FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 6, 2021

Sponsor Deadline: January 13, 2021

Award Amount: $76,000 over two years

Target Applicants: Early-career scientists who have received their final degree within the past 10 years (on or after September 1, 2011) and who hold fully independent positions as investigators.

 

The Gulf Research Program's Early-Career Research Fellowship supports emerging scientific leaders as they take risks on research ideas not yet tested, pursue unique collaborations, and build a network of colleagues who share their interest in improving offshore energy system safety and the well-being of coastal communities and ecosystems. Funding is available for the fellow to use for research-related expenses, including equipment purchases, professional travel, professional development courses, trainee support, salary, or any other costs directly related to the fellow's research.

 

The Human Health and Community Resilience track goal focuses on contributing to the advancement of health equity in the Gulf of Mexico region or Alaska by considering the social determinants of health. Research Fellows can be based at any institution, as long as their work is relevant to the charge of the Gulf Research Program to focus on "human health and environmental protection including issues relating to offshore oil drilling and hydrocarbon production and transportation in the Gulf of Mexico and on the United States' outer continental shelf." Up to seven fellows will be chosen for the Human Health and Community Resilience Track in 2021.

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 21, 2021

Sponsor Deadline: January 28, 2021

Award Amount: $8,400 per year for five years ($6,000 per year for collaboration, travel and research expenses; $1,000 per year in discretionary funds for the awardee's department; and $1,400 per year in indirect costs to the awardee's institution)

 

The goal of the program is to substantially increase collaborative contacts between accomplished, active mathematicians in the United States, who do not otherwise have access to funding that allows support for travel and visitors. To be eligible to apply, an individual must have a Ph.D. degree and hold a tenure-track or tenured position within a mathematics department with a Ph.D. degree granting program. The five-year grant will commence September 1, 2021. Collaboration grant awardees may not hold any other external PI or PI equivalent grants with an end date after September 1, 2021.

Harvard Pre-Proposal Deadline: January 21, 2021

Award Amount: $875,000 over five years

 

The Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering program provides the nation's most promising early-career scientists and engineers with flexible funding and the freedom to take risks and explore new frontiers in their fields of study. Packard Fellows are encouraged to think big and look at complex issues with a fresh perspective. Fellows may use their funds in whatever way would best advance their research. The following disciplines are eligible for support: chemistry, mathematics, biology, astronomy, computer science, earth science, ocean science, and all branches of engineering. Initial faculty appointments should have begun no earlier than May 31, 2018 and no later than May 31, 2021. The Foundation allows exceptions to the eligibility window for time taken for family/medical leave. If a nominee is outside the eligibility window this should be briefly acknowledged in the nomination letter.

 

Recent recipients include Julia Mundy (Physics, 2020), Marine Denolle (EPS, 2017), Kang-Kuen Ni (CCB, 2016), Karin Oberg (Astronomy, 2014), Emily Balskus (CCB, 2013), Charlie Conroy (Astronomy, 2013), Karinne Gibbs (MCB, 2012), and John Johnson (Astronomy, 2012).

 

Deadline: January 4, 2021

Award Amount: $2,500

 

The Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative (HMUI) invites applications for grants to support research projects with an urban focus, ideally with an interdisciplinary approach. Projects might include but are not limited to such issues as inequality, diversity, and climate change. HMUI is particularly interested in linking humanistic approaches to cities with spatial investigations of the built and natural environments. HMUI seeks proposals in three broad areas:

 

Deadline: January 25, 2021

Award Amount: up to $150,000 payable over one or two years. It is anticipated that 5 - 10 grants will be awarded each year.

 

 

Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of academic merit, feasibility, and their anticipated advancement of the objectives of the Fund and must meet at least one of the following three criteria:

Deadline: Rolling

Award Amount: Up to $5,000

Target Applicants: Applications are invited from individuals who hold a faculty appointment at a Harvard school and who have principal investigator rights at that school.

 

 

AI for Earth awards grants to support projects that use AI to change the way people and organizations monitor, model, and manage Earth's natural systems. The program's areas of focus are: climate; agriculture; biodiversity; and water. Applicants can be affiliated with an academic institution, nonprofit organization, government entity, environmental startup, or an innovative project within a company. Microsoft recommends that the main applicant has a demonstrated background in environmental science and/or technology, and that at least one member of the team has strong enough technical skills to complete the project successfully. Applicants should be close to or done with their data collection and ready to start with computation and model building.

 

Applicants who have access to a labeled dataset and are ready to start using Azure AI tools and cloud computing may request Azure compute credits through this program. Members of the AI for Earth grantee community also have access to additional resources - technical advice and support, online Azure training materials, and invitations to the AI for Earth Summit for networking and education opportunities. In addition, Esri will consider AI for Earth grant recipients who are affiliated with academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and startups for a sponsored subscription to Esri ArcGIS Pro, a leading geospatial software for creating maps, performing spatial analysis, and managing data.

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: December 18, 2020

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: January 8, 2021

Award Amount: Each award will include a 24-month base period (each 12-month interval of the base period shall not exceed $250,000 for a maximum of $500,000) and a 12-month option period (a maximum of $500,000 awarded as the "Director's Fellowship," reserved for a limited number of awardees who demonstrate exceptional YFA project performance over the 24-month base period).

 

DARPA's Young Faculty Award (YFA) program aims to identify and engage rising stars in junior faculty positions in academia and equivalent positions at non-profit research institutions and expose them to DoD and National Security challenges and needs. In particular, YFA will provide high-impact funding to elite researchers early in their careers to develop innovative new research directions in the context of enabling transformative DoD capabilities. Participation is open to individuals who are U.S. Citizens, U.S. Permanent Residents, and Foreign Nationals who are current Tenure-Track Assistant/Associate Professors; or current Tenured faculty within 3 years of their Tenure date. DARPA is particularly interested in identifying outstanding researchers who have previously not been performers on DARPA programs, but the program is open to all qualified applicants with innovative research ideas. Once awards are made, each YFA performer will be assigned a DARPA Program Manager with interests closely related to their research topic. The Program Manager will act as project manager and mentor to the YFA award recipients.

 

DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the areas of interest to DARPA's six technical offices: Biological Technologies Office (BTO), Defense Sciences Office (DSO), Information Innovation Office (I2O), Microsystems Technology Office (MTO), Strategic Technology Office (STO), and Tactical Technology Office (TTO). This RA solicits single PI proposals for research and development in the following specific Topic Areas (TAs) of interest:

At the executive summary phase, proposing PIs are limited to one executive summary per TA; at the full proposal phase, proposing PIs are limited to submitting only one full proposal to only one topic under this RA. The YFA Proposers Day was held on September 25, 2020 via webcast. DARPA will post the presentation at: http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities.

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: December 18, 2020

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: January 8, 2021

Award Amount: The level of funding for individual awards made under this solicitation has not been predetermined and will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. INCAS is divided into three phases, totaling 48 months. The first two phases will be 18 months each, and the third phase will be 12 months.

 

DARPA's Information Innovation Office (I2O) is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of computational techniques and tools that aid analysts in detection and sensemaking of geopolitical online influence campaigns. INCAS is an applied research and development effort and is thus expected to result in portable, modular tools and technologies that operational users can assess. Towards this end, program performance will be rigorously evaluated on program-wide and technology-specific metrics for current and historical scenarios developed in consultation with operational stakeholders. Scenarios will be built around specific combinations of non-U.S. populations, topics of geopolitical interest, and online media platforms and sources.

 

INCAS has five technical areas (TAs):

Each proposal may only address one TA. DARPA anticipates multiple awards for Technical Areas (TAs) 1 and 2 and a single award for TAs 3 and 4 (no award for TA5, which is listed for information purposes only).

Sponsor Deadline for White Papers (required): January 3, 2021

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals (if invited): May 2, 2021

Award Amount: It is anticipated that $3M in annual funding will be available for a single Center award. The Center award will contain a base period of thirty-six months followed by a single option period of twenty-four months. It is anticipated that the Seedling awards will range from $60,000-$250,000 per year, with typical awards in the range of $120,000-$180,000 per year. Seedling awards will contain a base period of twelve months with up to two option periods, each for twelve months.

 

The Energetics Basic Research Center (EBRC) is a basic research program initiated by the Combat Capabilities Development Command/Army Research Laboratory/ARO. It focuses on areas of strategic importance to U.S. national security. It seeks to increase the Army's intellectual capital in energetic materials (EM) and improve its ability to address future challenges. EBRC brings together universities, research institutions, companies, and individual scholars and supports multidisciplinary and cross-institutional projects addressing specific topic areas determined by the Department of the Army. The EBRC aims to promote research in specific areas of EMs and to promote a candid and constructive relationship between DA and the energetics research community.

 

This year's Technical Thrust areas are:

There are two funding areas in this announcement which are referred as Center and Seedling. A Center award is a single award to a large, team-oriented center. Seedling awards will be made to multiple single investigators. The Center and Seedling awardees will collaborate and cooperate among themselves and with CCDC-ARL. Proposals submitted to the Center funding area must address all of the Technical Thrust areas. Proposals submitted to the Seedling funding area must address at least one of the Technical Thrust areas.

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 12, 2021

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: January 20, 2021 for CE proposals

Award Amount: The level of funding for individual awards made under this BAA will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. The program will consist of three Phases and a total of 42 months for TA1/TA2: Phase 1 (Base period, 24 months), Phase 2 (Option 1, 12 months), Phase 3 (Option 2, 6 months). CE will begin roughly 12 months into Phase 1 and will run the duration of the rest of the program (30 months).

 

The Defense Sciences Office (DSO) at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals to use traditional methods of accessing local knowledge to aid operational decision making to enable a comparative evaluation (CE) of efficacy and efficiency against experimental methods developed under TA1(Model Development)/TA2 (Engagement Mechanism) of the Habitus program. Work solicited under this announcement is expressly for the Comparative Evaluation (CE) portion of the Habitus Program. DARPA is not accepting proposals for the TA1/TA2 portion of the program at this time. All information about TA1 and TA2 included in this amended solicitation is for the purposes of informing CE proposers only. In order to evaluate the efficacy of the Habitus experimental TA1/TA2 approaches to predict outcomes, DARPA will compare the performance of the computational cognitive models developed under TA1/TA2 against more traditional methods such as market research and polling applied by the Comparative Evaluation (CE) team (the subject of this announcement). In contrast to TA1/TA2, the CE team will apply traditional methods in innovative ways to provide comparison data for each question posed by the TA1/TA2 teams; the accuracy of TA1/TA2 and CE methods will both be compared to verifiable, real-world outcomes to determine whether experimental methods provide tangible advantages over traditional methods applied in innovative ways.

DARPA anticipates a single award for the CE team.

Sponsor Pre-Application Deadline (required): December 17, 2020

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 25, 2021

Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline: March 4, 2021

Award Amount: Varies by research area

 

The DOE SC program in Biological and Environmental Research (BER) hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for research in Environmental System Science (ESS). The goal of the ESS program in BER is to advance an integrated, robust, and scale-aware predictive understanding of terrestrial systems and their interdependent biological, chemical, ecological, hydrological and physical processes. The program seeks to develop an integrated framework using a systems approach to unravel the complex processes and controls on the structure, function, feedbacks, and dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems, spanning from the bedrock through the rhizosphere and vegetation to the atmospheric surface layer. The scope includes watersheds and coastal zones, terrestrial-aquatic interfaces, and understudied ecosystems that represent a significant knowledge gap in local and regional process models and predictive Earth system models.

Sponsor Letter of Intent Deadline (required): December 20, 2020

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 10, 2021

Sponsor Deadline: February 18, 2021

Award Amount: Up to $250,000 per year for single PI and up to $350,000 per year for collaborative proposals for 2-3 years.

 

The DOE SC program in Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) and the NNSA Defense Programs (DP) Office of Experimental Sciences jointly announce their interests in receiving applications for new and renewal awards for research in the SC-NNSA Joint Program in High-Energy-Density (HED) laboratory plasmas. All individuals or groups planning to submit applications for new or renewal funding in Fiscal Year 2021 should submit applications in response to this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

 

Generally, HEDLP research is directed at exploring the behavior of matter at extreme conditions of temperature, density, and pressure, including laboratory astrophysics and planetary science, structure and dynamic of matter at the atomic scale, laser-plasma interactions and relativistic optics, magneto hydrodynamics (MHD) and magnetized plasmas, and plasma atomic physics and radiation transport.

 

The specific areas of interest are:

• Notice of Intent to issue Funding Opportunity Announcement titled Emerging CO2 Storage Technologies: Optimizing Performance Through Minimization of Seismicity Risks and Monitoring Caprock Integrity
• Announcement of Teaming Partner List for an Upcoming Funding Opportunity Announcement: OPEN 2021
• Request for Information (RFI): Research and Development Challenges or Research Gaps Associated with the Application of Carbon Capture to Industrial Emissions - December 24, 2020
• Request for Information (RFI): Offshore Wind Transmission System Integration Research Needs - January 24, 2021

• FY 2021 Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program - rolling through September 30, 2021 or until replaced by a successor FOA

• Notice of Intent to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement on behalf of DOE's Office of Fossil Energy (FE) entitled "Water Management For Thermal Power Generation"

Registration Deadline: December 18, 2020 by 2:00pm

Proposers' Day Meeting: December 22, 2020 from 12:00pm-4:00pm

 

IARPA will hold a virtual Proposers' Day meeting on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm EST to introduce the AGILE program to potential proposers, provide information on its objectives, and collect feedback on the AGILE draft Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) technical section to be posted on https://beta.sam.gov/ prior to the Proposers' Day, in anticipation of publication of a program BAA. The AGILE program aims to develop revolutionizing computer architectures and associated integrated circuits designs for a new class of high-performance, high efficiency, scalable computers that meet the needs of large-scale data analytic problems.

 

IARPA holds Proposers' Days to provide information to assist potential performers to evaluate whether and how they might respond to the Government's research and development solicitations and to increase efficiency in proposal preparation and evaluation. The AGILE Proposers' Day is open only to registered potential proposers, and not to the media or the general public. The meeting will be held entirely on the WebEx video conference platform, and a recorded video of the meeting will be made available to the public on the IARPA website at https://www.iarpa.gov/index.php/research-programs/AGILE. Pre-registration is required and closes on December 18, 2020 at 2:00 pm EST. To register, visit: https://www.client-meeting.net/agile-conference. Following registration acceptance, applicable will receive an agenda and instructions on how to participate in this virtual WebEx meeting.

 

The Proposers' Day meeting does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals. Meeting attendance is voluntary and is not required to propose to this, or any other solicitations (if any) associated with the AGILE program

Other IARPA Opportunities 

• Request for Information (RFI): Effective Quantitative Antenna Limits for Performance - December 24, 2020*

Sponsor Deadline for Step-1 Proposals (required): December 21, 2020

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission

Sponsor Deadline for Step-2 Proposals (if invited): March 30, 2021

Award Information: The annual budget is capped at $500K per year for up to two years (direct plus indirect costs). TRISH awards require a cost-sharing arrangement with all non-government entities consisting of an augmentation of at least 10% of the total annual TRISH award. This requirement applies to each institution involved. The 10% cost-sharing minimum must be added on top of the maximum budget of $500K per year.

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 4, 2021

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: January 11, 2021

Award Information: Approximately $65M over 5 years

Through this CAN, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) will establish a Center for Research and Exploration in Physics (CREH), a science center of excellence for basic and applied research between NASA and higher education or not-for-profit science organizations in the area of heliophysics.

 

The primary goal under the resulting cooperative agreement is to establish a focused GSFC/research partnership that:

Sponsor Deadline for Step-1 Proposals (required): January 11, 2021

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission

Sponsor Deadline for Step-2 Proposals (if invited): April 9, 2021

Award Information: See below for details

 

Proposals are solicited by NASA in the areas of:

 

Sponsor Deadline for Step-1 Proposals (required): January 11, 2021

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission

Sponsor Deadline for Step-2 Proposals (if invited): April 9, 2021

Award Information: Up to $150,000 for one year

 

NASA is soliciting investigations lasting no more than one year that provide innovative approaches to any of the risks and gaps contained in the Integrated Research Plan of the Human Research Program (HRP). Proposals solicited through this Appendix will be designated as: 1) ground-based or 2) analog definition. In addition, proposers will identify which of the three types of research products best characterizes the proposed research: 1) quantification of a crew health and performance risk, 2) countermeasure development, or 3) technology development. 

 

NASA is also, through the New Investigator opportunity, soliciting novel research ideas that might not be directly aligned with HRP's identified risks from new investigators who have not received funding from NASA HRP, NASA Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), or the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) in the last ten years. 

 

Additionally, this appendix introduces the new Early Career Investigator (ECI) opportunity for HERO to foster the next generation of space life science researchers. HRP has launched the ECI opportunity to address longstanding challenges faced by researchers trying to embark upon and sustain independent research careers, and to take steps to promote the growth, stability and diversity of the space life sciences research community. In order to foster the next generation of researchers, HRP will accept for consideration Omnibus proposals in the ECI category on any aspect of human adaptation to spaceflight. HRP defines an early career investigator as a Principal Investigator (PI) who has completed his/her terminal research degree or end of post-graduate clinical training, whichever date is later, within the past 10 years and who as a PI has not previously been selected for an independent HRP, NSBRI, NASA Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), or TRISH research award (this requirement does not apply to coinvestigators).

Sponsor Deadline for Notices of Intent (required): January 12, 2021

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 25, 2021

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: March 4, 2021

Award Information: The Cost Cap for an EVM-3 mission is $190M in NASA Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 dollars. NASA plans to select no more than one proposal to proceed into Phase A and subsequent mission phases.

 

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 21, 2021

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: January 28, 2021

Award Information: Stipends will be $60,000 and an additional allocation for health insurance and some travel will be provided. The award is for two years of funding with an optional, competitively awarded third year of funding that may be available. Indirect costs will not be awarded to the funded institution. Additionally, TRISH welcomes, but does not require, cost sharing of 10% of the funded award from institutions who receive awards for the training of TRISH postdoctoral fellows.

The Translational Research Institute for Space Health's (TRISH) mission is to provide funding for early as well as late stage cutting-edge research that can be translated into validated human health and performance solutions for deep space exploration missions. TRISH, led by Baylor College of Medicine's Center for Space Medicine, is a consortium that includes the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Membership in the consortium is NOT a prerequisite to apply for TRISH awards and investigators new to space life science research are particularly encouraged to apply to TRISH opportunities. This Request for Applications (RFA) is soliciting applications for the TRISH Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. Postdoctoral fellowships will be competitively awarded in any laboratory in the United States conducting biomedical/biotechnological research aligned with TRISH's mission and goals. Potential applicants should review NASA's Human Research Roadmap (HRR) and explain how their proposed projects could impact specific risks and help close discrete knowledge or technology gaps, as defined in the HRR. The proposed work must address at least one risk to the health and performance of humans living and working in space. TRISH invites retrospective data, ground-based and analog definition applications for Postdoctoral Fellowships.

 

Applicants must first select a mentor, and an authorized organizational representative from the mentor's institution will submit the proposal. All researchers, regardless of support by NASA or TRISH, can serve as mentors for this opportunity. Fellowship applicants must be U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or persons with pre-existing visas obtained through their sponsoring academic institutions that permit postdoctoral training for the project's duration. To be eligible for this program, postdoctoral fellows may not have more than five years (cumulative) of previous postdoctoral training as of the deadline for this proposal submission. Those earning a terminal degree more than seven years before the deadline for this solicitation are ineligible for this opportunity. Selected postdoctoral fellows are required to commit 100% of their time to the fellowship, of which at least 90% must be research efforts towards the proposed project. The start date must be by August 2021.

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission

Sponsor Deadlines for Full Proposals: February 25, 2021 and June 24, 2021

Award Information: The Federal share of awards will not exceed $80,000 in total costs. Student teams are required to raise a minimum of $2,000 through crowdfunding or industry/organization support, though NASA reserves the right to fund a project even if cost sharing goals are not met. The NASA grants will have a one-year period of performance.

 

The University Student Research Challenge (USRC) seeks to challenge students to propose new aeronautics ideas/concepts that are relevant to NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). The students also have the challenge of raising cost share funds through a crowdfunding platform. The process of creating and preparing a crowdfunding campaign acts as a teaching accelerator. Crowdfunding requires students to act like entrepreneurs, teaching skills such as how to understand the market, fundraise and execute a project. Crowdfunding also raises awareness in the general public about students' research and can excite and bring non-traditional communities into contact with ARMD.

 

The proposed project must be relevant to the ARMD Strategic Implementation Plan and address one of ARMD's six strategic thrusts as they affect aviation:

NASA has no set expectations as to the team size. The number of students participating in the investigation is to be determined by the scope of the project and the student Team Leader. Faculty can serve as mentors and/or participants in the project team. A letter of support is required from a faculty mentor of the accredited U.S. University or College. NASA will make approximately 5 awards for all three cycles of this USRC solicitation.

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: Rolling through September 30, 2021 (proposals should be submitted at least 6 months in advance of the desired starting date)

Award Information: Proposed budget should be commensurate with the scope of the project.

 

NASA encourages the submission of unique and innovative proposals that will further the Agency's mission. While the vast majority of proposals are solicited, a small number of unsolicited proposals that cannot be submitted to those solicitations and yet are still relevant to NASA are reviewed and some are funded each year.

 

Before any effort is expended in preparing a proposal, potential proposers should:

After those three things have been done, the proposer may contact an appropriate NASA person to determine whether NASA has any interest in the type of work being proposed and if any funding is currently available.

• Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences 2020 (ROSES-2020) - September 24, 2021

• Research Opportunities in Aeronautics 2020 (ROA-2020) - September 30, 2021

 

 

To get funding as quickly as possible to the research community, NIH is using Urgent and Emergency competing revisions and administrative supplements to existing grant awards. This approach allows NIH to leverage resident expertise, getting additional funding to those researchers who are already working with other organisms, models, or tools so that they can quickly shift focus to the novel coronavirus. These Urgent and Emergency competitive revision Funding Opportunity Announcements allow NIH to fund applications quickly, often in under three months, sometimes much quicker than that, because evaluation for scientific and technical merit is done by an internal review panel convened by staff of the NIH awarding institute or center rather than by its traditional peer review process. These opportunities require applications to be submitted in response to an Emergency or Urgent Notice of Special Interest (NOSI). In addition to the opportunities for revisions and supplements to existing awards, other notices of special interest seek full research project grant proposals to conduct research on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-2019 through an array of parent FOAs. NIH is maintaining a list of COVID-19 specific notices of special interest in the funding opportunities section at the link above. 

 

The purpose of this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) is to encourage proposals to the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Computer Science for All (CSforAll: Research and RPPs) and Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) programs that specifically investigate promising educational approaches to motivate and prepare preK-12 learners for computationally-intensive industries of the future. The CSforAll program aims to provide all US preK-12 students with opportunities to participate in rigorous computer science and computational thinking education in their schools through funding both research and research-practitioner partnerships. The ITEST program is an applied research and development program designed to broaden participation in STEM and information and communication technology (ICT) careers and career pathways by providing preK-12 youth with technology-rich learning experiences in formal or informal settings. The ITEST program deadline has passed.

 

This DCL also encourages Conference proposals to convene stakeholders with a range of relevant expertise and experience. These conferences may respond to pressing questions that would advance knowledge or practice; identify leverage points for addressing core issues; or set an agenda for future research and practice. Proposers are encouraged to contact a program officer prior to submitting a Conference proposal, and to follow the preparation and content requirements specified in NSF's Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide Chapter II.E.7.

 

The proposal title should be prefaced with "Sentinels:" Neither Division puts a limit on proposal budgets and expects budgets to be appropriate for the scope of the proposed project. The relevant programs in BIO/MCB and ENG/CBET all accept proposals without deadline. Proposals are reviewed as they are received. Investigators interested in submitting a proposal are strongly encouraged to contact one of the Program Directors listed in the full Dear Colleague Letter.

 

NSF will consider supplemental funding requests for up to an additional six months of graduate student support on active NSF grants with the following goals:

The PI/co-PI of an active NSF award may request supplemental funding for one or more graduate students to gain knowledge, skills and experiences that will augment their preparation for a successful long-term career through an internship in a non-academic setting, including the following:

PIs are encouraged to discuss with the cognizant NSF program director activities that are synergistic with the NSF project scope. It is expected that the graduate student and the PI on the NSF grant will work together to identify innovative experiences that add the most educational value for the graduate student through activities that are not already available at the student's academic institution. Further, it is expected that the internship will be research-focused in a STEM field or in STEM education research and will be on-site at the host organization unless a specific exception to this is granted due to extenuating circumstances by the cognizant program officer.

A key focus of the design of modern computing systems is performance and scalability, particularly in light of the limits of Moore's Law and Dennard scaling. To this end, systems are increasingly being implemented by composing heterogeneous computing components and continually changing memory systems as novel, performant hardware surfaces. Applications fueled by rapid strides in machine learning, data analysis, and extreme-scale simulation are becoming more domain-specific and highly distributed. In this scenario, traditional boundaries between hardware-oriented and software-oriented disciplines increasingly are blurred. Achieving scalability of systems and applications will therefore require coordinated progress in multiple disciplines such as computer architecture, high-performance computing (HPC), programming languages and compilers, security and privacy, systems, theory, and algorithms. Cross-cutting concerns such as performance (including, but not limited to, time, space, and communication resource usage and energy efficiency), correctness and accuracy (including, but not limited to, emerging techniques for program analysis, testing, debugging, probabilistic reasoning and inference, and verification), security and privacy, robustness and reliability, domain-specific design, and heterogeneity must be taken into account from the outset in all aspects of systems and application design and implementation. 

The aim of the Principles and Practice of Scalable Systems (PPoSS) program is to support a community of researchers who will work symbiotically across the multiple disciplines above to perform basic research on scalability of modern applications, systems, and toolchains. The intent is that these efforts will foster the development of principles that lead to rigorous and reproducible artifacts for the design and implementation of large-scale systems and applications across the full hardware/software stack. These principles and methodologies should simultaneously provide guarantees on correctness and accuracy, robustness, and security and privacy of systems, applications, and toolchains. Importantly, as described below, PPoSS specifically seeks to fund projects that span the entire hardware/software stack and will lay the groundwork for sustainable approaches for engineering highly performant, scalable, and robust computing applications.

The Formal Methods in the Field (FMitF) program aims to bring together researchers in formal methods with researchers in other areas of computer and information science and engineering to jointly develop rigorous and reproducible methodologies for designing and implementing correct-by-construction systems and applications with provable guarantees. FMitF encourages close collaboration between two groups of researchers. The first group consists of researchers in the area of formal methods, which, for the purposes of this solicitation, is broadly defined as principled approaches based on mathematics and logic to system modeling, specification, design, analysis, verification, and synthesis. The second group consists of researchers in the "field," which, for the purposes of this solicitation, is defined as a subset of areas within computer and information science and engineering that currently do not benefit from having established communities already developing and applying formal methods in their research. This solicitation limits the field to the following areas that stand to directly benefit from a grounding in formal methods: computer networks, distributed/operating systems, embedded systems, human centered computing, and machine learning. A proposal pursuing a different field area must make a strong case for why the field area of interest is one that does not currently benefit from formal methods but would be a strong candidate for inclusion as a field area. The FMitF program solicits two classes of proposals:

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 8, 2021

Sponsor Deadline: January 15, 2021

Award Amount: $250,000 - $850,000 per year. The FRHTP will be funded for an initial duration of five years. Three awards are expected in FY 2021.

 

Focused Research Hubs in Theoretical Physics (FRHTP) are designed to enhance significant breakthroughs at an intellectual frontier of physics by providing resources beyond those available to individual investigators, so as to promote a collaborative approach to a focused topic while promoting the preparation of scientists at the beginning of their independent scientific careers. Although interdisciplinary aspects may be included, the bulk of the effort must fall within the purview of the Division of Physics. The successful hub will demonstrate: (1) the potential to advance science; (2) the enhancement of the development of early career scientists; (3) creative, substantive activities aimed at enhancing education, diversity, and public outreach; (4) potential for broader impacts, e.g., impacts on other field(s) and benefits to society; (5) a synergy or value-added rationale that justifies a group approach. The proposal must present a compelling case that the FRHTP can achieve its scientific goals within a five-year time frame. The FRHTP is intended to support postdoctoral researchers and enable collaborative interactions via support for travel, collaboration meetings and workshops. The FRHTP are not intended to provide additional support for senior personnel (individual PIs), graduate or undergraduate students. Proposals may only be submitted in the specific topics listed in this solicitation, which define particular areas in theoretical physics in which the Division of Physics sees a need for a focused research hub. Future versions of this solicitation will allow response on different theoretical physics topics. It is expected that one award will be funded in each hub topic. The specific hub topics for this solicitation are:

Any one individual may be the PI or co-PI for only one proposal. It is strongly recommended that prospective PIs contact the FRHTP Program Officer(s) to ascertain that the focus and budget of their proposed FRHTP are appropriate for this solicitation.

• The Technology Translation (PFI-TT) track offers the opportunity to translate prior NSF-funded research results in any field of science or engineering into technological innovations with promising commercial potential and societal impact. Concurrently, students and postdoctoral researchers who participate in PFI-TT projects receive education and leadership training in innovation and entrepreneurship. Successful PFI-TT projects generate technology-driven commercialization outcomes that address societal needs.
• The Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) track seeks to achieve the same goals as the PFI-TT track by supporting instead complex, multi-faceted technology development projects that are typically beyond the scope of a single researcher or institution and require a multi-organizational, interdisciplinary, synergistic collaboration. Harvard is limited to submitting only one application to the Research Partnerships Track. The pre-proposal deadline for Research Partnerships Track has passed.

1. NSF-supported research results: The PI or a co-PI must have had an NSF award that ended no more than seven (7) years prior to the full proposal deadline date or be a current NSF award recipient. The proposed technology development project must be derived from the research results and/or discoveries from this underlying NSF award.

2. NSF-supported customer discovery results through the NSF I-Corps Teams Program: The PI or a co-PI must have been a member of an award under the NSF I-Corps Teams Program. The PI or co-PI must have fully completed the training provided under the I-Corps Team award within the past four (4) years. The customer discovery activities performed under the NSF-funded I-Corps award must be based on the technology that is proposed to be translated within the PFI proposal.

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline for Full Proposal (if invited): April 26, 2021

The purpose of this solicitation is to attract proposals that make use of the ISS National Lab for flight research projects in the field of biomedical engineering. Responsive proposals will describe how they will utilize the ISS National Lab to develop novel ideas into discovery-level and transformative projects that integrate engineering and life sciences. CASIS goals are to advance science research and technology development, expand human knowledge, inspire and educate the next generation, foster the commercial development of space, and demonstrate scientific capabilities in space for the benefit of life on Earth. Research at the interface of engineering and biomedical sciences in microgravity that advances both engineering and biomedical sciences for terrestrial benefit is solicited. The projects should focus on high impact transformative methods and technologies. Projects should include methods, models and enabling tools of understanding and controlling living systems; fundamental improvements in deriving information from cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems; or new approaches to the design of systems that include both living and non-living components. The long-term impact of the projects can be related to fundamental understanding of cell and tissue function in normal and pathological conditions, effective disease diagnosis and/or treatment, or improved health care delivery. Of particular interest to the NSF Engineering of Biomedical Systems (EBMS) program is fundamental and transformative research in the following areas of biomedical engineering:

Of particular interest to the NSF Biomechanics and Mechanobiology (BMMB) program is fundamental research in biomechanics and mechanobiology, including:

Innovative proposals outside of these specific interest areas may be considered. However, prior to submission, it is strongly recommended that the PI contact the Program Directors to avoid the possibility of the proposal being returned without review.

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission of a full proposal

Sponsor Deadline: Rolling; a Research Concept Outline (RCO) must be submitted to ENGUKRI@nsf.gov at least 60 days prior to the submission of a full proposal.

The Directorate for Engineering (ENG), Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET), the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI), and the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) of the National Science Foundation and the Engineering, ICT and Manufacturing the Future Themes of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are pleased to announce the ENG-EPSRC Lead Agency Opportunity. The goal of this opportunity is to reduce some of the barriers that researchers currently encounter when working internationally. The ENG-EPSRC Lead Agency Opportunity will allow US and UK researchers to submit a single collaborative proposal that will undergo a single review process.

Proposals will be accepted for collaborative research in areas at the intersection of CBET, CMMI, and/or ECCS with the EPSRC Engineering, ICT and/or Manufacturing the Future Themes. Proposers choose either NSF or EPSRC to serve as the "lead" agency to review their proposal. The non-lead agency will honor the rigor of the review process and the decision of the lead agency. For research teams that would like EPSRC to act as lead agency, please see the instructions here. Proposers should review the CBET, CMMI, and ECCS Program Descriptions for research supported through these divisions and the EPSRC website for further information on what areas of research are eligible for support through this activity. Proposals are expected to adhere to typical proposal budgets and durations for the relevant NSF programs and EPSRC Themes from which funding is sought.

Please Note: A Research Concept Outline (RCO) must be submitted to ENGUKRI@nsf.gov at least 60 days prior to the submission of a full proposal. A proposal that is submitted without a previously approved RCO will be returned without review (RWR).

• Advanced Manufacturing (AM) - Rolling
• Biomechanics and Mechanobiology (BMMB) - Rolling
• Biophotonics - Rolling
• Biosensing - Rolling
• Catalysis - Rolling
• Cellular and Biochemical Engineering (CBE) - Rolling
• Civil Infrastructure Systems (CIS) - Rolling
• Combustion and Fire Systems - Rolling
• Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems (CCSS) - Rolling
• Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering (DARE) - Rolling
• Dynamics, Control and Systems Diagnostics (DCSD) - Rolling
• Electrochemical Systems - Rolling
• Electronics, Photonics, and Magnetic Devices (EPMD) - Rolling
• Energy, Power, Control, and Networks (EPCN) - Rolling
• Engineering Design and System Engineering (EDSE) - Rolling
• Engineering for Civil Infrastructure (ECI) - Rolling
• Engineering of Biomedical Systems (EBMS) - Rolling
• Environmental Engineering - Rolling
• Environmental Sustainability - Rolling
• Fluid Dynamics - Rolling
• Humans, Disasters, and the Built Environment (HDBE) - Rolling
• Mechanics of Materials and Structures (MOMS) - Rolling
• Mind, Machine and Motor Nexus (M3X) - Rolling
• Operations Engineering (OE) - Rolling
• Particulate and Multiphase Processes - Rolling
• Process Systems, Reaction Engineering and Molecular Thermodynamics - Rolling
• Thermal Transport Processes - Rolling
• Re-entry to Active Research Program (RARE) - Rolling

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 4, 2021

Sponsor Deadline: January 11, 2021

Award Amount: up to $15M over 5 years (Full Scale Awards); up to $150,000 over 1 year (Planning Grants)

Sustainable regional systems (SRS) are connected urban and rural systems that are transforming their structures and processes collaboratively with the goal of measurably and equitably advancing the well-being of people and the planet. The purpose of the SRS RNs competition is to develop and support interdisciplinary, multi-organizational teams of investigators and stakeholders working collaboratively to produce cutting-edge convergent research, education, and outreach that addresses grand challenges in sustainable regional systems. SRS RNs will study multiscale regional systems to further SRS science, engineering, and education. Key elements will include new data, methods, and models to understand interactions between natural, human-built, and social systems; improved understanding of interdependencies, mutual benefits, and trade-offs of different wellbeing outcomes for humans and the environment; new and generalizable theories of change relevant to SRS; the co-production of knowledge; and exploration of concepts of social equity in sustainable regional systems across spatial and temporal scales. SRS RN outcomes will have the potential to inform societal actions for sustainability across urban systems and the connected rural communities that make up regional systems. Subject to availability of funds and quality of proposals, this SRS RN solicitation will support projects in the following categories:

 

NSF's Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR) Big Idea is a national-scale activity to enable new modes of data-driven discovery that will allow fundamental questions to be asked and answered at the frontiers of science and engineering. This solicitation will establish a group of HDR Institutes for data-intensive research in science and engineering that can accelerate discovery and innovation in a broad array of research domains. The HDR Institutes will lead innovation by harnessing diverse data sources and developing and applying new methodologies, technologies, and infrastructure for data management and analysis. The HDR Institutes will support convergence between science and engineering research communities as well as expertise in data science foundations, systems, applications, and cyberinfrastructure. In addition, the HDR Institutes will enable breakthroughs in science and engineering through collaborative, co-designed programs to formulate innovative data-intensive approaches to address critical national challenges.

DMREF is the primary program by which NSF participates in the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) for Global Competitiveness. MGI recognizes the importance of materials science and engineering to the well-being and advancement of society and aims to "deploy advanced materials at least twice as fast as possible today, at a fraction of the cost." MGI integrates materials discovery, development, property optimization, and systems design with a shared computational framework. This framework facilitates collaboration and coordination of research activities, analytical tools, experimental results, and critical evaluation in pursuit of the MGI goals. Consistent with the MGI Strategic Plan, DMREF highlights four sets of goals:

DMREF will accordingly support activities that significantly accelerate materials discovery and development by building the fundamental knowledge base needed to advance the design and development of materials with desirable properties or functionality. This will be accomplished through forming interdisciplinary teams of researchers working synergistically in a "closed loop" fashion, building a vibrant research community, leveraging data science, providing ready access to materials data, and educating the future MGI workforce. Achieving this goal could involve some combination of:

An academic career often does not provide the uninterrupted stretches of time necessary for acquiring and building new skills to enhance and advance one's research program. Mid-career scientists in particular are at a critical career stage where they need to advance their research programs to ensure long-term productivity and creativity but are often constrained by service, teaching, or other activities that limit the amount of time devoted to research. The MCA offers an opportunity for scientists and engineers at the Associate Professor rank (or equivalent) to substantively enhance and advance their research program through synergistic and mutually beneficial partnerships, typically at an institution other than their home institution. Projects that envision new insights on existing problems or identify new but related problems previously inaccessible without new methodology or expertise from other fields are encouraged. Partners from outside the PI's own sub-discipline or discipline are encouraged, but not required, to enhance interdisciplinary networking and convergence across science and engineering fields.

 

NSF's Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR) Big Idea is a national-scale activity to enable new modes of data-driven discovery that will allow fundamental questions to be asked and answered at the frontiers of science and engineering. In 2019, the HDR Big Idea launched three parallel efforts in pursuit of these aims: Institutes for Data-Intensive Research in Science and Engineering (I-DIRSE), HDR: Transdisciplinary Research In Principles Of Data Science Phase I (HDR TRIPODS Phase I), and Data Science Corps (DSC).

The Data Science Corps is one of the components of the HDR ecosystem enabling education and workforce development by focusing on building capacity for harnessing the data revolution at the local, state, and national levels to help unleash the power of data in the service of science and society. The Data Science Corps will provide practical experiences, teach new skills, and offer learning opportunities in different settings. This solicitation prompts the community to envision creative educational pathways that will transform data science education and expand the data science talent pool by enabling the participation of undergraduate and Master's degree students with diverse backgrounds, experiences, skills, and technical maturity in the Data Science Corps. These activities are envisioned to be inherently collaborative, with a lead organization and one or more collaborating organizations.

 

EarthCube is a community-driven activity sponsored through a partnership between the NSF Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) and the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) within the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) to transform research in the academic geosciences community. EarthCube aims to create a well-connected and facile environment to share data and knowledge in an open, transparent, and inclusive manner, thus accelerating our ability to understand and predict the Earth system. Achieving EarthCube will require a long-term dialog between NSF and the interested scientific communities to develop cyberinfrastructure that is thoughtfully and systematically built to meet the current and future requirements of geoscientists. New avenues will be supported to gather community requirements and priorities for the elements of EarthCube, and to capture the best technologies to meet these current and future needs. The EarthCube portfolio will consist of interconnected projects and activities that engage the geosciences, cyberinfrastructure, computer science, and associated communities. The portfolio of activities and funding opportunities will evolve over time depending on the status of the EarthCube effort and the scientific and cultural needs of the geosciences community.

Arctic temperatures are warming faster than nearly everywhere else on Earth, with some models projecting that continued warming could produce an ice-free Arctic Ocean in a few decades. The rapid and wide-scale changes occurring in response to this warming portend new opportunities and unprecedented risks to natural environments; social and cultural systems; economic, political and legal systems; and built environments of the Arctic and across the globe. Gaps in scientific observations and the prevalence of interdependent social, natural, and built systems in the Arctic make it challenging to predict the region's future. Understanding and adapting to a changing Arctic requires creative new directions for Arctic-related research, education, workforce development, and leveraging of science, engineering, and technology advances from outside the Arctic. Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) embodies an important forward-looking response by the Foundation to these profound challenges. NNA seeks innovations in fundamental convergence research across the social, natural, environmental, computing and information sciences, and engineering that address the interactions or connections among natural and built environments and social systems, and how these connections inform our understanding of Arctic change and its local and global effects.

This solicitation requests proposals that fall within one of three tracks: NNA Planning Grants, dedicated to developing convergence research questions and teams to tackle projects of larger scope in the future; NNA Research Grants, aimed to support creative projects on fundamental research that address convergent scientific and engineering challenges related to the rapidly changing Arctic; and NNA Collaboratory Grants, designed to support collaborative teams undertaking research and training initiatives on critical themes of a broad scope related to the New Arctic. This solicitation is the third of what is envisioned to be at least a five-year agency-wide program to support the research and dissemination of new knowledge needed to inform the economy, security, and resilience of the Nation, the larger Arctic region, and the globe with respect to Arctic change.