October 2016

The FAS Research Development group publishes this monthly Funding Newsletter for SEAS faculty and researchers. The newsletter includes notable Federal, private, and internal Harvard funding opportunities. To provide feedback, please complete our two-question survey .  

Questions? 
Erin Cromack:  [email protected] |  617-496-5252 
Jennifer Corby:  [email protected] |  617-495-1590  


For more information on our support services, please visit our  website .

Did you know? All Harvard affiliates have access to the funding opportunity database,  Pivot . 

Reminder:
Dean Smith has announced the Dean's Competitive Fund for Promising Scholarship, a targeted program that provides funding to FAS and SEAS ladder faculty, professors of practice, and professors in residence.

Funding Opportunities

Click on the links below to read a program synopsis
 

Internal Opportunities

External Opportunities

U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
 
Foundation Opportunities

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

National Science Foundation: Dear Colleague Letters
National Science Foundation: Directorate for Computer & Information Science and Engineering (NSF: CISE)
National Science Foundation: Directorate for Engineering

National Science Foundation: Crosscutting and Interdisciplinary

Internal Opportunities

AsiaCenter       
Deadline: October 24, 2016
Award Amount: Up to $20,000 for research and travel; up to $50,000 for conferences

Research and travel grants support Harvard faculty research and travel on any topic related to East, South, or Southeast Asia. Preference is given to projects that involve more than one country or region of East, South, or Southeast Asia and/or that approach the topic from more than one discipline. Applications submitted by multiple faculty members are encouraged.  

Conference grants support conferences organized by Harvard faculty in pairs or small groups. Topics must involve more than one country or region of East, South, or Southeast Asia and must approach the topic from more than one discipline. Preference will be given to faculty who collaborate across more than one School.



RadcliffeExplore
Deadline: October 24, 2016
Award Amount: Up to $18,000 
Eligible Applicants: Ladder faculty members or current or former Radcliffe Institute fellows
 
Exploratory seminars provide funding to bring together scholars, practitioners, and artists from Harvard University and around the world to develop ideas and research across the disciplines. Seminars are usually one or two days in length and are held at the Radcliffe Institute with all logistical arrangements handled by Radcliffe staff. Applications are welcome from all academic fields.



ChinaFund
Deadline: October 31, 2016
Award Amount: Up to $60,000 for conference grants and $50,000 to $100,000 for research grants
 
The Harvard China Fund administers the Harvard China Faculty Grant Program to advance the research goals of Harvard faculty in collaboration with Chinese partners. Research proposals are welcome in any field and we especially encourage proposals in the areas of traditional Chinese arts and culture, environmental studies and education. If proposing a conference, it should take place at the Harvard Center Shanghai, preferably before March 2018. 

Conference proposals are welcome in all research fields. Preference will be given to proposed projects for which funding might not be otherwise available from traditional sources.


U.S. Department of Defense


DARPAXAI
DARPA -  Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)  
OSP Deadline: October 25, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 1, 2016
Award Information: Dependent on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. Project duration will be 4 years.
 
DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the areas of machine learning and human-computer interaction. The goal of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) is to create a suite of new or modified machine learning techniques that produce explainable models that, when combined with effective explanation techniques, enable end users to understand, appropriately trust, and effectively manage the emerging generation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems.
 
XAI shall be organized into two technical areas (TAs): TA1: Explainable Learners and TA2: Psychological Models of Explanation.



DODYIP
Office of Naval Research (ONR)
Young Investigator Program (YIP) 
OSP Deadline: October 28, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 4, 2016
Award Amount: Up to $170,000 per year for 3 years. Additional funds (beyond the basic $170,000 yearly amount) for capital equipment which enhances the Young Investigator's proposed research may be requested for the first budget period. As an incentive to become involved in other ONR activities, the Office may match on a 1-for-1 basis, the first $25,000 of additional funding to support additional, collaborative research with a Navy laboratory during the YIP award.
 
The objectives of ONR's Young Investigator Program (YIP) are to attract outstanding early-career faculty members to the Department of the Navy's research program, to support their research, and to encourage their teaching and research careers. Eligible proposals address research areas including, but not limited to: Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare and Combating Terrorism; Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; Ocean Battlespace Sensing; Sea Warfare and Weapons; Warfighter Performance; and Naval Air Warfare and Weapons,  which are of interest to ONR program officers. 

The Principal Investigator of a proposal must be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident (on the date proposals are due), holding a first or second full-time tenure-track or tenure-track-equivalent faculty position at that university, and have begun her/his first full-time appointment on or after 04 November 2011.



DARPAMAA
DARPA -  Modeling Adversarial Activity (MAA)
Sponsor Deadline for Abstracts (strongly encouraged): October 28, 2016
OSP Deadline: December 8, 2016
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: December 15, 2016
Award Amount: Dependent on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. The MAA program is structured as two 24-month phases, each with separate BAAs. This BAA is for MAA Phase 1.  

DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of modeling adversarial activity for the purpose of producing high-confidence indications and warnings of efforts to acquire, fabricate, proliferate, and/or deploy weapons of mass terrorism (WMT). This solicitation is focused upon the development of mathematical and computational methods that integrate multiple data sources to detect relevant activities and events with high probability of detection and low rates of false alarms.

Phase 1 is structured into three Technical Areas:
  • TA1 Synthetic data creation: Develop methods for creating synthetic data representative of general background transactions and of activities of interest, and methods to embed the activity-related data into the background.
  • TA2 Graph merging: Develop techniques for merging synthetic data from a variety of sources to create a unified transaction-oriented synthetic worldview of entities and actions in the form of a single aligned graph.
  • TA3 Activity detection: Develop techniques for detecting activities of interest modeled using activity templates in a unified synthetic worldview graph.

DARPACHIPS
DARPA -  Common Heterogeneous Integration and IP Reuse Strategies (CHIPS)
Sponsor Deadline for Abstracts (strongly encouraged): October 28, 2016
OSP Deadline: December 9, 2016
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: December 16, 2016
Award Amount: The CHIPS program is expected to span the course of four years and will be divided into three separate phases. DARPA anticipates a funding level of approximately $70M for the CHIPS program. Individual awards depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds.

The CHIPS program will develop the design tools and integration standards required to demonstrate modular integrated circuit (IC) designs that leverage the best of DoD and commercial designs and technology.

The CHIPS program consists of one technical area (TA1) focused on modular digital designs and a second technical area (TA2) focused on modular analog designs. Each TA will progress through phases that will establish common interfaces, demonstrate modular designs utilizing these interfaces, and rapid iteration of designs to exercise the design flow. Additionally, any CHIPS supporting technology should align to one or both of these technical areas but is captured separately as a third technical area (TA3).



DARPAYFA
DARPA - Young Faculty Award
Sponsor Deadline for Executive Summaries (strongly encouraged): November 1, 2016
OSP Deadline: January 10, 2017
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: January 18, 2017
Award Amount: Each award will include funding for a 24-month base period (a maximum of $500,000) and a 12-month option period (a maximum of $500,000). The 12-month option period, referred to as the "Director's Fellowship," will be reserved for a limited number of awardees who demonstrate exceptional YFA project performance over the 24-month base period.

DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the areas of physical sciences, engineering, materials, mathematics, biology, computing, informatics, social science, and manufacturing of interest to DARPA's Defense Sciences Office (DSO), Microsystems Technology Office (MTO), and Biological Technologies Office (BTO). This YFA will provide high-impact funding to elite researchers early in their careers to develop innovative new research directions in the context of enabling transformative DoD capabilities. The long-term goal of the program is to develop the next generation of scientists and engineers in the research community who will focus a significant portion of their future careers on DoD and National Security issues. Please see the solicitation for 22 specific Topic Areas of interest.
 
Participation in the YFA program is limited to Assistant or Associate Professors within eight years of appointment to a tenure-track position at a U.S. institution of higher education or equivalent at a non-profit science and technology research institution in the United States.


ReImagine     
DARPA -  Reconfigurable Imaging (ReImagine)
OSP Deadline: November 3, 2016
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: November 10, 2016
Award Amount: Dependent on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. TA1 and TA2 efforts will have a three phase period of performance with a total duration of 45 months. TA3 will consist of three 12-month phases (Base and two options). Approximately $20M in awards is anticipated. 

DARPA is soliciting research proposals to demonstrate multi-functional imaging sensors that are reconfigurable through software. Proposers will build around a common digital framework that can be  customized for specific applications. Both passive and active modes are desired. Also of interest are proposals that develop adaptive algorithms that optimize the operation of a reconfigurable sensor in real time to optimize information collection.

DARPA seeks innovative proposals in the following Technical Areas:
  • Technical Area 1 (TA1): Single or multi-color passive imager architecture and algorithms;
  • Technical Area 2 (TA2): Hybrid active/passive imager architecture and algorithms;
  • Technical Area 3 (TA3): Innovative concepts for imaging systems with internal feedback.

DARPAAerial
DARPA -  Aerial Dragnet 
OSP Deadline: November 3, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 12, 2016
Award Information: Dependent on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. Project duration will be 3.5 years.
 
DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals for persistent, wide-area surveillance of small unmanned aerial systems (UASs) in urban terrain on a city-wide scale. Proposals are solicited for a scalable network of sensors on aerial platforms performing threat-agnostic UAS detection, classification, and tracking by looking over and into complex terrain.
 
To be responsive to this BAA, proposals must address each of the following tasks when describing their surveillance system design: Task 1: Surveillance Algorithms; Task 2: Sensor Subsystems; and Task 3: Networked System.



SafeGenes
DARPA -  Safe Genes
OSP Deadline: November 9, 2016
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: November 17, 2016
Award Amount: Dependent on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. Safe Genes will encompass a four year effort organized in two phases of two years duration  each. 

DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals to generate and evaluate novel biological tools and countermeasures that facilitate the safe pursuit of advanced genome editing applications, while reducing the risk of, and providing new protections against, potential engineered genetic threats. Proposed research should investigate radically different approaches to integrate biosafety and biosecurity features into new genome editing biotechnologies and their derivative applications at their inception.
 
The program consists of three Technical Areas (TAs) to be addressed concurrently:
  • TA1: control of genome editing activity
  • TA2: countermeasures and prophylaxis
  • TA3: genetic remediation

While teaming is not required, teaming is strongly encouraged to meet the program goals across all Phases and TAs. It is expected that successful teams will require expertise in both theoretical and experimental science and technology, for example, in fields of biology relevant to the proposed organism, testing and evaluation systems, modeling, and control engineering.

DODJPC1
Department of the Army -  Medical Simulation and Information Sciences (MSIS) Developing Models for Military and/or Civilian Medical Training from Field Data Collected from Sensors (MATADOR)
OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of the sponsor deadline
Sponsor Deadline for Pre-Applications (required): November 14, 2016
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: March 1, 2017
Award Amount: $750,000 maximum for up to 2 years.

The FY17 JPC-1/MSIS MATADOR Award seeks to support research for the development and preliminary validation of a conceptual predictive model with the ability to rapidly collect, analyze, and weigh sensor and/or biosurveillance data collected directly from the field (not limited to a particular type of field environment) via a variety of sensors and/or biosurveillance systems. It is critical for research projects to create standards, specifications, format, and storage of the collected data/information as appropriate to the initial stages of the proposed working model.
 
For the purposes of this Program, data/information related to chemical, biological, or nuclear hazard exposures should NOT be included. Radiological (i.e., background radiation in the environment) data/information is acceptable.



AirForce
U.S. Air Force Research Lab
Summer Faculty Fellowship Program
OSP Deadline: November 21, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 30, 2016
Award Amount: Stipends vary depending upon academic status and total number of weeks in residence   

The Summer Faculty Fellowship Program offers hands-on exposure to Air Force research challenges through 8- to 12-week research residencies at participating Air Force research facilities for full-time science, mathematics, and engineering faculty. Faculty Fellows have the opportunity to bring a graduate student with them.
 
Applicants for both the faculty and graduate student positions must be citizens or legal permanent residents of the United States. Applicants' research interests must be in line with the interests and needs of the various Air Force Research Facilities. These include the nine Air Force Research Laboratory Directorates, Air Force Test Center, the United States Air Force Academy, and the Air Force Institute of Technology. Click here to learn more about the areas of interest to the various Air Force Research Facilities and for contact information for each facility.



DODBAAs
Other DoD Opportunities:

I f you are interested in DoD funding opportunities, please note:
The  Defense Innovation Marketplace  is a centralized source for Department of Defense science and technology (S&T) planning, acquisition resources, funding, and financial information. 


U.S. Department of Energy


SciInfraSupport
Department of Energy
Scientific Infrastructure Support for Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research
OSP Deadline: November 16, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 23, 2016
Award Amount: Up to $2M
 
Under the General Scientific Infrastructure Support for Universities section of this FOA, applications can be submitted for equipment, software, instrumentation, and associated non-reactor upgrade requests that support nuclear energy-related R&D or education. Funding requests can include, but are not limited to, equipment and instrumentation for specialized facilities, classrooms and teaching laboratories (for universities only), and nonreactor NS&E research.  

Infrastructure requests that support the sharing and use of equipment and instrumentation by multiple campuses of a university, multiple universities, or national laboratories are encouraged.

Universities are permitted to submit one single application to this FOA area per institution. If you plan to submit, please contact Susan Gomes  ( [email protected] , 617-496-9448) as soon as possible so we can determine if internal coordination is necessary.



FY17Consolidated
Department of Energy
Fiscal Year 2017 Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research: Integrated Research Projects
OSP Deadline: February 10, 2017
Sponsor Deadline: February 17, 2017
Award Amount: Up to $5M over 3 years (except for individual workshops)
 
U.S. University-led Integrated Research Projects are significant projects within specific research areas, intended to develop a capability within each area to address specific needs, problems, or capability gaps identified and defined by the Office of Nuclear Energy.  These projects are multidisciplinary and require multi-institutional partners.  IRPs may include a combination of evaluation capability development, research program development, experimental work, and computer simulations. IRPs are intended to integrate several disciplinary skills in order to present solutions to complex systems design problems that cannot be addressed by a less comprehensive team. Although a proposing team must be led by a lead university PI and include at least one additional university collaborator, the proposed project team may include multiple universities and nonuniversity partners (e.g., industry/utility, minority-serving institution (MSI), national laboratory, underrepresented group, and international).

Please note that the letter of intent and pre-proposal deadlines for the additional two funding mechanisms mentioned in this announcement (NSUF and R&D) have already passed.



IDEAS
Department of Energy
Advanced Research Projects (ARPA-E)
Innovative Development in Energy-Related Applied Science (IDEAS)
OSP Deadline: Not required for concept papers
Sponsor Concept Paper Deadline: Rolling through September 30, 2017
Award Amount: Up to $500,000 over one year
 
This program provides rapid support of early-stage applied research to explore innovative new concepts with the potential for transformational and disruptive changes in energy technology. IDEAS awards are intended to be flexible and may take the form of analyses or exploratory research that provides the agency with information useful for the subsequent development of focused technology programs. IDEAS awards may also support proof-of-concept research to develop a unique technology concept, either in an area not currently supported by the agency or as a potential enhancement to an ongoing focused technology program. Applications must propose concepts that are not covered by open ARPA-E focused FOAs and that also do not represent incremental improvements over existing technology.



DOEAnnual
Office of Science  Annual Funding Opportunity Announcement
OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of submission
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling through September 30, 2017
 
The Office of Science (SC) supports 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. This annual, broad, open solicitation covers all of the research areas in the Office of Science and is open throughout the Fiscal Year and will remain open until September 30, 2017, 11:59 PM Eastern Time, or until it is succeeded by another issuance, whichever occurs first.


Foundation Opportunities

USIsrael
Regular Research Grants
OSP Deadline: November 7, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 15, 2016
Award Amount: $230,000 maximum for 4 years
 
The Regular Research Grants Program is open to all scientists from Israel and the USA who would like to conduct joint research in a variety of scientific research. Applications must be submitted together by at least one scientist from each country, but not more than six in total. The Israeli and American principal investigators must have obtained a PhD, or MD, or an equivalent degree, and must be faculty members or equivalent. 

The following areas of research are eligible for the upcoming deadline: Atmospheric and earth sciences; chemistry; computer sciences; ecology and systematic biology; energy research; environmental research; materials research; mathematical sciences; oceanography and limnology; physics; psychology; sociology, and special programs.



CenterforCraft
Materials-Based Research Grants
OSP Deadline: November 8, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 16, 2016
Award Amount: Up to $15,000 for 18 months
 
The Materials-Based Research Grant is an award granted to interdisciplinary teams of researchers to encourage mutually beneficial innovation in Craft and STEM through focusing on materials and process-based research. The teams should include one maker and one professional working in a STEM-based field (e.g. Material Science, Manufacturing, Environmental Studies, Medicine, Structural Engineering, etc.). This may include academics, researchers, scientists, full-time makers, or other skilled specialists.



Roddenberry
The Roddenberry Prize
OSP Deadline: November 8, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 16, 2016
Award Amount: $400,000 Grand Prize (1) and $150,000 Innovation Awards (4)
 
The Roddenberry Foundation was created to build on Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's legacy and philosophy, to drive social change and improve the lives of people around the world. In honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, the Roddenberry Foundation is launching a $1 million prize to award bold ideas that will achieve a boldly better future.
 
Submit your bold solution that delivers on the promise of innovation, captures the spirit of discovery and embraces the power of diversity to benefit all humanity. The best five ideas for a boldly better future--whether rooted in art, science, technology or another domain of human ingenuity--will win a total prize of $1 million to implement their world-changing solution. 



McKnight
Technology Awards
OSP Deadline: November 28, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: December 5, 2016
Award Amount: $100,000 per year for 2 years
 
These awards encourage and support scientists working on the development of novel and creative approaches to understanding brain function. The Endowment Fund is interested in how a new technology may be used to monitor, manipulate, analyze, or model brain function at any level, from the molecular to the entire organism. Technology may take any form, from biochemical tools to instruments to software and mathematical approaches. Because the program seeks to advance and enlarge the range of technologies available to the neurosciences, research based primarily on existing techniques will not be considered.  

Applicants must be in tenured or tenure-track faculty positions, and may not be employees of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute or scientists within the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health.



SimonsMath
Collaboration Grants for Mathematicians
OSP Deadline: January 24, 2017
Sponsor Deadline: January 31, 2017
Award Amount:   $8,400 per year for five years: $6,000 per year for collaboration, travel and research expenses for the awardee; $1,000 per year in discretionary funds for the awardee's department; and $1,400 per year in indirect costs to the awardee's institution. 
 
The Simons Foundation's Mathematics and Physical Sciences division invites applications for Collaboration Grants for Mathematicians to stimulate collaboration in the field primarily through the funding of travel and related expenditures. The goal of the program is to support the "mathematical marketplace" by substantially increasing collaborative contacts between mathematicians. The foundation will make a large number of collaboration grants to accomplished, active researchers in the United States who do not otherwise have access to funding that supports travel and visitors.  
Awards will be based on the quality of the applicant's previous research and on the likely impact that the collaboration grant will have on future research, both for the applicant and the applicant's graduate students and/or postdoctoral fellows.


Teagle
Liberal Arts and the Professions
OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
Award Amount: $200,000 to $300,000 for 2 to 3 years
 
This initiative has the goal of embedding liberal arts education throughout the curriculum of undergraduate professional programs by forging links between faculty in the liberal arts and professional  fields. The target areas of focus are engineering and business education. Such curricular integration will not only have a positive effect on how students in professional fields pursue their future work, but will also enrich the liberal arts curriculum itself with perspectives that merit sharing beyond the community of professional practitioners. To be considered for a grant, please review Teagle's application guidelines and submit a brief 3-5 page concept paper to [email protected] .  
 
Full proposals are welcomed by invitation and typically reflect a collaboration of four to six colleges/universities that exhibit an alignment of priorities and draw participants together as a community of practice.



McDonnell
James S. McDonnell Foundation
Studying Complex Systems Collaborative Activity Awards
OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
Award Amount: Budgets for collaborative activities vary greatly depending on the scope of the proposed project and on the number of people involved

The Foundation offers Collaborative Activity Awards to initiate interdisciplinary discussions on problems or issues, to help launch interdisciplinary research networks, or to fund communities of researchers and practitioners dedicated to developing new methods, tools, and applications of basic research to applied problems. Strong preference will be given to applications involving multi-institutional collaboration. 

Proposals furthering the science of complex systems and/or proposals intending to apply complex system tools and models to problems where such approaches are not yet considered usual or mainstream are appropriate.  Please note that this Foundation limits the number of inquiries an investigator may submit to one every three years. 



Simons
Targeted Grants in Mathematics and Physical Sciences
OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
Award Amount: A typical Targeted Grant in MPS provides funding for up to five years. The funding provided is flexible and based on the type of support requested in the proposal. There is no recommended funding limit.
 
The Simons Foundation division for Mathematics and Physical Sciences seeks to extend the frontiers of basic research. The division's primary focus is on mathematics, theoretical physics and theoretical computer science. This program is intended to support high-risk projects of exceptional promise and scientific importance on a case-by-case basis. Expenses for experiments, equipment, or computations, as well as for personnel and travel, are allowable.



IARPADIVA
Deep Intermodal Video Analytics (DIVA)
OSP Deadline: October 31, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 7, 2016
Award Amount:  Dependent on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. 


The DIVA program intends to develop robust automated activity detection for a multi-camera streaming video environment. As an essential aspect of DIVA, activities will be enriched by person and object detection, as well as recognition at multiple levels of granularity. DIVA is anticipated to be a three-phase program. The program will focus on three major thrusts throughout all phases:
  • Detection of primitive activities occurring in ground-based video collection (examples include: person getting into a vehicle; person getting out of vehicle; person carrying object)
  • Detection of complex activities, including pre-specified or newly defined activities (examples include: person being picked up by vehicle; person abandoning object; two people exchanging an object; person carrying a firearm) 
  • Person and object detection and recognition across multiple overlapping and nonoverlapping camera viewpoints.
The focus for phase 1 will be on video collected with the following properties: v ideo collected within the human visible light spectrum, and v ideo collected from indoor or outdoor security cameras, either fixed or with rigid motion such as pan-tilt-zoom.  In phases 2 and 3, additional data used will include v ideo collected from handheld or body worn cameras, and v ideo collected from other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum (e.g., infrared).
The DIVA program will produce a common framework and software prototype for activity detection, person/object detection and recognition across a multi-camera network. The impact will be the development of tools for forensic analysis, as well as real-time alerting for userdefined threat scenarios.  Collaborative efforts and teaming among potential performers will be encouraged. It is anticipated that teams will be multidisciplinary, and might include expertise in machine learning, deep learning or hierarchical modeling, artificial intelligence, object detection, recognition, person detection and re-identification, person action recognition, video activity detection, tracking across multiple non-overlapping camera viewpoints, 3D reconstruction from video, super-resolution, statistics, probability and mathematics. Performers will not be asked to build a monolithic system for activity detection and tracking across a large camera network. Instead, research will focus on developing a common scalable framework that deploys in an open cloud architecture for activity detection, person/object detection and recognition across overlapping and non-overlapping cameras.

FunGCAT
Functional Genomic and Computational Assessment of Threats (Fun GCAT)
OSP Deadline: November 1, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 8, 2016
Award Amount: Dependent on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. 
The Fun GCAT program intends to develop better approaches and tools for characterization and analysis of biological threats based on gene function. Currently, threats are organized based on genetic relatedness, resulting in static, threat-based lists that fail to emphasize biological functions. In order to better characterize known threats, and improve our capacity to understand the relative risk posed by new and emerging threats, the Fun GCAT program will seek to characterize biological threats from a functional perspective and will seek to develop new and better computational and bioinformatics tools to analyze biological data, predict structure/function relationships, and ascribe a relative risk potential to unknown genes.
Fun GCAT is anticipated to be a two-phase program with two separate thrust areas:
  • Thrust 1: Apply functional genomics and other approaches to biological threats in order to categorize genes based on threat potential. The focus in Thrust 1 during Phase 1 will be the significant advancement of the characterization and prediction of gene function. The performers will choose genes from bacterial or viral models, or host genes involved in the response to infection. During Phase 1 this thrust will focus on using model genes to demonstrate and validate experimental approaches, methods development, data analysis, and validation. The model pathogens chosen do not need to be select agents. The data and approaches need to inform the development of technical approaches and models that can be applied to predict the function of novel genes.
  • Thrust 2: Develop bioinformatic and computational tools and approaches that accelerate data analysis, inform threat potential, predict structure and functions of unknown genes, or develop computational models of threat risk based on gene functions in order to improve our ability to screen DNA sequences.
Phase 2 will maintain both thrusts and will focus on curating the function of genes from select agents or other genes of concern, with an emphasis on data integration and analysis. Bioinformatic tool development and the development of computational models of threat risk will continue in this phase in order to advance capabilities of predicting functions of unknown genes. The end result should be a set of tools that will improve existing DNA synthesis screening practices. Collaborative efforts and teaming among potential performers are highly encouraged. It is anticipated that teams will be multidisciplinary, including expertise in virology, microbiology, immunology, proteomics, transcriptomics, immunology, functional genomics, bioinformatics, computational modelling of structure, and statistical analysis. 


IARPAMOSAIC

Selecting and evaluating a workforce that is well-suited for the psychological and cognitive demands of the diverse positions across the Intelligence Community (IC) is an important and persistent need. T
he MOSAIC program aims to take advantage of multimodal mobile, worn, and carried sensors and the corresponding data to enable the measurement of an individual in situ, throughout their daily activities, using an aggregate of behavior, physiology, social dynamics, physical location and proximity, as well as other novel data sources. Research in this program will aim to establish convergent validity of multimodal signals across a range of researcher-defined contexts and over time to enable accurate and personalized evaluations. It is anticipated that research teams will develop and test a suite of multimodal sensors to collect a range of subject-focused and situational data; build capabilities to develop an integrated model of the subject, their behaviors, and the social and physical context; and advance methods to personalize modeling approaches to develop accurate assessments of an individual over time.
MOSAIC is anticipated to be a two-phase program. Briefly, each phase will focus on the following, with progressively more challenging metrics:
  • Implementation and testing of a suite of mobile, worn and/or carried sensors to measure the target constructs using data collected from diverse volunteer participants that provide informed consent to measure them during daily activities, along with more controlled data collection periods.
  • Development of methods to measure a subject, their social environment, and physical surroundings to inform the interpretation of a subject's own data.
  • Advancement of methods to build automated and personalized assessments of the target constructs for each subject.
In both phases performance against target metrics will be evaluated by an independent test and evaluation team.  Collaborative efforts and teaming among potential performers will be encouraged. It is anticipated that teams will be multidisciplinary, including but not limited to expertise in behavioral, cognitive, and psychological science; mobile computing and pervasive sensing; signal processing; data science; machine learning; data privacy and security. Work that will not be funded under the MOSAIC program includes: the development of new devices or sensors; improvements in device or sensor size or weight; advances in power sources or components; advances in radio technology; advances in materials; and biometrics.


IARPAHFC
Hybrid Forecasting Competition (HFC)
OSP Deadline: November 4, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 14, 2016
Award Amount: D ependent on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. 

HFC aims to improve forecasting by combining the benefits of human- and machine-driven forecasting systems. HFC will develop and test methods to optimize human/machine collaboration for the creation of maximally accurate geopolitical and geoeconomic forecasts. Intelligence analysts, along with professionals in other operational forecasting disciplines, wrestle with the problem of how human judgments should be combined/weighted with machine model-based forecasts so as to maximize the accuracy of the resultant probability forecasts. The methods HFC will develop should help the human analyst navigate this challenge and will likely be diverse in form. Methods developed in HFC may include but are not limited to (1) protocols that train human forecasters to optimally combine/weight human and machine judgments/forecasts; (2) new predictive models that incorporate both machine data and human judgments; and (3) algorithmic forecasting agents that interact with human forecasters/forecasts inside crowdsourced forecasting platforms. The geopolitical and geoeconomic events on which HFC methods will be developed will be discrete choice/probabilistic and continuous quantity forecasting problems.
The HFC Program expects to draw upon the strengths of academia and industry through collaborative teaming. It is anticipated that teams will be multidisciplinary and might include social and behavioral scientists, experts in operational forecasting disciplines (e.g. finance, macroeconomics, meteorology, geopolitics), computer scientists/software developers, and methodologists (statisticians/psychometricians/polimetricians/econometricians).


BAA
Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)
OSP Deadline: 5 business days before submission to sponsor
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling between May 3, 2016 and May 2, 2017
Award Amount: Awards generally support a period of performance of 12 months or less; resources made available under this BAA will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds.
 
IARPA invests in high-risk, high-payoff research that has the potential to provide our nation with an overwhelming intelligence advantage. This BAA solicits abstracts or proposals for IARPA.  IARPA is soliciting proposals for research on topics that are not addressed by emerging or ongoing IARPA programs or other published IARPA solicitations. The BAA primarily, but not solely, seeks proposals for early stage research (which IARPA refers to as "seedlings").


National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

SpaceLife
Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications Division
Use of the NASA Physical Sciences Informatics System for Combustion Science, Complex Fluids, Fluid Physics, Fundamental Physics, and Materials Science
OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline for Notices of Intent (recommended): October 31, 2016
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: December 15, 2016
Award Amount: Up to $200,000 for up to 2 years
 
This Appendix solicits ground-based research proposals to utilize NASA's Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) system to develop new analyses and scientific insights. The PSI system is designed to be a resource for researchers to data mine information generated from completed physical sciences experiments performed on the International Space Station (ISS) or from related studies performed on other platforms. Specifically, this call is for the utilization of data from 39 investigations that are currently available in the PSI system (see the solicitation for a full list of these investigations).
 
This Appendix solicits proposals in the five research areas for which experiment data will be
available in the PSI by the proposal due date: Combustion Science, Complex Fluids, Fluid
Physics, Fundamental Physics and Materials Science. Proposals in the Biophysics discipline will  not be considered, since no experimental data will be available for this discipline by spring 2017.  This Appendix is soliciting proposals from established researchers and graduate students.



NASAJohnsonSpace
Johnson Space Center:  Research Opportunities for ISS Utilization
Exploration Technology Demonstration and National Lab Utilization Enhancements
OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of the sponsor deadline
Sponsor Deadline for White Papers (recommended): October 31, 2017
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: December 31, 2017
Award Amount: Funds are not currently available for awards under this NASA Research Announcement (NRA). The Government's ability to make award(s) is contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds from which payment can be made and the receipt of proposals that NASA determines acceptable for award under this NRA. Successful proposals will have launch and integration costs covered by NASA.
 
This announcement is for the development of experiment hardware with enhanced capabilities; modification of existing hardware to enable increased efficiencies (crew time, power, etc.);  development of tools that allow analyses of samples and specimens on orbit; enhanced ISS infrastructure capabilities (ex. communications or data processing); and specific technology demonstration projects. Submission of a white paper is recommended in advance of a full proposal.
 
Within the NASA International Space Station (ISS) Research Integration Office, the Technology and Science Research Office (TSRO) and Commercial Space Utilization Office (CSUO) act as "gateways" to the ISS. The Technology and Science Research Office serves as the gateway for NASA-funded technology demonstrations. The Commercial Space Utilization Office serves as the gateway for non-NASA government-funded investigations, as well as non-profit or commercially-funded investigations.
 
Proposed technology demonstrations submitted to TSRO should address at least one of the technology areas mentioned in the ISS Technology Demonstration Plans . In addition, NASA seeks technology demonstrations related to the following thrust area: Space Suit CO2 Sensor.
 
NASA also seeks technological concepts via CSUO related to the National Lab Thrust Areas and to expand the onboard research and analytical capabilities. The general thrust areas are:
  • Innovative uses of the ISS or ISS hardware that leverage existing capabilities to stimulate both utilization of the ISS and economic development in the U.S.
  • Other improvements to existing ISS capabilities, including but not limited to infrastructure, in situ analytical tools, and communication/data transmittal, to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the technology demonstrations and science investigations performed on the ISS.
  • Unique partnering arrangements that leverage NASA's existing capabilities but increase the commercial participation in research and on board services. 
One specific thrust area is still accepting proposals: Virtual Reality/360° Video System.



OtherNASA
Other NASA Opportunities
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

OtherNIH2
NIH Opportunities:
 

National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation: Dear Colleague Letters

NSFDCSeeking
Seeking Community Input for Topic Ideas for Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation
Deadline for Topic Idea Submission: October 31, 2016
 
The purpose of this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) is to invite the research community to submit suggestions for Topic Ideas to be considered for the FY 2018  Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) Program  Solicitation. This DCL is not a request for submission of a single research proposal idea; rather, it is designed to solicit submission of emerging topic areas of potentially transformative research and innovation. You may submit your candidate topic idea along with a 500-word description  here .


NSFDCDMR
DMR Window Changes
OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of the sponsor deadline
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling OR October 31, 2016 (see below)
 
The proposal submission window for the eight Topical Materials Research Programs in the Division of Materials Research (DMR) has changed recently. The following two programs now accept proposals at any time:
 
The window for the following six programs has changed to October 1-31 each year:


NSFDCREM
EFRI Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) Program
OSP Deadline: November 8, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 16, 2016
Award Amount: $100,000 maximum per year
 
The NSF Directorate for Engineering (NSF/ENG) Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program continually seeks to advance scientific progress in EFRI topic areas while broadening participation of underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This letter seeks to inform the community about an opportunity to pursue both of these goals through supplements to active EFRI research awards from the Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) program.
 
A request for supplemental funding may be submitted by the PI or co-PI of any currently active EFRI research award.


NSFDCCCMI
Revised Unsolicited Proposal Submission Window for CMMI Programs
OSP Deadline: January 6, 2017
Sponsor Deadline: January 13, 2017
Award Amount: N/A
 
Because NSF will relocate its offices during the last months of Fiscal Year 2017, it has become necessary for CMMI to change the dates of its February unsolicited proposal submission window to December 30, 2016, through January 13, 2017.

FY 2017 Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems (INFEWS) Funding Opportunity on Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Water
OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of the sponsor deadline
Sponsor Deadline: proposals should be submitted to the existing program of interest in CHE, DMR and CBET within the existing submission windows
Award Amount: unspecified
 
In 2010, NSF established the Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability investment area to lay the research foundation for decision capabilities and technologies aimed at mitigating and adapting to environmental changes that threaten sustainability.  Through this Dear Colleague Letter, the NSF aims to specifically focus on advancing knowledge of the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles; the production and use of fertilizers for food production; and the detection, separation, and reclamation/recycling of nitrogen- and phosphorus-containing species in and from complex aqueous environments.


NSFDCLifeSTEM
Life STEM
OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of the sponsor deadline
Sponsor Deadline: varies based on the program through which you choose to submit
Award Amount: unspecified
 
NSF currently invests in a number of programs targeting underrepresented populations and institutions. This Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) describes another opportunity to build on the Agency's longstanding efforts of inclusiveness by providing a mechanism for researchers to create, implement, and evaluate innovative models of intervention in STEM (with particular attention to life science and bioscience), beginning in elementary school through undergraduate studies.
 
Through this DCL, NSF invites eligible organizations to submit research proposals that create, implement, and evaluate models of intervention that will advance the knowledge base for establishing and retaining underrepresented minorities in STEM fields with particular attention to life science and the biosciences.


NSFDCAdvanced
Advanced Measurement Systems for Experimental Determination of Complex Biomaterial Properties
OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of the sponsor deadline
Sponsor Deadline: varies based on the CMMI program through which you choose to submit
Award Amount: unspecified
 
Through this Dear Colleague Letter, the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI), Directorate for Engineering (ENG), announces its intention to support research on advanced measurement systems for experimental determination of complex biomaterial properties through its Biomechanics and Mechanobiology (BMMB) and Mechanics of Materials and Structures (MoMS) core programs. The BMMB and MoMS Programs of CMMI welcome proposals as part of their existing programs that advance developments at all levels for the experimental determination of complex biomaterial properties tested in situ.


NSFDCCompCog
Stimulating Integrative Research in Computational Cognition (CompCog)
OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of the sponsor deadline
Sponsor Deadline: varies based on the program through which you choose to submit
Award Amount: unspecified
 
This Dear Colleague Letter is intended to enhance the scientific and societal impact of the field by encouraging active dialogue across the cognitive and computational communities, facilitating bidirectional cross-fertilization of ideas, and nurturing emerging areas of transdisciplinary research. The NSF is interested in receiving proposals to existing programs, listed here , that explore computational models of human cognition, perception and communication and that integrate considerations and findings across disciplines.
 
This is not a special competition or new program. A proposal in response to this Dear Colleague Letter must meet the requirements and deadlines of the program to which it is submitted, but should start the proposal title with "CompCog:".


NSFDCSmart
Opportunities for Research in Smart & Connected Communities
OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of the sponsor deadline
Sponsor Deadline: Varies by funding opportunity and Directorate
Award Amount: Varies by funding opportunity and Directorate
 
The NSF Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Education and Human Resources (EHR), Engineering (ENG), Geosciences (GEO), and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) wish to notify the community of various opportunities to support, foster, and accelerate fundamental research and education that addresses challenges in enabling Smart & Connected Communities. The NSF offers a variety of funding opportunities related to this area.
 
In 2016, NSF's investments enabled pursuit of fundamental understanding and basic research in frameworks that: (a) integrate and operate on data from multiple sources at multiple temporal and spatial scales; (b) involve new sociotechnical systems that are interconnected and interdependent; and (c) develop and test new technologies for innovative applications and services to enable more livable, workable, and sustainable communities. In 2017, the NSF expects to build upon these investments.


DARPASC2
NSF Support for DARPA Spectrum Collaboration Challenge (SC2) Participants
Release Date: July 21, 2016

Wireless systems constitute a major source of productivity for nearly every sector of society and in turn drive the nation's overall economic competitiveness. Given the rapid proliferation of wireless networks and edge devices as well as the growth in wireless applications and services, precious spectrum resources are in ever-greater demand. Because wireless spectrum is finite, this demand cannot be met by simply allocating additional spectrum bands. Instead, spectrum sharing is seen as a viable option to meet the demand for scarce wireless spectrum by identifying unused frequency bands in the spatial and temporal domains.

In March 2016, in response to the challenge described above - the increasing demand for wireless spectrum - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced a Spectrum Collaboration Challenge (SC2) that aims to reward teams for developing smart systems that collaboratively, rather than competitively, adapt in real time to today's fast-changing, congested spectrum environment.

Through this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), NSF's Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) encourages academic researchers to participate in SC2, and announces its intention to support those researchers to pursue novel strategies in spectrum collaboration as part of SC2. NSF intends to accept proposals from academic researchers actively engaged in SC2 in one of two ways: (i) supplemental funding requests to existing NeTS/EARS awards on wireless spectrum research; or (ii) EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER). Support is restricted to those researchers who are SC2 participants but are not being funded by DARPA for SC2 specifically.



MPSAGEP
MPS Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate - Graduate Research Supplements (AGEP-GRS)
OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to intended submission to the sponsor
Deadline: Rolling
Award Amount: about $60,000
 
This opportunity is available to PIs with current MPS research awards whose institutions and/or academic units are either currently participating in the EHR-sponsored "Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate" (AGEP) program; or whose institutions and/or academic units have participated in the AGEP program in the past (AGEP Legacy institutions). Such PIs may apply to MPS for a supplement to defray the costs for: stipend, tuition, benefits and indirect costs for a graduate research student working on the MPS-funded research.
 
Awards offer one-year (twelve-month) supplements to currently active MPS awards for a single Ph.D. student and are renewable for a total support period of up to three years, contingent upon the duration of the active MPS research award and satisfactory progress of the student towards completion of the Ph.D.

National Science Foundation: Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (NSF: CISE)

CompData
Computational and Data-Enabled Science and Engineering
OSP Deadline: Varies by research area (5 business days before the sponsor deadline)
Sponsor Deadline: Varies by research area; deadlines fall between October 31, 2016 and December 1, 2016
Award Amount: Award amounts vary; awards average between $100,000 and $500,000
 
Advanced computational infrastructure and the ability to perform large-scale simulations and accumulate massive amounts of data have revolutionized scientific and engineering disciplines. 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.



RET
Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science
OSP Deadline: October 25, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 1, 2016
Award Amount: Up to $600,000 for up to 3 years
 
This program supports active long-term collaborative partnerships between K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, Computer and Information Science, and Mathematics (STEM) teachers and community college and university faculty and students to bring knowledge of engineering or computer and information science and engineering as well as technological innovation to pre-college/community college classrooms. The goal of these partnerships is to enable K-12 STEM teachers and community college faculty to translate their research experiences and new knowledge gained in university settings into their classroom activities. 



CRI
CISE Research Infrastructure (CRI)
OSP Deadline: October 25, 2016
Sponsor Pre-Proposal Deadline: November 1, 2016
Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline: January 18, 2017
Award Amount: The majority of Institutional Infrastructure awards will be made in the $200,000 to $750,000 range; the majority of Community Infrastructure awards will be made in the $50,000 to $100,000 range
 
The CISE Research Infrastructure (CRI) program drives discovery and learning in the core CISE disciplines of the three participating CISE divisions by supporting the creation and enhancement of world-class research infrastructure that will support focused research agendas in computer and information science and engineering. This infrastructure will enable CISE researchers to advance the frontiers of CISE research.



PRAC
Petascale Computing Resource Allocations (PRAC)
OSP Deadline: November 2, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: November 9, 2016
Award Amount: Up to $40,000

In 2013, a new NSF-funded petascale computing system, Blue Waters, was deployed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The goal of this project and system is to open up new possibilities in science and engineering by providing computational capability that makes it possible for investigators to tackle much larger and more complex research challenges across a wide spectrum of domains.
 
The purpose of this solicitation is to invite research groups to submit requests for allocations of resources on the Blue Waters system. Proposers must show compelling science or engineering challenges that require petascale computing resources. Proposers must also be prepared to demonstrate that they have science or engineering research problems that require and can effectively exploit the petascale computing capabilities offered by Blue Waters. Proposals from or including junior researchers are encouraged, as one of the goals of this solicitation is to build a community capable of using petascale computing.



NSFIntel
NSF/Intel Partnership on Computer Assisted Programming for Heterogeneous Architectures
OSP Deadline: December 8, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: December 15, 2016
Award Amount: $2M to $3M over 3 years
 
The NSF/Intel Partnership on Computer Assisted Programming for Heterogeneous Architectures (CAPA) aims to address the problem of effective software development for diverse hardware architectures through groundbreaking university research that will lead to a significant, measurable leap in software development productivity by partially or fully automating software development tasks that are currently performed by humans.
 
The main research objectives for CAPA include programmer effectiveness, performance portability, and performance predictability. In order to address these objectives, CAPA seeks research proposals that explore (1) programming abstractions and/or methodologies that separate performance-related aspects of program design from how they are implemented; (2) program synthesis and machine learning approaches for automatic software construction that are demonstrably correct; (3) advanced hardware-based cost models and abstractions to support multi-target code generation and performance predictability for specified heterogeneous hardware architectures; and (4) integration of research results into principled software development practices.



SAS
Smart and Autonomous Systems (S&AS)
OSP Deadline: December 12, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: December 19, 2016
Award Amount: $350,000 to $700,000 (Foundational projects); $500,000 to $1.4M over 4 years (Integrative projects)
 
The Smart and Autonomous Systems (S&AS) program focuses on Intelligent Physical Systems (IPS) that are cognizant, taskable, reflective, ethical, and knowledge-rich. Example IPS include, but are not limited to, robotic platforms and networked systems that combine computing, sensing, communication, and actuation. 



NSFCISESPX
Scalable Parallelism in the Extreme (SPX)
OSP Deadline: January 3, 2017
Sponsor Deadline: January 10, 2017
Award Amount: $1M maximum over 2 to 4 years
 
The Scalable Parallelism in the Extreme (SPX) program aims to support research addressing the challenges of increasing performance in this modern era of parallel computing. This will require a collaborative effort among researchers in multiple areas, from services and applications down to micro-architecture. SPX encompasses all five NSCI  Strategic Objectives , including supporting foundational research toward architecture and software approaches that drive performance improvements in the post-Moore's Law era; development and deployment of programmable, scalable, and reusable platforms in the national HPC and scientific cyberinfrastructure ecosystem; increased coherence of data analytic computing and modeling and simulation; and capable extreme-scale computing. Coordination with industrial efforts that pursue related goals are encouraged.


OtherNSFCISE
Other NSF: CISE Opportunities

National Science Foundation: Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (NSF: MPS)

NSF_MPS_Condensed
Condensed Matter and Materials Theory (CMMT)
OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of the sponsor deadline
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
Award Amount: $84,000 to $160,000 per year (on average) for 2 to 4 years
 
CMMT supports theoretical and computational materials research in the topical areas represented in DMR's core or individual investigator programs, which include: Condensed Matter Physics (CMP), Biomaterials (BMAT), Ceramics (CER), Electronic and Photonic Materials (EPM), Metals and Metallic Nanostructures (MMN), Polymers (POL), and Solid State and Materials Chemistry (SSMC). The program supports fundamental research that advances the conceptual understanding of hard and soft materials, and materials-related phenomena; the development of associated analytical, computational, and data-centric techniques; as well as predictive materials-specific theory, simulation, and modeling for materials research.




NSF_MPS_Ceramics
Ceramics
OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of the sponsor deadline
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
Award Amount: $110,000 to $160,000 (on average) for up to 4 years
 
This program supports fundamental scientific research in ceramics (e.g., oxides, carbides, nitrides and borides), glass-ceramics, inorganic glasses, ceramic-based composites and inorganic carbon-based materials. Projects should be centered on experiments; inclusion of computational and theory components are encouraged.

 

OtherNSFMPS 

NSF: MPS Opportunities
National Science Foundation: Directorate for Engineering

EngNCN
Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN) - Supporting the Next Phase of NCN Nodes Programs
Sponsor Letter of Intent Deadline (required): November 3, 2016
OSP Deadline: November 23, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: December 2, 2016
Award Amount: Up to $800,000 per year for up to 5 years
 
The goals of the Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN) are to: 1) accelerate the transformation of nanoscience to nanotechnology through the integration of simulation with experimentation; 2) engage an ever-larger and more diverse cyber community sharing novel, high-quality nanoscale computation and simulation research and educational resources; 3) develop open-access, open-source software to stimulate data sharing; and 4) inspire and educate the next-generation workforce. The NCN consists of a stand-alone Cyber Platform, which provides computation, simulation, and education services to over 330,000 researchers, educators, students, and industry members of the nanoscience and engineering community annually worldwide; and Nodes, which develop compelling new computational and simulation tools to disseminate through Cyber Platform (nanoHUB.org) and cultivate communities of users in emerging areas of nanoscale science and engineering.
 
This is a limited submission opportunity and only three proposals may be submitted from Harvard University. Interested applicants should contact Erin Cromack as soon as possible to determine if any internal coordination is necessary .


NSFENGABTC
Advanced Biomanufacturing of Therapeutic Cells (ABTC)
OSP Deadline: December 20, 2016
Preproposal Deadline: January 4, 2017
Full Proposal Deadline (If Invited): April 17, 2017
Award Amount: A total anticipated funding amount of $5M is anticipated for 7 to 10 awards

In recent years, somatic cells as therapeutic agents have provided new treatment approaches for a number of pathological conditions that were deemed untreatable, or difficult to treat. Several successful cell therapies using T cells have been demonstrated for cancer and autoimmune diseases, while stem cell therapies have given relief for heart disease and stroke. Hundreds of clinical trials are ongoing to examine efficacy of cell therapies for a variety of other diseases including diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Crohn's disease. Production of therapeutic cells is currently expensive and, therefore, cost prohibitive for the large number of people who might benefit from these treatments. The overarching goal of this Advanced Biomanufacturing of Therapeutic Cells (ABTC) solicitation is to catalyze well-integrated interdisciplinary research to understand, design, and control cell manufacturing systems and processes that will enable reproducible, cost-effective, and high-quality production of cells with predictable performance for the identified therapeutic function.

 

OtherNSFDFE 

Other NSF: Directorate for Engineering Opportunities
National Science Foundation: Crosscutting and Interdisciplinary

NSFCILimited
Scalable Nanomanufacturing for Integrated Systems
FAS/SEAS Pre-Proposal Deadline: October 31, 2016
Award Amount: $250,000 to $375,000 per year for 4 years
 
The emphasis of the Scalable Nanomanufacturing for Integrated Systems solicitation is on research in new nano-scale manufacturing concepts and integration methods to realize complex integrated systems based on nanotechnology. The research will focus on overcoming the key scientific and engineering barriers that prevent the translation of laboratory-scale discoveries in nano-enabled integrated systems to an industrially relevant scale, reliably, affordably and within sustainability and environmental, health and safety (EHS) guidelines. The goal of the solicitation is to study and formulate the fundamental principles of scalable nanomanufacturing and integration for nanotechnology-based integrated systems towards the eventual manufacture of useful nano-enabled products.


Waterman
Alan T. Waterman Award
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: October 31, 2016
Award Amount: $1M
 
The Alan T. Waterman Award is the highest honor awarded by the National Science Foundation. Since 1975, when Congress established the award to honor the agency's first director, the annual award has been bestowed­­­ upon individuals who have demonstrated exceptional individual achievement in scientific or engineering research of sufficient quality to place them at the forefront of their peers. The annual award recognizes an outstanding young researcher in any field of science or engineering supported by the National Science Foundation. 

Candidates must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, 35 years of age or younger, or not more than seven years beyond receipt of their Ph.D. degree by December 31 of the year in which they are nominated. In addition to a medal, the awardee receives a grant of $1,000,000 over a five year period for scientific research or advanced study in the mathematical, physical, biological, engineering, social or other sciences, at the institution of the recipient's choice.



NSFCISCC
Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC)
OSP Deadline: November 21, 2016
Preliminary Proposal Deadline (required): November 30, 2016
Award Amount: Estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds and quality of proposals received.
 
The goal of this Smart & Connected Communities (S&CC) solicitation is to support strongly interdisciplinary, integrative research and research capacity-building activities that will improve understanding of smart and connected communities and lead to discoveries that enable sustainable change to enhance community functioning. Successful S&CC projects are expected to pursue research and research capacity-building activities that integrate multiple disciplinary perspectives and undertake meaningful community engagement, and to include appropriate and robust evaluation plans for assessing activities and outcomes. 


NSFCISmart
Smart and Connected Health
OSP Deadline: December 1, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: December 8, 2016
Award Amount: Up to $500,000 per year for up to 4 years
 
The goal of the Smart and Connected Health (SCH) Program is to accelerate the development and use of innovative approaches that would support the much needed transformation of healthcare from reactive and hospital-centered to preventive, proactive, evidence-based, person-centered and focused on well-being rather than disease. The purpose of this program is to develop next generation health care solutions and encourage existing and new research communities to focus on breakthrough ideas in a variety of areas of value to health, such as sensor technology, networking, information and machine learning technology, decision support systems, modeling of behavioral and cognitive processes, as well as system and process modeling.


NSFCIIUSE
IUSE/Professional Formation of Engineers: REvolutionizing engineering and computer science Departments (IUSE/PFE: RED)
OSP Deadline: December 2, 2016
Letter of Intent Deadline (required): December 9, 2016
Award Amount: $1M to $2M for up to 5 years
 
This funding opportunity enables engineering and computer science departments to lead the nation by successfully achieving significant sustainable changes necessary to overcome longstanding issues in their undergraduate programs and educate inclusive communities of engineering and computer science students prepared to solve 21st century challenges. It is expected that, over time, the awardees of this program will create knowledge concerning sustainable change in engineering and computer science education that can be scaled and adopted nationally across a wide variety of academic institutions.


NSFCICRCNS
Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS)
OSP Deadline: December 12, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: December 19, 2016
Award Amount: $100,000 to $250,000 over 3 to 5 years (Research Projects); awards for Data Sharing Proposals will be scaled according to the needs of the project and will typically be smaller in size
 
Through the CRCNS program, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF), the French National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ANR), and the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) support collaborative activities that will advance the understanding of nervous system structure and function, mechanisms underlying nervous system disorders, and computational strategies used by the nervous system.
 
Two classes of proposals will be considered in response to this solicitation:
Research Proposals   describing collaborative research projects; and
Data Sharing Proposals   to enable sharing of data and other resources.


ADVANCE5
ADVANCE: Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers (ADVANCE) - Partnerships
Sponsor Letter of Intent Deadline: December 14, 2016
OSP Deadline: January 4, 2017
Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline: January 11, 2017
 
The goals of the ADVANCE program are (1) to develop systemic approaches to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic STEM careers; (2) to develop innovative and sustainable ways to promote gender equity that involve both men and women in the STEM academic workforce; and (3) to contribute to the research knowledge base on gender equity and the intersection of gender and other identities in STEM academic careers.

There are three program tracks:
  • The Institutional Transformation (IT) track supports the development of innovative organizational change strategies to produce comprehensive change within one non-profit two-year or four-year academic institution across all STEM disciplines.
  • The Adaptation track supports the adaptation and implementation of evidence-based organizational change strategies, ideally from among those developed and implemented by ADVANCE projects.
  • The Partnership track will support partnerships of two or more non-profit academic institutions and/or STEM organizations to increase gender equity in STEM academics.

NSFCIDIBBS
Data Infrastructure Building Blocks (DIBBs)
OSP Deadline: December 19, 2016
Sponsor Deadline: January 3, 2017
Award Amount: $500,000 maximum over 3 years (Pilot Demonstration Awards); $4M maximum over 5 years (Early Implementation Awards)
 
DIBBs investments enable new data-focused services, capabilities, and resources to advance scientific discoveries, collaborations, and innovations. The investments are expected to build upon, integrate with, and contribute to existing community cyberinfrastructure, serving as evaluative resources while developments in national-scale access, policy, interoperability and sustainability continue to evolve.


NSFCIDMREF
Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)
OSP Deadline: January 10, 2017
Sponsor Deadline: January 17, 2017
Award Amount: $250,000 to $400,000 per year over 3 or 4 years
 
DMREF will support activities that accelerate materials discovery and/or development by building the fundamental knowledge base needed to design and make materials with specific and desired functional properties from first principles. This will be accomplished through forming interdisciplinary teams of researchers working synergistically in a "closed loop" fashion, building a vibrant research community, leveraging Big Data science, providing ready access to materials data, and educating the future MGI workforce.
 
Specifically, achieving this goal will involve modeling, analysis, and computational simulations, validated and verified through sample preparation, characterization, and/or device demonstration.


SpecEES
Spectrum Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, and Security (SpecEES): Enabling Spectrum for All
OSP Deadline: January 12, 2017
Sponsor Deadline: January 19, 2017
Award Amount: $750,000 maximum over 3 years
 
As a result of past investments in wireless research, two important issues are now at the forefront of spectrum efficiency research, and at the core of the SpecEES program: security and energy efficiency.
 
The goal of the SpecEES program is to enable next-generation wireless communications and networking that are spectrum-efficient, energy-efficient, and secure in a dynamic spectrum environment. In particular, the program solicits proposals that not only advance the frontiers of spectral efficiency, but also specifically address research challenges related to energy efficiency and/or security in spectrum utilization.


NSFCITRIPODS
Transdisciplinary Research in Principles of Data Science Phase I (TRIPODS)
OSP Deadline: January 12, 2017
Letter of Intent Deadline (required): January 19, 2017
Award Amount: $500,000 per year for up to 3 years
 
The TRIPODS program seeks to support research and training activities focused on the theoretical foundations of data science, i.e., the core algorithmic, mathematical, and statistical principles. Phase I of the program will support the development of small collaborative Institutes that will bring together the three disciplines. Proposals must address fundamental research and training in the theoretical foundations of data science, and describe the significant involvement of all three communities.


NSFCICRISP
Critical Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Systems and Processes FY17 (CRISP)
OSP Deadline: February 1, 2017
Sponsor Deadline: February 8, 2017
Award Amount: $500,000 maximum over 2 years (Type 1 Awards); $2.5M maximum over 3 to 4 years (Type 2 Awards)
 
The goals of the Critical Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Systems and Processes (CRISP) solicitation are to:
  • Foster an interdisciplinary research community of engineers, computer and computational scientists and social and behavioral scientists, that creates new approaches and engineering solutions for the design and operation of infrastructures as processes and services;
  • Enhance the understanding and design of interdependent critical infrastructure systems (ICIs) and processes that provide essential goods and services despite disruptions and failures from any cause, natural, technological, or malicious;
  • Create the knowledge for innovation in ICIs so that they safely, securely, and effectively expand the range of goods and services they enable; and
  • Improve the effectiveness and efficiency with which they deliver existing goods and services.

 

OtherNSFCross2 

Other NSF: Crosscutting and Interdisciplinary Opportunities


GooglePhD
Harvard Pre-Proposal Deadline: November 7, 2016
Eligible applicants: Full-time graduate students pursuing a PhD in the research areas listed below
 
The Google Ph.D. Fellowship program recognizes graduate students doing work in the area of computer science and related disciplines. For 201, Google expressed priority in the following areas:

  • Computational Neuroscience
  • Human Computer Interaction
  • Machine Learning
  • Machine Perception, Speech Technology and Computer Vision
  • Market Algorithms
  • Mobile Computing
  • Natural Language Processing (including Retrieval and Extraction)
  • Privacy and Security
  • Programming Technology and Software Engineering
  • Structured Data and Database Management
  • Systems and Networking
  • Operating Systems.
Harvard may put forward two nominees for this opportunity and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research is facilitating an internal application, review, and selection process for interested applicants.



DOJ
Crime Forecasting Challenge
OSP Deadline: February 21, 2017
Sponsor Deadline: February 28, 2017
Prize Information: 40 $15,000 prizes will be apportioned to the winners in the large business category; 40 $10,000 prizes will be apportioned to the winners in the small teams/small business category; and 40 $5,000 prizes will be apportioned to the winners in the student category.
 
The Crime Forecasting Challenge seeks to harness the advances in data science to address the challenges of crime and justice, encouraging data scientists from across all scientific disciplines to foster innovation in forecasting methods. The goal is to develop algorithms that advance place-based crime forecasting through the use of data from one police jurisdiction.
 
Contestants may enter forecasts in one of the following categories:
  • Full-time student (undergraduate);
  • Small team or small business; or
  • Large businesses.
_________________________________________

For assistance, please contact:

Erin Cromack
Senior Research Development Officer
[email protected] | 617-496-5252

Jennifer Corby
Research Development Officer
[email protected] | 617-495-1590


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