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August 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.
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.
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It has come to our attention that some members of this mailing list did not receive the July 2020 newsletter. We apologize for any inconvenience. You may access an archived version of that newsletter, and all past newsletters, at this link.
CrowdTangle is a public insights tool from Facebook that makes it easy to follow, analyze, and report on what's happening across social media. CrowdTangle has now opened a public application for university-based researchers and academics focused on misinformation, elections, COVID-19, racial justice, and well-being. If accepted, researchers will receive access to all of CrowdTangle's tools and API, as well as training and resources to support their research.
On August 24-25, 2020, the Harvard Center of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (CMSA) will host its sixth annual Conference on Big Data. This virtual Conference will feature many speakers from the Harvard community as well as scholars from across the globe, with talks focusing on computer science, statistics, math and physics, and economics. Registration is free but required. Details on how to join the webinar will be sent to registered participants before the event. Register here using this Google form.
The purpose of this RFI is to solicit public comment to assist and guide the NLM in identifying new, and updating ongoing, efforts to implement the NLM Strategic Plan 2017-2027: A Platform for Biomedical Discovery and Data-Powered Health. Comments may be submitted online through October 19, 2020.
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Funding Opportunities for Big Data
* Indicates a funding announcement that was updated or added to the newsletter this month.
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Social Science
(Computer) Science and Engineering
Biomedical Science
Education and Training
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Racial Justice and AI Ethics Visiting Fellowship Grants
Sponsor Deadline: August 30, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: Review not required for awards made directly to individuals
Award Information: Each grant will be £10,000. The duration of the Visiting Fellowships is 6 months.
The Ada Lovelace Institute's JUST AI Network, with the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, is seeking to commission projects that identify and address gaps in ethical thinking about data and AI in the UK with respect to racial justice. At least four grants of £10,000 each will be awarded to researchers, scholars and creative practitioners to execute research or creative projects designed to surface alternative, critical and diverse perspectives on data and AI. The projects will develop anti-racist and decolonial perspectives on data and AI, address structural and systemic inequalities, and shape the field by investigating ethics in new ways and foregrounding overlooked scholars and ethical perspectives. There is no restriction on current nationality or geographic location of applicants. Project descriptions should indicate how they address or connect with current UK experiences. There are no minimum academic requirements for applicants, and no requirement for institutional affiliation.
Successful applicants will gain affiliation with the Ada Lovelace Institute as JUST AI Visiting Fellows for a period of six months from the project start date. During the fellowship they will benefit from structured participation with JUST AI (including participation in weekly lab meetings, peer and expert support, and opportunities for research collaboration) and access to opportunities to contribute to and participate in the work of the Ada Lovelace Institute. Visiting Fellows will be supported in designing and delivering a research or creative project between October 2020 and April 2021.
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Pandemic/COVID19 Science, Technology and Social Impact
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 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.
Pandemics have far reaching consequences that range from deaths to shutting down the economy as we have witnessed during the recent COVID19 crisis. Hence there is a need to be better prepared for such pandemics. We need to solve problems ranging from predictive analytics innovative devices for saving lives to technology for devising voting machines. The social and economic impact for the above areas is huge and some of the work can be transformative and save lives.
Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: - Mathematical models for spread and the impact of pandemics.
- Scalable simulation techniques for pandemics (e.g. with multi agents).
- Biomedical/Nano sensor devices for detecting symptoms and agents.
- Algorithms for rapid exploration of the drug screening and discovery workflows (e.g. use reinforcement learning)
- Advanced computational biology techniques for sequencing, detecting viral evolution (e.g. in COVID-19).
- Algorithms and systems for contact tracing (with privacy preserving).
- Algorithms and recommendation systems for curating media and news.
- Collaboration techniques for more effective health, and efficiency during pandemics.
- Improved identity and security techniques.
- Distributed Ledgers, their applications and their governance for and during pandemics.
- Pandemic data science - understanding the patterns and the impact of a pandemic like COVID-19. Creation of curated data sets.
Cisco is interested in both the science and technology aspects of these problem sets, and, particularly, in the intersections between them. By cultivating stronger partnerships between scientists, technologists, and the broader community, Cisco hopes to achieve an acceleration of scientific research and conservation outcomes as boundaries of technologies and architectures are pushed to support larger-scale studies, more sophisticated analyses, and translation of learning across multiple domain areas.
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2020 Digital Infrastructure Research RFP
Sponsor Deadline: September 4, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 28, 2020
Award Information: Awards will be made in three cost tiers: Small Awards under $50,000; Medium Awards between $50,000-$125,000; and Large Awards between $125,000-$200,000. Project duration will typically be 6-24 months but this is not a hard requirement.
This RFP invites proposals to further study the maintenance of digital infrastructure. Among the questions that could be addressed by such research are:
- What makes digital infrastructure "critical"?
- How might we assess the reliability of digital infrastructure?
- What is the role that companies and other private institutions should play in maintaining a stable ecosystem of open source technology, and with what kinds of accountability mechanisms?
- How can communities that maintain digital infrastructure best be sustained?
- How are systemic inequalities like racism, sexism, ableism, and/or xenophobia encoded in digital infrastructure, and how might that encoding be dismantled?
Proposals that would move findings from the first funded research cohort in 2018 into practice are especially encouraged. Such initiatives should clearly note the specific research finding that is guiding any proposed intervention, and articulate how impact will be measured.
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Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE)
NSF Dynamic Language Infrastructure - NEH Documenting Endangered Languages (DLI-DEL)
Sponsor Deadline: September 15, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 8, 2020
Award Information: Varies by award type (see solicitation for complete details)
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 information 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, fellowships from six to twelve months, and conference proposals. Note: a conference proposal should generally be submitted at least a year in advance of the scheduled date of the conference.
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
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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.
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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?
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Just Tech COVID-19 Rapid-Response Grants
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling, with the first period of review beginning August 31, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: $5,000-$10,000 for 6 months
The Social Science Research Council (SSRC), as part of its Just Tech program, seeks proposals from across the social sciences and related fields that address the risks, opportunities, and challenges posed by public health surveillance stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. SSRC specifically encourages proposals that interrogate the role the public and private sectors may play in mitigating or exacerbating the health crisis, the effects of which are already unevenly distributed. Projects illuminating the experiences of historically marginalized people are especially encouraged, as are those that can constructively inform policy responses across communities and institutions.
Applicants may not have another pending application with SSRC.
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| (Computer) Science & Engineering |
Sponsor Deadline: October 11, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: October 2, 2020
Award Information: This program offers both funding and AWS Promotional Credits. The 2019 awards averaged $72,000 in funding and $15,000 in AWS Promotional Credits for each research project. Each grant is intended to support the work of one or two graduate or postdoctoral students for one year, under the supervision of a faculty member, plus some conference travel and equipment. Please discuss the overhead requirement with your grants administrator before preparing an application.
Amazon Research Awards (ARA) fund proposals in a variety of research areas relevant to Amazon such as robotics, machine learning, security, and more. Recipients are assigned an Amazon research contact who offers consultation and advice along with opportunities to participate in Amazon events and training sessions. ARA was founded in 2015 and merged with AWS Machine Learning Research Awards (MLRA) in 2020. ARA funds proposals up to four times a year. Proposals are reviewed for the quality of their scientific content, their creativity, and their potential to impact both the research community and society more generally.
This year, Amazon is soliciting applications in the following research areas that align with its mission to advance customer-obsessed science:
- AI for Information Security
- Alexa Fairness in AI
- AWS AI
- AWS Automated Reasoning
- Robotics
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AWS Cloud Credits for Research
Sponsor Deadlines: September 30, 2020; December 31, 2020
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:
- Build cloud-hosted publicly available science-as-a-service applications, software, or tools to facilitate their future research and the research of their community.
- Perform proof of concept or benchmark tests evaluating the efficacy of moving research workloads or open data sets to the cloud.
- Train a broader community on the usage of cloud for research workloads via workshops or tutorials.
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National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Measurement Science and Engineering (MSE) Research Grants Program
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling. Applications submitted after May 31, 2020 may be processed and considered for funding in Fiscal Year 2020 or in the next fiscal year, subject to the availability of funds.
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.
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United States Department of Defense (DoD)
Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
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.
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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.
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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 also available:
- 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.
- Young Investigator Program: To attract outstanding young 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 holding tenure-track positions at U.S. institutions of higher education, who have held their graduate degrees (Ph.D. or equivalent) for fewer than five years at the time of application. Proposals may be submitted at any time. YIP awards will not exceed $120,000 per year for three years.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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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.
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Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
Information Innovation Office (I2O) Broad Agency Announcement
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling through August 28, 2020
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 Information Innovation Office (I2O) develops game-changing information science and technology to ensure information advantage for the U.S. and its allies. To accomplish this, I2O sponsors basic and applied research in three thrust areas: Cyber, Analytics and Symbiosis. I2O may also consider submissions outside these areas if the proposal involves the development of novel software-based capabilities having promise to provide decisive information advantage for the U.S. and its allies. I2O seeks unconventional 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 science, technology, devices, 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.
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U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)
ERDC 2020 Broad Agency Announcement
Sponsor Deadline for Pre-Proposals (required): Rolling through February 5, 2021
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: TBD
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Research and Conference/Symposia Grants are available.
The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) includes the Coastal and Hydraulics Lab (CHL), the Geotechnical and Structures Lab (GSL), the Reachback Operations Center (UROC), the Environmental Lab (EL) and the Information Technology Lab (ITL) in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire, the Construction Engineering Research Lab (CERL) in Champaign, Illinois, and the Geospatial Research Laboratory (GRL) in Alexandria, Virginia. The ERDC is responsible for conducting research in the broad fields of hydraulics, dredging, coastal engineering, instrumentation, oceanography, remote sensing, geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering, soil effects, vehicle mobility, self-contained munitions, military engineering, geophysics, pavements, protective structures, aquatic plants, water quality, dredged material, treatment of hazardous waste, wetlands, physical/mechanical/chemical properties of snow and other frozen precipitation, infrastructure and environmental issues for installations, computer science, telecommunications management, energy, facilities maintenance, materials and structures, engineering processes, environmental processes, land and heritage conservation, and ecological processes. This research is conducted by Government personnel and by contract with educational institutions, non-profit organizations and private industries.
The Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) conducts research, development, and studies and provides technical assistance and operational support in information technology (IT) and closely related fields, with particular emphasis on the areas of computer-aided interdisciplinary engineering, computer-aided design and drafting, building information modeling, computer-aided facilities management, computer science, high performance computing, advanced computer security, general-purpose computing, and sensor and instrumentation systems. These activities are conducted to support and enable execution of missions of USACE, the Army, and DoD.
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FY2021 Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI)
Sponsor Deadline: September 14, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 4, 2020
Award Information: Typical annual funding per grant is in the $1.25M to $1.5M range. The amount of the award and the number of supported researchers should generally not exceed the limit specified for the individual topics in the solicitation. Each individual award will be for a three-year base period with one two-year option period to bring the total maximum term of the award to five years.
The Department of Defense (DoD) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI), one element of the University Research Initiative (URI), is sponsored by the DoD research offices, including the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Army Research Office (ARO), and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). The MURI program supports basic research in science and engineering at U.S. institutions of higher education that is of potential interest to DoD. The program is focused on multidisciplinary research efforts where more than one traditional discipline interacts to provide rapid advances in scientific areas of interest to the DoD. DOD's MURI program addresses high-risk basic research and attempts to understand or achieve something that has never been done before. The program has regularly produced significant scientific breakthroughs with far reaching consequences to the fields of science, economic growth, and revolutionary new military technologies. Key to the program's success is the close management of the MURI projects by Service program officers and their active role in providing research guidance.
The FY 2021 MURI competition is for the topics listed in the solicitation, including:
- Topic 2: A Brain-based Compositional Framework for Robust Computer Vision (ONR)
- Topic 15: Novel Mechanisms of Neuro-Glio Bio-Computation and Reinforcement Learning (ARO)
- Topic 27: Advanced Modeling of Evolutionary Cyber Eco-Systems with Autonomous Intelligence (AFOSR)
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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
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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.
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United States Department of Defense (DoD)
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)
NRL Long Range Broad Agency Announcement for Basic and Applied Research
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (current BAA is active until September 5, 2020 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 research area and the technical approach to be pursued by the offeror selected.
The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the Navy's corporate laboratory. NRL conducts basic and applied research for the Navy in a variety of scientific and technical disciplines. NRL 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.
NRL is organized as follows: Systems Directorate Code 5000; Materials Science and Component Technology Directorate Code 6000; and Ocean and Atmospheric Science and Technology Directorate Code 7000; and the Naval Center for Space Technology Code 8000. Areas of interest listed in the BAA include: Information Management and Decision Architectures; Mathematical Foundations of High Assurance Computing; Federated, Distributed Computing/Network Infrastructure; and Cyber Secure Open Source Information and Analytics. Additional information about the NRL Program Codes and the science and technology thrusts that NRL is pursuing can be found at the NRL website.
Interested offerors must first submit a white paper (WP), which are continuously accepted prior to closing date of the announcement. Offerors of those WPs found to be consistent with the intent of the BAA will be invited to submit a full proposal.
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United States Department of Defense (DoD)
Office of Naval Research (ONR)
FY20 Long Range Broad Agency Announcement for Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (current BAA is active until September 30, 2020 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 research 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. 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
Prior to preparing proposals, potential offerors are strongly encouraged to contact the ONR point of contact (POC) identified for each research area.
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United States Department of Defense (DoD)
U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center (CCDC Soldier Center)
U.S. Army CCDC Soldier Center Broad Agency Announcement for Basic and Applied Research
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (current BAA is active until February 28, 2025 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 research area and the technical approach to be pursued by the offeror selected.
The mission of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center (CCDC Soldier Center) is to "Maximize the Warfighter's Survivability, Sustainability, Mobility, Combat Effectiveness and Field Quality of Life by Treating the Warfighter as a System". This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) is intended to fulfill requirements for scientific study and experimentation directed toward advancing state-of-the-art technologies and/or increasing knowledge and understanding as a means of eliminating current technology barriers.
CCDC Soldier Center's goal is to provide the American Warfighter the best equipment for the best price through research, development and engineering in areas including:
- Modeling and Simulation
- The development and application of a toolkit to conduct rapid and repetitive analysis pertaining to the Small Unit (SU).
- Conduct research or use extant data and knowledge to develop and implement methodologies and algorithms pertaining to SU operations in a range of areas.
- Enhance CCDC Soldier Center analytic tools to support data exchange and linkage with other U. S. Army and NATO analytic models, simulations, and war games such as COMBAT XXI, OneSAF, and CAEn based upon analytic needs.
- Develop tools and capabilities that allow simulation of the full spectrum of missions ranging from Stability and Support Operations (SASO) to combat.
- Generate and enhance terrain databases that support the analysis of SU operational effectiveness and survivability.
- Extend the Infantry Warrior Simulation for human-in-the-loop operation to allow for the research and assessment of Ground Soldier cognition, behavioral representation and the value of information.
- Adaptive Instructional Systems: The U.S. Army has a need to leverage technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), data analytic tools, machine learning (ML), augmented reality, and distributed computing to improve the effectiveness and reduce the cost of executing collective training events.
- Battlespace Visualization and Interaction: Existing battlespace visualization capabilities often consist of physical map views or sand tables with limited capability to display information as the operational environment becomes more complex, especially as the Army evolves in support of Multi-Domain operations. There is a growing need to provide the Warfighter with tools to ingest diverse datasets to present information more efficiently across numerous modalities, e.g. monitors, tablets, etc.
- Synthetic Environments: Army simulation and battle command systems are transforming into highly integrated, distributed/collaborative 3D One World Terrain tools that depend on accurate, timely geospatial data. Providing representations of complex environments is a critical element of models and simulations, requiring interoperability of heterogeneous simulation systems. The research emphasis is to provide the capability to represent the synthetic environment as realistically as possible to support the Army mission.
- Soldier Performance Optimization
- Body-worn systems, hand held devices, smart-lightweight electronic components, and information processing to increase soldier maneuverability and protection through on-soldier sensing, remote sensing, and knowledge management.
- Development of algorithms or analytical approaches for predicting changes in Soldier/Squad performance measures. Validation of historical, recent, or emerging models for Soldier/Squad performance. Big data approaches and solutions for down selecting relevant Soldier/Squad measures of performance from large scale, often disparate data sets
In an effort to minimize proposal preparation costs, this BAA will utilize a two-step process. Step one will be the offeror's submission of a concept paper. Those offerors whose concept papers are found to be consistent with the intent of the BAA and which are of interest to the Government will be invited to submit a proposal (step two).
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United States Department of Defense (DoD)
Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF) Program (FY21)
Sponsor Registration Deadline (required): August 26, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for White Papers (required): August 28, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals (if invited): January 15, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The maximum award will be $3M over 5 years.
The Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF) program is sponsored by the Basic Research Office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD (R&E)). VBFF supports innovative basic research within academia, as well as opportunities intended to develop the next generation of scientists and engineers for the defense workforce. This FOA seeks distinguished researchers for the purpose of conducting innovative basic research in areas of interest to the DoD and fostering long-term relationships between the VBFF Fellows and the DoD. VBFF is oriented towards bold and ambitious "blue sky" research that may lead to extraordinary outcomes such as revolutionizing entire disciplines, creating entirely new fields, or disrupting accepted theories and perspectives. Faculty with tenure at the time of proposal submission, with a record of substantial scientific contributions and the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to conduct the proposed research as the principal investigator (PI), are invited to submit an application. The PI must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
This FOA is for single investigator grant proposals for basic research in one or more of the following technical subject categories of interest to the DoD. Submitted proposals must identify which of those areas it best corresponds to. Innovative ideas that do not fall under any of the defined categories in that list are also welcome, and can be submitted under the "Other" category:
- Applied Mathematics and Computational Science
- Networks and Artificial Intelligence
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Fundamentals of Bioengineering
- Quantum Information Science
- Electronics, Photonics and Quantum Materials
- Engineered Materials and Structures
- Other Fields of Research
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Office of Science (SC)
FY 2020 Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (current solicitation is active until September 30, 2020 or until superseded)
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Awards in FY17 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 agreement awards under this and other, more targeted FOAs in FY20. 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, and Nuclear Physics.
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: - 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.
- 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.
- Advance key areas of computational science and discovery that support the missions of the Office of Science through mutually beneficial partnerships.
- 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.
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AI for Accessibility Grants
Sponsor Deadline: December 15, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: December 8, 2020
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.
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Labeled Datasets for Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sponsor Deadline: September 3, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 27, 2020
Award Information: $20,000-$100,000 for small to medium-sized projects and as much as $500,000 for large, complex projects. Overhead is limited to 13%. 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 Lacuna Fund provides data scientists, researchers, and social entrepreneurs with the resources they need to either produce new labeled datasets to address an underserved population or problem, augment existing datasets to be more representative, or update old datasets to be more sustainable. This request for proposals will fund labeled agricultural datasets for machine learning in sub-Saharan Africa, whether referenced to earth observation (EO) data or related to other aspects of the crop and animal agricultural system. The Fund's Technical Advisory Panel recognizes the importance of other forms of agriculture such as fisheries and apiary to gender equity and poverty alleviation and will consider proposals in these areas on a case-by-case basis. Given existing funding opportunities, the Fund will not make awards in areas related to forestry. Please note that for this RFP, applicants should be an organization headquartered in Africa or have a substantial partnership with organization(s) headquartered in Africa.
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AI for Earth Grants
Sponsor Deadlines: October 5, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 28, 2020
Award Information: Azure compute credits worth $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000, plus additional resources including technical advice and support, online Azure training materials, and invitations to the AI for Earth Summit for networking and education opportunities.
AI for Earth grants provide access to Microsoft resources to support projects that change the way people and organizations monitor, model, and manage Earth's natural systems. Researchers who already have access to a labeled dataset and are ready to start using Azure AI tools and cloud computing may apply for Azure compute credits through this grant program. Microsoft's areas of focus for AI for Earth are agriculture, food, biodiversity, and/or climate change. Microsoft recommends that the main applicant has a demonstrated background in environmental science and/or technology (such as a PhD degree), and that at least one member of the team has strong enough technical skills to complete the project successfully.
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NRC Research Associateship Programs
Sponsor Deadlines: November 2, 2020; February 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.
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Microsoft
AI for Earth Innovation
Sponsor Deadline: October 21, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: October 14, 2020
Award Information: $5,000-$100,000 for one year. Proposals with total budgets of at least $50,000 may designate up to 15% as overhead. Applicants requesting less than $50,000 should discuss their request with a grants administrator before preparing an application since the budget may fall short of the 15% overhead required by FAS/SEAS policy. In addition to financial support, successful applicants will receive free access to AI for Earth APIs, applications, tools, and tutorials, and support for their computational work on Microsoft Azure.
The grants given by the partnership will support projects that use cloud computing to create and deploy open-source models and algorithms that make key analytical processes more efficient in the field. This partnership is focused on supporting projects that will build tools such as applications, application programming interfaces (APIs), or packages to be shared. Microsoft will help the successful applicants make their models and tools available for use by other environmental researchers and innovators.
Proposed work should address biodiversity or climate change and create generalizable, scalable tools that can be used by other environmental researchers and conservationists. National Geographic recommends building a multidisciplinary team that spans technology and environmental science.
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Advanced Technology Group (ATG)
NetApp ATG Faculty Fellowship Program
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Award amounts vary, however they usually cover a significant amount of the cost for a graduate student to work on the project for a year. FAS and SEAS applicants must request an indirect cost rate of 69% on sponsored research applications to industry.
The NetApp Faculty Fellowship (NFF) program was established to encourage leading-edge research in storage and data management and to foster relationships between academic researchers and NetApp's technical community. The NFF program accepts research proposals from full-time faculty and post-graduate researchers employed by an accredited university that has a PhD program in the field of the proposal's principal investigators.
The NFF program is interested in proposals that describe an innovative project that a researcher desires to pursue over the next one to three years. The proposed research must have some alignment with NetApp core technology and business interests (storage and data management). A sponsor from NetApp will be assigned to communicate and in some cases may collaborate with project's PI(s) and team.
Topics of particular interest include:
- Data security in next generation data centers
- Data management and security in hybrid clouds
- Data center and enterprise networking
- Novel data systems, including NoSQL databases, big data systems, and data streaming systems
- IoT and real time analytics
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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:
- Projects that aim to develop novel mathematical and statistical algorithms for analysis of large geospatial datasets.
- Projects that develop mathematical theory to guide the use of artificial neural networks (ANN) for computer vision tasks.
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National Science Foundation (NSF)
Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
CISE Community Research Infrastructure (CCRI)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (required): November 11, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: January 14, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: January 7, 2021
Award Information: The majority of the New awards will be made in the $750,000-$1.5M Medium range for up to 3 years. A small number of Grand awards may be made in the $1.5M-$5M range for up to 5 years. The majority of the Planning awards will be made in the $50,000-$100,000 range for up to 1.5 years. The majority of the ENS awards will be made in the $750,000-$2M range for up to 3 years.
The Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Community Research Infrastructure (CCRI) program drives discovery and learning in the core CISE disciplines of the three participating divisions [Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF), Computer and Network Systems (CNS), and Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS)] by funding the creation and enhancement of world-class research infrastructure. This research infrastructure will specifically support diverse communities of CISE researchers pursuing focused research agendas in computer and information science and engineering. This support involves developing the accompanying user services and engagement needed to attract, nurture, and grow a robust research community that is actively involved in determining directions for the infrastructure as well as management of the infrastructure. This should lead to infrastructure that can be sustained through community involvement and community leadership, and that will enable advances not possible with existing research infrastructure. Further, through the CCRI program, CISE seeks to ensure that researchers from a diverse range of academic institutions, including minority-serving and predominantly undergraduate institutions, as well as researchers from non-profit, non-academic organizations, have access to such infrastructure.
The CCRI program supports two classes of awards: - New awards support the creation of new CISE community research infrastructure with integrated tools, resources, user services, and community outreach to enable innovative CISE research opportunities to advance the frontiers of the CISE core research areas. The New award class includes Grand Ensemble (Grand), Medium Ensemble (Medium), and Planning awards.
- Enhance/sustain (ENS) awards support the enhancement and sustainment of an existing CISE community infrastructure to enable world-class CISE research opportunities for broad-based communities of CISE researchers that extend well beyond the awardee organization(s).
Each CCRI New or ENS award may support the operation of such infrastructure, ensuring that the awardee organization(s) is (are) well positioned to provide a high quality of service to CISE community researchers expected to use the infrastructure to realize their research goals.
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National Science Foundation (NSF)
Computational and Data-Enabled Science and Engineering (CDS&E)
Sponsor Deadline: Varies by program
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Varies by program. Supplemental requests to existing awards will be considered in addition to proposals for new awards.
The goal of the CDS&E program is to identify and capitalize on opportunities for major scientific and engineering breakthroughs through new computational and data analysis approaches. The intellectual drivers may be in an individual discipline or they may cut across more than one discipline in various Directorates. The key identifying factor is that the outcome relies on the development, adaptation, and utilization of one or more of the capabilities offered by advancement of both research and infrastructure in computation and data, either through cross-cutting or disciplinary programs. The CDS&E program is not intended to replace existing programs that make awards that involve computation and the analysis of large data sets. Rather, the CDS&E program is meant to fund awards that have a significant component of cyber development or cyber science that goes well beyond what would normally be included in these programs.
The CDS&E program welcomes proposals in any area of research supported through the participating divisions that address at least one of the following criteria:
- Promote the creation, development, and application of the next generation of mathematical, computational and statistical theories and tools that are essential for addressing the challenges presented to the scientific and engineering communities by the ever-expanding role of computational modeling and simulation and the explosion and production of digital experimental and observational data.
- Promote and encourage integrated research projects that create, develop and apply novel computational, mathematical and statistical methods, algorithms, software, data curation, analysis, visualization and mining tools to address major, heretofore intractable questions in core science and engineering disciplines, including large-scale simulations and analysis of large and heterogeneous collections of data.
- Encourage adventurous ideas that generate new paradigms and that create and apply novel techniques, generating and utilizing digital data in innovative ways to complement or dramatically enhance traditional computational, experimental, observational, and theoretical tools for scientific discovery and application.
- Encourage ideas at the interface between scientific frameworks, computing capability, measurements and physical systems that enable advances well beyond the expected natural progression of individual activities, including development of science-driven algorithms to address pivotal problems in science and engineering and efficient methods to access, mine, and utilize large data sets.
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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, 2020
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.
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Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE): Core Programs
Sponsor Full Proposal Windows: October 1, 2020-September 30, 2021 for Small Proposals; October 28-November 12, 2020 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.
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Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Research Initiation Initiative (CRII)
Sponsor Deadline: November 2, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: October 26, 2020
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.
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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.
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Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)
Cyberinfrastructure for Biological Research (CIBR)
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.
Biological processes at all scales from molecules to ecosystems are determined through the encoding, exchange, and interpretation of information. Advances in the biological sciences are enabled by our capacity to acquire, manage, represent, and analyze biological information through the use of modern instrumentation and computational tools. Proposals are invited that offer potentially transformative outcomes through the development of informatics tools and resources that: (1) offer novel and significant advances in the use of biological data and/or (2) will enable and stimulate advances through their impact on a significant segment of the biological research community supported by the NSF BIO Directorate.
Awards in CIBR should produce, or substantially expand a finished product that will have demonstrable impact in advancing biological research. Proposals should convey their likelihood of success through greater attention to user engagement, design quality, engineering practices, management plan, and dissemination. Budgets and award durations should accommodate the iterative process of bringing a proof of concept into a robust, broadly-adopted cyberinfrastructure. Development proposals are more outcome-driven than Innovation awards and are typically assessed on their perceived contribution to a broad portfolio of cyberinfrastructure resources. Synergies with, and leveraging of, other existing and ongoing resources are taken into consideration. Full proposals may be submitted anytime through the Infrastructure Capacity for Biology Core Program (ICB). |
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.
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Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI): Elements and Framework Implementations
Sponsor Deadline: October 28, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: October 21, 2020
Award Information: The expected budget for an Elements proposal is up to $600,000 for up to 3 years (up to $200,000 per year). The expected budget for a Framework Implementations proposal is between $600,000 and $5M for 3-5 years ($200,000 to $1M per year). Up to 25 Elements awards, and up to 10 Framework Implementations awards are anticipated.
The Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI) umbrella program seeks to enable funding opportunities that are flexible and responsive to the evolving and emerging needs in cyberinfrastructure (CI). This program continues the CSSI program by removing the distinction between software and data elements/framework implementations, and instead emphasizing integrated CI services, quantitative metrics with targets for delivery and usage of these services, and community creation.
The CSSI umbrella program anticipates two classes of awards:
- Elements: These awards target small groups that will create and deploy robust services for which there is a demonstrated need, and that will advance one or more significant areas of science and engineering.
- Framework Implementations: These awards target larger, interdisciplinary teams organized around the development and application of services aimed at solving common research problems faced by NSF researchers in one or more areas of science and engineering, and resulting in a sustainable community framework providing CI services to a diverse community or communities.
Prospective Principal Investigators (PIs) should be aware that this is a multi-directorate activity and that they are encouraged to submit proposals with broad, interdisciplinary interests. Further, not all divisions are participating at the same level and division-specific priorities differ. Prospective PIs should also refer to the directorate/division-specific descriptions contained in Section II of the CSSI solicitation. An individual may participate as PI, co-PI, or other Senior Personnel on at most one proposal across the Elements and Framework Implementations for this solicitation.
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Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS)
Sponsor Deadline: December 2, 2020 for Frontier Proposals; the deadline for FY20 Medium proposals has passed
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: November 23, 2020
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:
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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.
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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.
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Dear Colleague Letter: Pilot Projects to Integrate Existing Data and Data-Focused Cyberinfrastructure to Enable Community-level Discovery Pathways
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (proposals received after July 1, 2020 will be considered for potential funding in FY 21, pending availability of funds)
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.
Through this Dear Colleague Letter, NSF encourages proposals to the Cyberinfrastructure for Emerging Science and Engineering Research (CESER) program within the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure for pilot projects that bring together researchers and CI experts to develop the means of combining existing community data resources and shared data-focused CI into new integrative and highly performing data-intensive discovery workflows that empower new scientific pathways. Aims of such pilot projects can include, but are not limited to: - improving the end-to-end process of accessing, integrating and transforming research and education data to knowledge and discovery for one or more communities;
- creating new workflows and new usage modes to address multi-disciplinary and cross-domain scientific objectives;
- addressing emerging community-scale scientific data challenges such as real-time, streaming and on-demand data access; data discovery through knowledge networks and intelligent data delivery; enabling access to data with privacy concerns; and data fusion, integration and interoperability;
- enhancing the performance and robustness of community-scale data integration and discovery workflows such as through automated curation, end-to-end performance monitoring, provenance tracking, and means of assuring data trustworthiness; and
- federating learner data to empower innovative assessment tools for large-scale modeling of learning gains.
NSF welcomes submissions that address these project goals in all areas of science and engineering research and education supported by NSF in all directorates.
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Sponsor Deadline: August 15, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 8, 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.
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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. 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.
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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.
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Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC)
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: See below for details. NSF anticipates approximately 13 EDU awards, 35 Small awards, and 25 Medium 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 each 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;
- Medium projects: $500,001 to $1,200,000 in total budget, with durations of up to four years.
EDU proposals are limited to $400,000 in total budget, with durations of up to three years. An individual can participate as a PI, co-PI or senior personnel on no more than four SaTC proposals (two designated as CORE (across Small and Medium), one designated as TTP (across Small and Medium), and one designated as EDU). These limits apply for the period from Oct 1st to Sept 30th of the following year to all proposals in response to this solicitation and are unrelated to any limits imposed in other NSF solicitations.
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Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS)
Statistics
Sponsor Full Proposal Window: December 1-15, 2020
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.
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Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)
NSF/VMware Partnership on the Next Generation of Sustainable Digital Infrastructure
Sponsor Deadline: November 4, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: October 28, 2020
Award Information: Up to $3M total for 3 years. Approximately 2 awards are anticipated.
The goal of this joint solicitation between NSF and VMware is to foster novel, transformative research in fundamental and systematic approaches that bring dramatic increases in the environmental sustainability of the Digital Infrastructure leading to practical methodologies and tools. The Digital Infrastructure is broadly defined as the totality of software, hardware, and the methods for managing them for the purpose of efficient computation. This research includes, but is not limited to, computer software and systems; management of distributed software, the Digital Infrastructure, and data center power sourcing; and resource allocation and scheduling. Critical to initiating such research is to set its objectives through the definition of novel metrics and benchmarks that capture the sustainability challenges of all components in the entire computation chain. The program also aims to support a research community committed to advancing research and education at the confluence of management technologies for software, hardware and power for Sustainable Digital Infrastructure, and to transition research findings into practice. A new generation of innovation would build on many recent advances such as passive and active measurements, statistical analysis and inference, learning for automated control and complex optimization, workload isolation and management, agile development, convergence of development and production environments, and architecture-optimized language translation. An individual may participate as PI, co-PI, or senior personnel in no more than one proposal submitted in response to this solicitation.
This NSF/VMware partnership combines CISE's experience in developing and managing successful large, diverse research portfolios with VMware's significant expertise in management of virtualized workloads, virtualization technology, distributed systems, cloud computing, and other aspects of large-scale software infrastructure and infrastructure management. NSF and VMware will co-fund each project.
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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.
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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 advance understanding about the economic, environmental, security, and policy trade-offs associated with the increased deployment of low- and no-carbon resources and technologies across the energy system and the resulting impacts on the quality of American life. Grants in this program focus on generating novel research and knowledge; training the next generation of scholars and practitioners; building multidisciplinary networks and communities; educating stakeholders and disseminating information for decision-making; and attracting additional resources. Funds will support the investigation of underexplored research questions related to energy sources (supply), transmission and distribution, energy use (demand), new energy technologies, the economics of energy transmission and distribution, big data, energy efficiency, and transportation.
Grant requests can be made at any time. A brief letter of inquiry is the first step for an applicant.
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Sony Research Award Program
Sponsor Deadline: September 15, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 8, 2020 Award Information: Faculty Innovation Awards offer up to $100,000 for 1 year. Focused Research Awards are up to $150,000 for 1 year. FAS and SEAS grant applications must request Harvard's full indirect cost rate from industry sponsors.
The Sony Research Award Program provides funding for cutting-edge academic research and helps build a collaborative relationship between faculty and Sony researchers. Sony offers two types of awards to create new opportunities for university faculties to engage in pioneering research that could drive new technologies, industries and the future.
The Faculty Innovation Award supports cutting edge research in Sony's general areas of interest, which include: Machine Learning; Computer Vision; Human Computer Interaction; Visual/Visualization; Audio, Music, Speech, and Language Processing; Robotics; Software and Security; and Materials and Device Analysis/Simulation/Informatics. The Focused Research Awards support work in areas of Sony's immediate interest, which include: Manipulation Secure Image Sensing; Self-supervised Learning for Spiking Neural Networks with Event based Vision Sensor; Deep Learning and Deep Fusion towards Automotive Scene Perception; Designing and Implementing Camera ISP Algorithms Using Deep Learning and Computer Vision; Advanced Image Processing enabled by AI; Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence for Wireless Communications; and Individual Treatment Effect Estimation.
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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.
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Accelerating the Pace of Drug Abuse Research Using Existing Data (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Sponsor Deadlines: October 5, 2020; February 5, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Budgets may request no more than $499,999 in direct costs per year, and the maximum project period is 5 years.
The purpose of this FOA is to invite applications proposing innovative analysis of existing social science, behavioral, administrative, and neuroimaging data to study the etiology and epidemiology of substance using behaviors (defined as alcohol, tobacco, prescription and other substances) and related disorders, prevention of substance use and HIV, and health service utilization. This FOA encourages the analyses of public use and other extant community-based or clinical datasets to their full potential in order to increase our knowledge of etiology, trajectories of substance using behaviors and their consequences including morbidity and mortality, risk and resilience in the development of psychopathology, strategies to guide the development, testing, implementation, and delivery of high quality, effective and efficient services for the prevention and treatment of substance use disorder and HIV.
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Boosting Innovative GEOINT Research Broad Agency Announcement (NGA BIG-R BAA) Topic #1: Modeling the Path to COVID-19 Recovery
Sponsor Deadline: September 14, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 4, 2020
Award Information: Up to $600,000 for a maximum of 12 months
NGA is soliciting proposals for applied geospatial research and development that will support economic and humanitarian recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and inform efforts to anticipate and mitigate subsequent waves of the pandemic, as well as biological threats in the future. This topic seeks to fund retrospective analyses of the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic that explore the nexus of human behavior, human mobility, and spatial heterogeneity in infectious disease transmission. Predictive analyses that build upon historical data will be considered as well. Proposed efforts should focus on cases outside of the United States.
The outcome of this effort will be a mechanistic analytic framework and software tool that allows the user to: (1) quantify spatiotemporal variation in sociocultural variables of interest, (2) quantify spatiotemporal variation in adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), (3) identify sociocultural variables that correlate with adherence to NPIs, and (4) estimate relationships between spatiotemporal variation in adherence to NPIs and infectious disease outcomes.
Please note that in this study, NGA is not interested in approaches that rely upon the use of survey data. Rather, successful applications will propose to leverage scalable, digital data sources to address the research topics of interest (e.g., exploitation of geo-tagged social media data to quantify spatial variation in sentiment toward travel restrictions, exploitation of digital mobility proxy data to quantify spatial variation in adherence to those interventions, etc.). NGA will not provide data sets, and encourages applicants to integrate public/open source or commercial data sets into the study design.
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Biomedical Data Repository (U24 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadlines: September 25, 2020; 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.
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Biomedical Knowledgebase (U24 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadlines: September 25, 2020; 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.
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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.
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BRAIN Initiative: Integration and Analysis of BRAIN Initiative Data (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): 30 days prior to the proposal deadline
Sponsor Deadlines for Full Proposals: September 9, 2020; 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.
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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.
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BRAIN Initiative: Theories, Models and Methods for Analysis of Complex Data from the Brain (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadline: September 14, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 4, 2020
Award Information: Application budgets are not limited, but are expected to range between $150,000 to $250,000 in direct costs per year. Awards are for three years of support. The NIH BRAIN Initiative anticipates providing $6M per year to fund up to 15 awards each year.
This FOA solicits the development of theories, computational models, and analytical tools to derive understanding of brain function from complex neuroscience data. Proposed projects could develop tools to integrate existing theories or formulate new theories; conceptual frameworks to organize or fuse data to infer general principles of brain function; multiscale/multiphysics models to generate new testable hypotheses to design/drive future experiments; new analytical methods to either support or refute a stated hypothesis about brain function. It is expected that the tools developed under this FOA will be made widely available to the neuroscience research community for their use and modification. Investigative studies should be limited to model parameter estimation and/or validity testing of the tools being developed.
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National Institutes of Health (NIH)*
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): August 31, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: September 30, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 23, 2020
Award Information: Application budgets for the DCC are limited to $4M in annual direct costs for up to 4 years. Application budgets for PreVAIL kIds are limited to $500,000 in direct costs per year for up to 2 years in the R61 phase and $1M in direct costs per year for up to 2 years in the R33 phase.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is issuing these FOAs in response to the declared public health emergency issued by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). These emergency FOAs provide an expedited funding mechanism as part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Radical (RADx-rad) initiative. RADx-rad will support new, or non-traditional applications of existing approaches, to enhance their usability, accessibility, and/or accuracy. RADx-rad will be centrally aligned and coordinated to harmonize the data collection, storage, and management, providing an opportunity to further explore and identify additional approaches to understand this novel virus. Beyond the current crisis, it is anticipated that the technologies advanced through RADx-rad may also be applicable to other, yet unknown, infectious agents.
RFA-OD-20-019 seeks to fund a single cooperative agreement for a Data Coordination Center (DCC) to serve as a communication center and data hub for RADx-rad awardees. The RADx-rad Data Coordination Center (DCC) will provide overarching support and guidance to RADx-rad awardees in the following three areas: (1) Administrative Operations and Logistics, (2) Data Collection, Integration and Sharing, and (3) Data Management and Use.
RFA-OD-20-023 seeks to support innovative research to develop novel, new or unique and non-traditional approaches (e.g. diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and/or biosignatures) to identify and characterize the spectrum of SARS CoV-2 associated illness, including the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and, through a prognostic algorithm, predict the longitudinal risk of disease severity after a child is exposed to and may be infected with SARS-CoV-2 to properly tailor his or her management and optimize health outcomes. The R61 phase is for high-risk, high-impact, milestone-driven exploratory/feasibility studies and the R33 phase is for expanded discovery and development of biomarkers and/or biosignatures, such as optimization of performance specifications and validation testing of prognostic algorithms against appropriate comparison conditions.
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Harnessing Big Data to Halt HIV (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Sponsor Deadlines: September 7, 2020; January 7, 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.
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.
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National Cancer Institute (NCI)
New Informatics Tools and Methods to Enhance U.S. Cancer Surveillance Research (U01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): 30 days prior to proposal deadline
Sponsor Deadlines for Full Proposal: November 18, 2020; June 6, 2021; November 18, 2021; June 6, 2022; November 18, 2022; June 6, 2023
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.
The goal of this FOA is to advance surveillance science by supporting the development of new and innovative tools and methods for more efficient, detailed, timely, and accurate data collection by cancer registries. Specifically, the FOA solicits applications for projects to develop, adapt, apply, scale-up, and validate tools and methods to improve the collection and integration of cancer registry data to expand the data items collected. Applications proposed must be based on partnership with at a minimum of two U.S. population-based central cancer registries. Tools and methods proposed for development are expected to enhance the registry core infrastructure and, in so doing, expand the usefulness of registry-collected data to support high-quality cancer research.
The scientific scope of this FOA includes but is not limited to: - Development, validation, evaluation of scalable tools/methods to facilitate automatic/unsupervised extraction and consolidation of specific data from various types of unstructured medical records such as pathology reports, diagnostic imaging, laboratory, hospital discharge forms and clinical visits; or
- Supplementation of cancer registries with new or more detailed data items, from existing data sources or from linkages with novel data sources, e.g. electronic medical records (EMR).
Funds will be made available through the U01 cooperative agreement award mechanism.
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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): 30 days prior to the proposal deadline
Sponsor Deadlines for Full Proposals: November 16, 2020; July 16, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
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.
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National Institute on Aging (NIA)
NIA Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease Data Storage Site (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): 30 days prior to proposal deadline
Sponsor Deadlines for Full Proposals: September 25, 2020; January 25, 2021
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 FOA invites applications specific to infrastructure that will support the storage, analysis, and sharing of primary and secondary data for the genetics and genomics of Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD).
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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: October 16, 2020; February 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.
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Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Archiving and Documenting Child Health and Human Development Data Sets (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): 30 days prior to proposal deadline
Sponsor Deadlines for Full Proposals: October 16, 2020; February 16, 2021
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Application budgets are limited to $50,000 in direct costs per year. The maximum project period is 2 years.
The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement is to support the archiving and documentation of existing data sets within the scientific mission of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in order to enable secondary analysis of these data by the scientific community. The highest priority is to archive original data collected with NICHD funding.
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National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Explainable Artificial Intelligence for Decoding and Modulating Neural Circuit Activity Linked to Behavior (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Sponsor Deadline for Letters of Intent (requested): 30 days prior to proposal deadline
Sponsor Deadlines for Full Proposals: March 10, 2021; March 10, 2022
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: Application budgets are not limited. The maximum project period is 5 years.
Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) aims to provide strong predictive value along with mechanistic understanding of AI by combining machine learning techniques with effective explanatory techniques. This Funding Opportunity Announcement solicits applications in the area of XAI applied to neuroscientific questions of encoding, decoding, and modulation of neural circuits linked to behavior. This FOA encourages collaborations between computationally and experimentally-focused investigators. This FOA seeks the development of machine learning algorithms that are able to mechanistically explain how experimental manipulations affect cognitive, affective, or social processing in humans or animals. Proof-of-concept applications aimed at improving the current state of the technology that uses XAI to provide unbiased, hierarchical explanations of causal relationships between complex neural and behavioral data are also appropriate.
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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): 30 days prior to proposal deadline
Sponsor Deadlines for Full Proposals: January 19, 2021; July 30, 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.
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 [email protected].
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National Library of Medicine (NLM)
NLM Research Grants in Biomedical Informatics and Data Science (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Sponsor Deadlines: October 5, 2020; February 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.
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Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
High-Priority Areas for Research Leveraging EHR and Large-Scale Data (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Sponsor Deadlines: October 5, 2020; February 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.
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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.
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Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)
Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID)
Sponsor Deadline: November 18, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: November 10, 2020
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.
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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, 2020
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.
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National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Smart and Connected Health (SCH): Connecting Data, People and Systems
Sponsor Deadline: December 11, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: December 4, 2020
Award Information: Up to $300,000 per year for up to 4 years. 8-16 awards per year are anticipated.
The purpose of this interagency program solicitation is to support the development of technologies, analytics and models supporting next generation health and medical research through high-risk, high-reward advances in computer and information science, engineering and technology, behavior and cognition. Collaborations between academic, industry, and other organizations are strongly encouraged to establish better linkages between fundamental science, medicine and healthcare practice and technology development, deployment and use. This solicitation is aligned with national reports calling for new partnerships to facilitate major changes in health and medicine, as well as healthcare delivery and is aimed at the fundamental research to enable these changes. Realizing the promise of disruptive transformation in health, medicine and/or healthcare will require well-coordinated, multi-disciplinary approaches that draw from the computer and information sciences, engineering, social, behavioral, cognitive and economic sciences, biomedical and health research.
The solicitation invites applications for Integrative projects (INT) which undertake research addressing key application areas by solving problems in multiple scientific domains. The work must make fundamental contributions to two or more disciplines. Projects are expected to include several students and postdocs. Scientists from all disciplines are encouraged to participate. Collaborations with researchers in the health application domains are required.
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Sponsor Deadline: September 10, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 2, 2020
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 Resarch 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.
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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.
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Dear Colleague Letter: Cybersecurity Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Sponsor Deadline for Research Concept Outlines (required): August 31, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 24, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: TBA
Award Information: Up to $300,000 over 2 years
NSF intends to fund a small number of Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) to encourage advances in cybersecurity education, an area supported by the Foundation's Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace Education Designation (SaTC-EDU), CyberCorps: Scholarships for Service, and Advanced Technological Education (ATE) programs. EAGER is a mechanism to support exploratory work, in its early stages, on untested but potentially transformative research ideas or approaches. This work may be considered especially "high risk-high payoff" in the sense that it, for example, involves radically different approaches, applies new expertise, or engages novel disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspectives. With this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), NSF expresses its interest in using the EAGER mechanism to encourage new collaborations between the Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and education research communities. Such collaborative efforts could also foster a robust workforce with integrated AI and cybersecurity competencies, and develop an informed public that understands the privacy, confidentiality, ethics, safety, and security implications of AI.
A PI may participate in only one submission pursuant to this DCL.
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Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science: Sites and Supplements
Sponsor Deadlines: September 30, 2020; September 15, 2021 for Site proposals; Supplement requests may be submitted on a rolling basis within a new/renewal proposal or as a supplement to an ongoing ENG- or CISE-funded project
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Award Information: The maximum total request for a Site is $600,000 for a duration of up to three years. Supplements are limited to a maximum of $10,000 per teacher and/or community college faculty for a duration of one year.
NSF's Directorate for Engineering (ENG) and the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) have joined to support the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science program. This program supports active long-term collaborative partnerships between K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, Computer and Information Science, and Mathematics (STEM) in-service and pre-service teachers, full-time community college faculty, university faculty and students, and industry partners to enhance the scientific disciplinary knowledge and capacity of the STEM teachers and/or community college faculty through participation in authentic summer research experiences with engineering and computer science faculty researchers. The research projects and experiences all revolve around a focused research area related to engineering and/or computer science that will provide a common cohort experience to the participating educators. The K-12 STEM teachers and/or full-time community college faculty also translate their research experiences and new scientific knowledge into their classroom activities and curricula. The university team will include faculty, graduate and undergraduate students as well as industrial advisors. As part of the long-term partnership arrangements, involvement of undergraduate/graduate students with the integration of the RET curricular materials into classroom activities is particularly encouraged. The PI must be a full-time Engineering and/or Computer Science faculty member whose primary job responsibilities are research and teaching and not a faculty member who is involved in an administrative capacity such as a dean or outreach coordinator. An individual may be listed as a PI or co-PI on no more than one RET site proposal per annual deadline.
This announcement features two mechanisms for support of in-service and pre-service K-12 STEM teachers and full-time community college faculty: (1) RET supplements to ongoing ENG and CISE awards and (2) new RET Site awards. RET supplements may be included outside this solicitation in proposals for new or renewed ENG and CISE grants or as supplements to ongoing ENG- and CISE-funded projects. RET in Engineering and Computer Science Sites, through this solicitation, are based on independent proposals from engineering and/or computer and/or information science departments, schools or colleges to initiate and conduct research participation projects for K-12 STEM teachers and/or full-time community college faculty. RET Sites must involve 10 or more teachers and/or full-time community college faculty in an engineering and/or computer and/or information science research project for a duration of at least six weeks during the summer.
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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.
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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.
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Questions about this newsletter or proposal submission may be directed to:
Jennifer Corby
Research Development Officer
To see previous Big Data Funding Newsletters, please visit our email archive.
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