INCITE — Innovative & Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment

INCITE Allocation Cycle

Runs research teams and institutions for INCITE Allocation in artificial intelligence, quantum systems, and energy systems.

Eligibility · United States

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

INCITE (Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment) is the primary mechanism through which the DOE Office of Science's Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program allocates node-hours on its two exascale leadership-class supercomputers to the global scientific community. Frontier, operated by the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, achieved 1.1 exaflops on the HPL benchmark and ranks among the world's fastest computers; Aurora, operated by the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), is the second U.S. exascale system. INCITE is unusual among U.S. federal programs in that it is explicitly open to any researcher worldwide — domestic and international, academic and industry — with no restriction on institutional affiliation or nationality.

Allocations are measured in node-hours rather than dollars; no cash is awarded. Typical grants range from 290,000 to over 1,200,000 node-hours per year. The program is approximately four times oversubscribed, meaning only projects that genuinely require capability-class machines — those that cannot be run on mid-range or cloud computing — are competitive. Scientific target areas include cosmology, materials science, nuclear fusion, quantum chemistry, climate modeling, sustainable energy, and basic physics. For the 2027 allocation cycle, applications are due June 15, 2026; awards are announced approximately November 2026; and allocations begin January 1, 2027.

To win an INCITE allocation, applicants must demonstrate both the scientific merit of their research program and the technical readiness to efficiently use exascale resources — poor scaling efficiency is a common rejection reason. Proposals are peer-reviewed by subject-matter experts and computing specialists jointly; a project that is scientifically compelling but not optimized for parallel execution on Frontier or Aurora will not be funded. Proposals are submitted through the ALCF and OLCF joint INCITE online application portal. Industry applicants are explicitly welcome and have historically received allocations for materials discovery, drug design, and engineering simulation work, making this one of the few DOE programs with no commercial eligibility restriction.