December 2020
This monthly newsletter has been created to assist FAS researchers across all domains who are looking for funding opportunities related to "Big Data". In response to the need for new conceptual and computational approaches for big data processing and storage, as well as the need for educational opportunities in this area for up and coming researchers, sponsors like NSF, DOD, DOE, NIH and private foundations are offering a growing number of funding opportunities for Big Data research and training programs.

This newsletter will be sent electronically each month. To receive this and other funding opportunity newsletters, please sign up here. All newsletters will be archived and recipients may unsubscribe at any time. In addition, you may access the Science Division Funding Spotlight here. Harvard affiliates also have access to Pivot, a funding opportunity database, and Harvard Link, a system developed by the Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning (VPAL) to provide personalized suggestions on research funding opportunities. 

Please Note: Due to the upcoming Winter Recess, if a proposal submission deadline falls during the week of January 4, 2021 through January 8, 2021, please email the OSP Proposal Submission Team to let them know that a proposal will need to be quickly turned around upon return from the break.

A Note from the Research Development Team: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our team will be working remotely. We are available to provide assistance via email, phone, or Zoom conferencing. As circumstances are evolving quickly, please also refer to our FAS RAS website and the OSP website for information about submitting proposals and managing your awards.

News and Resources
Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative Accepting Proposals for Research Grants
The Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative (HMUI) invites applications for grants to support research projects with an urban focus, ideally with an interdisciplinary approach. HMUI seeks proposals in three broad areas: 1. development of course-related materials; 2. research in archives and online data sets that will lead to publication; and 3. innovative strategies for disseminating knowledge. Projects can be conducted in Spring semester and/or Summer of 2021. Funding is limited to $2,500 per project. Proposals are due by January 4, 2021.

Harvard ComputeFest and Harvard DataFest 2021
Harvard ComputeFest, four days of advanced applied deep learning workshops led by Harvard's Institute for Applied Computational Science (IACS) researchers, students, alumni, and industry presenters, and Harvard DataFest, a data science bootcamp for Harvard affiliates, will be held remotely from January 19-22, 2021. ComputeFest registration is open to all and available here. Registration details for DataFest are accessible here.
The Mixed Methods Research Training Program (MMRTP) for the Health Sciences fulfills a national need for training in mixed methods and provides its scholars with access to webinars, resources, an in-person retreat to discuss their research project, and mixed methods expert consultants. The MMRTP Retreat will be held in the Summer of 2021. For successful applicants, most costs to attend the retreat (transport, meals, hotel) are covered by the program. The deadline for submission is January 19, 2021.

NSF has released a Request for Information (RFI) as it develops its strategic plan for 2022-2026. Specifically, NSF is looking for input on relevant emerging science and policy topics, how the agency can undergird the nation's global leadership in research and education, and how it can better articulate the impact of fundamental research on society. Comments to the RFI are due by January 22, 2021.

Funding Opportunities for Big Data

* Indicates a funding announcement that was updated or added to the newsletter this month. 
Social Science
 (Computer) Science and Engineering
Biomedical Science
Education and Training

Social Science
CRCEthicsinAI
Ethics in AI
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Award level is unspecified but research funds are to cover costs over one year associated with: graduate or post graduate student employment; limited release time (1-2 months) for the PI; research support costs (e.g., equipment, laptops, incidental costs); and travel associated with research (e.g., conferences, standards). Overhead is limited to 5%. Since this amount falls short of the 15% overhead required by FAS/SEAS policy, please discuss with your grants administrator before preparing an application.

Cisco is interested in several critical areas of research surrounding ethics in AI, including but not limited to the following:
  • Ensuring AI applications preserve privacy of individuals and their civil rights
  • Preventing AI systems from exhibiting and amplifying systemic biases
  • Providing a rational framework for reviewing how and why decisions are made
  • Ensuring AI systems (e.g., robots) maintain a healthy respect for humans
  • Providing guard-rails around Autonomous AI systems (e.g., self-driving cars)
  • Other potential ethical and societal concerns not covered by the above topics
TowCenterGrants
Call for Research Applications
Sponsor Deadline: January 11, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 4, 2021
Award Information: The amount of funding award depends widely on the scope, duration, and complexity of the research project -- there is no standard amount. Indirect costs are not allowed on these grants. Since this amount falls short of the 15% overhead required by FAS/SEAS policy, please discuss with your grants administrator before preparing an application.

The Tow Center, with generous funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, announces its 2021 call for proposals for rigorous research into emerging technology and trends impacting the news industry. The Center invites students, researchers, faculty, and practitioners in the fields of computer science and journalism to propose potential research projects that fall within its four areas of inquiry: 1) Computation, Algorithms, and Automated Journalism; 2) Data, Metrics, and Impact; 3) Audiences and Engagement; and 4) Experimental Journalism, Models, and Practice. This is a non-residential fellowship open to both Columbia and non-Columbia affiliates.

Funded research projects range from small to large in scope; a small project might comprise a few months of local field research and writing to produce a white paper on a specific topic at the forefront of the study and practice of digital journalism; a large project might comprise the design and implementation of a technology or process to then be tested and evaluated in an applied journalism context. Grants can cover essential research production and dissemination costs, i.e., data gathering expenses, research assistants, field work, software/web services, and travel costs. Stipends for research are awarded on a case-by-case basis and must abide by https://finance.columbia.edu/visa-type-payment-salary-eligibility. The Tow Center does not award salary or wages for research conducted.
NEHDigHumanitiesAdvancement
Digital Humanities Advancement Grants
Sponsor Deadlines: January 15, 2021; June 24, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: See below for details.
 
The Digital Humanities Advancement Grants program supports innovative, experimental, and/or computationally challenging digital projects at different stages of their lifecycles, from early start-up phases through implementation and sustainability. Experimentation, reuse, and extensibility are valued in this program, leading to work that can scale to enhance scholarly research, teaching, and public programming in the humanities. The program also supports scholarship that examines the history, criticism, and philosophy of digital culture or technology and its impact on society. Proposals are welcome in any area of the humanities from organizations of all types and sizes. 

Awards are available at three funding levels:
  • Level I awards (up to $50,000 and up to 24 months) support exploratory sessions, workshops, early alpha-level prototypes, and initial planning. In addition, Level I proposals can identify a problem or research question, explore a research agenda, or discover appropriate methodologies or technologies for both new projects and digital humanities projects in need of substantive revision or recovery.
  • Level II awards (from $50,001 to $100,000 and up to 24 months) support projects that have completed an initial planning phase. Level II proposals should include a well-defined plan of work leading to concrete and tangible outcomes, such as working prototypes or code, sample data sets or models, methodological workflows, and/or documentation.
  • Level III awards (from $100,001 to $325,000 and up to 36 months) support scaling-up and expansion of established projects. Level III projects must already have completed a start-up or prototyping phase prior to submitting an application, and must demonstrate project success, discuss targeted user communities, and offer strong plans for accessibility, dissemination beyond the applicant institution, and documentation based on user needs. Level III applicants may request an additional $50,000 in federal matching funds above the $325,000 ceiling to leverage external funding to support digital initiatives and ensure long-term sustainability of digital projects.
NSFDLIDEL
Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE)
NSF Dynamic Language Infrastructure - NEH Documenting Endangered Languages (DLI-DEL)
Sponsor Deadlines: February 15, 2021; September 15, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Up to $450,000 for up to 3 years

This funding partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) supports projects to develop and advance knowledge concerning dynamic language infrastructure in the context of endangered human languages-languages that are both understudied and at risk of falling out of use. Made urgent by the imminent loss of roughly half of the approximately 7,000 currently used languages, this effort aims to exploit advances in human-language technology to build computational infrastructure for endangered language research. The program supports projects that contribute to data management and archiving, and to the development of the next generation of researchers. Funding can support fieldwork and other activities relevant to the digital recording, documentation and analysis, and archiving of endangered language data, including the preparation of lexicons, grammars, text samples, and databases. Funding will be available in the form of one- to three-year senior research grants and conference proposals. Note: a conference proposal should generally be submitted at least a year in advance of the scheduled date of the conference.  Fellowship support will remain available but will be administered by NEH. https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/documenting-endangered-languages.

Principal Investigators (PIs) and Applicants for Fellowships (Applicants) may propose projects involving one or more of the following three emphasis areas:
  • Language Description
  • Infrastructure
  • Computational Methods 
An individual may be listed as a PI or co-PI on only one Senior Research proposal per Review Cycle. This limit does not apply to Conference/Workshop proposals. CAREER proposals that are submitted to DLI-DEL are reviewed during the Fall Review Cycle; a PI may not submit both a CAREER and a Senior Research proposal in the same cycle.
NSFSBEHNDS
Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE)
Human Networks and Data Science (HNDS)
Sponsor Deadlines: February 4, 2021 for Infrastructure proposals; Research proposals should be submitted through SBE disciplinary programs according to their particular deadlines 
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The HNDS-I track anticipates funding approximately 4 infrastructure projects. HNDS-R anticipates co-funding from 5 to 20 core research projects. HNDS-R proposals will be co-reviewed with other SBE programs. NSF anticipates a total of $8M will be available for all awards per year.

The Human Networks and Data Science program (HNDS) supports research that enhances understanding of human behavior and how humans interact with and are influenced by their environments by leveraging data science and network science research across a broad range of topics. HNDS research will identify ways in which dynamic, distributed, and heterogeneous data can provide novel answers to fundamental questions about individual and group behavior. HNDS is especially interested in proposals that provide data-rich insights about human networks to support improved health, prosperity, and security.

HNDS has two tracks:
  1. Human Networks and Data Science - Infrastructure (HNDS-I). Infrastructure proposals will address the development of data resources and relevant analytic techniques that support fundamental Social, Behavioral and Economic (SBE) research. Successful proposals will, within the financial resources provided by the award, construct user-friendly large-scale next-generation data resources and relevant analytic techniques and produce a finished product that will enable new types of data-intensive research. The databases or techniques should have significant impacts, either across multiple fields or within broad disciplinary areas, by enabling new types of data-intensive research in the SBE sciences.
  2. Human Networks and Data Science - Core Research (HNDS-R). Core research proposals will address theoretically motivated questions about the nature, causes, and/or consequences of human behavior (broadly defined) that occurs within contexts defined by the networks that determine the human experience, from the biological networks in the human body to the sociocultural, economic and geospatial networks that comprise human societies. HNDS-R proposals should be submitted through any primary disciplinary program within SBE and not to this solicitation. The HNDS-R program will co-review and co-fund projects with other SBE programs. A HNDS-R project should focus on a clearly articulated problem relevant to its core program. HNDS-R is interested in leveraging multi-scale, multi-level network data and techniques of network analysis to further theory development across the social sciences. Proposals that address human behavior within complex hierarchical network structures and/or that address problems involving nonlinear dynamics and network heterogeneity are particularly encouraged. Supported projects are expected to yield results that will enhance, expand, and transform theory and methods, and that generate novel understandings of human networks - particularly understandings that can improve the outcomes of significant societal opportunities and challenges. HNDS-R encourages core research proposals that make innovative use of NSF-supported data networks, data bases, centers, and other forms of scientific infrastructure including those developed by HNDS-I (formerly RIDIR) projects.
An individual may be listed as a PI or co-PI on only one HNDS-I proposal per year.
NSFSTS
Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE)
Science and Technology Studies (STS)
Sponsor Deadlines: February 2, 2021; August 3, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Varies by award type (see solicitation for complete details). Approximately $6,200,000 will be made available in FY 2020 to support an estimated 40 awards.

The Science and Technology Studies (STS) program supports research that uses historical, philosophical, and social scientific methods to investigate the intellectual, material, and social facets of the scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical (STEM) disciplines. It encompasses a broad spectrum of topics including interdisciplinary studies of ethics, equity, governance, and policy issues that are closely related to STEM disciplines. The STS program supports proposals across the broad spectrum of STS research areas, topics, and approaches, including, but not limited to studies of the societal aspects of an emerging technology such as artificial intelligence, robotics, big data analysis, neuroscience, synthetic biology, nanotechnology, and quantum technologies (computers, sensors, and encryption).

The STS program supports several distinct types of proposals in order to accommodate the diverse research needs of the STS community. Types of proposals include Standard Research Grants and Grants for Collaborative Research, Scholars Awards, Conference Support, and Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants. The STS Program also participates in Foundation-wide initiatives such as CAREER, ADVANCE, and Ethical and Responsible Research. Investigators may also wish to view the SBE Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (SMA) web site for additional funding opportunities.
NSFSciLearningAugIntel
Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE)
The Science of Learning and Augmented Intelligence Program (SL)
Sponsor Deadlines: January 20, 2021; July 14, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Unspecified

The Science of Learning and Augmented Intelligence Program (SL) supports potentially transformative research that develops basic theoretical insights and fundamental knowledge about principles, processes and mechanisms of learning, and about augmented intelligence - how human cognitive function can be augmented through interactions with others, contextual variations, and technological advances. The program supports research addressing learning in individuals and in groups, across a wide range of domains at one or more levels of analysis.
The program also supports research on augmented intelligence that clearly articulates principled ways in which human approaches to learning and related processes can be improved through interactions with others, and/or the use of artificial intelligence in technology. For both aspects of the program, there is special interest in collaborative and collective models of learning and/or intelligence that are supported by the unprecedented speed and scale of technological connectivity. 
  
Projects that are convergent and/or interdisciplinary may be especially valuable in advancing basic understanding of these areas, but research within a single discipline or methodology is also appropriate. Connections between proposed research and specific technological, educational, and workforce applications will be considered as valuable broader impacts but are not necessarily central to the intellectual merit of proposed research. The program supports a variety of approaches including: experiments, field studies, surveys, computational modeling, and artificial intelligence/machine learning methods.

Research questions of interest include: What concepts, tools (including Big Data, machine learning, and other computational models), or questions will provide the most productive linkages across levels of analysis, elating understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms of learning in the neurons to circuit and systems-level computations of learning in the brain, to cognitive, affective, social, and behavioral processes of learning?
(Computer) Science & Engineering
AWSCloudCredits
AWS Cloud Credits for Research
Sponsor Deadlines: March 31, 2021; June 30, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Awarded amounts will vary depending on the research proposal and usage requirements documented in the proposal, and will be in the form of promotional credits applicable to AWS services. The credits can be used for up to one year.
 
The AWS Cloud Credits for Research Program (formerly AWS Research Grants) supports researchers who seek to:
  1. Build cloud-hosted publicly available science-as-a-service applications, software, or tools to facilitate their future research and the research of their community. 
  2. Perform proof of concept or benchmark tests evaluating the efficacy of moving research workloads or open data sets to the cloud. 
  3. Train a broader community on the usage of cloud for research workloads via workshops or tutorials.
DOCNIST
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Measurement Science and Engineering (MSE) Research Grants Program
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: In FY 2020, the ITL anticipates funding individual projects in the $10,000-$500,000 per year range and with project performance periods of up to 5 years. The MML anticipates funding individual projects in the $5,000-$12M per year range and with project performance periods of up to 5 years.

NIST's Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) Grant Program provides financial assistance to support the conduct of research or a recipient's portion of collaborative research consistent with the ITL's missions to support research in the following fields: Advanced Network Technologies, Applied and Computational Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Biometrics, Cloud Computing, Cyber-Physical Systems, Cybersecurity, Forensic Science, Health Information Technology, Human Factors and Usability, Information Access, Information Processing and Understanding, Internet of Things (IoT), Metrology Infrastructure for Modeling and Simulation, Privacy Engineering, and Statistics for Metrology. See http://www.nist.gov/itl/ for more information about ITL. Financial support may be provided to attend education and outreach programs, conferences, workshops, or other technical research meetings that are relevant to the mission of the ITL. Financial support may also be provided to organizations sponsoring conferences, workshops, or other technical events that are relevant to the mission of the ITL. However, NIST cannot be an official sponsor or cosponsor for any event funded through this program.

NIST's Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) supports the NIST mission by serving as the national reference laboratory for measurements in the chemical, biological, and material sciences. MML's Office of Data and Informatics (ODI) supports researchers and institutions in the biological, chemical, and materials sciences who need to leverage both large and information-rich data sets now common in many disciplines. The ODI supports MML research programs where advanced manipulation, visualization, and analysis of large data sets are needed to advance knowledge. The ODI also identifies, coordinates, integrates, and builds the capabilities needed to meet data challenges and leverage data-driven research opportunities (including Big Data and data.gov), particularly those that relate to the biological, chemical, and materials science communities within the MML.
DODASFOR
United States Department of Defense (DoD)
Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Broad Agency Announcements: Research Grants and Conference & Workshop Support
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (current BAAs are active until superseded)
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission 
Award Information: Research proposals budgeting between $100,000 and $300,000 per year are encouraged. Most awards are 3 years in duration, and may not exceed 5 years. Conference and workshop grants up to $1M are also available. AFOSR commits the bulk of its funding by the fall of each year.

AFOSR's focus is on research areas that offer significant and comprehensive benefits to our national warfighting and peacekeeping capabilities. These areas are organized and managed in two scientific Branches: Engineering and Information Sciences (RTA), and Physical and Biological Sciences (RTB). Of interest to the Big Data community, the Information and Networks Team within the Engineering and Information Science Branch is organized to support many U.S. Air Force priority areas including autonomy, space situational awareness, and cyber security. The research programs within this team lead the discovery and development of foundational issues in mathematical, information and network oriented sciences. They are organized along three themes: Information, Decision Making, and Networks. The information theme addresses the critical challenges faced by the U.S. Air Force which lie at the intersection of the ability to collect, mathematically analyze, and disseminate large quantities of information in a time critical fashion with assurances of operation and security. Closely aligned with the mathematical analysis of information is the need for autonomous decision making. Research in this theme focuses on the discovery of mathematical laws, foundational scientific principles, and new, reliable and robust algorithms, which underlie intelligent, mixed human-machine decision-making to achieve accurate real-time projection of expertise and knowledge into and out of the battle space. Information analysis and decision making rarely occur in the context of a single source. The networks theme addresses critical issues involving how the organization and interaction among large collections of information providers and consumers contributes to an understanding of the dynamics of complex information systems.

In addition to research grants, AFOSR also provides partial support for conferences and workshops in areas of science that bring experts together to discuss recent research or educational findings, or to expose other researchers or advanced graduate students to new research and educational techniques in its areas of research interest. Proposals must be submitted at least 6 months prior to the conference or workshop start date to be considered.
DoDARLBAA2017to2022
Army Research Laboratory (ARL)
Broad Agency Announcement for Basic and Applied Scientific Research for Fiscal Years 2017 through 2022
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (current BAA is active until March 31, 2022 or until superseded)
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: There are no specific funding restrictions associated with this BAA (e.g. direct costs, indirect costs, etc.). 

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is the Department of the Army's corporate laboratory and sole fundamental research laboratory. The ARL BAA identifies topics of interest to the ARL Directorates (Computational and Information Sciences Directorate, Human Research and Engineering Directorate, Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate, Survivability/Lethality Analysis Directorate, Vehicle and Technology Directorate, and Weapons and Materials Research Directorate). The Directorates focus on executing in-house research programs, with a significant emphasis on collaborative research with other organizations in an Open Campus setting. The Directorates fund a modest amount of extramural research in certain specific areas, and those areas are described in this BAA.

The ARL BAA seeks proposals from institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, foreign organizations, foreign public entities, and for-profit organizations (i.e. large and small businesses) for research based on the following S&T campaigns: Computational Sciences, Materials Research, Sciences for Maneuver, Information Sciences, Sciences for Lethality and Protection, Human Sciences, and Assessment and Analysis. Please see the BAA for a more detailed description of these topic areas. Proposals are sought for cutting-edge innovative research that could produce discoveries with a significant impact to enable new and improved Army technologies and related operational capabilities and related technologies. The specific research areas and topics of interest should be viewed as suggestive, rather than limiting. 
DoDAROBAA2017to2022
Army Research Office (ARO)
Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Fundamental Research for Fiscal Years 2017 through 2022
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (current BAA is active until March 31, 2022 or until superseded)
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: There are no specific funding restrictions associated with this BAA (e.g. direct costs, indirect costs, etc.). ARO prefers proposals to cover a 3-year period. 

The purpose of this BAA is to solicit research proposals in the engineering, physical, life, and information sciences for submission to the Army Research Office (ARO) for consideration for possible funding. ARO is focused exclusively on extramural basic research, and is responsible for the vast majority of ARL's extramural research programs and funding.

Proposals are sought from institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, foreign organizations, foreign public entities, and for-profit organizations (i.e. large and small businesses) for scientific research in mechanical sciences, mathematical sciences, electronics, computing science, physics, chemistry, life sciences, materials science, network science, and environmental sciences.

In addition to standard research grants, the following funding mechanisms are available: 
  1. Short-Term Innovative Research (STIR) Program: Grants of $60k or less to support rapid, short-term investigations to assess the merit of innovative new concepts in basic research. 
  2. Early Career Program (ECP): To attract outstanding early career university faculty members to pursue fundamental research in areas relevant to the Army. This program is open to U.S. citizens, U.S. Nationals, and Permanent Resident Aliens who have held a tenure-track position at a U.S. institution of higher education for fewer than five years at the time of application. Proposals may be submitted at any time. ECP awards will not exceed $120,000 per year for three years. 
  3. Research Instrumentation: To improve the capabilities of U.S. institutions of higher education to conduct research and educate scientists and engineers in areas important to national defense. Of the funds available to support ARO mission research described in this BAA, funds may be provided to purchase instrumentation in support of this research or in the development of new research capabilities.
  4. Conference and Symposia Grants: In areas of science that bring experts together to discuss recent research or educational findings or to expose other researchers or advanced graduate students to new research and educational techniques.
  5. High School Apprenticeship Program (HSAP)/Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP): The HSAP funds the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) apprenticeship of promising high school juniors and seniors to work in a university structured research environment under the direction of ARO sponsored PIs serving as mentors. The URAP provides similar opportunities for undergraduate students. Awards will be made as add-ons to research grants, Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURIs), University-Affiliated Research Contracts (UARCs), and cooperative agreements that have at least 12 months period of performance remaining from the date of HSAP/URAP proposal submission. Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis.
DoDDARPADSOBAA
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
Defense Sciences Office (DSO) Broad Agency Announcement
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling through June 11, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The level of funding for individual awards made available under this BAA has not been predetermined and will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. Multiple awards are anticipated. 
 
The mission of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is to identify and create the next generation of scientific discovery by pursuing high-risk, high-payoff research initiatives across a broad spectrum of science and engineering disciplines and transforming these initiatives into disruptive technologies for U.S. national security. In support of this mission, the DSO Office-wide BAA invites proposers to submit innovative basic or applied research concepts that address one of several technical thrust areas: (1) Frontiers in Math, Computation and Design, (2) Limits of Sensing and Sensors, (3) Complex Social Systems, and (4) Anticipating Surprise.

Prior to submitting a full proposal, proposers are strongly encouraged to first submit an executive summary and/or abstract. This process allows a proposer to ascertain whether the proposed concept is: (1) applicable to the DSO Office-wide BAA and (2) currently of interest.
DARPAI2O
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
Information Innovation Office (I2O) Broad Agency Announcement
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling through October 28, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The level of funding for individual awards made available under this BAA has not been predetermined and will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. Multiple awards are anticipated. 
 
The mission of the Information Innovation Office (I2O) is to ensure enduring advantage for the U.S. and its allies across a broad range of information technologies through the advancement of core technical foundations as well as the design of novel application concepts based on these foundations. I2O's core technical work ranges from artificial intelligence and data analysis to secure engineering and formal methods. Building on its core technical work, I2O programs also focus on overcoming technical challenges in bringing these technologies to the mission, addressing topics such as network security, cyber and multi-domain operations, human-system interaction, and assured autonomy. I2O programs are organized into four thrust areas: 1) proficient artificial intelligence (AI); 2) advantage in cyber operations; 3) confidence in the information domain; and 4) resilient, adaptable, and secure systems. I2O may also consider submissions outside these thrust areas if the proposal involves the development of novel software-based capabilities having a promise to provide decisive information advantage for the U.S. and its allies. I2O seeks unconventional software-based approaches that are outside the mainstream, challenge accepted assumptions, and have the potential to radically change established practice. Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in software science, technology, or systems. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of the art.

This BAA seeks revolutionary research ideas for topics not being addressed by ongoing I2O programs or other published solicitations. Potential proposers are highly encouraged to review the current I2O programs (http://www.darpa.mil/about-us/offices/i2o) and solicitations (http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities) to avoid proposing efforts that duplicate existing activities or that are responsive to other published I2O solicitations. Submission of abstracts in advance of full proposals is strongly encouraged to ascertain I2O interest in the proposed effort.
NGIA2018
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Academic Research Program (NARP)
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (current BAA is active until December 31, 2021)
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Varies by award type 
 
The NGA Academic Research Program (NARP) is focused on innovative, far-reaching basic and applied research having the potential to advance the geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) mission. The support for high-payoff research provides the basis for revolutionary progress in areas of science and technology affecting the needs and mission of NGA and the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG), which is the combination of technology, systems and organizations that gather, produce, distribute and consume geospatial data and information.

General areas of research can include massive data and data science.
  
NAWCADBAA
Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD)
NAWCAD Office-wide Broad Agency Announcement for Projects in Support of Naval Aviation
Sponsor Deadline for Phase I White Papers (required): Rolling (current BAA is active until June 3, 2021)
Sponsor Deadline for Phase II Full Proposals (if invited): TBA
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The funded amount and period of performance of each proposal selected for award may vary depending on the research area and the technical approach to be pursued by the proposers selected. Multiple awards are anticipated. 
 
The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) is interested in receiving proposals for research and development projects which offer potential for advancement and improvement of NAWCAD operations. NAWCAD has identified the research needed to address the challenges, problems, and future technology needs of the Warfighter. Research Opportunity Areas of Interest include:
  • Research and Intelligence. Areas of research include but are not limited to the following: autonomous behaviors, big data workflow, machine learning (ML)/deep learning (DL), AI enabling technologies, quantum technologies, optics research & fabrication and chemical detection.
  • Modeling and Simulation. Areas of research include but are not limited to the following: weapon training systems, parallel computing, virtual environments, tactical decision-making, training technologies, multi-discipline simulation methodology development, constructive modeling and simulation, verification, and validation. 
  • Data Analysis. Areas of research include but are not limited to predictive modeling algorithms, large-scale big data environments, data access, storage and retrieval, and data visualization techniques. 
  • Cyber. Areas of research may include but are not limited to applied cryptology, behavioral analysis, intrusion, simulation and interface research.
DoDONRFY21
United States Department of Defense (DoD)
Office of Naval Research (ONR)
FY21 Long Range Broad Agency Announcement for Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (current BAA is active until September 30, 2021 or until superseded)
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The funded amount and period of performance of each proposal selected for award may vary depending on the technology area and the technical approach to be pursued by the offeror selected. 

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is interested in receiving proposals for Long-Range Science and Technology (S&T) Projects which offer potential for advancement and improvement of Navy and Marine Corps operations. For purposes of this BAA, S&T includes activities involving basic research, applied research, advanced technology development, and, under certain conditions, may include activities involving advanced component development and prototypes. Information about ONR's areas of interest is provided on the ONR website.    
Areas of interest related to big data include: 
  • Applied and Computational Analysis
  • Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning for Photonics, Power & Energy, Atmospherics, and Quantum Science
  • Computational Methods for Decision Making
  • Computational Neuroscience
  • Machine Learning, Reasoning and Intelligence
  • Mathematical Data Science
  • Social Networks and Computational Social Science 
Prior to preparing proposals, potential offerors are strongly encouraged to contact the ONR point of contact (POC) identified for each technology area. Offerors should consult the cognizant ONR Program Officer regarding the desirability of White Paper submissions.
DoDUSAFA
United States Department of Defense (DoD)*
U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA)
Research Interests of the U.S. Air Force Academy
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (current BAA is active until superseded)
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The amount and period of performance of each selected white paper/proposal may vary depending on the research area and the technical approach to be pursued by the selected Offeror. It is anticipated that the cumulative amount for awards issued under this BAA will not exceed $99M dollars. Awards may be proposed for up to five years.

The USAFA invests in an active research program in order to: 1) enhance the cadet learning experience; 2) provide opportunities essential for faculty development; and 3) to enhance the ability of the Air Force to perform its mission. This BAA offers a vehicle for research to be performed to satisfy these three objectives, while also meeting research needs of industry counterparts/serve a public purpose. USAFA's partnerships with non-Government firms enables development in the public arena, stimulating the studies in the greater technical community. 
Centers and Institutes at USAFA interested in topics related to big data include:
  • The Academy Center for Cyberspace Research (ACCR), which conducts research in a wide range of areas within the fields of Computer and Cyber Science in support of the AF, DoD and other government and commercial sponsors. ACCR has four primary research focus areas: system security analysis, immersive environments (augmented and virtual reality), artificial intelligence and autonomy, and big-data analytics.
  • The Space Physics and Atmospheric Research Center (SPARC) studies the natural environment from the troposphere to the sun in support of AF, DoD, NASA, NSF and other government and commercial sponsors. Substantial effort in this center is directed toward the solution of multidisciplinary problems which may require skills beyond classical physics disciplines, including plasma and laser physics, advanced miniaturization techniques, use of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, development of miniaturized automated satellite constellations and advanced data mining techniques for large data systems.
  • The vision of the Institute for Information Technology Applications (IITA) is to serve as a renowned Air Force research institute for operational and educational information technology application. The IITA seeks proposals in the following relevant areas of research: AI/Machine Learning; Human and Robot Teaming; Air and Ground Robotic Autonomy; Counter-UAS technology; RF datalink mitigation; Data Integration; Visualization; and Trust and Autonomy.
White papers are reviewed and evaluated as they are received and may be submitted at any time. Proposals will be due according to specific instructions contained in a separate RFP notice resulting from favorable white paper evaluations or calls issued against this BAA.
DOEOfficeofScienceFY17
Office of Science (SC)
FY 2021 Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (current solicitation is active until September 30, 2021 or until superseded)
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Awards in FY20 ranged from $5,000/year to $5M/year. It is anticipated that approximately $250M will be available for DOE Office of Science new, renewal, and supplemental grants and cooperative agreements, and inter-agency agreements under this FOA in FY21. Approximately 200-350 new awards will be funded. Awards are expected to be made for a project period of 6 months to 5 years as befitting the project, with the most common project period being 3 years in duration. 

Through this FOA, the Department of Energy (DOE)'s Office of Science (SC) announces its continuing interest in receiving grant applications for support of work in the following program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Isotope R&D and Production, and Accelerator R&D and Production.
 
Most relevant to big data is the Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program. Its mission is to advance applied mathematics and computer science; deliver the most sophisticated computational scientific applications in partnership with disciplinary science; advance computing and networking capabilities; and develop future generations of computing hardware and software tools for science and engineering, in partnership with the research community, including U.S. industry. The strategy to accomplish this has two thrusts: developing and maintaining world-class computing and network facilities for science; and advancing research in applied mathematics, computer science and advanced networking.
 
The priority areas for ASCR include the following:
  1. Develop mathematical models, methods and algorithms to accurately describe and predict the behavior of complex systems involving processes that span vastly different time and/or length scales.
  2. Advance key areas of computer science that enable the design and development of extreme scale computing systems and their effective use in the path to scientific discoveries; and transform extreme scale data from experiments and simulations into scientific insight.
  3. Advance key areas of computational science and discovery that support the missions of the Office of Science through mutually beneficial partnerships.
  4. Develop and deliver forefront computational, networking and collaboration tools and facilities that enable scientists worldwide to work together to extend the frontiers of science.
Please note that pre-applications are optional yet encouraged.
DOENDIAWG
Office of Science (SC)
Nuclear Data Interagency Working Group (NDIAWG) Research Program
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (required): January 7, 2021
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: March 8, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: March 1, 2021
Award Information: $150,000-$1M per year for 3 years, typically less than $500,000 per year, with a median award size between $250,000 per year and $350,000 per year. DOE anticipates making 3-20 awards.

The DOE SC program in Nuclear Physics (NP), the DOE SC Isotopes Program (IP), and the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (NA-22) hereby announce their interest in receiving applications to the Nuclear Data Interagency Working Group/Research program for research projects intended to answer nuclear data questions of interest to the research communities supported by those programs and offices.

NP has three goals in this FOA: 1) to improve the effectiveness of U.S. Nuclear Data Program (USNDP) databases in addressing the needs of the broad community of nuclear data users; 2) to identify and award multi-use and high-impact proposals associated with nuclear data that cover more than one scientific or engineering discipline; and 3) to address nuclear data needs of special interest to NP-supported researchers.
DOESciDACBES
Office of Science (SC)
Scientific Discovery Through Advanced Computing (SciDAC): Partnerships in Basic Energy Sciences
Sponsor Deadline for Pre-Applications (required): January 19, 2021
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals (if invited): April 6, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: $1M-$2M per year for 4 years. DOE anticipates a total of up to $32M in current and future fiscal year funds will be used to support awards under this FOA. 

The DOE SC programs in Basic Energy Sciences (BES) and Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) announce their interest in receiving applications from interdisciplinary teams to establish Partnerships under the SC-wide Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) program in specific targeted topic areas that relate to the BES and ASCR missions. 

SciDAC will support interdisciplinary teams to establish partnerships between domain scientists - in the fields of materials science, condensed matter physics, chemical sciences, geosciences, and energy-related biosciences - and applied mathematicians and/or computer scientists to overcome barriers between these disciplines. The integrated teams will engage with the SciDAC Institutes and allow full use of DOE HPC computing capabilities. Two topical areas of interest will be targeted:
  • Quantum Phenomena of many-particle systems driven far from equilibrium. Applications are sought that drive and manipulate quantum effects such as coherence, entanglement, and novel states of matter by going beyond the use of existing quantum-based methods in their traditional regimes.
  • Predictive Control of Reaction Pathways for chemical mechanisms in complex nonequilibrium and field-driven environments important in synthesis of materials and chemicals, and deconstruction of macromolecular structures such as plastics for polymer upcycling.
Efforts aimed at extending currently attainable length/time scales or increasing complexity and that algorithmically match efficiency enhancements offered by next generation computers will receive priority.

An individual is limited to be named as the Lead PI on no more than 1 submission. Individual senior investigators are strongly encouraged not to participate on more than 2 submissions.

Please note that organizations are limited to submitting 2 pre-applications and applications as the lead institution in response to this FOA. If you are interested in applying, please contact Erin Hale in FAS Research Development at erin_hale@fas.harvard.edu.
GoodAI
GoodAI Grants
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The expected duration of the projects is between 12 and 24 months. A total of $300,000 is currently available to fund grants. To date, one award has been made for $24,000.
 
GoodAI is awarding grants to research projects that push the boundaries of modern artificial intelligence. GoodAI's long-term goal is to build general AI that will automate cognitive processes in science, technology, business, and other fields. It believes that big picture thinking and a grass-roots collaborative effort are key for achieving this ambitious goal. Through its grants program, GoodAI shares its vision of a roadmap towards general AI and invites researchers across the world to tackle the key milestones together with them. Grants are open to individuals and groups of individuals based in any country. Applicants can be independent researchers or be affiliated to universities, non-profits, or businesses. 

The grant money is being awarded to researchers or research groups for work that can build on and improve Badger architecture. Areas of interest include: Modular Meta-Learning; Meta-Learning; Open-Endedness; Learned Optimizers; Program Composition and Synthesis; Optimization in Modular Systems; Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning; Graph Neural Networks; and Learned Communication.
MicrosoftAIforAccessibility
AI for Accessibility Grants
Sponsor Deadlines: March 12, 2021; July 30, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Azure compute credits worth $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000 plus grant funds to cover costs related to collecting or labeling data, developing models, or other engineering-related work. These are one-year grants.
 
AI for Accessibility amplifies human capability through grants, investments of technology, and expertise. Microsoft is looking for individuals or teams who are not only passionate about making the world more inclusive, but also firmly rooted in the communities they intend to benefit. Microsoft wants to invest in ideas that are developed by or with people with disabilities. This program currently focuses on three main challenges: Employment; Daily Life; and Communication and Connection.

Applications are accepted in specific areas of interest for each deadline:
  • March 12, 2021 - Education
  • July 30, 2021 - Open Call
MicrosfotAIEarth
AI for Earth Grants
Sponsor Deadlines: April 5, 2021; July 5, 2021; October 4, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Azure compute credits worth $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000.
 
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.
NRCRAP
NRC Research Associateship Programs
Sponsor Deadlines: February 1, 2021; May 1, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: Review not required for awards made directly to individuals
Award Information: NRC Research Associates receive annual stipends ranging from $45,000 to $80,000 for recent doctoral recipients and are proportionally higher for Senior Associates. In addition, the NRC Research Associateship Programs provide health insurance, relocation benefits, and an allowance for professional travel. The host laboratory provides research facilities, equipment and funding for supplies to support the Associate's research. Awards are for up to 12 months (Summer Faculty awards are for 8-14 weeks), with the possibility of extension through a second or third year.
   
The NRC Research Associateship Programs (RAP) promote excellence in scientific and technological research conducted by the U.S. government through the administration of programs offering graduate, postdoctoral, and senior level research opportunities at sponsoring federal laboratories and affiliated institutions. In the NRC Research Associateship Programs, prospective applicants select a research project or projects from among a large group of Research Opportunities. Prior to completing an application, prospective applicants should contact the Research Adviser listed with the selected Research Opportunity(ies) to assure that funding will be available if the application is recommended by NRC Research Associateship Programs panels.
 
Prospective applicants should carefully read the details and eligibility of the program to which they are applying. Some laboratories have citizenship restrictions (open only to U.S. citizens and permanent residents), and some laboratories have Research Opportunities that are not open to senior applicants (more than 5 years beyond the Ph.D.). When searching for Research Opportunities, applicants may limit their search to only those laboratories which match their eligibility criteria. In addition, applicants should note application deadlines, as not all laboratories participate in all reviews.
NSFATD
National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA)
Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS)
Algorithms for Threat Detection (ATD)
Sponsor Deadline: February 17, 2021 
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 9, 2021
Award Information: Total anticipated funding amount is $3M annually to support 10-20 awards. 
 
The Algorithms for Threat Detection (ATD) program will support research projects to develop the next generation of mathematical and statistical algorithms for analysis of large spatiotemporal datasets with application to quantitative models of human dynamics. The program is a partnership between the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA).

The ATD program will support research projects in two topical areas:
  1. Projects that aim to develop novel mathematical and statistical algorithms for analysis of large geospatial datasets.
  2. Projects that develop mathematical theory to guide the use of artificial neural networks (ANN) for computer vision tasks.
NSFCC
Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CC*)
Sponsor Deadlines: March 1, 2021; October 11, 2021 
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: See below for details
 
The Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CC*) program invests in coordinated campus-level networking and cyberinfrastructure improvements, innovation, integration, and engineering for science applications and distributed research projects. Learning and workforce development (LWD) in cyberinfrastructure is explicitly addressed in the program. Science-driven requirements are the primary motivation for any proposed activity.

Program area (1) continues to address science-driven needs in data networking intra-campus, and externally. Area (2) repeats that core theme of networking improvements, with a specific emphasis on supporting the needs of multiple under-resourced campuses through partnerships with regional entities and small institutions with experience in high-performance Research & Education (R&E) networking. Area (3) goes beyond networking infrastructure investments in areas (1) and (2) by leveraging the campus network as a compelling environment on which to develop and deploy new networking capabilities reflecting applied research and development in networking. Area (4) builds on the networking capability foundation established in the first three areas. It recognizes both the research computing needs at a campus level, and the largely untapped potential to share unused compute cycles and resources across the entire academic fabric of highly connected and increasingly resourced campuses. Areas (3) and (4) reflect NSF's goal of democratization and broadening participation in scientific networking and computing. Area (5) supports planning and coordination, in part reflecting the challenges for institutions that presently do not participate in the R&E network fabric and community.

Each program area will support awards pursuant to the following budget and duration:
  1. Data-Driven Networking Infrastructure for the Campus and Researcher awards will be supported at up to $500,000 total for up to 2 years;
  2. Regional Connectivity for Small Institutions of Higher Education awards will be supported at up to $1,000,000 total for up to 2 years;
  3. Network Integration and Applied Innovation awards will be supported at up to $1,000,000 total for up to 2 years [in some cases these awards are limited to $500,000 total];
  4. Campus Computing and the Computing Continuum awards will be supported at up to $400,000 total for up to 2 years; and
  5. Planning Grants and CI-Research Alignment awards will be supported for up to $200,000 total for up to two years [in some cases, these awards are limited to $100,000 total].
Current and past awardees in program area (1) Data-Driven Networking Infrastructure for the Campus and Researcher are not eligible to apply to this program area. Any proposal received for program area (1) from an organization having already received an award in this area will be returned without review.
NSFCRCNS
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS)
Sponsor Deadlines: November 23, 2021; November 22, 2022 
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: CRCNS award sizes have typically ranged from approximately $100,000 to $250,000 per year in combined direct costs (summed over all CRCNS-funded components of the project, inside and outside of the United States), with durations of 3-5 years. Proposers contemplating multilateral projects with higher budget requirements are advised to consult in advance with the CRCNS Program Coordinator-NSF. 20-25 awards are anticipated each year.
 
Through the CRCNS program, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Department of Energy (DOE); the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF); the French National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ANR); the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF); Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT); and Spain's State Research Agency (Agencia Estatal de Investigación, AEI) and National Institute of Health Carlos III (Instituto de Salud Carlos III, ISCIII) support collaborative activities that will advance the understanding of nervous system structure and function, mechanisms underlying nervous system disorders, and computational strategies used by the nervous system.
 
Two classes of proposals will be considered in response to this solicitation:
  • Research Proposals describing collaborative research projects, and
  • Data Sharing Proposals to enable sharing of data and other resources.
Domestic and international projects will be considered. As detailed in the solicitation, international components of collaborative projects may be funded in parallel by the participating agencies. Specific CRCNS opportunities for parallel funding are available for bilateral US-German Research Proposals, US-German Data Sharing Proposals, US-French Research Proposals, US-French Data Sharing Proposals, US-Israeli Research Proposals, US-Israeli Data Sharing Proposals, US-Japanese Research Proposals, US-Japanese Data Sharing Proposals, US-Spanish Research Proposals, US-Spanish Data Sharing Proposals, and multilateral proposals involving the United States and two or more CRCNS partner countries.
 
Appropriate scientific areas of investigations may be related to the interests of any of the participating funding organizations. Questions concerning a particular project's focus, direction, and relevance to a participating funding organization should be addressed to the appropriate person in the list of agency contacts found in the solicitation.
 
NSF will coordinate and manage the review of proposals jointly with participating domestic and foreign funding organizations, through a joint panel review process used by all participating funders. 
 
Community-driven efforts such as workshops or synthesis papers are also encouraged, to map out new frontiers at the interface of neuroscience and other disciplines that could reshape brain research and its applications.
 
In response to this solicitation, an investigator may participate as PI or co-PI in no more than two proposals per review cycle.
NSFCDSEMSS
Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS)
Computational and Data-Enabled Science and Engineering in Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (CDS&E-MSS)
Sponsor Full Proposal Window: September 1-15, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Unspecified

The CDS&E-MSS program accepts proposals that engage with the mathematical and statistical challenges presented by (1) the ever-expanding role of computational experimentation, modeling, and simulation on the one hand, and (2) the explosion in production and analysis of digital data from experimental and observational sources on the other. The goal of the program is to promote the creation and development of the next generation of mathematical and statistical software tools, and the theory underpinning those tools, that will be essential for addressing these challenges.

The research supported by the CDS&E-MSS program will aim to advance mathematics or statistics in a significant way and will address computational or big-data challenges. Proposals of interest to the program must include a Principal Investigator or co-Principal Investigator who is a researcher in an area supported by the Division of Mathematical Sciences. The program welcomes submission of proposals that include multidisciplinary collaborations or provide opportunities for training through research involvement of junior mathematicians or statisticians. This program is part of the wider NSF Computational and Data-enabled Science and Engineering (CDS&E) enterprise.
NSFCISECorePrograms
Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE): Core Programs
Sponsor Full Proposal Windows: Rolling through September 30, 2021 for Small Proposals; Deadline has passed for Medium Proposals and OAC Core Projects
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Awards are available in three project classes. Small Projects will be awarded up to $500,000 in total budget with durations up to 3 years, and projects in this class may be submitted to CCF, CNS, and IIS. Medium Projects will be awarded from $500,001 to $1.2M in total budget with durations up to 4 years, and projects in this class may be submitted to CCF, CNS, and IIS only. OAC Core Projects will be made up to $500,000 in total budget with durations up to 3 years, and projects in this class may be submitted to OAC only.
 
The NSF CISE Directorate supports research and education projects that develop new knowledge in all aspects of computing, communications, and information science and engineering, as well as advanced cyberinfrastructure, through the following core programs:
  • Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF):
    • Algorithmic Foundations (AF) program;
    • Communications and Information Foundations (CIF) program;
    • Foundations of Emerging Technologies (FET) program; and
    • Software and Hardware Foundations (SHF) program.
  • Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS):
    • CNS Core (CNS Core) program.
  • Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS):
    • Human-Centered Computing (HCC) program (formerly the Cyber-Human Systems [CHS] program);
    • Information Integration and Informatics (III) program; and
    • Robust Intelligence (RI) program.
  • Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC):
    • OAC Core Research (OAC Core) program.
Please note, proposals for the Small project class can now be submitted anytime beginning October 1st, 2020 - there are no deadlines for submission (see this Dear Colleague Letter and list of FAQs for more information). There continue to be deadlines for the Medium project class as well as the OAC Core project class. Large project class submissions will not be accepted in response to this solicitation; the CNS Core program will accept these in alternate years. Individuals may participate as PI, co-PI or senior personnel in no more than two core proposals submitted during any 12-month period, starting with the publication of NSF 20-591.
NSFCRII
Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Research Initiation Initiative (CRII)
Sponsor Deadline: September 20, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 13, 2021
Award Information: Up to $175,000 for a period of 24 months
 
The NSF Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) seeks to award grants intended to support research independence among early-career academicians who specifically lack access to adequate organizational or other resources. It is expected that funds obtained through this program will be used to support untenured faculty or research scientists (or equivalent) in their first three years in a primary academic position after the PhD, but not more than five years after completion of their PhD. Applicants for this program may not yet have received any other grants or contracts in the PI role from any department, agency, or institution of the federal government, including from the CAREER program or any other program, post-PhD, regardless of the size of the grant or contract, with certain exceptions as noted in the solicitation. Serving as co-PI, Senior Personnel, Postdoctoral Fellow, or other Fellow does not count against this eligibility rule.

Importantly, the CRII program seeks to provide essential resources to enable early-career PIs to launch their research careers. For the purposes of this program, CISE defines "essential resources" as sufficient funds for 48 months of graduate student support. To be eligible, a PI must not already have resources available from all other sources sufficient for more than 24 months of full-time graduate student support, as also certified by the PI's department chair/head in the required letter. In calculating support available from other sources, all resources available to the PI since time of appointment should be counted, including those that were already spent or expired. The total of existing resources and budgeted resources must not exceed 48 months of graduate student support. Submissions from all institutions may also use funds for PI salary, postdoctoral scholars, travel, and/or research equipment.

Please note, only one principal investigator per proposal is allowed; co-principal investigators and senior personnel are not permitted. A PI may submit one proposal per annual competition, and may not participate in more than two CRII competitions. The PI may not submit a CRII proposal in the same calendar year in which he/she submits a CAREER proposal. 
NSFCICoE
Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
Cyberinfrastructure Centers of Excellence (CI CoE)
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The level of support for CI CoE projects is expected to vary, based on the topic and range of activities proposed. CI CoEs are typically expected to operate for five years.
 
The NSF Cyberinfrastructure Centers of Excellence (CI CoE) Program aims to support hubs of expertise and innovation targeting specific areas, aspects, or stakeholder communities of the research CI ecosystem. Supported CI CoEs provide expertise and services related to CI technologies and solutions; gather, develop, and communicate community best practices; and serve as readily-available resources for both the research community and the CI community. A key objective of this program is to support CI CoEs that drive advancements in and positively impact the CI ecosystem through structured but strongly community-engaging and community-serving approaches. Overall, CI CoEs are a means of concentrating resources on a specific area of identified need in support of the broader goal of advancing capabilities and performance of the national CI ecosystem.

NSF may initially invest in two-year pilot CI CoE projects which aim to develop concepts and plans and demonstrate feasibility through pilot activities as preparatory precursors to eventual proposals for establishing full-scale CI CoEs.

Individuals interested in submitting a proposal for a CI CoE project must first discuss their project idea with the cognizant CI CoE Program Director(s) in the relevant areas prior to submission. 
NSFCESER
Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
Cyberinfrastructure for Emerging Science and Engineering Research (CESER)
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Projects funded through the CESER program are typically in the $300,000 to $1,500,000 budgetary range.
 
The Cyberinfrastructure for Emerging Science and Engineering Research (CESER) program aims to catalyze new science and engineering discovery pathways through early-stage collaborative activities between disciplinary scientists and engineers as well as developers/implementers of innovative cyberinfrastructure (CI) capabilities, services, and approaches.

CESER accepts proposals pursuant to this Program Description year-round. From time to time, NSF may also issue Dear Colleague Letters pursuant to CESER to signal special thematic interests and opportunities. CESER employs existing NSF funding mechanisms to accomplish the program's goals. Successful CESER projects typically involve co-funding from the relevant disciplinary research programs within NSF. Consequently, before submitting a proposal to CESER, proposers must discuss their project idea with a cognizant CESER Program Officer and with the relevant NSF disciplinary research program(s) to ensure that CESER is the appropriate venue and that there is adequate disciplinary interest in the proposed effort.
NSFCPS
Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS)
Sponsor Deadline: December 1, 2021 for Frontier Proposals; the deadline for FY20 Medium proposals has passed
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: November 22, 2021
Award Information: Varies by award type (details below)
 
The CPS program aims to develop the core research needed to engineer complex Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), some of which may also require dependable, high-confidence, or provable behaviors. Core research areas of the program include control, data analytics, and machine learning, including real-time learning for control, autonomy, design, Internet of Things (IoT), mixed initiatives including human-in- or human-on-the-loop, networking, privacy, real-time systems, safety, security, and verification. By abstracting from the particulars of specific systems and application domains, the CPS program seeks to reveal cross-cutting, fundamental scientific and engineering principles that underpin the integration of cyber and physical elements across all application domains. The program additionally supports the development of methods, tools, and hardware and software components based upon these cross-cutting principles, along with validation of the principles via prototypes and testbeds. This program also fosters a research community that is committed to advancing education and outreach in CPS and accelerating the transition of CPS research into the real world.

In FY 2020, NSF is working closely with multiple agencies across the federal government, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T); the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); several National Institutes of Health (NIH) institutes and centers including the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), National Cancer Institute (NCI), and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS); and the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA).

Proposals for three classes of research and education projects-differing in scope and goals-are supported through the CPS program:
  • Small projects may request a total budget of up to $500,000 for a period of up to 3 years. They are well suited to emerging new and innovative ideas that may have high impact on the field of CPS. Note that Small projects are not accepted under this solicitation.
  • Medium projects may request a total budget ranging from $500,001 to $1,200,000 for a period of up to 3 years. They are well suited to multi-disciplinary projects that accomplish clear goals requiring integrated perspectives spanning the disciplines.
  • Frontier projects must address clearly identified critical CPS challenges that cannot be achieved by a set of smaller projects. Furthermore, Frontier projects should also look to push the boundaries of CPS well beyond today's systems and capabilities. Funding may be requested for a total of $1,200,001 to $7,000,000 for a period of 4 to 5 years. Note that the Frontier project deadline is different than that for Medium projects.
Please note, this solicitation includes windows for Medium and Frontier proposals. Small proposals are not invited in FY 2020. For FY 2021 (beginning Oct. 1, 2020) and beyond, the CPS program anticipates going to a "no-deadline" submission for Small and Medium proposals. Specific annual deadlines for Frontier proposals are anticipated to continue. 

An individual can participate as PI, co-PI, Senior Personnel, or Consultant on no more than two proposals submitted in response to this solicitation.
NSFBIOconferences
Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)
Dear Colleague Letter: Conferences to Prepare for the Transformation of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Research through Information Synthesis and Integration
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling through April 1, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Up to $100,000. NSF anticipates funding about 10 conference proposals.
 
Through this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), NSF Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) invites proposals for conferences that enable the science community to plan and begin building networks of scientists to synthesize available information in creative ways that advance research in the molecular and cellular biosciences. These networks should organize people with diverse skills and perspectives around a complex scientific theme that draws existing knowledge from a broad spectrum of disciplines.

Examples of complex scientific themes that could benefit from synthesis over a 5- to 10-year period and engage a large community of scientists through a synthesis center include, but are not limited to:
  • Understanding the Genome - the known and unknown genome/epigenome and its expression into cellular form and function.
  • Cellular Interactions - the nature of interactions within and between cells in space and time and their relationships to cellular fate.
  • Limits of Life - the principles and properties that define and set the bounds of molecular and cellular function.
While the themes available for synthesis centers are open, responsive proposals should address topics that fall within the scope of science supported by MCB.
NSFDCLGeosciencesAI
Directorate for Geosciences (GEO)
Dear Colleague Letter: Research Coordination and Planning Opportunities for the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) in Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The level of funding for Conference support is not specified. RCNs aligned with this DCL should request a maximum award of $300,000 and a duration of 2-3 years. EAGER proposals may request 
up to $300,000 and be up to 2 years in duration.
 
NSF's Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) encourages the submission of proposals for workshops/conferences, Research Coordination Networks (RCN), and other planning activities, including Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) proposals, in Geosciences-themed research in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Recent ground-breaking advances in AI have been enabled by increased computing power, algorithmic improvements in machine-learning, and the availability of large data sets. Synergies between research frontiers in AI and the Geosciences have the potential to stimulate further transformative progress in both fields.

GEO is committed to developing a portfolio of GEO-themed AI activities. To better allow the Geosciences research community to prepare for future AI-themed investments, GEO envisions funding a cohort of geoscientists and computer scientists to form and coordinate teams to address forefront and grand challenge research topics in geo-themed AI. Specifically, through this DCL, GEO encourages proposal submissions for conferences and RCNs that address challenges in the Geosciences that also include and leverage research in AI. Conference and RCN proposals in response to this DCL should aim to develop collaborations between AI and the geosciences and within one or more geosciences domains. The goals should include advancing AI and contributions to research challenges in the relevant GEO domain(s), advancing domain science by leveraging use-inspired AI research, actively building the next generation of talent, and creating a nexus for collaborative research. GEO is especially interested in research activities which may lead to future successful proposals for the AI Institutes program or for potential future NSF AI investments.

Interested parties must contact one of the Program Directors listed in the DCL, preferably in the Division most relevant to their Geosciences theme to discuss whether a proposal may be submitted in alignment with this DCL.
NSFearthcube
EarthCube
Sponsor Deadline: March 2, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 23, 2021
Award Information: Projects are expected to be a maximum of 36 months with budgets that are commensurate with the size and scope of the project and anticipated scientific impact. A total of approximately $5M-$10M will be available to support 4-10 awards.
 
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.

This Solicitation supports the following funding opportunity to advance geosciences research:
  • Science-Enabling Capabilities: This opportunity builds capabilities to improve geosciences data use and reuse for observational, experimental, and computational research that is interoperable with emerging standards and resources, as well as efforts to integrate different datasets and tools from multiple GEO disciplines.
In addition to the solicited opportunity, the EarthCube program will accept requests for supplements to support adoption of emerging EarthCube open web standards and existing cyberinfrastructure (CI) by science projects and data resources. Supplements must abide by the guidelines for supplements in the PAPPG. Prospective PIs should contact an EarthCube program director to discuss a potential supplement. The EarthCube program will accept requests for supplements of the following types: science adoption and data resource adoption.
NSFCISEFMitF
Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
Formal Methods in the Field (FMitF)
Sponsor Deadline: February 16, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 8, 2021
Award Information: Track I Research Projects are limited to $750,000 in total budget, with durations of up to four years. Track II TTP Projects are limited to $100,000 in total budget, with durations of up to 18 months. Approximately 12 Track I awards and 10 Track II awards are anticipated.
 
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:
  • Track I: Research proposals: Each proposal must have at least one PI or co-PI with expertise in formal methods and at least one with expertise in one or more of these fields: computer networks, distributed/operating systems, embedded systems, human centered computing, and machine learning. Proposals are expected to address fundamental contributions to both formal methods and the respective field(s) and should include a proof of concept in the field along with a detailed evaluation plan that discusses intended scope of applicability, trade-offs, and limitations.
  • Track II: Transition to Practice (TTP) proposals: The objective of this track is to support the ongoing development of extensible and robust formal-methods research prototypes/tools to facilitate usability and accessibility to a larger and more diverse community of users. These proposals are expected to support the development, implementation, and deployment of later-stage successful formal methods research and tools into operational environments in order to bridge the gap between research and practice. Proposals are expected to identify a target user community or organization that will serve as an early adopter of the technology. Collaborations with industry are strongly encouraged.
An investigator may participate as PI, co-PI, or Senior Personnel in no more than one Track I proposal and in no more than one Track II proposal submitted in response to this solicitation.
NSFGeoinformatics
Geoinformatics (GI)
Sponsor Deadline: August 16, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 9, 2021
Award Information: Award amounts will be variable with the amount depending on the quality of proposals, the amount of funding available, and the need for the proposed tools, software, and/or databases for the geoscience community(ies) to be served. It is anticipated that proposals over a wide spectrum of amounts will be entertained, from low-cost, single-investigator proposals to large, multi-investigator/institutional proposals. Catalytic and Sustainability Track awards shall be up to 3 years in duration. Facility Track awards shall be 3 to 5 years in duration, with the possibility for renewal up to a total of 10 years.
 
The Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) will consider proposals for the development of cyberinfrastructure (CI) for the Earth Sciences (Geoinformatics). EAR-supported geoinformatics opportunities will fit into three tracks: Catalytic track, Facility track, and Sustainability track. These tracks broadly support the lifecycle of geoinformatics resource development, from pilots (Catalytic) to broad implementation (Facility) to sunsetting and long-term sustainability (Sustainability). The GI Catalytic Track will support pilot geoinformatics development efforts that are intended to serve Earth Sciences research. The GI Facility Track will support awards for implementation and operation of a cyberinfrastructure resource relied upon by one or more Earth Science communities to address science questions. The GI Sustainability Track will support development and implementation of sustainable funding models to preserve data and software products of value to Earth Science research.
NSFGCR
Growing Convergence Research (GCR)
Sponsor Deadline: February 1, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 25, 2021
Award Information: Interested researchers may request up to $1.2M in total costs for the first two years and $2.4M for the last three years. Successful proposals will be funded initially for two years and teams that show significant progress during the first two years will receive funding for an additional three years. Approximately 10 awards are anticipated.
 
Growing Convergence Research is a new NSF-wide program. NSF identified Growing Convergence Research (GCR) as one of 10 Big Ideas. Convergence research is a means for solving vexing research problems, in particular, complex problems focusing on societal needs. It entails integrating knowledge, methods, and expertise from different disciplines and forming novel frameworks to catalyze scientific discovery and innovation.

GCR identifies Convergence Research as having two primary characteristics:
  • Research driven by a specific and compelling problem. Convergence Research is generally inspired by the need to address a specific challenge or opportunity, whether it arises from deep scientific questions or pressing societal needs.
  • Deep integration across disciplines. As experts from different disciplines pursue common research challenges, their knowledge, theories, methods, data, research communities and languages become increasingly intermingled or integrated. New frameworks, paradigms or even disciplines can form sustained interactions across multiple communities.
This GCR solicitation targets multi-disciplinary team research that crosses directorate or division boundaries and is currently not supported by NSF programs, initiatives and research-focused Big Ideas. Proposers must make a convincing case that the research to be conducted is within NSF's purview and cannot be supported by existing NSF programs and multidisciplinary initiatives. A PI or a co-PI may participate in only one proposal in response to this solicitation. They may not participate in any role in any other proposal. 
NSFHDRDSC
Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR): Data Science Corps (DSC)
Sponsor Full Proposal Window: January 26-February 12, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Awards will typically be in the range of $1.2M to $1.5M for three years. 8-10 awards are anticipated.
 
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. All proposed projects should include plans for activities that can be carried out in hybrid platforms that combine virtual with in-person participation or fully virtual platforms, for at least the first two years of the award. 

An individual may participate in only one proposal as Principal Investigator, co-Principal Investigator, or Senior Personnel of a lead organization. 
NSFHDRInstitutes
NSFHDRinstitutes
Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR): Institutes for Data-Intensive Research in Science and Engineering
Sponsor Deadline: January 21, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 13, 2021
Award Information: Award size is contingent upon the scope, scale, and complexity of the proposed project, with a minimum total budget of $10M. Up to a total of $70M is anticipated to be available for 4-7 five-year awards.
 
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.

An individual may participate as PI, co-PI, and/or other Senior Personnel in at most one Institute proposal pursuant to this solicitation. Note that any individual whose biographical sketch is provided as part of the proposal will be considered as Senior Personnel in the proposed activity, with or without financial support from the project. Although there is no limit on the number of proposals per organization, no organization will receive more than one Institute award as the lead organization.
NSFBIOCapacity
Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)
Infrastructure Capacity for Biological Research (Capacity)
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The size and duration of any individual request should be justified by the amount and complexity of the work to be accomplished. As a rule, the larger the budget, the greater the expected impact on the biological research community. Approximately $18M-20M is expected to be available for new awards in FY 2021.
 
The Infrastructure Capacity for Biological Research (Capacity) Program supports the implementation of, scaling of, or major improvements to research tools, products, and services that advance contemporary biology in any research area supported by the Directorate for Biological Sciences at NSF. The Capacity Program focuses on building capacity in research infrastructure that is broadly applicable to a wide range of researchers in three programmatic areas: Cyberinfrastructure, Biological Collections, and Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories. This program will also accept proposals for planning activities or workshops to facilitate coordination that may be necessary in building capacity in infrastructure that meets the needs of a research community. Areas not included in this program are instrumentation (PIs should submit to the MRI program) and, projects that develop infrastructure for a specific research project, laboratory, or institution (PIs should submitted to the relevant BIO programs that would normally support that research). Projects are expected to produce quality products, result in important science outcomes that will be achieved by the users of the resource, be openly accessible to a broad scientific and education community, and serve a community of researchers beyond a single research team.

NSFBIOInnovation
Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)
Infrastructure Innovation for Biological Research (Innovation)
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The size and duration of any individual request should be justified by the amount and complexity of the work to be accomplished. As a rule, the larger the budget, the greater the expected impact on the biological research community. Approximately $18M-20M is expected to be available for new awards in FY 2021.
 
The Infrastructure Innovation for Biological Research Program (Innovation) supports research to design novel or greatly improved research tools and methods that advance contemporary biology in any research area supported by the Directorate for Biological Sciences at NSF. The Innovation Program focuses on research infrastructure that is broadly applicable to researchers in three programmatic areas: Bioinformatics, Instrumentation, and Research Methods. Infrastructure supported by this program is expected to advance biological understanding by improving scientists' abilities to manipulate, control, analyze, or measure critical aspects of biological systems, which can be essential for addressing important fundamental research questions. Proposals submitted to these programmatic areas can do one of three things to advance or transform research in biology: develop novel infrastructure, significantly redesign existing infrastructure, or adapt existing infrastructure in novel ways.  Projects are expected to have a significant application to one or more biological science questions and have the potential to be used by a community of researchers beyond a single research team.
NSFCompPhysics
Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)
Physics at the Information Frontier
Sponsor Deadline: Contact PO for current funding opportunities
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Award size and duration will be commensurate with the scope of the proposed project.
 
Physics at the Information Frontier (PIF) supports the development of enabling capabilities through computational advances that are required to address compelling scientific goals relevant to disciplines within the purview of the Physics Division. The program emphasizes aspects of Big Data and High-Performance Computing convergence, convergent research for algorithm development and efficient use of novel architectures, and community-building activities for computational and data-enabled science.

The Physics at the Information Frontier (PIF) program is focused on investigations relevant to disciplines supported by the Physics Division, while encouraging broader impacts on other disciplines. Disciplines within the purview of the Physics Division include: atomic, molecular, optical, plasma, elementary particle, nuclear, gravitational and biological physics, and particle astrophysics. Proposals with intellectual focus in areas supported by other NSF Divisions should be submitted to those divisions directly. The Physics at the Information Frontier program accepts proposals only as noted in the PHY Program Solicitation, which states that PIF accepts proposals through separate solicitations. Prospective PIs are encouraged to contact the PIF Program Officer regarding proposal suitability and current funding opportunities. Additional information is provided on the PIF program web page, as appropriate.
NSFCISEPPOSS
Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
Principles and Practice of Scalable Systems (PPoSS)
Sponsor Deadlines: January 25, 2021 and January 24, 2022 for Planning and Large Grants; January 23, 2023 and January 22, 2024 for Large Grants only
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: See below for details
 
The aim of the Principles and Practice of Scalable Systems (PPoSS) program is to support a community of researchers who will work symbiotically across multiple disciplines, such as computer architecture, high-performance computing (HPC), programming languages and compilers, security and privacy, systems, theory, and algorithms, 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, 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.

Two types of awards are available:
  • Planning Grants: The purpose of a Planning Project is to develop the team, research infrastructure, and community needed to demonstrate and establish readiness for a Large project. Up to $250,000 per award with duration up to 1 year.
  • Large Grants: A Large Proposal is expected to present a full-scale research project that offers the required expertise for all of its focus areas (at least four must be identified), along with synergy across the team. Up to $1M per year with duration up to 5 years.
An investigator may participate as PI, co-PI, or Senior Personnel in no more than two planning grant proposals and in no more than one Large proposal submitted to each deadline. An investigator cannot be PI, co-PI, or Senior Personnel on more than two Planning awards and one Large award through the life of this program from FY 2020 to FY 2024.
NSFSaTC
Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC)
Sponsor Deadlines: January 21-29, 2021 for Large projects; Rolling through September 30, 2021 for Small, Medium and EDU projects
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: See below for details. NSF anticipates approximately 15 EDU awards, 35 Small awards, 25 Medium awards, and 3 Large awards.
 
The SaTC program welcomes proposals that address cybersecurity and privacy, and draw on expertise in one or more of these areas: computing, communication and information sciences; engineering; education; mathematics; statistics; and social, behavioral, and economic sciences. Proposals that advance the field of cybersecurity and privacy within a single discipline or interdisciplinary efforts that span multiple disciplines are both welcome. 
 
Proposals must be submitted pursuant to one of the following designations, each of which may have additional restrictions and administrative obligations as specified in the program solicitation:
  • CORE: This designation is the main focus of the SaTC research program, spanning the interests of NSF's Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Engineering (ENG), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE).
  • EDU: The Education (EDU) designation will be used to label proposals focusing entirely on cybersecurity education.
  • TTP: The Transition to Practice (TTP) designation will be used to label proposals that are focused exclusively on transitioning existing research results to practice.
CORE and TTP proposals may be submitted in one of the following project size classes:
  • Small projects: up to $500,000 in total budget, with durations of up to three years; and
  • Medium projects: $500,001 to $1,200,000 in total budget, with durations of up to four years.
CORE proposals (but not TTP or EDU proposals) may also be submitted in the following project size class:
  • Large projects: $1,200,001 to $3,000,000 in total budget, with durations of up to five years.
EDU proposals are limited to $400,000 in total budget, with durations of up to three years. Proposals that demonstrate a collaboration, reflected in the PI, co-PI, and/or Senior Personnel composition, between a cybersecurity subject matter expert (researcher or practitioner) and an education researcher may request up to $500,000 for three years.
NSFSCC
Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC)
Sponsor Deadline: February 24, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 17, 2021
Award Information: See below for details. 20-30 awards are anticipated.
 
The goal of the NSF Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) program solicitation is to accelerate the creation of the scientific and engineering foundations that will enable smart and connected communities to bring about new levels of economic opportunity and growth, safety and security, health and wellness, accessibility and inclusivity, and overall quality of life. A "smart and connected community" is defined as a community that synergistically integrates intelligent technologies with the natural and built environments, including infrastructure, to improve the social, economic, and environmental well-being of those who live, work, learn, or travel within it. S&CC is a cross-directorate program supported by NSF's Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Education and Human Resources (EHR), Engineering (ENG), and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE). 

The S&CC program encourages researchers to work with community stakeholders to identify and define challenges they are facing, enabling those challenges to motivate use-inspired research questions. The S&CC program supports integrative research that addresses fundamental technological and social science dimensions of smart and connected communities and pilots solutions together with communities. Importantly, the program is interested in projects that consider the sustainability of the research outcomes beyond the life of the project, including the scalability and transferability of the proposed solutions.

This S&CC solicitation will support research projects in the following categories:
  • S&CC Integrative Research Grants (SCC-IRG) Tracks 1 and 2. Awards in this category will support fundamental integrative research that addresses technological and social science dimensions of smart and connected communities and pilots solutions together with communities. Track 1 proposals may request budgets ranging between $1,500,001 and $2,500,000, with durations of up to four years. Track 2 proposals may request budgets up to $1,500,000, with durations of up to three years. Note that NSF is working with the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) to support joint US-Japan IRG Track 2 proposals (SCC-IRG JST) that address topics related to recovery from COVID-19 and future resilience planning related to pandemics and disasters, including how the proposed research will enable community adjustment to life in the new normal of a post-COVID-19 society.
  • S&CC Planning Grants (SCC-PG). Awards in this category are for capacity building to prepare project teams to propose future well-developed SCC-IRG proposals. Each of these awards will provide support for a period of one year and may be requested at a level not to exceed $150,000 for the total budget.
  • S&CC Virtual Organization (SCC-VO). Proposals are being sought to establish a Virtual Organization that will: (i) facilitate and foster interaction and exchanges among S&CC PIs and their teams, including community partners; (ii) enable sharing of artifacts and knowledge generated by S&CC projects with the broader scientific and non-academic communities (e.g., local community stakeholders as described in this solicitation); and (iii) facilitate and foster collaboration and information exchange between S&CC researchers, community stakeholders, and others. No more than one S&CC-VO proposal will be funded. Funding of up to $250,000 per year for up to three years may be requested.
An individual may appear as PI, co-PI, Senior Personnel, or Consultant on no more than two proposals submitted in response to this solicitation.
NSFStatistics
Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS)
Statistics
Sponsor Full Proposal Window: December 1-15, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Unspecified
 
The Statistics Program supports research in statistical theory and methods, including research in statistical methods for applications to any domain of science and engineering. The theory forms the base for statistical science. The methods are used for stochastic modeling, and the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. The methods characterize uncertainty in the data and facilitate advancement in science and engineering. The Program encourages proposals ranging from single-investigator projects to interdisciplinary team projects. Conference and workshop proposals should be submitted eight months before the requested starting date.

NSFBIOSustaining
Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)
Sustaining Infrastructure for Biological Research (Sustaining)
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Funding levels for awards vary and are contingent upon availability of funds and demand for sustained resources. Approximately $5M is anticipated for this activity.
 
The Sustaining Infrastructure for Biological Research (Sustaining) Program supports the continued operation of existing research infrastructure that advances contemporary biology in any research area supported by the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) at NSF. The Sustaining Program focuses primarily on sustaining critical research infrastructure that is cyberinfrastructure or biological living stocks and that is broadly applicable to a wide range of researchers. Projects are expected to ensure continued availability of existing, mature resources that will enable important science outcomes achieved by users representing a broad range of research supported by BIO and its collaborating organizations.
NSFURoLMicrobiome
Understanding the Rules of Life: Microbiome Interactions and Mechanisms (URoL: MIM)
Sponsor Deadline: February 23, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 16, 2021
Award Information: Up to $3M with an award duration of up to 5 years. 4-8 awards are anticipated.
 
The Understanding the Rules of Life: Microbiome Interactions and Mechanisms (URoL:MIM) program is an integrative collaboration across several Directorates and Offices within the National Science Foundation. The objective of URoL:MIM is to understand interactions and mechanisms that govern the structure and function of microbiomes. By integrating the wide range of accumulated data and information on microbiome structure and function, new causal models of interactions and interdependencies across scales and systems can be generated. Elucidating these relationships will inform our understanding of the Rules of Life - the theoretical constructs and models that explain and predict the emergent characteristics of living systems, as seen in the robustness, resilience, and adaptability of the individual organisms, populations, and communities.

The URoL:MIM program invites integrated, interdisciplinary proposals that create new knowledge in multiple disciplines to develop causal frameworks with well-designed scientific and/or computational approaches to test hypotheses about the relationships within the microbiome, and among the microbiome, the host, and the environment. Projects may develop new computational, mathematical, or experimental tools, and models, to: i) explain function and interactions in natural, experimental, and model microbiomes; ii) elucidate the chemical and molecular mechanisms that underlie communication between the host and the microbiome and among the members of the microbiome; and/or iii) comparatively analyze characteristics of microbiomes to discover emergent properties that provide insight into the behavior of living systems. URoL:MIM projects must be novel and innovative in more than one discipline (e.g., biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, geology, mathematics, physics, social and behavioral sciences). They must also incorporate best practices regarding protocol documentation, sample selection, data collection and analysis, as well as data sharing and accessibility. URoL:MIM projects must provide workforce development and/or innovative undergraduate or graduate education opportunities that increase the pipeline for MIM in higher education and train the next generation of microbiome scientists. Projects should benefit society through engagement of the public and/or enhancement of K-12 STEM education.

An individual may appear as Principal Investigator (PI) co-PI, or Senior Personnel on only one proposal submitted in response to this solicitation.
Sloan
Digital Information Technology - Data and Computational Research
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling, requires Letter of Inquiry
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Two types of applications, <$125,000 and >$125,000. Awards >$125,000 provide overhead up to 15%. Overhead is not allowed on awards <$125,000. Since this amount falls short of the 15% overhead required by FAS/SEAS policy, please discuss with your grants administrator before preparing an application.

This program seeks to support the efficient management and sharing of research data and code from acquisition through analysis; and grow the current and future scientific data work force. 

Grants in this program tend to fall into four broad types:
  • Software grants support technology development ranging from prototyping funds to substantial scaling resources;
  • Training grants aim at supporting work force training and curricular initiatives as well as targeted adoption of new technologies by specific communities;
  • Research grants bring historical, ethnographic, and economic research methods to bear on our understanding of scholarly activities in a changing technological context;
  • Community grants build networks for knowledge exchange across disciplines as well as institutions that serve to incubate sustainable research and software projects.
Grant requests can be made at any time. A brief letter of inquiry is the first step for an applicant.
Biomedical Science
CiscoTechforHealthcare
Tech for Healthcare
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Award level is unspecified but research funds are to cover costs over one year associated with: graduate or post graduate student employment; limited release time (1-2 months) for the PI; research support costs (e.g., equipment, laptops, incidental costs); and travel associated with research (e.g., conferences, standards). Overhead is limited to 5%. Since this amount falls short of the 15% overhead required by FAS/SEAS policy, please discuss with your grants administrator before preparing an application.

Cisco is actively soliciting proposals that aim to conduct research in many applications of technology for healthcare applications. Specific areas of research include but are not limited to the following.
  • Techniques for early detection of several acute or chronic diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's), including mental and psychological disorders (e.g., bipolar)
  • Sensor technologies for continuous monitoring of vitals or other bio-markers for early detection and diagnosis of diseases and issues
  • Privacy-preserving techniques for monitoring and prioritizing patient healthcare in hospitals and public health environments
  • Applications of AI/ML techniques for improving healthcare
  • Novel applications of smartphone sensors towards healthcare
  • Systems for minimizing errors and dangerous mistakes in healthcare processes
  • Scalable monitoring of public health protocols (e.g., mask wearing) across large campuses, cities, companies, and other settings
  • Systems for scalable contact tracing and other mechanisms for targeted alerts around critical health warnings and exposure notices
  • Protection of patient privacy especially when actively using always-on and always-connected technology
  • Smart and seamless healthcare facilities where information flows in a contact-less manner minimizing risks to doctors and patients
  • Tech for empowering people to manage their conditions through chronic care management and remote patient monitoring
GoogleHGHICloudCredit
Google and
Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI)
Google Cloud Credit Awards
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission 
Award Information: Research credits are meant to fully fund COVID-19 related research in accordance with the proposal submitted. Higher credit requests may require further follow-up. To estimate credit size based on current prices, see the Google Cloud Platform Pricing Calculator.

The Harvard Global Health Institute is partnering with Google Cloud to enable researchers to harness the power of the Cloud in their fight against COVID-19. Google is offering a pool of $20 million in Google Cloud credits to researchers studying COVID-19. To distribute these credits effectively, HGHI has gathered a team of experts to review submissions and award credits. All research approaches will be considered under this call, including areas such as clinical research, bench science research, drug delivery and therapeutics research, health services and policy research, and epidemiological research. Preference will be given to projects that plan to make their datasets publicly available and referenceable. Unlike academic research seed grants, COVID-19 research grants are designed to fund urgent public health related projects in-full. COVID-19 research grants are valid for 90 days only. Applicants will be notified up to 2-weeks after submission.
ICODACOVID19
International COVID-19 Data Alliance (ICODA)
Grand Challenges ICODA COVID-19 Data Science Grant Programme
Sponsor Deadline: January 19, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 11, 2021 
Award Information: Up to $100,000 for studies lasting between 6-12 months. In addition, successful applicants will have access to ICODA's digital workbench, as well as technical and wider support from ICODA and its partners.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its Grand Challenges partners established Grand Challenges to focus attention and effort on major global challenges, and to enable researchers to collaborate and address these in fast, innovative ways. ICODA - the International COVID-19 Data Alliance - is partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenges programme to pilot the Grand Challenges ICODA COVID-19 Data Science initiative, supported by the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator. This initiative seeks to support projects that harness the power of health data in a safe and trusted way to respond to the current COVID-19 pandemic and have impact, as well as to enhance global health data responses to health challenges of the future. Proposals may focus on one of a range of COVID-19 research areas, including: 1) natural disease history, epidemiology and transmission; 2) vaccines and prophylaxis; 3) infection, prevention and control; 4) therapeutics; 5) clinical management. The pilot initiative will be followed by a larger Request for Proposals to be launched late in 2021, and run by global Grand Challenges partners. 

Proposals are welcomed from any country or region, with particular priority for those involving researchers and datasets from LMICs. PIs are limited to serving as a lead applicant on one submitted proposal.

ICODA will host an informational workshop on January 7, 2021. Register here by January 4, 2021 to participate.
NIHDataRepositoryU24
Biomedical Data Repository (U24 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadlines: January 25, 2021; September 24, 2021; January 25, 2022; September 26, 2022; January 25, 2023
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission 
Award Information: Application budgets are not limited. The maximum project period is 5 years.

This funding opportunity announcement is designed to support biomedical data repositories. Biomedical data repositories under this announcement should have the primary function to ingest, archive, preserve, manage, distribute, and make accessible the data related to a particular system or systems. Support for data curation must be limited to that which improves the efficiency and accessibility of data ingestion, management, and use and reuse by the user communities. Support for software and tool development must be limited to that which provides essential functions or significantly increases the efficiency of operation of the repository. Applications that have a significant focus on software and tool development are not appropriate for this activity.
NIHKnowledgebaseU24
Biomedical Knowledgebase (U24 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadlines: January 25, 2021; September 24, 2021; January 25, 2022; September 26, 2022; January 25, 2023
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission 
Award Information: Application budgets are not limited. The maximum project period is 5 years.

This funding opportunity announcement is designed to support biomedical knowledgebases. Biomedical knowledgebases under this announcement should have the primary function to extract, accumulate, organize, annotate, and link growing bodies of information related to core datasets. Support for data curation should include efficient and effective methods of curation that scale to the needs of the community and include semi-automated methods. Support for software and tool development must be limited to that which provides essential functions or significantly increases the efficiency of operation of the knowledgebase. Applications that have a significant focus on software or tool development are not appropriate for this activity.
NIHBRAINDataArchivesR24
BRAIN Initiative: Data Archives for the BRAIN Initiative (R24 Clinical Trial Optional)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): 30 days prior to the proposal deadline
Sponsor Deadlines for Full Proposals: July 14, 2021, July 14, 2022, and July 14, 2023
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Application budgets are not limited. The maximum project period is 5 years. NIH intends to commit an estimated total of $4M to fund 3-4 awards at each receipt date. It is expected that costs will be substantially higher after the first year of these awards.

This FOA solicits applications to develop web-accessible data archives to capture, store, and curate data related to BRAIN Initiative activities. The data archives teams will work with the research community to incorporate tools that allow users to analyze and visualize the data, but the creation of such tools is not part of this FOA. The data archives will use appropriate standards to describe the data, but the creation of such standards is not part of this FOA. A goal of this program is to advance research by creating a community resource data archive with appropriate standards and summary information that is broadly available and accessible to the research community for furthering research.
NIHBRAINDataAnalysisR01
BRAIN Initiative: Integration and Analysis of BRAIN Initiative Data (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): February 25, 2021
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: March 4, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. The maximum project period is 3 years. NIH intends to commit an estimated total of $4M to fund 10 awards.

This FOA solicits applications to develop informatics tools for analyzing, visualizing, and integrating data related to the BRAIN Initiative or to enhance our understanding of the brain. Tools that integrate different types of data may link data across multiple scales or across different species. The focus for integration tools in this FOA is mainly in finding the data and applying metrics for data alignment, standardization and normalization for further analysis. The tools must be user-friendly in accessing and analyzing data from appropriate data archives. Ultimately, it is expected that much of the BRAIN Initiative data will be stored in a cloud environment, although that may not be initially true. In general, the tools supported under this FOA should analyze/visualize data without the need to download them. The tools should allow data to be combined for analysis/visualization from multiple locations.
NIHBRAINSecondaryAnalysisR01
BRAIN Initiative: Secondary Analysis and Archiving of BRAIN Initiative Data (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadline: February 26, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 19, 2021
Award Information: Maximum of $300,000 in direct costs per year for up to 3 years. NIH intends to commit an estimated total of $4M to fund 8 awards in FY2020.

This FOA encourages secondary analysis of the large amounts of existing data related to the BRAIN Initiative. The data do not need to be held in one of the funded BRAIN Initiative data archives, but the data must be held in a data archive that is readily accessible to the research community. Support will be provided for innovative analysis of relevant existing datasets using conventional or novel analytic methods, data science techniques, and machine learning approaches. Support may also be requested to prepare and submit existing data into any of the BRAIN Initiative data archives. Investigators should not underestimate the time and effort that may be necessary to curate or harmonize data.
 
Analyzed data, models and analytical tools generated under this FOA are expected to be deposited into an appropriate data archive. Since the BRAIN Initiative data archives are mostly making the data available to the research community through cloud-based storage, depositing the analyzed data, models and tools are expected to enhance opportunities to create a data sandbox where investigators can easily compare the results of their analysis with those from other research groups.
 
The goal of this FOA is to promote studies that will significantly advance new discoveries and accelerate the pace of research of the BRAIN Initiative through harnessing the big data and machine learning opportunities. Awardees are expected to enhance the value of existing data, improve the overall data integration and analysis capability, and strengthen the statistical power and rigor and reproducibility of BRAIN Initiative related data.
NIHHIV
Harnessing Big Data to Halt HIV (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Sponsor Deadline: May 7, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: April 30, 2021
Award Information: Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. The maximum project period is 5 years. 

The purpose of this FOA is to promote research that transforms understanding of HIV transmission, the HIV care continuum, and HIV comorbidities using Big Data Science (BDS). This FOA will support projects to assemble diverse big data sources, conduct robust and reproducible analyses, and create meaningful visualizations of big data, as well as engage ethical experts where appropriate to ensure the development of this scientific area is guided by ethical principles.
NIHNCINOSI
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Availability of Administrative Supplements to Adapt/Repackage Visualization Methods for Enhancing Cancer Moonshot Data
Sponsor Deadlines: Rolling beginning December 2, 2020, for possible funding in FY2021, FY2022, and FY2023. This NOSI will expire on November 3, 2022. 
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Supplement budget requests cannot exceed $100,000 in direct costs exclusive of Facilities and Administrative costs on sub-awards, and the budget cannot exceed the direct costs of the current parent award. Requests are permitted for 1 year of support only.  

Through funds available from the Cancer Moonshot Initiative, and pursuant to the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) interest in advancing data visualization tools and methods for cancer research, applications are invited, through the program announcement for Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional) PA-20-272 in conjunction with this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI), for one-year administrative supplements to support the adaptation and repackaging of existing broad-based visualization methods that have the potential to make Cancer Moonshot-aligned data more explorable and interpretable by the broader cancer research community. Please note the current parent administrative supplement funding opportunity that this NOSI relates to (PA-20-272) expires on January 26, 2021. However, this NOSI will relate to the reissue of the parent supplement funding opportunity after January 26, 2021, until November 3, 2022.

Applicant(s) must hold an active grant or cooperative agreement from the NCI. There is no requirement for the parent award to have been supported via any existing or prior Cancer Moonshot funding opportunity. The project period for the parent award must be active, and cannot be in a no-cost extension, for the 1 year of this administrative supplement project.
NIHNHGRICompGenomicsDS
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Investigator Initiated Research in Computational Genomics and Data Science (R01 and R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): June 16, 2021
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: July 16, 2021  
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: July 9, 2021
Award Information: R01 application budgets are limited to $500,000 in direct costs per year. The maximum project period for an R01 is 5 years. The combined budget for direct costs for a two year R21 project period may not exceed $275,000. No more than $200,000 may be requested in any single R21 budget year.

The purpose of these FOAs is to invite applications for a broad range of research efforts in computational genomics, data science, statistics, and bioinformatics relevant to basic and/or clinical genomic science, and broadly applicable to human health and disease. These FOAs support fundamental genomics research developing innovative analytical methodologies and approaches, early stage development of tools and software, and refinement or hardening of software and tools of high value to the biomedical genomics community. Work supported under these FOAs should be enabling for genomics and be generalizable or broadly applicable across diseases and biological systems. All applications should address how the methods would scale to address larger and larger data sets.
NIHNIAIDSecondAnalysisIDR21
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Secondary Analysis of Existing Datasets for Advancing Infectious Disease Research (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadlines: February 16, 2021; June 16, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Direct costs are limited to $275,000 over a two-year project period, with no more than $200,000 in direct costs allowed in any single year.

The purpose of this FOA is to support projects that utilize open-access data, alone or in combination with other datasets, to address knowledge gaps in basic and/or clinical research in infectious diseases.  
NIHNLMcomputational
National Library of Medicine (NLM)
Computational Approaches to Curation at Scale for Biomedical Research Assets (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): 30 days prior to proposal deadline
Sponsor Deadlines for Full Proposals: February 5, 2021; June 5, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Up to $250,000 in direct costs may be requested in any single year. The total project period may not exceed 4 years.

NLM wishes to accelerate the availability of and access to secure, complete data sets and computational models that can serve as the basis of transformative biomedical discoveries by improving the speed and scope of the curation processes.

Applications may propose development of new computational methods, or extend existing open-source tools and pipelines in order to enhance automation, improve efficiency, quality and security, and control costs. The improvements over comparable existing management or curation approaches must be documented. During the project period, applicants are expected to test the approach with one or more groups of targeted users. Approaches should be applicable to more than one subject domain. All awardees are expected to disseminate widely the results of their research including software.

NIHNLMPersonalHealthLibrariesR01
National Library of Medicine (NLM)
Data Science Research: Personal Health Libraries for Consumers and Patients (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): June 30, 2021
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: July 30, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: July 23, 2021
Award Information: Up to $250,000 in direct costs may be requested in any single year. The total project period may not exceed 4 years.

The National Library of Medicine seeks applications for novel informatics and data science approaches that can help individuals gather, manage and use data and information about their personal health. A goal of this program is to advance research and application by patients and the research community through broadly sharing the results via publication, and through open source mechanisms for data or resource sharing.

Please note that organizations are limited to submitting one proposal in response to this Program Solicitation. If you are interested in submitting a proposal, please contact Erin Hale in FAS Research Development at erin_hale@fas.harvard.edu.
NIHNLMBioinformaticsDataScienceR01
National Library of Medicine (NLM)
NLM Research Grants in Biomedical Informatics and Data Science (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Sponsor Deadlines: February 5, 2021; June 5, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Application budgets are limited to $250,000 per year in direct costs. The maximum project period is 4 years.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) supports innovative research and development in biomedical informatics and data science. The scope of NLM's interest in these research domains is broad, with emphasis on new methods and approaches to foster data driven discovery in the biomedical and clinical health sciences as well as domain-independent, reusable approaches to discovery, curation, analysis, organization and management of health-related digital objects. Biomedical informatics and data science draw upon many fields, including mathematics, statistics, information science, computer science and engineering, and social/behavioral sciences. Application domains include health care delivery, basic biomedical research, clinical and translational research, precision medicine, public health, biosurveillance, health information management in disasters, and similar areas. NLM defines biomedical informatics as the science of optimal representation, organization, management, integration and presentation of information relevant to human health and biology. NIH defines data science as the interdisciplinary field of inquiry in which quantitative and analytical approaches, processes, and systems are developed and used to extract knowledge and insights from increasingly large and/or complex sets of data.

In March 2019, NIH issued a Notice of Special Interest: Computational and Statistical Methods to Enhance Discovery from Health Data to highlight its interest in receiving grant applications through this program that focus on research to reduce or mitigate gaps and errors in health data sets. NLM invites research grant applications that propose state of the art methods and approaches to address problems with large health data sets or tools used to analyze them, whether the data are drawn from electronic health records or public health data sets, biomedical imaging, omics repositories or other biomedical or social/behavioral data sets. 
NIHPilotCommonFundDataR03
Pilot Projects Enhancing Utility and Usage of Common Fund Data Sets (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadline: February 19, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 11, 2021
Award Information: Application budgets are limited to $200,000 in direct costs (excluding subcontract F&A) for one year.

Several valuable and widely available data sets have been generated by multiple Common Fund programs. The purpose of this FOA is to announce the availability of funding to demonstrate and enhance the utility of selected Common Fund (https://commonfund.nih.gov/) data sets, including generating hypotheses and catalyzing discoveries. Award recipients are asked to provide feedback on the utility of the Common Fund data resources.
NIHVAEHRLargeScaleDataR01
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
High-Priority Areas for Research Leveraging EHR and Large-Scale Data (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadlines: February 5, 2021; June 5, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. The maximum project period is 5 years.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement encourages research project grant (R01) applications to leverage large-scale, real-world data from electronic health records (EHRs) from a variety of systems (e.g., the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrative claims, as well as public or private health care systems and networks) to understand risk, onset, course, and impact of treatments and services for mental and neurological disorders and to identify promising new mental health and neurological disorders research. There is particular interest in leveraging EHRs and administrative data to: 1) understand and improve the treatment of post traumatic psychopathology, including posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and risk for suicide; and 2) characterize post-trauma multi-symptom recovery trajectory patterns of TBI, that may include post traumatic stress disorder, depression, cognitive impairment, pain, substance abuse disorder and risk for suicide. NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) also invites innovative approaches to use EHR and administrative data to understand risk, onset, course, and impact of treatments and services for mental disorders more broadly.
NSFCogNeuro
Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences (SBE)
Cognitive Neuroscience (CogNeuro) 
Sponsor Deadlines: February 11, 2021; August 13, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Average award size is ~$175,000 per year (including both direct and indirect costs) and the average duration is 3 years
 
The cognitive neuroscience program seeks to fund highly innovative proposals that employ brain-based measurements in order to advance our understanding of the neural systems that mediate cognitive processes. New frontiers in cognitive neuroscience research have emerged from investigations that integrate data at different spatial and temporal scales. Human cognitive science encompasses a wide range of topics, including attention, learning, memory, decision-making, language, social cognition, and emotions. Proposals will be considered that investigate a particular cognitive process using human brain data. 
NSFEEID
Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)
Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID)
Sponsor Deadline: November 17, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: November 9, 2021
Award Information: The maximum award size for all years for the US component is $2.5M, including indirect costs. The minimum award size is $1.5M total project costs for all years, except for international collaborative proposals (US-UK, US-Israel, and US-China Collaborative Projects) that have a minimum award size of $1M for the US component. The maximum award size for RCN proposals is $500,000 as per the RCN solicitation. The maximum award duration is 5 years.
 
The multi-agency Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program supports research on the ecological, evolutionary, and social drivers that influence the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. The central theme of submitted projects must be the quantitative or computational understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics. The intent is discovery of principles of infectious disease transmission and testing mathematical or computational models that elucidate infectious disease systems. Projects should be broad, interdisciplinary efforts that go beyond the scope of typical studies. They should focus on the determinants and interactions of transmission among any host species, including but not limited to humans, non-human animals, and/or plants. Research may be on zoonotic, environmentally-borne, vector-borne, or enteric pathogens of either terrestrial or aquatic systems and organisms, including diseases of animals and plants, at any scale from specific pathogens to inclusive environmental systems. Proposals for research on disease systems of public health concern to developing countries are strongly encouraged, as are disease systems of concern in agricultural systems. Investigators are encouraged to develop the appropriate multidisciplinary team, including for example, anthropologists, modelers, ecologists, bioinformaticians, genomics researchers, social scientists, economists, oceanographers, mathematical scientists, epidemiologists, evolutionary biologists, entomologists, parasitologists, microbiologists, bacteriologists, virologists, pathologists or veterinarians, with the goal of integrating knowledge across disciplines to enhance our ability to predict and control infectious diseases.

In a given year, an individual may participate as a PI, co-PI, or subaward lead on no more than two proposals submitted in response to this solicitation. This limit does not include Research Coordination Networks (RCN) proposals. 
NIHNSFJointDMSNIGMS
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Joint DMS/NIGMS Initiative to Support Research at the Interface of the Biological and Mathematical Sciences (DMS/NIGMS)
Sponsor Full Proposal Window: September 1-18, 2021 
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The joint DMS/NIGMS initiative offers two submission tracks: Track 1 -- for projects with a total budget of up to $600,000 and an award duration of 3 years, and Track 2 -- for projects with a total budget of up to $1,200,000 and award duration of 3-4 years.
 
The Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) plan to support fundamental research in mathematics and statistics necessary to answer questions in the biological and biomedical sciences. Both agencies recognize the need to promote research at the interface between mathematical and life sciences. This program is designed to encourage new collaborations, as well as to support innovative activities by existing teams. Awards from this competition may be made by either NSF or NIH at the option of the agencies, not the grantee.

Two tracks of funding are available under this program:
  • Track 1 - for projects of high-risk, high-reward exploratory, or those from new teams of collaborators; and 
  • Track 2 - for projects of large scope from well-established teams.
NSFSCH
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Smart Health and Biomedical Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Data Science (SCH)
Sponsor Deadlines: February 16, 2021; November 10, 2021; November 10, 2022 
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Up to 4 years for a total of $1.2M ($300,000 per year). 10-16 awards per year are anticipated.
 
The purpose of this interagency program solicitation is to support the development of transformative high-risk, high-reward advances in computer and information science, engineering, mathematics, statistics, behavioral and/or cognitive research to address pressing questions in the biomedical and public health communities. Transformations hinge on scientific and engineering innovations by interdisciplinary teams that develop novel methods to intuitively and intelligently collect, sense, connect, analyze and interpret data from individuals, devices and systems to enable discovery and optimize health. Solutions to these complex biomedical or public health problems demand the formation of interdisciplinary teams that are ready to address these issues, while advancing fundamental science and engineering.

An investigator may participate as Principal Investigator (PI), co-Principal Investigator (co-PI), Project Director (PD), Senior Personnel or Consultant in no more than two proposals submitted in response to this solicitation.

Interested investigators can join a webinar on December 21 at 3 pm ET, hosted by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to learn more about the interagency opportunity. 
Education and Training
AERA
AERA Research Grants
Sponsor Deadline: TBA (anticipated Spring 2021)
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission 
Award Information: Awards for Research Grants are up to $25,000 for 1 year projects, or up to $35,000 for 2 year projects. Overhead is not allowed on AERA Research Grants. This amount falls short of the 15% overhead required by FAS/SEAS policy. Please discuss with your grants administrator before preparing an application.
 
This program seeks to stimulate research on U.S. education issues using data from the large-scale, national and international data sets supported by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), NSF, and other federal agencies, and to increase the number of education researchers using these data sets. Applicants are encouraged to submit proposals that:
  • develop or benefit from new quantitative measures or methodological approaches for addressing education issues;
  • include interdisciplinary teams with subject matter expertise, especially when studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning;
  • analyze TIMSS, PISA, or other international data resources; or
  • include the integration and analysis of more than one data set.
Research projects related to at least one of the strands above and to science and/or mathematics education are especially encouraged. Other topics of interest include policies and practices related to student achievement in STEM, contextual factors in education, educational participation and persistence (kindergarten through graduate school), early childhood education, and postsecondary education.
NEHdighumanities
Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities
Sponsor Deadline: March 2, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 23, 2021
Award Information: Up to $250,000 for a maximum project period of 3 years. Approximately 5 awards are anticipated.
 
The Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities program supports national or regional (multistate) training programs for scholars, humanities professionals, and advanced graduate students to broaden and extend their knowledge of digital humanities. Through this program NEH seeks to increase the number of humanities scholars and practitioners using digital technology in their research and to broadly disseminate knowledge about advanced technology tools and methodologies relevant to the humanities.

Applicants may apply to create institutes that are a single opportunity or are offered multiple times to different audiences. Institutes may be as short as a few days or as long as six weeks and held at a single site or at multiples sites; virtual institutes are also permissible. Training opportunities could be offered before or after regularly occurring scholarly meetings, during the summer months, or during appropriate times of the academic year. The duration of a program should allow for full and thorough treatment of the topic; it should also be appropriate for the intended audience. These professional development programs may focus on a particular computational method, such as network or spatial analysis. They may also target the needs of a particular humanities discipline or audience. 

Project directors and co-directors may submit only one application to this program per deadline. Applicants should note that program officers will review draft proposals if they are submitted by January 19, 2021. Although this optional preliminary review is not part of the formal review process and has no bearing on the final outcome of the proposal, previous applicants have found it helpful in strengthening their applications.
NIHNHGRIResearchExpR25
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Research Experience in Genomic Research for Data Scientists (R25)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): 30 days prior to the proposal deadline
Sponsor Deadlines for Full Proposals: May 25, 2021; May 25, 2022; May 25, 2023
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Application budgets are limited to $250,000 in direct costs per year. The maximum project period is 5 years. Indirect Costs will be reimbursed at 8% of modified total direct costs (exclusive of tuition and fees and expenditures for equipment), rather than on the basis of a negotiated rate agreement.

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research educational activities that complement other formal training programs in the mission areas of the NIH Institutes and Centers. The overarching goals of the NIH R25 program are to: (1) complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation's biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs; (2) encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, to pursue further studies or careers in research; (3) help recruit individuals with specific specialty or disciplinary backgrounds to research careers in biomedical, behavioral and clinical sciences; and (4) foster a better understanding of biomedical, behavioral and clinical research and its implications.

To accomplish the stated overarching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on Research Experiences for students currently enrolled in master's degree programs in data science (including programs in statistics/biostatistics, mathematics, computer science or equivalent fields) to provide hands-on exposure to genomics data sets as a substrate for their analytical skills. NHGRI hopes to attract such students to the genomics workforce. NHGRI also seeks to both encourage data scientists who plan to opt for a terminal master's degree to join genomics research, as well as reinforce the intent of current master's degree students who are considering entering a doctoral program with an eventual dissertation focused on genomic data science. The PD/PI must be an established investigator with significant research funding from NIH (e.g. multiple research grants, a large center grant, or cooperative agreement, etc.) in genomics data science and capable of providing both administrative and scientific leadership to the development and implementation of the proposed program. 

Please note that organizations are limited to submitting one proposal in response to this Program Announcement. If you are interested in submitting a proposal, please contact Erin Hale in FAS Research Development at erin_hale@fas.harvard.edu.
NIHSummerInstitutesBiostatisticsR25
Summer Institute for Research Education in Biostatistics and Data Science (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): February 8, 2021
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: March 8, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: March 1, 2021
Award Information: The total institutional direct costs may not exceed $239,000 each year. Indirect Costs will be reimbursed at 8% of modified total direct costs. The maximum project period is 5 years. NIH expects to fund up to 7 awards.  

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research educational activities that complement other formal training programs in the mission areas of the NIH Institutes and Centers. The overarching goals of the NIH R25 program are to: (1) complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation's biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs; (2) encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, to pursue further studies or careers in research; (3) help recruit individuals with specific specialty or disciplinary backgrounds to research careers in biomedical, behavioral and clinical sciences; and (4) foster a better understanding of biomedical, behavioral and clinical research and its implications. To accomplish these goals, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on Courses for Skills Development.

With this FOA, NHLBI and NIAID invite applications for grants to develop, conduct, and evaluate summer courses in the principles and methods of contemporary biostatistics and data science as employed in current biomedical research. The courses will introduce advanced undergraduates, recent graduates, and beginning graduate students to the field of biostatistics and data science for the purpose of attracting new students to the field. Unless strongly justified on the basis of exceptional relevance to NIH, research education programs should be used primarily for the education of U.S. citizens and permanent residents. NHLBI and NIAID expect that the proposed courses will cover the fundamental concepts of probability, statistical reasoning, data science, and inferential methods motivated, in part, by examples of relevance to NHLBI and NIAID. Examples may include studies of heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders, and studies in infectious disease prevention, emerging infections, and immune-mediated studies including allergy, autoimmunity, or immune reactions associated with transplantation. Applicants may choose to focus on aspects of biostatistics and data science that are within the areas of strength, interest and expertise of their faculty. It is anticipated that the courses will be taught during the summers of 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 with appropriate modifications or refinements over the course of the award.
NSFCSForAll
Computer Science for All (CSforAll: Research and RPPs)
Sponsor Deadline: February 10, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 3, 2021
Award Information: Small RPP proposals (maximum of $300,000 for up to 2 years) are designed to support the initial steps in establishing a strong and well-integrated RPP team that could successfully compete for a Medium or Large proposal in the near future. Medium RPP proposals (maximum of $1M for up to 3 years) are designed to support the modest scaling of a promising approach by a well-defined RPP team. Large RPP proposals (maximum of $2M for up to 4 years) are designed to support the widespread scaling of an evidence-based approach by a RPP team that builds on prior collaborations. Research proposals (maximum of $500,000 for up to 3 years) are designed to support research projects.

This program aims to provide all U.S. students with the opportunity to participate in computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) education in their schools at the preK-12 levels. With this solicitation, the National Science Foundation (NSF) focuses on both research and researcher-practitioner partnerships (RPPs) that foster the research and development needed to bring CS and CT to all schools. Specifically, this solicitation aims to provide (1) high school teachers with the preparation, professional development (PD) and ongoing support they need to teach rigorous computer science courses; (2) preK-8 teachers with the instructional materials and preparation they need to integrate CS and CT into their teaching; and (3) schools and districts with the resources needed to define and evaluate multi-grade pathways in CS and CT.

Proposals will be funded in four "strands" that foster design, implementation at scale, and/or research:

RPP Strands:
  • For the High School Strand, the focus is on preparing and supporting teachers to teach rigorous CS courses;
  • For the PreK-8 Strand, the focus is on designing, developing, and piloting instructional materials that integrate CS and CT into preK-8 classrooms;
  • For preK-12 or preK-14 Pathways Strand, the focus is on designing pathways that support school districts in developing policies and supports for incorporating CS and CT across all grades and potentially into introductory levels at community or four-year colleges and universities.
Research Strand:

For the Research Strand, the focus is on building strategically instrumental, or "high leverage" knowledge about the learning and teaching of introductory computer science to support key CS and CT understandings and abilities for all students.

A proposal can be submitted to only one strand.
NSFRETENGCS
Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
Dear Colleague Letter: Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Supplemental Funding in Computer & Information Science & Engineering
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (CISE strongly encourages the submission of requests before April 30, 2021; the potential for funding requests after this date may be limited)
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: CISE provides up to $8,000 per student per year through an REU supplement, and up to $10,000 per K-12 STEM teacher per year through a RET supplement.

NSF's Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) invites grantees with active CISE awards to submit requests for Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Supplements, following the guidelines in the REU Sites and Supplements solicitation (NSF 19-582). REU supplements help undergraduate students engage in meaningful research experiences in pursuit of their educational and career goals. To be eligible for this opportunity, a student must be a US citizen or permanent resident of the US. CISE encourages submission of REU supplemental funding requests that specifically afford US veterans an opportunity to engage in meaningful research experiences.

CISE also invites grantees with active CISE awards to submit requests for Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Supplements, following the guidelines in the RET in Engineering and Computer Science: Supplements and Sites solicitation (NSF 20-584). RET supplements help K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers engage in meaningful research experiences and translate the knowledge gained into their teaching practices. CISE is particularly interested in RET supplements that target K-12 computer science teachers. 

The participation of students and teachers from groups underrepresented in CISE fields -- underrepresented minorities, women, and persons with disabilities -- is strongly encouraged. For single-investigator projects, CISE REU and RET supplemental funding requests should be for no more than two students or two teachers, respectively, for one year. Support for additional students or teachers can be requested as part of these supplemental funding requests if these students or teachers are from groups underrepresented in CISE fields, and the selected students or teachers are identified in the supplemental funding request. Research teams funded through multi-investigator projects may request support for a larger number of students or teachers, commensurate with the size and nature of their projects, with proportional additional support for students or teachers from groups underrepresented in CISE fields. REU supplemental funding can be used to support students anytime during the academic year as well as summer, while RET supplements should be used only for summer programs.
NSFRETTL
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Research on Emerging Technologies for Teaching and Learning (RETTL)
Sponsor Deadlines: January 25, 2021; October 18, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Up to $850,000 for 3 years. Approximately 20 awards are anticipated.  

The purpose of the Research on Emerging Technologies for Teaching and Learning (RETTL) program (previously called Cyberlearning) is to fund exploratory and synergistic research in emerging technologies (to include, but not limited to, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and immersive or augmenting technologies) for teaching and learning in the future. The program accepts proposals that focus on learning, teaching, or a combination of both. The scope of the program is broad, with special interest in diverse learner/educator populations, contexts, and content, including teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and in foundational areas that enable STEM (e.g., self-regulation, literacy, communication, collaboration, creativity, and socio-emotional skills). Research in this program should be informed by the convergence (synthesis) of multiple disciplines: e.g., learning sciences; discipline-based education research; computer and information science and engineering; design; and cognitive, behavioral, and social sciences. Within this broad scope, the program also encourages projects that investigate teaching and learning related to futuristic and highly technological work environments.

An individual may participate as PI, co-PI, or Senior Personnel in no more than a total of one proposal in response to this solicitation.

NSFWorkforceSurveyData
Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences (SBE)
Research on the Science and Technology Enterprise: Statistics and Surveys - R&D, U.S. S&T Competitiveness, STEM Education, S&T Workforce
Sponsor Deadline: January 15, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 8, 2021
Award Information: The total maximum amount for all awards in FY18 is $750,000. 7-12 awards are anticipated.

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is one of the thirteen principal federal statistical agencies within the United States. It is responsible for the collection, acquisition, analysis, reporting and dissemination of objective, statistical data related to the science and engineering enterprise in the United States and other nations that is relevant and useful to practitioners, researchers, policymakers and the public. The Center would like to enhance its efforts to support analytic and methodological research in support of its surveys, and to engage in the education and training of researchers in the use of large-scale nationally representative datasets. NCSES welcomes efforts by the research community to use NCSES data for research on the science and technology enterprise, to develop improved survey methodologies for NCSES surveys, to create and improve indicators of S&T activities and resources, and strengthen methodologies to analyze and disseminate S&T statistical data. To that end, NCSES invites proposals for individual or multi-investigator research projects, doctoral dissertation improvement awards, workshops, experimental research, survey research and data collection and dissemination projects under its program for Research on the Science and Technology Enterprise: Statistics and Surveys.
NSFNRT
NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program
Internal Harvard Pre-Proposal Deadline: January 7, 2021
Sponsor Deadline (if nominated): February 25, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: February 18, 2021
Award Information: Up to $3M for up to 5 years
The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new, and potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The NRT program seeks proposals that explore ways for graduate students in research-based master's and doctoral degree programs to develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a range of STEM careers. The program is dedicated to the effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary research areas through the use of a comprehensive traineeship model that is innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.
 
NSF seeks proposals in any interdisciplinary research theme of national priority, with special emphasis on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) and the six research areas within NSF's 10 Big Ideas:
 
  • Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR)
  • The Future of Work at the Human Technology Frontier (HTF)
  • Navigating the New Arctic (NNA)
  • Windows on the Universe: The Era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (WOU)
  • The Quantum Leap: Leading the Next Quantum Revolution (QL)
  • Understanding the Rules of Life: Predicting Phenotype (URoL) 
An individual may serve as Lead Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI on only one proposal submitted to the NRT program per annual competition. Additional information about this opportunity can be found in the NSF NRT website.

Please note that organizations are limited to participating in no more than two proposals in consideration for this opportunity. Participation includes serving as the lead organization, non-lead organization, or subawardee on any proposal. One of Harvard's two nomination slots has been filled through a prior internal competition that was run in September. The Office of the Vice Provost for Research is facilitating a second internal competition to fill the remaining nomination slot. To be considered for the Harvard nomination, potential applicants must submit an internal pre-proposal at the link above. 
NSFCyberTraining2018
Training-based Workforce Development for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (CyberTraining)
Sponsor Deadline: January 20, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 12, 2021
Award Information: Pilot Projects will be funded up to $300,000 in total costs with durations up to 2 years. Implementation Projects may be requested at the Small level (with total budgets of up to $500,000) or Medium (with total budgets of up to $1M) for durations of up to 4 years; and Large-scale Project Conceptualization Projects will be funded up to $500,000 in total costs with durations up to 2 years. Up to 4 Pilot, 8 Small and 3 Medium Implementation, and 3 Large-scale Project Conceptualization awards are anticipated.
This program seeks to prepare, nurture, and grow the national scientific research workforce for creating, utilizing, and supporting advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI) to enable and potentially transform fundamental science and engineering research and contribute to the Nation's overall economic competitiveness and security. The goals of this solicitation are to (i) ensure broad adoption of CI tools, methods, and resources by the research community in order to catalyze major research advances and to enhance researchers' abilities to lead the development of new CI; and (ii) integrate core literacy and discipline-appropriate advanced skills in advanced CI as well as computational and data-driven science and engineering into the Nation's educational curriculum/instructional material fabric spanning undergraduate and graduate courses for advancing fundamental research. Pilot and Implementation projects may target one or both of the solicitation goals, while Large-scale Project Conceptualization projects must address both goals. For the purpose of this solicitation, advanced CI is broadly defined as the set of resources, tools, methods, and services for advanced computation, large-scale data handling and analytics, and networking and security for large-scale systems that collectively enable potentially transformative fundamental research.
Three classes of proposals are being accepted:
  • Pilot Projects are exploratory activities that may lead to Implementation projects.
  • Implementation Projects make CI training and educational activities or curriculum/instructional materials broadly accessible to a significant portion of a community for one or more disciplines. 
  • Large-Scale Project Conceptualization awards are planning grants for potential future large-scale (at the level of institutes) CyberTraining projects. 
To ensure relevance to community needs and to facilitate adoption, those proposals of interest to one or more domain divisions must include at least one PI/co-PI with expertise relevant to the targeted research discipline. All proposals shall include at least one PI/co-PI with expertise relevant to OAC. An individual may serve as PI or co-PI on only one Pilot or Implementation proposal submitted to the CyberTraining program per competition. There are no restrictions or limits on Large-scale Project Conceptualization Project proposals.
Questions about this newsletter or proposal submission may be directed to:

Jennifer Corby
Research Development Officer
jcorby@fas.harvard.edu | 617-495-1590

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Research Development | Research Administration Services | research.fas.harvard.edu