessible and does not require authentication.

How many records can I retrieve? Up to 5,000 records per run using the maxItems parameter.

What date format should I use? Use MM/DD/YYYY format for dateStart and dateEnd. For example: 01/01/2020 for January 1, 2020.

Can I search by state? Yes. Use the awardeeState dropdown to filter by the US state of the awardee organization (e.g. CA for California).

Can I look up specific awards by ID? Yes. Set mode to getAwardDetail and provide a list of NSF Award IDs in the awardIds field. This also returns project outcomes reports.

What is estimatedTotalAmt? The total estimated award amount in US dollars. This is returned as an integer (e.g. 1500000 for $1.5M).

What is pdPIName? The name of the Program Director and/or Principal Investigator associated with the award.

What is fundProgramName? The name of the NSF program that funded the award (e.g. INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, COMPUTER SYSTEMS RESEARCH).

What is a Project Outcomes Report? For awards in getAwardDetail mode, NSF may include a researcher-submitted summary of outcomes and discoveries. This is included in the projectOutcomesReport field when available.

How current is the data? The NSF awards database is updated regularly. The scrapedAt field shows when each record was retrieved.

Are international awards included? The NSF primarily funds US-based research. Use the awardeeCountryCode field to filter or identify international collaborations.