INCITE — Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment

INCITE — Proposals

Supports allocation of exascale compute resources for scientific codes and high-impact computing studies.

The Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program, managed jointly by the DOE Office of Science and its two Leadership Computing Facilities at Argonne (ALCF) and Oak Ridge (OLCF), awards large allocations of exascale computing time to the most compute- and data-intensive scientific research projects in the United States. The program targets simulation, scientific modeling, data analytics, and AI campaigns that require resources unavailable on any commercially accessible platform. INCITE is one of the few funding mechanisms in the US science ecosystem that provides in-kind HPC resources rather than cash, making it distinct from standard DOE grant programs.

The CY2027 call opened April 8, 2026 and closes June 15, 2026 at 8:00 PM EDT. Successful proposals receive allocations of 500,000 to 2,000,000 node-hours on Aurora (ALCF, Argonne National Laboratory) and Frontier (OLCF, Oak Ridge National Laboratory), two of the world's fastest exascale supercomputers. Up to 60% of allocatable time on each system is distributed through INCITE. Proposals may span one to three years. A dedicated Early Career Track reserves 10% of total allocatable time for researchers who earned their PhD on or after December 31, 2016, and who have not previously served as an INCITE PI. Eligibility is broad: US and non-US researchers, academia, national laboratories, industry, and federal agencies all qualify regardless of funding source.

Proposals undergo a two-phase review: first, an international peer review panel evaluates scientific merit, team qualifications, and resource appropriateness; second, the ALCF and OLCF centers conduct a technical readiness assessment. Awards are announced in November 2026, with compute access distributed across the CY2027 calendar year. Teams winning INCITE allocations must already hold external funding for personnel costs, since the award covers compute time only. Prospective applicants targeting the Early Career Track should confirm their PhD date against the eligibility threshold before submission.