International Research and education Network Connections (IRNC)

The International Research and education Network Connections (IRNC) Base program supports high-performance network connectivity required by international science and engineering research and education collaborations involving the NSF research community. High-performance network connections and infrastructure funded by this program are intended to support science and engineering research and education applications, with preference given to solutions that provide the best economy of scale and demonstrate the ability to support the largest communities of interest with the broadest services. The IRNC Base program is divided into three distinct but related program areas: (1) IRNC: Core - Backbone and Exchange Point International Networking; (2) IRNC: Testbed - International Testbeds; and (3) IRNC: ENgage - Engagement for Training and Human and Network Capacity Building. Funded projects will assist the U.S. research and education community by enabling state-of-the-art international network services and access to increased collaboration and data services. The program aims to support targeted expansion of the reach and production use of multi Gbps connectivity to remote science instrumentation and R&E communities, significantly greater use of the R&E fabric for science through deeper integration of the network with other tools and cyberinfrastructure resources, and strengthening the services and physical pathways for U.S. science collaborations globally.