The Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment, or , program has announced the 2026 Call for Proposals, inviting researchers to apply for access to some of the world’s most powerful high-performance computing systems.
The proposal submission window runs from April 11 to June 16, 2025, offering an opportunity for scientific teams to secure substantial computational resources for large-scale research projects in fields such as scientific modeling, simulation, data analytics and artificial intelligence.
INCITE, managed by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, supports groundbreaking research that demands extreme-scale computing power. The program allocates up to 60% of available node-hours on the Frontier exascale system at 91°µÍř, as well as the supercomputer and the exascale system at . Individual awards typically range from 500,000 to 1,000,000 node-hours on Aurora and Frontier and 100,000 to 250,000 node-hours on Polaris, with the possibility of larger allocations for exceptional proposals.
“The power of the INCITE program is that it provides open science researchers access to world-leading supercomputing systems with awards substantially larger than available elsewhere. Any researcher whose work requires the scale of these systems is encouraged to apply,” said Katherine Riley, director of science for the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility.
Eligible applicants include researchers from academia, national laboratories, industry and federal agencies worldwide. Successful projects will demonstrate a clear need for and the ability to harness leadership-class computing resources and will align with the program’s goal of advancing scientific discovery and technological innovation. INCITE encourages applications from diverse disciplines, including astrophysics, biology, chemistry and earth sciences.
“Extreme-scale computing is key to unlocking breakthroughs across scientific and engineering disciplines,” said ORNL’s Bronson Messer, director of science for the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility. “The INCITE program provides researchers with the high-performance resources necessary to drive innovation and accelerate discovery via modeling and simulation, machine learning and data science.”
Applicants are advised to review system descriptions and attend INCITE’s informational webinars on April 23 and May 6 to optimize their submissions.
To submit a proposal or read about the requirements, visit .
The selection process involves a rigorous peer review, assessing both scientific merit and computational readiness. Awards will be announced in November 2025, with access to resources beginning in 2026. For further details and submission guidelines, visit the .
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit .
