July 2020  
 

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.


For assistance, please contact:
Erin Hale, Senior Research Development Officer
[email protected] | 617-496-5252

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

News, Announcements, and Special Features

As part of the University's plan for a safe reopening, a limited number of researchers and lab personnel will be authorized to return to campus.  These are the steps that individuals returning to campus must take prior to entering Harvard facilities in order to enable the safety of those returning and essential on-site staff.  We also encourage you to visit the division of science and SEAS  Coronavirus FAQs website .

T he FAS Research Development team has compiled the following resources for those seeking funding for COVID-19 Research:
 
  • For an aggregated list of COVID-19 research funding opportunities, visit the SPIN website while on a Harvard network and click on Search in the menu bar and then click on COVID-19/Coronavirus Funding Opportunities in the drop down menu. This list is updated daily and can be exported to Excel.
  • Harvard Link: Alternatively, you may add the key word COVID to your Harvard Link account to receive updated COVID-19 funding recommendations.
  • Other Funding Search Databases Available to Harvard Affiliates: All Harvard affiliates have access to the funding databases PIVOT, SPIN and FDO here.
  • ­Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Funding List: Johns Hopkins University has compiled and continues to maintain a list of funding opportunities available for COVID-19 research.
 

Feature:  COVID-19 Funding Opportunities Spotlight 

This section of the newsletter will highlight opportunities relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Feature: New Investigator Opportunity Spotlight
Quick links to early career opportunities in this month's newsletter.
Indicates an UPDATED or NEW opportunity added this month

DARPA's Defense Sciences Office (DSO) has released its June 2020 newsletter, which provides insight into DSO's current work, challenges and opportunities.
 
From August 18-20, 2020, DARPA will host its third Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI) Summit and Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) Symposium via an immersive virtual platform. As in previous years, the annual event will bring together leaders from across the electronics ecosystem - spanning government, defense, academia, and industry - to foster collaboration and share technical progress on DARPA's five-year, $1.5 billion investment into the advancement of the U.S. semiconductor industry. Registration is required and the cutoff date is July 27, 2020 or once attendance capacity is met, whichever comes first. Registration fees are $50 per attendee.
 
DARPA's Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is requesting information about unconventional computing from all those engaged in relevant research activities. This RFI asks respondents to frame the advantages of their particular unconventional computing approach in several areas, including the model on which it is based, algorithms that may be executed, and programmability. DSO will analyze responses across this common framework and may organize a workshop for select respondents to discuss their viewpoints and share insights and challenges across various approaches. The workshop may be used to inform future unconventional computing investments. DARPA will accept email responses to this RFI through July 29, 2020.

Funding Opportunities
Indicates an UPDATED or NEW opportunity added this month
Foundation Opportunities  

Internal Opportunities
Industry/Corporate Opportunities

U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency (IARPA)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

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

Foundation Opportunities
Fdn_BBVA
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: Review by Harvard OSP not required
Sponsor Nomination Deadline: July 30, 2020
Award Amount: 400,000 euros, a diploma, and a commemorative artwork
 
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards recognize fundamental contributions in a broad array of areas of scientific knowledge, technology, humanities, and artistic creation. The name of the award is intended to denote not only research work that substantially enlarges the scope of our current knowledge-pushing forward the frontiers of the known world-but also the meeting and overlap of different disciplinary areas and the emergence of new fields.  
 
The disciplines and domains of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards are:
  • Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics)
  • Biology and Biomedicine
  • Information and Communication Technologies
  • Ecology and Conservation Biology
  • Climate Change
  • Economics, Finance and Management
  • Humanities
  • Music and Opera

Any scientific or cultural organization or institution may nominate more than one candidate, but no candidate may be nominated in more than one award category. The awards are also open to scientific or cultural organizations that can be collectively credited with exceptional contributions. Candidates may be of any nationality. Self-nomination is not permitted.
cottrell
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: Due to the COVID-19 emergency, the submission portal will remain open until August 15, 2020 midnight PDT. 
Award Amount: $100,000 over three years
Eligible Applicants: Early career faculty who started their first tenure-track appointment anytime in calendar year 2017 who hold an appointment in a chemistry, physics, or astronomy department. Accommodations are made for faculty who have taken maternity or paternity leave, or who have experienced medical conditions that prompted a tenure clock extension.
 
The Cottrell Scholar Award develops outstanding teacher-scholars who are recognized by their scientific communities for the quality and innovation of their research programs and their academic leadership skills. The Cottrell Scholar Award provides entry into a national community of outstanding scholar-educators who produce significant research and educational outcomes. Proposals must contain a research plan, an educational plan and a clear statement on how the Cottrell Scholar Award will help applicants become truly outstanding teacher-scholars and future academic leaders. The ability of applicants to mount a strong and innovative research program and achieve excellence in education and their academic citizenship skills are key criteria in the selection of the awards. The primary criterion for research funding in the Cottrell Scholar Award program is to add to fundamental scientific knowledge in one of the three core disciplines (Chemistry, Physics, and Astronomy) and hence, applied research without a significant fundamental component is not funded.
 
Fdn_czi
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: July 23, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: July 30, 2020
Award Amount: The maximum total budget (including indirect costs) is $250,000 per year, with an initial three-year period followed by a potential two-year renewal. No more than $200,000 can apply to the salary and fringe benefits of the Imaging Scientist, and no more than $20,000 to teaching and travel expenses.
 
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) seeks to support the work of up to 15 Imaging Scientists who will work at the interface of biology, microscopy hardware, and imaging software at imaging core facilities across the world. Imaging Scientists might be engineers, physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, or biologists who have focused on technology development in either light or electron microscopy, medical imaging, or data analysis fields. The primary goal of the program is to increase interactions between biologists and technology experts. A successful Imaging Program will employ an Imaging Scientist who: a) works collaboratively with experimental biologists on projects at the imaging core; b) participates in courses that disseminate advanced microscopy methods and analysis; c) trains students and postdocs in imaging technology; d) participates in a network of CZI Imaging Scientists to identify needs and drive advances in the imaging field; e) attends twice-yearly CZI scientific workshops and meetings in imaging and adjacent biomedical areas.
BeckmanYIP
SEAS Deadline to Request Institutional Endorsements: July 24, 2020
Sponsor LOI Deadline: August 3, 2020
Award Amount: $600,000 over four years
Eligible Faculty: Assistant professors within the first three years of a tenure-track position, or an equivalent independent research appointment. Tenure track dates for the 2021 program must start after August 6, 2017 AND before August 6, 2020. Candidates must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States at the time of application.
 
The Beckman Young Investigator (BYI) Program provides research support to the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers in the chemical and life sciences, particularly to foster the invention of methods, instruments and materials that will open up new avenues of research in science. Projects proposed for the BYI program should be truly innovative, high-risk, and show promise for contributing to significant advances in chemistry and the life sciences. They should represent a departure from current research directions rather than an extension or expansion of existing programs. Proposed research that cuts across traditional boundaries of scientific disciplines is encouraged. Proposals that open up new avenues of research in chemistry and the life sciences by fostering the invention of methods, instruments and materials will be given additional consideration.  
 
Investigators can have no more than $225,000 in direct, annualized external funding grants during any BYI Program Year (Aug-July) at the time of application. Start-up funds, department-wide instrumentation grants, and "Transition" grants (such as NIH K99/R00) are not counted toward this total. No individual may apply for a Beckman Young Investigator award more than two times.
 
Past award recipients from Harvard FAS/SEAS include Jarad Mason (CCB, 2019), Kang-Kuen Ni (CCB, 2015), Hopi Hoekstra (OEB, 2006), Xiaowei Zhuang (CCB, 2003), and David Liu (CCB, 2002).
 
This is not a limited submission opportunity but does require the electronic endorsement of Dean Frank Doyle and Colleen Shanahan ("Chief Academic Officer or authorized signatory"). The deadline to request the required endorsements is July 24, 2020.
 
The process to obtain the required endorsements is as follows:

  1. Prepare the LOI using the application instructions at the Beckman website. The LOI should be complete before requesting the required institutional endorsements.
  2. For the endorsement of the Chief Academic Officer or authorized signatory:
    • Send an email to Colleen Shanahan, Manager of Grants and Contracts Operations ([email protected]). This email should include a PDF of the LOI and a brief note alerting Colleen that an automated email will be forthcoming from the Beckman application portal.
    • The online portal will have a section to provide the email address for the Chief Academic Officer or authorized signatory, and applicants should provide [email protected] as the recipient address for this endorsement.
  1. To obtain endorsement from Dean Frank Doyle:
    • Send an email to [email protected] with cc to Erin Hale ([email protected]), and Susan Gomes ([email protected]). This email should include a PDF of the LOI and a brief note alerting the Dean's Office that an automated email will be forthcoming from the Beckman application portal.
    • The online portal will have a section to provide an email address for the dean, and applicants should provide [email protected] as the recipient address for this endorsement.
Fdn_CZIsoftware
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: July 28, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: August 4, 2020 at 8 PM
Award Amount: $50,000-$250,000 (including indirect costs)
 
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) seeks applications for software projects that are essential to biomedical research, have already demonstrated impact, and can show potential for continued improvement. CZI currently supports several areas of basic science and technology with the goal of making it possible to cure, prevent, or manage all diseases by the end of this century. This program aims to support software tools that are essential to this mission.
 
Applications for two broad categories of open source software projects will be considered in scope:
  • Domain-specific software for analyzing, visualizing, and otherwise working with the specific data types that arise in biomedical science (e.g., genomic sequences, microscopy images, molecular structures). Software will be considered out of scope if it primarily serves domains outside biomedical science (e.g., physics, astronomy, earth sciences).
  • Foundational tools and infrastructure that enable a wide variety of downstream software across several domains of science and computational research (e.g., numerical computation, data structures, workflows, reproducibility). While foundational tools will be considered in scope for this program, they must have demonstrated impact on some area(s) of biomedical research.
Grants will be for a one-year period with a projected start date no earlier than January 1, 2021. Proposals may request funding for multiple related software projects.
Searle
Harvard Pre-Proposal Deadline: July 27, 2020 by 11:30 PM
Sponsor Deadline: September 30, 2020
Award Amount: $100,000 per year for three years
Eligible Faculty: Applicants should have begun their appointment as an independent investigator at the assistant professor level on or after July 1, 2019 but not later than September 29, 2020. The appointment must be their first tenure-track position (or its nearest equivalent).

The Searle Scholars Program is a limited submission award program which makes grants to selected academic and research institutions to support the independent research of outstanding early-career scientists who have recently been appointed as assistant professors on a tenure-track appointment. Applicants for the competition are expected to be pursuing independent research careers in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology, and related areas in chemistry, medicine, and the biological sciences. This program does not ordinarily support purely clinical research but has supported research programs that include both clinical and basic components. The Searle Scholars Program Scientific Advisory Board is primarily interested in the potential of applicants to make innovative and high-impact contributions to research over an extended period of time.

This is a limited submission opportunity and Harvard may submit only three proposals to this program. The Office of the Vice Provost for Research will conduct the internal competition to select the Harvard nominees. To be considered for the Harvard nomination, eligible applicants must submit an internal pre-proposal via the link above.

Fdn_Templeton
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline for Online Funding Inquiry: August 7, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Online Funding Inquiry: August 14, 2020
Award Amount: up to $234,800 (Small Grants); over $234,800 (Large Grants);
the typical grant duration is up to three years
   
The Templeton Foundation offers grants in support of research and public engagement in their major funding areas The Foundation is temporarily limiting the areas where it will accept new Online Funding Inquiries (OFIs) as part of the 2020 Open Submission cycle. For the upcoming August 14, 2020 OFI submission deadline, the Foundation will accept applications only in the following six areas:


Applicants interested in other funding areas should wait until the 2021 Open Submission cycle to submit an inquiry. The Foundation generally funds specific projects and favors proposals where the applicant has sought or secured partial funding from other sources. Grant consideration begins with an initial Online Funding Inquiry and, if invited, a detailed Full Proposal.

RitaAllen
Harvard Pre-Proposal Deadline: August 10, 2020 at 12 PM
Sponsor LOI Deadline (if nominated): September 9, 2020
Award Amount: Up to $110,000/year for up to 5 years; while indirect costs are not permitted, nominees are exempt from FAS/SEAS indirect cost assessment under the categorical waiver for early career awards.
Target Applicants: Candidates should be independent investigators in the early stages of their career and research, preferably in the first three years of tenure track positions, and conducting research in the fields of cancer, immunology, and neuroscience
 
The Rita Allen Foundation Scholars program funds basic biomedical research in the fields of cancer, immunology, and neuroscience. The program embraces innovative research with above-average risk and groundbreaking possibilities. Rita Allen Foundation Scholars are distinguished by their bold approaches to basic scientific questions that address problems of global concern, as well as their potential for learning, leadership and collaboration.
 
Rita Allen Foundation Scholars may not accept an award from the Beckman Young Investigator Program, the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences, the Searle Scholars Program, or the Vallee Scholars Program that would begin during year one of the Rita Allen Foundation award. Scholars may apply for awards from these organizations that would take effect beginning in year two of the Rita Allen Foundation award.
 
This is a limited submission opportunity and only one nomination may be put forward from Harvard University. The Office of the Vice Provost for Research will administer the internal competition to select the Harvard nominee. To be considered for the Harvard nomination, potential applicants must submit an internal pre-proposal via the link above.  
schmidt
GSAS Pre-Proposal Deadline: August 17, 2020 by noon
Sponsor Nomination Deadline: September 30, 2020
Sponsor Application Deadline: November 30, 2020
Eligibility:  PhD students working across any of the natural sciences (chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and earth sciences), computing, engineering or mathematics are invited to apply. Candidates must h ave completed, or be expected to complete, all the requirements for the PhD between April 30, 2020 and September 30, 2021.
 
Schmidt Science Fellows works in partnership with a select group of the world's leading science and engineering institutions to identify and nominate their most promising early-career scientists as potential Fellows. Nominees are then invited to make individual applications through an online portal before entering a rigorous review and selection process.  Fellows pursue a postdoctoral placement at a leading laboratory anywhere in the world in a disciplinary pivot from their PhD. As part of the application process this year, Fellows will be required to consider several options of where they may undertake their postdoctoral placement. Schmidt Science Fellows also participate in a varied and challenging Global Meeting Series that introduces new research ideas, techniques, and questions, in addition to a tailored training program.  
 
Please Note: This is a limited submission opportunity. Harvard may nominate a limited number of candidates, so there will be an internal selection process to select the nominees.  Please submit the following for the internal selection process:

  1. Complete CV, including name, email address, PhD program, and a list of all publications
  2. Research Statement (specific for the internal review process) that briefly addresses: (1) Rationale for the disciplinary pivot from your graduate work, (2) Plan for pursuing postdoctoral study in a different field, and (3) How the Schmidt Fellowship fits your long-term plans; maximum 2 pages. 
  3. Letter of Recommendation from your thesis advisor 
 

Interested applicants should send their materials as a single PDF. The letter of support may be included in the PDF or sent separately. All materials must be submitted to [email protected] by August 17, 2020 at noon. 


 

Questions regarding the internal application process should be directed to [email protected]

Smith_biomed
Sponsor Initial Proposal Deadline (required): August 18, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline (if invited to submit full proposal): 5 business days in advance of sponsor deadline
Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline (if invited): TBD in December 2020
Award Amount: $100,000/year for 3 years
 
The Smith Family Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research supports newly independent faculty engaged in basic biomedical research. Investigators in the physical sciences (physics, chemistry and engineering) whose projects focus on biomedical science are also encouraged to apply. While basic research projects involving human subjects, data, and samples are eligible, clinical trials research is beyond the scope of this program. In recognition of the importance of research collaboration within the scientific community, collaboration is an additional, but not required, positive ancillary factor. These projects may involve researchers within and/or outside the applicant's institution.
 
Applications will be accepted from full-time faculty who have received or will receive their first independent faculty appointment on or between October 1, 2018 through April 1, 2021. If an applicant has been on medical or family leave, or if research was interrupted for other reasons, this period of absence does not count towards eligibility.   Applicants are ineligible if, at the time of application, they have combined federal and non-federal funding totaling $500,000 or more in external direct costs in either of the first two years (4/1/21 - 3/31/22 or 4/1/22 - 3/31/23) of the three-year Smith Award. Applicants are also ineligible if they were previously or are currently a Principal Investigator or Multiple PI (NIH), Co-PI (NSF), or equivalent on an R01, P01, Pioneer Award, New Innovator Award or similar large awards from other federal agencies or national foundations.
 
Please Note: This award no longer requires institutional nomination and instead the sponsor is piloting a two-stage application process in which the institutional nomination process is eliminated, and any eligible candidate is invited to submit an initial proposal.
 Wellcome_CASI
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 25, 2020
Sponsor Pre-Proposal Deadline: September 1, 2020 by 4:00 PM
Award Amount: $500,000 over five years
Target Applicants: The specific target group are researchers who have transitioned from graduate work in the physical/mathematical/computational sciences or engineering into postdoctoral work in the biological sciences. Candidates must hold a Ph.D. degree in one of the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, statistics, or engineering, and must have completed at least 12 months but not more than 60 months of postdoctoral research by the date of the full invited application deadline (January 8, 2021). These awards are open to U.S. and Canadian citizens or permanent residents as well as to U.S. temporary residents.
 
Recognizing the vital role cross-trained scientists will play in furthering biomedical science, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund developed the Career Awards at the Scientific Interface (CASI). CASI grants are intended to foster the early career development of researchers who are dedicated to pursuing a career in academic research. These grants provide $500,000 over five years to bridge advanced postdoctoral training and the first three years of faculty service. Candidates are expected to draw from their training in a scientific field other than biology to propose innovative approaches to answer important questions in the biological sciences. Award recipients are required to devote at least 80 percent of their time to research-related activities. Please review the  Request for Proposals document for detailed eligibility requirements.
SimonsInvestigators
SEAS Internal Nomination Deadline: August 26, 2020
Sponsor Nomination Deadline (if selected as a Harvard nominee): October 28, 2020
Award Amount: $100,000/year for 5 years plus $10,000 per year to the Investigator's department. The Investigator's institution will receive an additional 20 percent per year in indirect costs.
 
The Simons Investigators in Mathematics, Physics, Astrophysics and Theoretical Computer Science Program aims to provide a stable base of support for outstanding midcareer scientists, enabling them to undertake long-term investigations of the fundamental questions in their fields. The intent of the program is to support these scientists in their most productive years, when they are establishing creative new research directions, providing leadership in the field and effectively mentoring junior scientists. To be an Investigator, a scientist must be engaged in theoretical research in mathematics, physics, astrophysics or computer science and must not have previously been a Simons Investigator. He/she must be midcareer, have a primary appointment as a tenured faculty member and the primary department affiliation must have a Ph.D. program (note that the appointment need not be in a mathematics, physics, astrophysics or computer science department).  
 
Please Note: This is a limited submission opportunity.  Harvard may put forward up to two nominees in each of the Mathematics, Physics, Astrophysics, and Theoretical Computer Science programs.   Additionally, up to two Simons Investigator in Physics awards will be granted to well-established midcareer researchers who develop and apply advanced theoretical physics ideas and methods in the life sciences. Harvard may put forward one nominee in Theoretical Physics in Life Sciences. The Office of the Vice Provost for Research will facilitate the University-wide competition. Those who wish to nominate SEAS faculty members may do so by sending the following materials to Erin Hale at  [email protected]  no later than August 26, 2020.
 
  1. Nomination Letter (two-page limit): Written and signed by the nominator on letterhead, explaining the distinctive scientific contributions of the nominee, focusing on scientific accomplishments of the past five years and including discussion of a few important papers. Co-signed letters are acceptable within the page limit and nominator(s) need not be from Harvard.
  2. Nominee's CV: The nominee's curriculum vitae, including Ph.D. year, institution, advisor, postdoctoral institutions and advisors, positions held subsequent to award of doctorate, a list of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows mentored by the nominee and the nominee's up-to-date publication list.
 
Please note that nominations should be treated confidentially - the nominees should not know they are being nominated, if possible. A nominee cannot submit his/her own nomination. Investigators are not eligible to hold a Simons Fellowship or another Simons Investigator award for the duration of the Simons Investigator award. Candidates from previous years may be re-nominated.
Beckman_postdoc
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 28, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: September 4, 2020
Award Amount: $180,000 over 2 years for salary, fringe benefits and research expenditures; instrumentation fellowships will receive an additional one-time amount of up to $100,000. Selected Fellows will receive a year 3 renewal award of an additional $90,000.
Eligibility: The applicant must be a current graduate student anticipated to complete a PhD in the chemical sciences by May 1, 2021 or a current postdoctoral researcher who has received a PhD in the chemical sciences within the last 3 years and with no more than 18 months cumulative postdoctoral research experience (at the time of the application due date). U.S. citizenship or permanent residency is required.
 
The Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chemical Sciences or Chemical Instrumentation Award Program supports advanced research by postdoctoral scholars within the core areas of fundamental chemistry or the development and build of chemical instrumentation. The applicant's research must be innovative in method, speed or process, or represent new instrument technology. This fellowship will serve as a catalyst for "mentored yet independent" postdocs to become outstanding, independent researchers in academic or industry/governmental labs. Applicants must have identified a mentor in the chemical sciences with appropriate laboratory facilities to support their postdoctoral research proposal and m ust pursue postdoctoral training in an area of chemical sciences that would likely not be eligible for funding by traditional chemical biology, biochemical or biological science mechanisms (e.g., NIH-K awards).
 
Applicants may apply to one of the following two tracks:
  1. The Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chemical Sciences will allow chemists to pursue advanced research within the core areas of fundamental chemistry, such as chemical physics, chemical engineering, and chemistry of materials research. 
  2. The Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chemical Instrumentation will allow researchers in chemistry to conceptualize, develop and build instrumentation suitable to advanced research in chemistry, chemical physics, chemical engineering, and chemistry of materials science. Instrumentation projects must be suitable for the two-year fellowship timeframe, be driven by a need in the chemical sciences listed above, be innovative in method, speed or process or represent a wholly new instrument for technical advancement in chemistry, and may potentially be used for future research in the broader scientific community.
Please Note:   An   Institution's Letter of Support & Acknowledgement of Application is required and must be signed by the applicant's Department Chair.   Please review the  application guidelines  provided on the Beckman Foundation website for detailed guidance on the format of the Institution Support Letter. 
Fdn_Sloan
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 8, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: September 15, 2020
Award Amount: $75,000 for two years
Eligible Applicants: Candidates must be tenure-track, though untenured, as of September 15, 2020. Candidates must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree in chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences, physics, or a related field.
 
The Sloan Research Fellowship Program recognizes and rewards outstanding early-career faculty who have the potential to revolutionize their fields of study. These two-year fellowships are awarded yearly to 126 researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field. Successful candidates for a Fellowship generally have a strong record of significant independent research accomplishments that demonstrate creativity and the potential to become future leaders in the scientific community. Nominated candidates are normally several years past the completion of their Ph.D. in order to accumulate a competitive record of independent, significant research. Fellowship funds may be used by the fellow for any expense judged supportive of the fellow's research including staffing, travel, lab expenses, equipment, or summer salary support. Fellowship funds may not be used for indirect costs.
 
In order to be considered for a Sloan Research Fellowship, a candidate must have a letter of nomination from a department head or other senior researcher officially nominating the candidate and describing his or her qualifications, initiative, and research. No more than three candidates may be nominated from any one department.
 
Recent recipients include Emily Breza (Economics, 2020), Gabriel Chodrow-Reich (Economics, 2020), Nicholas Bellono (MCB, 2019), Christina Woo (CCB, 2019), Finale Doshi-Velez (SEAS, 2018), Yaron Singer (SEAS, 2018), Stefanie Stantcheva (Economics, 2018), Tristan Collins (Math, 2018), Samuel Gershman (Psychology, 2018), Amanda Pallais (Economics, 2017), Demba Ba (SEAS, 2016), Melissa Dell (Economics, 2016), Nathaniel Hendren (Economics, 2016), Shmuel Rubinstein (SEAS, 2016), Ariel Amir (SEAS, 2015), and Kang-Kuen Ni (CCB, 2015).

Fdn_Banting
Deadline to Request Harvard Institutional Endorsement: September 14, 2020 by 12:00 PM
Sponsor Deadline: October 1, 2020 
Award Amount: $70,000 per year for two years (taxable)
 
The objective of the   Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program , offered by the Government of Canada, is to attract and retain top-tier postdoctoral talent, to develop Fellows' leadership potential and to position them for success as research leaders of tomorrow, positively contributing to Canada's economic, social and research-based growth through a research-intensive career. Applications are accepted from all fields in the humanities, social sciences, health research, natural sciences and engineering.
 
This program is open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada and non-Canadian citizens. Candidates to be hosted by Harvard must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada who have obtained or will obtain their PhD or equivalent from a Canadian university. Applicants must fulfill or have fulfilled all degree requirements for a PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree between September 15, 2017 and September 30, 2021 (inclusively), and before the start date of their award. Applicants who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada may apply to hold a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at a Canadian institution. Applicants who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada and who obtained their PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree from a non-Canadian university may also apply to hold a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at a Canadian institution. The program's full eligibility criteria can be viewed  here .   
 
There are no limits to the number of applicants that may apply to the Banting Fellowship opportunity, but those who wish to be hosted by Harvard University must include with their application an  Institutional Letter of Endorsement   signed by the Vice Provost for Research. To request this endorsement letter, candidates must submit their contact information and a copy of their proposed supervisor's statement  here   no later than 12:00 PM on September 14, 2020. 

 Fdn_Eppley
Sponsor LOI Deadline: September 15, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline (if invited): October 7, 2020
Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline (if invited): October 15, 2020
Award Amount: Unspecified; the foundation disburses up to $460,000 a year; recent past awards have ranged from $11K to $28K
 
The Eppley Foundation for Research was incorporated in 1947 for the purpose of "increasing knowledge in pure or applied science...in chemistry, physics and biology through study, research and publication." Particular areas of interest include innovative medical investigations, climate change, whole ecosystem studies, as well as research on single species if they are of particular significance in their environments, in the U.S. and abroad. The proposal is expected to be concise and incorporate clear statements of significance, objectives, novelty, methods, expectations of success, and why the researcher believes the work cannot reasonably expect federal support, or support from other conventional funding sources. It is important to the Foundation that the work proposed be novel in its insights and unlikely to be underway elsewhere. The Foundation is prepared to take risks.
 
The Eppley Foundation supports advanced, novel, scientific research by PhDs or MDs with an established record of publication in their specialties. Travel and fringe benefits do not qualify for overhead allocation.
Fdn_franklin
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: Review by Harvard OSP not required
Nomination Deadline: December 31, 2020 
Prize Amount: $250,000
 
The Franklin lnstitute seeks nominations for the 2021 Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science of individuals who have made significant contributions to the scientific understanding of decision-making. The interdisciplinary field of decision-making integrates theory and methods from economics, psychology, neuroscience, computer science, and related areas to understand the mechanisms through which individuals and groups choose among competing possibilities and how these mechanisms guide behavior.
 
Nominations from any individual or organization will be accepted, including self-nominations. Nominations are encouraged in, but not limited to, the following subtopics and their intersections:
  • Psychological insights: mechanisms, development, context-dependence, individual differences, cultural variation, evolution
  • Modeling of individual or group choice behavior: valuation, social preferences, impulsivity, strategy, network models
  • Neurobiological mechanisms: human neuroscience, model organisms, behavioral neuroscience, genetic approaches, comparative approaches
  • Clinical approaches: pharmacology, psychiatric disorders, neuropsychological conditions
  • Development of interventions to improve individual and/or group decision-making outcomes
  • Broad applications: artificial intelligence, courts/law, education, finance, health/medicine, government/public policy, intelligence, labor, technology

Internal Opportunities
Brigham
Deadline: August 14, 2020 at 12 PM
Award Amount: up to $100,000
 
The Stepping Strong Center funds patient-centric, innovative projects with an emphasis on advancing new approaches to trauma research and clinical care; training current and future generations of healthcare professionals in the treatment of complex traumatic injuries; creating programs that educate society about traumatic injury and its prevention; and furthering advocacy efforts to expand research, raise awareness, and prevent traumatic injuries from occurring. The Center expects to provide several Innovator Award grants in 2020 in the following areas:
  • Clinical innovation
  • Injury prevention
  • Basic science
  • U.S. Military Priorities
Teams will ideally consist of researchers, a trauma clinician (if the Principal Investigator is not a clinician), external experts, and engineers knowledgeable in healthcare. Research teams that have strong multi-disciplinary expertise will receive preference. Preferential assessment will be given to proposals that include collaborators based at Brigham and Women's Hospital and/or Massachusetts General Hospital.
RadcliffeFellow
Deadline: October 1, 2020 for applications in science, engineering, and mathematics
Award Amount: Fellows receive a stipend of $78,000 plus an additional $5,000 to cover project expenses.
 
Radcliffe fellows are exceptional scientists, writers, scholars, public intellectuals, and artists whose work is making a difference in their professional fields and in the larger world. Coming from diverse disciplines and perspectives, they challenge each other's ideas and support each other's ambitions. The Radcliffe Fellowship Program awards 50 fellowships each academic year.
 
Applications in all academic disciplines, professions, and creative arts are encouraged, and there are a few areas of special interest:
  • Applications from scholars, artists, and practitioners proposing innovative work that confronts pressing social and policy issues and seeking to engage audiences beyond academia.
  • Proposals relevant to the Institute's focus areas, which include law, education, and justice; youth leadership and civic engagement; and legacies of slavery.
  • Reflecting Radcliffe's unique history, each year some projects focus on women, gender, and society or draw on the Schlesinger Library's rich collections.
Radcliffe Institute fellows are in residence for a period of nine months from September 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022. Fellows receive office or studio space and access to libraries and other resources at Harvard University. Applicants must have received their doctorate in the area of the proposed project at least two years prior to their appointment as a fellow (December 2019 for the 2021-22 fellowship year) and have published at least five articles in refereed journals. Applicants may apply as individuals or in a group of two to three people working on the same project. All group members must meet the eligibility requirements for their fields. 
Radcliffe_seminars
Deadline: October 13, 2020
Award Amount: up to $18,000 to support one- to two-day, by-invitation-only seminars
 
The Radcliffe Exploratory Seminar Program provides funding to scholars, practitioners, and artists for collaboration in an interdisciplinary exploration of early-stage ideas. The program encourages intellectual risk taking as participants gather in an intensive seminar setting to explore new fields of research and inquiry. Applications are currently being accepted for seminars to be held between July 2021 and June 2022. The program welcomes proposals that:
  • explore the viability of early-stage research ideas in any discipline or multiple disciplines
  • invite the perspectives of diverse participants and stakeholders to the discussion
  • integrate senior and junior scholars from institutions in the greater Boston area, across the United States, or around the world
  • demonstrate risk taking and creativity
Proposals that connect research to law, policy, pressing social issues, and/or seek to actively engage audiences beyond academia are of special interest. Reflecting Radcliffe's unique history, proposals that focus on women, gender, and society or draw on the Schlesinger Library's rich collections are also of special interest.
 
Lead applicant must be either a Harvard ladder (tenured or tenure-track) faculty member from any school or a former or current Radcliffe fellow; co-applicants may apply with lead applicants who meet eligibility requirements.
HDSI_special
Deadline: Rolling
Award Amount: Up to $5,000
Target Applicants: Applications are invited from individuals who hold a faculty appointment at a Harvard school and who have principal investigator rights at that school.
 
The Faculty Special Projects Fund is intended to support one-time data science opportunities for which other funding is not readily available. Applicants may request funding of up to $5,000 to support research, community-building, outreach, and educational activities. Examples of projects that the Fund is intended to support include offsetting the cost of running workshops or seminars, data visualization or research dissemination, and video production. The HDSI welcomes applications from all fields of scholarship. 

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and funding will be awarded throughout the year until available funding is exhausted. The total annual budget is $50,000.

HSGRP
Internal_SolarGeo
Deadline: Rolling
Award Amount: Varies by award type  

Harvard's Solar Geoengineering Research Program (SGRP) aims to focus on advancing solar geoengineering science and technology; assessing efficiency and risks; and laying out governance options and social implications. The following funding mechanisms are currently available:   

Residency Program:  This program will accept a small number of researchers focused on solar geoengineering to spend between 1 and 3 weeks at Harvard University, working directly with researchers at SGRP and other members of the Harvard community. The main purpose of this program is to enable visitors to work in collaboration with Harvard researchers and each other on discrete research projects. SGRP will cover the cost of travel and accommodations as well as per diem for meals.

Harvard Faculty Research Grants:  SGRP will provide direct support for research activities that cannot be fulfilled by students or fellows. That could involve multi-investigator collaborations, field or laboratory work in the sciences, or field or survey work in the social sciences.

Industry/Corporate Opportunities
Pfizer_AIML
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: July 23, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: July 30, 2020
Award Amount: $350,000-$450,000
 
Pfizer Global Medical Grants support the global healthcare community's independent initiatives (e.g., research, quality improvement or education) to improve patient outcomes in areas of unmet medical need that are aligned with Pfizer's medical and/or scientific strategies. Projects that will be considered under this RFP will focus on Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning in the areas mentioned below. Projects with a focus on emerging potential one-time treatments such as genetic medicine/gene transfer will be preferentially considered.

  • Research studies that develop artificial intelligence/machine learning methods, tools and/or apps to use patient data on, for example, infusions, bleeds, laboratory factors and lifestyle to assist clinicians in treatment selection
    • a focus on emerging potential one-time treatments such as genetic medicine/gene transfer is strongly preferred
  • Research studies that develop AI/ML methods and tools to increase the ability to predict disease risk; identify disease severity and progression due to morbidity from joint disease or recurrent bleeding; and/or improve disease management for persons with hemophilia (PWH) including optimizing treatment for patients with high bleeding risk (e.g., severe hemophilia)
  • Research projects that develop AI/ML methods and tools to enhance patient engagement with the local hemophilia treatment center and maximize follow-up after potential one-time treatments such as gene therapy, including for patients living in remote or geographically distant areas
  • Research projects that develop intelligent educational tools and platforms, leveraging AI/ML to deliver innovative educational and training programs for patients, caregivers, clinicians, healthcare providers, researchers, regulatory agencies and policy makers to increase knowledge sharing, awareness and advocacy for hemophilia
    • a focus on emerging potential one-time treatments such as genetic medicine/gene transfer is strongly preferred
  • Research studies that leverage AI/ML to enhance data surveillance and increase collaboration among data partners and the ability to collect PWH-related data in real time and to link useful real world data from diverse sources (e.g., claims, EHR, registry, patient-reported outcomes, patient-level channels such as wearable devices, mobile apps, sensors) to advance the understanding of hemophilia disease progression, treatment outcomes, factors influencing prognosis and quality of life, evidence on resource utilization, etc.
  • Develop a recommendation system leveraging AI-NLP approach and published literature and scientific evidence to offer more personalized guidelines and algorithms to monitor adherence and outcomes
Merck
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 24, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: August 31, 2020
Award Amount: 100,000 EUR - 500,000 EUR per year for up to 3 years
 
In 2020, Merck is offering a series of research grants to stimulate innovative research in challenging areas of future importance. Grants are available in the following areas:

  • Drug discovery: Research grants for proposals that have the potential to advance the field of drug discovery within Oncology and Autoimmune Diseases. Proposals will be considered that help to identify and characterize the next game-changing molecule or technology to help cure cancer or autoimmune disease, innovative research on molecular targets or pathophysiological pathways with untapped potential to be the next big therapeutic breakthrough, new breakthrough enabling technologies for drug discovery, and methods that improve translation from and predictivity of preclinical models to the clinical situation.
  • Bioreactor design for cultured meat: Proposals will be considered that help to develop the next generation, scalable bioreactors that can support industrial scale meat and seafood manufacturing. 
  • Next generation machine learning: Project proposals will be considered that seek to overcome current limitations in AI by a new generation of algorithms, inspired by today's neurosciences and by advances in brain research.
  • Pandemic preparedness/fighting new emerging viral infectious disease: Project proposals will be considered that leverage modern technologies to create new breakthrough solutions to be more prepared for pandemic outbreaks or work towards existing solutions that could help to fight emerging viral infections.
SonyRA
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 8, 2020
Sponsor Deadline:  September 15, 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; Robust Mesh Tracking for Volumetric Capture; Advanced Image Processing enabled by AI; Novel Actuator; Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence for Wireless Communications; Reconfigurable Reflector Type Materials; Individual Treatment Effect Estimation; Acoustic Metamaterials; Novel Technologies for GaN-based VCSELs; and Intelligent Sensing of Patient-Reported Outcomes. 
Microsoft_AI
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 28, 2020
Sponsor Deadlines: October 5, 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. 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.
NetApp
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
Amazon
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
Award Amount: The amount awarded is at the discretion of the awards panel and may be based on the number of applicants and number of awards granted during an award cycle. Awards can include funding and AWS Promotional Credits. 69% overhead is required per FAS/SEAS policy.
 
The AWS Machine Learning Research Awards (MLRA) program funds eligible universities, faculty, PhD students and post-docs under the supervision of faculty, that are conducting novel research in machine learning (ML). The goal is to enable research that accelerates the development of innovative algorithms, publications, and source code across a wide variety of ML applications and focus areas. Selected applicants will receive awards that include unrestricted cash funding as well as AWS Promotional Credits. Award recipients will receive an invitation to attend an annual research seminar and may receive live one-on-one training sessions with Amazon scientists and engineers.
 
Full-time faculty members and university departments leading a team of students and postdocs at education institutions in North America and Europe which are conducting innovative research related to Machine Learning are eligible to apply. Awards provided to faculty or university institutions will support the researchers identified in the application conducting research under the guidance of this PI.
DoD_red
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: July 23, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: July 30, 2020
Award Amount: The total award value for the combined Phase 1 base (Feasibility Study, 10 months, limited to $556K) and Phase 2 option (Proof of Concept, 8 months, limited  to $444K) is a maximum of $1,000,000 per proposal.
 
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is issuing an Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Opportunity, inviting submissions of innovative basic research concepts in the technical domain of reverse engineering the toolchains of information deception attacks. The technology developed in RED will facilitate intelligent identification of and response to adversarial information attacks. Capabilities developed in RED could associate attacks to toolchains, support the identification of adversaries by their toolchains, and identify unique weaknesses in an adversary's attack process, supporting a targeted, intelligent response. As a fundamental research effort, RED seeks to develop foundational technology. RED Phase 1 will produce algorithms for automatically identifying the toolchains behind information deception attacks. In Phase 2, RED will develop scalable capabilities that may eventually lead to scalable databases of attack toolchains to support attribution and defense.
 
This AIE Opportunity is issued under the Program Announcement for AIE, DARPA-PA-19-03 .
DoD_CDMRPvision
CDMRP Vision Research Program
Sponsor Deadline for Pre-Applications (required): July 28, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals (if invited): November 18, 2020
Award Amount: See below for details. The FY20 appropriation for the VRP is $20M.
 
The Vision Research Program (VRP) was initiated in 2009 to fund impactful military-relevant vision research that has the potential to significantly improve the healthcare and well-being of military Service members, Veterans, their family members and caregivers, and the American public. The FY20 VRP challenges the scientific community to design innovative research that will significantly advance the understanding, prevention, diagnosis, mitigation, and/or treatment of eye injury or visual dysfunction associated with military-relevant trauma.
 
To meet the intent of the program, applications to the FY20 VRP must address research in one or more of the following Focus Areas:
  • Eye injury or visual dysfunction as related to a military-relevant traumatic event. Examples of military-relevant trauma may include, but are not limited to:
    • Blast, penetrating, blunt, thermal, or chemical trauma
    • Trauma caused by directed energy weapons such as laser, high-power microwaves, and particle beams
  • Diagnosis, stabilization, and treatment of eye injuries in austere environments and prolonged field care settings
  • Restoration of visual function after trauma-related vision loss or severe visual impairment
Three award mechanisms are available under this program:
  • Investigator-Initiated Research Awards (IIRA) - Funding Level 1 supports exploratory, innovative, high-risk/high-reward research that is in the earliest stages of idea development. The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY20 VRP IIRA Funding Level 1 will not exceed $260,000 for a maximum project period of 2 years. Funding Level 2 supports the advancement of more mature research toward clinical translation. The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY20 VRP IIRA Funding Level 2 will not exceed $750,000 for a maximum project period of 3 years.
  • Translational Research Awards (TRA) - Successful applications to the FY20 VRP TRA should establish a clear path to transform a discovery into new drugs, devices, or clinical practice guidelines that are ready for definitive testing in clinical trials. The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY20 VRP TRA will not exceed $1M. The maximum period of performance is 3 years.
  • Focused Translational Team Science Award (FTTSA) - The FY20 VRP FTTSA is intended to support a highly collaborative and translational team initiative. Applications shall include at least three but no more than five distinct research projects that together form a concerted and synergistic effort to address the overarching challenge. The overall effort will be led by a Principal Investigator (PI) at or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent) and with demonstrated success in leading large collaborative research project(s). The overall lead PI is required to devote a minimum of 20% effort to this award. The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY20 VRP FTTSA will not exceed $5M. The maximum period of performance is 4 years.
DoD_rndmc
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: July 28, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: August 4, 2020
Award Amount: The amount of resources made available under this BAA will
depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. The program will have a Phase 1 Base effort (Design & Prototype) of 18 months, Phase 2 (Option 1) effort (System Demonstration) of 15 months, and Phase 3 (Option 2) effort (Service Implementation) of 12 months.
 
DARPA's Strategic Technology Office (STO) is soliciting innovative proposals in the following technical area: distributed coherent communications with an emphasis on developing a bi-directional mosaic element system that works with current tactical radios operational waveforms. The program, Resilient Networked Distributed Mosaic Communications (RN DMC), is a vital part of the Mosaic Warfare end-state vision. The RN DMC program's objective is to provide long range communications through 'mosaic' antennas composed of spatially distributed low size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) transceiver elements or 'tiles'. The RN DMC approach replaces high powered amplifiers and large directional antennas with mosaics of spatially dispersed tile transceivers. Transmit power is spatially distributed amongst the tiles, and gain is achieved through signal processing rather than the use of a physical antenna aperture to concentrate energy. Individual tiles can use radio frequency (RF) sounding to estimate channel responses and adjust transmit carrier phases. This enables the distributed mosaic antenna to form directional beams and/or spatial nulls in desired directions.
 
The RN DMC program will include three focus areas:
  1. System Design;
  2. Experimental Performance Validation; and
  3. Operational Architecture Definition. 
The RN DMC performers will be primarily responsible for the first two areas. An independent Verification and Validation (V&V) Team will help support the third area. The RN DMC program is planned as a three phase, 45-month effort. Proposers must propose to all three Phases in a single proposal.
 
Multiple awards are anticipated.
DOD_cdmrpMED
Sponsor Deadline for Pre-Applications (required): July 29, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 6, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: August 13, 2020
Award Amount: Varies by award type (see below for details)
 
The vision of the FY20 Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) is to improve the health, care, and well-being of all military Service members, Veterans, and beneficiaries, and its mission is to encourage, identify, select, and manage medical research projects of clear scientific merit and direct relevance to military health. Thus, the proposed research must be relevant to active duty Service members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the American public. The PRMRP challenges the scientific and clinical communities to address at least one of the FY20 PRMRP Topic Areas (see the solicitation for complete list) with original ideas that foster new directions. The PRMRP Clinical Trial Award supports the rapid implementation of clinical trials with the potential to have a significant impact. Clinical trials may be designed to evaluate promising new products, pharmacologic agents (drugs or biologics), devices, clinical guidance, and/or emerging approaches and technologies. Proposed projects may range from small proof-of-concept trials (e.g., pilot, first in human, Phase 0), to demonstrate feasibility or inform the design of more advanced trials, through large-scale trials to determine efficacy in relevant patient populations.
 
Two different application categories, based on the phase of planning for the clinical trial, are available under this Program Announcement:
  • Planning Phase with Clinical Trial: This is intended to support the final phase of regulatory activities necessary to initiate the planned clinical trial. For the Planning Phase, anticipated direct costs will not exceed $500,000 and the maximum period of performance is 18 months. In addition to the Planning Phase, the proposed clinical trial work is not restricted to a predetermined cost and has a maximum period of performance of 4 years.
  • Clinical Trial Only: This is intended to support a clinical trial having either FDA (or other regulatory agency) approval or an exemption; the clinical trial is expected to begin no later than 9 months after the award date. Applications are not restricted to a predetermined cost limit and the maximum period of performance is 4 years.
The CDMRP expects to allot approximately $45M to fund approximately 11 Clinical Trial Award applications (5 Planning Phase with Clinical Trial and 6 Clinical Trial Only).
DoD_poly23
Sponsor Deadline for Abstracts (strongly encouraged): July 29, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: September 1, 2020
Award Amount: Up to $100,000 for 1 year
 
The purpose of this Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice is to provide public notification of a research and development funding opportunity on the Polyplexus online platform. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) invites participation in Polyplexus, which is an online, professional, technical conversation between the research community and DARPA Program Managers that will lead to the opportunity to submit abstracts and full proposals for a research and development project. The shared task of this group is to rigorously explore the trends and possible applications of emerging science and technology in a specific technical area defined by a participating Program Manager. The online discussion culminates in an opportunity to submit an abstract and subsequently a proposal describing a proposed research project. The initial technical area under consideration in this announcement is to explore analytic techniques that enable accurate prediction of nonstationary dynamical processes. The topic will be refined as the incubator conversation evolves. The updated topic can be found in the "Modeling and Prediction of Complex Dynamical Events (Topic 23)" incubator located on the polyplexus.com website.
 
The process, evaluation criteria, abstract submission instructions, and proposal submission instructions are described in the most recent amendment of the BAA for Polyplexus Pilot 3 (HR001119S0075) .
DoD_RAP
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: Review not required for awards made directly to individuals
Sponsor Deadlines for Full Proposals: August 1, 2020 and November 1, 2020
Award Amount: Awards include stipends ranging from $45,000 to $80,000, health insurance, professional travel, and relocation. 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.
DoD_onrSpecial
Sponsor Deadline for White Papers (required): August 3, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals (if invited): September 25, 2020
Award Amount: Approximately $300,000 to $500,000 per year for 1-3 years. ONR anticipates an annual budget of approximately $2M for awards under this program.
 
The goal of the Communications and Networking Program within ONR is to support the Navy's Information Warfare vision by developing measurable advances in technology that can directly enable and enhance end-to-end connectivity and quality of-service for mission-critical information exchange among widely dispersed naval, joint, and coalition forces. The vision is to provide high throughput robust communications and networking to ensure all warfighters - from the operational command to the tactical edge - have access to information, knowledge, and decision-making necessary to perform their assigned tasks.
 
White papers for potential FY21 Applied Research (Budget category 6.2) projects are sought under the  following focus areas:
  1. Advanced pointing, tracking, and stabilization approaches for mobile troposcatter communications antennas;
  2. Robust uni- or bi- directional beyond line-of-sight communications using HF/VHF across a collocated and/or geographically distributed set of antennas;
  3. Novel approaches and technologies for low probability of detect/intercept communications against advanced electronic threats;
  4. Innovative techniques, layered for flexible and modular SW/HW implementation, to mitigate 5G standard/protocol exploits in tactical environment operations;
  5. Dynamic scheduling, routing and control mechanisms in wireless networks to efficiently and reliably deliver traffic with varying level of service requirements (e.g., latency, loss rate, priority), while resilient to uncertainty in network state awareness and imperfect coordination amongst distributed controllers; and
  6. Computationally efficient, low-overhead traffic engineering and load balancing in networked wireless communications links with wide (up to 4 orders of magnitude) throughput differences.
The ONR is receptive to innovative ideas, which are not within the above focus areas, but nonetheless are important to the Navy/Marine Corps communications and networking.
 
The submission of proposals, their evaluation and the award of grants and contracts will be carried out as described in ONR's Long Range Broad Agency Announcement for Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology .
DoD_HEALR
Sponsor Deadline for Abstracts (strongly encouraged): August 11, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: September 17, 2020
Award Amount: The amount of resources made available under this BAA will
depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. Proposers may include an Option to participate in the Embedded Entrepreneurship Initiative (EEI), which provides up to $250,000 to complete milestones, quarterly access to a senior commercialization advisor, and connection to key transition partners and investors. HEALR is divided into three sequential phases: Phase I (Base) for 24 months; Phase II (Option 1) for 18 months; and Phase III (Option 2) for 12 months.
 
DARPA's Biological Technologies Office (BTO) is soliciting proposals for its Harnessing Enzymatic Activity for Lifesaving Remedies (HEALR) program to develop new medical countermeasures against bacterial pathogens and their toxins by leveraging host degradation and deactivation pathways.
 
The HEALR program includes three technical areas (TAs) that will run concurrently for the duration of the program. Proposals that do not address all TAs will be deemed non-conforming and may not be considered for review.
 
The three technical areas are:
  1. Technical Area 1 (TA1): Microbial Targeting. Develop and demonstrate innovative methods to screen and identify new threat-binding ligands against microbial targets.
  2. Technical Area 2 (TA2): Host Machinery Engagement. Develop and demonstrate new strategies to engage cellular processes to degrade or deactivate targets.
  3. Technical Area 3 (TA3): Platform Integration. Develop the tools to integrate threat and host binding ligands to rapidly construct, optimize, and deliver safe and effective countermeasures against new microbial threats.
Multiple awards are anticipated.
DoD_VBFF
Sponsor Registration Deadline (required):  August 26, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline for White Papers (required): August 28, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals (if invited): January 15, 2021
Award Amount: 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
Recent Recipients:  Adam Cohen (CCB, 2018), Marcus Greiner (Physics, 2018), Philip Kim (Physics, 2018), Michael Brenner (Physics, 2017), Jennifer Lewis (SEAS, 2016), Hongkun Park (CCB, 2016), Alan Asparu-Guzik (CCB, 2015), and Misha Lukin (Physics, 2015)
DoD_MURI
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 4, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: September 14, 2020
Award Amount: 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 below:
 
White papers and proposals addressing the following topics should be submitted to the Office of Naval Research (ONR):
  • Topic 1: Molecular Qubits for Synthetic Electronics
  • Topic 2: A Brain-based Compositional Framework for Robust Computer Vision
  • Topic 3: Littoral Ocean Dynamics off Rocky Coasts and Shorelines
  • Topic 4: Fog and Turbulence
  • Topic 5: Dynamic Tuning of Thermal Transport
  • Topic 6: Chemically and Thermally Insensitive Super/Ultra-Hard Materials
  • Topic 7: Narrative, Moral and Social Foundations of Social Cyber-Attack in Social Media
  • Topic 8: A Dynamics and Control Theory of Safe, Cognitive and Learning Systems
  • Topic 9: Understanding Turbulence-Chemistry Interactions in Non-Equilibrium, High-Speed Flows
  • Topic 10: Predicting Organic Molecular Decomposition 
White papers and proposals addressing the following topics should be submitted to the Army Research Office (ARO):
  • Topic 11: Anomalous Dipole Textures in Engineered Ferroelectric Materials
  • Topic 12: Cyber Autonomy through Robust Learning and Effective Human/Bot Teaming
  • Topic 13: Highly Heterogeneous Meta-macrostructures Created via Fine-particle Interactions
  • Topic 14: Non-Silica Inorganic Material Phases Synthesized from Genetically Modified Diatoms
  • Topic 15: Novel Mechanisms of Neuro-Glio Bio-Computation and Reinforcement Learning
  • Topic 16: Quantum Network Science
  • Topic 17: The Same is Different: Integrating Multiple Phenomena in Single Materials
  • Topic 18: Tunable Dilute Anion III-Nitride Nanostructures for Stable Photocatalysis
White papers and proposals addressing the following topics should be submitted to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR):
  • Topic 19: Mechanisms of Novel Reactivity in Aqueous Microdroplets
  • Topic 20: Topological Plasma Electromagnetics
  • Topic 21: Interfacial Engineering of Superconductors
  • Topic 22: Targeted Optical Stimulation of Individual Retinal Photoreceptors
  • Topic 23: Quantum Random Access Memory
  • Topic 24: Metasurface Edge Sensing, Processing and Computing
  • Topic 25: Non-Hermitian Programmable Materials at Exceptional Points
  • Topic 26: Mathematical Foundations for Enabling Robust Optimal Design of Hypersonic Systems
White papers and proposals addressing the following OSD topic should be submitted to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR):
  • Topic 27: Advanced Modeling of Evolutionary Cyber Eco-Systems with Autonomous Intelligence
DTRA_stri
Sponsor Deadline for White Papers: Rolling through March 2, 2025
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: Rolling through March 2, 2025
Award Amount: DTRA SI-STT estimates the total program budget divided among multiple awardees at approximately $1,950,000 per year. The preferred period of performance for studies is 6-9 months to maximize opportunities for operational relevance. Given the need for timely research, in most but not all cases, the period of performance shall not exceed 12 months from the effective date of award.
 
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Strategic Integration Directorate, Strategic Trends and Effects Department, Strategic Trends Division (SI-STT) is announcing to industry and academia the intent to solicit white papers and proposals for research studies, strategic dialogues, and tabletop exercises (TTXs) through this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). This strategy provides an acquisition tool to support SI-STT's Strategic Trends Research Initiative (STRI) with the flexibility to solicit white papers and proposals from the external expert community and make awards for expert-driven research efforts that meet present, emerging, and future needs.
 
Per priorities identified by the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS), SI-STT seeks proposals and white papers for research studies, strategic dialogues, and TTXs addressing the following five focus areas:
  • Identify the utility of deeper, more meaningful relationships with existing allies, partners, and establish new relationships with non-traditional partners as a mechanism to compete against key strategic competitors;
  • Understand the implications of key strategic competitors' emerging capabilities on the United States' ability to maintain operational advantage and project power;
  • Identify emerging WMD-related threats of concern for the future battlespace;
  • Consider the role and application of WMD risk reduction tools and approaches (e.g. arms control) in an era of Great Power competition; and/or
  • Explore the utility and applicability of applying a Counter Threat Network (CTN) approach to better characterize and address cross-domain threats posed by priority threat actors.
Within these five broad focus areas, DTRA SI-STT is specifically interested in credible, timely, operationally relevant and actionable research products (studies, strategic dialogues, and TTXs) that are aligned with seven thrust areas outlined below in Fiscal Year (FY) 2020:
  • Thrust Area 1: Competition with Revisionist Powers
  • Thrust Area 2: Emerging Threats
  • Thrust Area 3: Counter Threat Networks (CTN)
  • Thrust Area 4: Strategic Security and Risk Reduction
Track 1.5 and Track 2 Strategic Dialogues with:
  • Thrust Area 5: Allies, partners, and non-traditional partners
  • Thrust Area 6: Key strategic competitors
Tabletop Exercises (TTXs) that are focused on:
  • Thrust Area 7: Competition with Revisionist Powers (with a focus on WMD-related issues)
The funding will be provided for study projects, strategic dialogues (Track 1.5 and Track 2 meetings), and TTXs. Applicants are encouraged to propose projects in all categories, which are aligned with distinct thrust areas.

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. 
DOE_covid
 
DOE is soliciting ideas about how DOE and the National Labs might contribute resources to help address COVID-19 through science and technology efforts and collaborations. Through its user facilities, computational power, and enabling infrastructure, DOE has unique capabilities that the scientific community may leverage for the COVID-19 response and recovery. DOE does not provide medical and clinical work; instead, the Department's mission complements the efforts of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and other Federal partners by helping to understand the scientific phenomena contributing to COVID-19, from the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the disease, to models that can mimic its spread. DOE supports significant biologically focused facilities and resources, including the Joint Genome Institute (JGI), National Microbiome Data Collaborative (NMDC), Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory (EMSL), and DOE Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase). These and other DOE resources may be used for many studies, such as:

  • Developing high-throughput multiplex technologies to characterize virus-host interactions, determine phage resistance mechanisms in nature, identify the degree of specificity for each bacterial resistance mechanisms across diverse phage types, and understand the coevolution of hosts and their phages, which can ultimately be used to design better phage therapeutic treatments and tools for precision microbiome engineering;
  • Improved modeling for understanding natural viral populations and persistence in the environment, as well as predictive modeling for viral stability and evolution in changing environmental conditions;
  • Understanding virus-microbiome community composition, function, and evolution;
  • Synthetic biology of key target viral proteins to rapidly develop improved vaccines or therapeutics; and
  • Synthetic biology to construct viral genome variants and test viral stability, persistence, and resilience in the environment.
 
The Department encourages submission of scientific questions that underpin COVID-19 response and that the research community may answer using DOE user facilities, computational resources, and enabling infrastructure. Please send research questions that the scientific community may address with DOE resources by email to [email protected] . The Department is acting rapidly to leverage, and when appropriate provide prioritized access to, the full range of DOE user facilities and other facilities available at national laboratories to support the national and international effort to address COVID-19. 
DOE_waterrss
Sponsor Concept Paper Deadline (required): August 4, 2020
SEAS/FAS/OSP Deadline: September 29, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: October 6, 2020
Award Amount: Up to $2M. Cost sharing of at least 20% is required for Topic Area 1 and at least 50% for Topic Area 2.
 
A unique window of opportunity exists to replace the aging infrastructure with new, innovative approaches to water and wastewater treatment, resource recovery, and water reuse by looking more broadly at interconnected, cross-sector opportunities (i.e. municipal, industrial, agriculture, oil and gas, etc.) across the energy-water nexus to develop water and wastewater treatment systems of the future - advanced water resource recovery systems. The goal of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to conduct research, development, and deployment on technology innovations that enable advanced water resource recovery systems. Topic Area 1 of this FOA seeks to advance the development of transformative technologies beyond early stage research and development (R&D) to become pilot ready (TRL 4-6). Whereas, Topic Area 2 of this FOA seeks to test currently developed, pilot ready technologies (TRL 6-7) though design, build, and operations in industrially relevant conditions to enable commercialization.
DOEother
Other DOE Opportunities

Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA)
briar
Sponsor Deadline: TBD
 
IARPA is planning to release an open competition Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to solicit proposals for a new research and development (R&D) program called BRIAR (Biometric Recognition and Identification at Altitude and Range). The BAA is anticipated to be released in Q4 of FY20. The BRIAR Program aims to develop software algorithm-based systems capable of performing whole-body biometric identification at long-range and from elevated platforms. More information will be provided when the full solicitation is released.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
NASA_spacetech
Sponsor Deadline for Step A Proposals (required): July 22, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline for Step B Proposals (if invited): September 29, 2020
Award Information: Up to $125,000 for approximately 9 months
 
The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program focuses on early stage feasibility studies of visionary concepts that address national government and commercial aerospace goals. Concepts are solicited from any field of study that offers a radically different approach or disruptive innovation that may significantly enhance or enable new human or robotic science and exploration missions. Proposed concepts must be framed in terms of a mission context that clearly identifies scientific or technical advancements and associated benefits compared to current approaches. Comparatively high risk and far term, NIAC concepts are transformational investments in future NASA and commercial space capabilities. The entry Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for Phase I concepts should be TRL 2 or lower. The NIAC Program supports innovative research through Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III awards. This Appendix focuses only on Phase I.
 
12-16 awards are expected.
NASA_can
Sponsor Deadline for Notices of Intent (required):  Rolling through July 31, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline:  5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals (if invited):  Rolling through September 30, 2020
Award Information:  SSC resource contribution awards will range from $10,000 to $300,000, and must be matched or exceeded by Offeror contributions. SSC contributions to the Offeror can be cash, in-kind (non-cash) resources or a combination of each. The Period of Performance is up to 12 months.
 
This Cooperative Agreement Notice (CAN) supports identification and implementation of cost-sharing partnerships with commercial firms, academic institutions, and nonprofit institutions to develop technology to meet a specific NASA need at the John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC). SSC is the primary NASA rocket propulsion testing center. SSC tests items ranging from multi-engine stages to individual components of rocket engines. Propulsion test customers include NASA, the Department of Defense and the commercial space launch industry. SSC manages a large federal city that is home to over forty federal, state, university and industry entities. SSC manages a restricted airspace that is available for development, testing and operation of unmanned aerial vehicles. SSC engineering laboratories design and test electronics, sensors, algorithms and mechanical components.
 
SSC technology interests, include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Propulsion System Test Technology
  • Autonomous & Intelligent Systems
  • Advanced Sensors & Instruments
  • Image & Signal Processing
  • Innovative Components & Materials
  • Big Data Processing & Analysis
  • Systems Engineering & Optimization
  • Computational Modeling & Simulation
  • Airspace Management
  • Science Mission Support
  • Decision Support Tools & Systems
  • Academic Rocket Propulsion Testing
Please note that organizations are limited to submitting one NOI per project/technology area. If you are interested in submitting an NOI, please contact Erin Hale in FAS Research Development at  [email protected]
NASA_spacetechapp
Space Technology - Research, Development, Demonstration, and Infusion 2020 (SpaceTech-REDDI-2020) Space Technology Research Institutes Appendix
Sponsor Deadline for Preliminary Proposals (required): August 4, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals (if invited): November 5, 2020
Award Information: The planned award duration is 5 years; the maximum annual award  amount is $3M (total award amount may not exceed $15M).
 
The goal of a Space Technology Research Institute (STRI) is to strengthen NASA's ties to the academic community through long-term, sustained investment in research and technology development critical to NASA's future. The STRIs will enhance and broaden the capabilities of the Nation's universities to meet the needs of NASA's science and exploration programs. These investments will also create, fortify, and nurture the talent base of highly skilled engineers, scientists, and technologists to improve America's technological and economic competitiveness. The research institutes construct enables coordination of experts from a wide range of fields and organizations in a single distributed research structure.
 
The research institutes resulting from this Appendix will focus on R&D within particular technology areas of strong interest to NASA, other government agencies, and the commercial space sector. NASA's Space  Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) is soliciting STRIs in the following two technology areas:
  • High-Power Electric Propulsion Ground Testing and Modeling
  • Extensible to In-Space Operation and Revolutionary Advancements in Multidisciplinary Modeling and Simulation of Entry Systems
Up to two awards are anticipated under this Appendix.
NASA_eons
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 6, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: August 13, 2020
Award Information: $100,000-$175,000 for up to 1 year. Cost sharing or matching is strongly recommended, but not required.
 
NASA's Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM), collaborating closely with the Mission Directorates, and also in cooperation with NASA Headquarters' Office of Communications and Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, solicits proposals led by Informal Education Institutions (IEIs) to provide inquiry- or experiential-based educational opportunities with direct alignment to major NASA missions for students and the public. TEAM II seeks projects that feature the most current NASA space exploration, missions, engineering, and technologies to support NASA STEM Engagement objectives, strategies, and outcomes. This program will fund IEIs to amplify or create an innovative remote or distance-learning program, opportunity, or platform/project to reach K-12 students using relevant NASA content during the 2020-2021 school year and/or in summer 2021 and continuing beyond. Proposers are required to target their projects to address of one or more of the following Communications Themes:
  • Earth Right Now - Your Planet is Changing, We're on It
  • Humans in Space
  • Moon to Mars
  • Solar System and Beyond - We're Out There
  • Aeronautics: NASA is With You When You Fly
  • Technology Drives Exploration
Organizations eligible to submit a proposal under this Appendix must be: 1) legally recognized by a federal, state or local authority as a non-profit organization; 2) located in the United States or its Territories; and 3) provide STEM education programming; identify as or have a component that meets the definition of a museum, youth-serving organization, or library; and can partner with other IEIs, K-12 schools, commercial entities, higher education institutions, and/or other agencies that support Federal STEM education goals. A Higher Education Institution may apply on behalf of an IEI that is integrated within the Institution.
 
4-6 awards are anticipated.
 
Please note that organizations are limited to submitting one proposal in response to this Appendix. If you are interested in submitting a proposal, please contact Erin Hale in FAS Research Development at [email protected].
Sponsor Deadline for NOIs (strongly encouraged): August 12, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 1, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: September 9, 2020
Award Information: $1M-$2M for up to 2 years. The budget request for a single year may not exceed $1.2M. Follow-on infusion opportunities for successful awards are anticipated.
 
In this new Appendix, NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) solicits proposals from accredited U.S. universities for innovative lunar surface space technology research and development of high priority to NASA's Mission Directorates. This Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR) Opportunities Appendix is being released in support of STMD's   Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII) ; LSII technologies will enable human and robotic exploration on the Moon and future operations on Mars. As part of the LSII portfolio, LuSTR solicits ideas from universities for the creation of requisite technologies for lunar surface exploration and to accelerate the technology readiness of key systems and components. A tenet of the Space Technology Research Grants (STRG) Program, and this LuSTR opportunity, is to foster interactions between NASA and the university-led teams to accelerate the infusion of the technologies into NASA missions.
 
Proposals must respond to one of the following six topics:
 
  • Topic 1 - Advanced Technologies for the Extraction and Processing of Water from Regolith
  • Topic 2 - Determining the Spatial Distribution and Geotechnical Properties of Water-Bearing Regolith
  • Topic 3 - Flexible Power Distribution for Difficult-to-Reach and Mobile Applications
  • Topic 4 - Advanced, Radiation-Tolerant Power Electronics
  • Topic 5 - Low-Temperature Batteries
  • Topic 6 - Advanced Power System Control for Interoperability
 
A PI or Co-I may participate in no more than two proposals in response to this Appendix. NASA plans to make up to 10 awards as a result of this Appendix.
NASAUnsolicited
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling through September 30, 2020
Award Amount: Proposed budget should be commensurate with the scope of the project.
 
NASA encourages the submission of unique and innovative proposals that will further the Agency's mission. While the vast majority of proposals are solicited, a small number of unsolicited proposals that cannot be submitted to those solicitations and yet are still relevant to NASA are reviewed and some are funded each year. Proposals should be submitted at least six months in advance of the desired starting date.
 
Before any effort is expended in preparing a proposal, potential proposers should:
  1. Review the current versions of the NASA Strategic Plan and documents from the specific directorate, office, or program for which the proposal is intended to determine if the work planned is sufficiently relevant to current goals to warrant a formal submission.
  2. Potential proposers must review current opportunities to determine if any solicitation already exists to which the potential project could be proposed. 
  3. Potential proposers should review current awards (e.g., by doing key word searches at Research.gov, or at the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) grant status page, and the NASA Life and Physical Sciences Task Book) to learn what, if any, related work is already funded by NASA. Such preparation reduces the risk of redundancy, improves implementation, and sometimes results in collaboration.
After those three things have been done, the proposer may contact an appropriate NASA person to determine whether NASA has any interest in the type of work being proposed and if any funding is currently available. Proposals should be submitted at least six months in advance of the desired starting date.
NASAother
Other NASA Opportunities
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
NIH_covid
 
NIH has compiled Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19):  Information for NIH Applicants and Recipients of NIH Funding at the link above. This includes guidance for proposal submission and award management, answers to frequently asked questions, and funding opportunities.
 
To get funding as quickly as possible to the research community, NIH is using Urgent and Emergency competing revisions and administrative supplements to existing grant awards. This approach allows NIH to leverage resident expertise, getting additional funding to those researchers who are already working with other organisms, models, or tools so that they can quickly shift focus to the novel coronavirus. These Urgent and Emergency competitive revision Funding Opportunity Announcements allow NIH to fund applications quickly, often in under three months, sometimes much quicker than that, because evaluation for scientific and technical merit is done by an internal review panel convened by staff of the NIH awarding institute or center rather than by our traditional peer review process. These opportunities require applications to be submitted in response to an Emergency or Urgent Notice of Special Interest (NOSI). In addition to the opportunities for revisions and supplements to existing awards, other notices of special interest seek full research project grant proposals to conduct research on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-2019 through an array of parent FOAs. NIH is maintaining a list of COVID-19 specific notices of special interest in the funding opportunities section at the link above. 

NIH_niaidCOVID
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
Award Amount for R01 Applications: Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. The total project period may not exceed 5 years.
Award Amount for R21 Applications: The combined budget for direct costs for the two-year project period may not exceed $275,000. No more than $200,000 may be requested in any single year. The total project period may not exceed 2 years.
 
The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement is to provide an expedited funding mechanism for research on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). NIAID is issuing this FOA in response to the declared public health emergency issued by the Secretary, HHS, for 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). This program is designed to provide expedited funding for research projects focusing on obtaining time-sensitive data in light of this public health emergency (e.g., the research questions cannot be efficiently addressed in another context and the nature of the event and/or impacted populations are well suited for the proposed study). Information on specific areas of high priority can be found in the solicitation at the link above.
 
Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Scientific/Research staff listed in the solicitation (Diane Post, [email protected] or Kentner Singleton, [email protected] ) before submitting an application to determine whether or not the proposed work is within the intended scope of this program, whether requested expedite funding is likely to be available, and whether the idea should be considered for initial submission as a fully developed application. Inquiries not meeting the expedite guidelines will be guided to other grant mechanisms and to program contacts to discuss alternatives.
 
PAR-20-178 uses the R01 mechanism, PAR-20-177 uses the R21 grant mechanism. High-risk/high-payoff projects that lack preliminary data or utilize existing data may be most appropriate for the R21 mechanism. Applicants with preliminary data and/or planning to include longitudinal analysis may wish to apply using the R01 mechanism.
NIH_nibib
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of sponsor deadline
Sponsor Deadline: February 16, June 16, and October 16, annually
Award Amount: $400,000 in direct costs over 3 years
 
This Trailblazer Award is an opportunity for NIH-defined New and Early Stage Investigators ( https://grants.nih.gov/policy/early-investigators/index.htm ) to pursue research programs of high interest to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) that integrate engineering and the physical sciences with the life and/or biomedical sciences. A Trailblazer project may be exploratory, developmental, proof of concept, or high risk-high impact, and may be technology design-directed, discovery-driven, or hypothesis-driven. Importantly, applicants must propose research approaches for which there are minimal or no preliminary data. A distinct feature for this FOA is that no preliminary data are required, expected, or encouraged. However, if available, minimal preliminary data are allowed. Preliminary data are defined as material which the applicant has independently produced and not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal.
 
A Trailblazer project may be exploratory, developmental, proof of concept or have high risk-high impact goals. Importantly, the proposed research for this FOA may be technology design-directed and may or may not be hypothesis-driven. In the context of this FOA, innovation encompasses approaches to address well-defined, unmet biomedical research needs through the development of new methods, ideas, or technologies; early steps along the path toward delivery of a new capability or method; and the integration of existing components in a previously unproven format. High-impact projects should transform our understanding or practice by applying an innovative approach to an important biomedical challenge. For projects supported by a Trailblazer Award, successful results should provide a solid foundation for further research under other funding mechanisms, such as the R01. Applicants will be considered ineligible for this funding opportunity if they have submitted an R01, R15 or any other R21 application, with NIBIB as the primary IC within the same review cycle.
nih_EIA
Harvard Pre-Proposal Deadline: Though the pre-proposal deadline has passed, p otential applicants to be hosted by Harvard schools in the University Area may contact Erin Hale via email at [email protected] in order to be considered for the Harvard nominations.
Sponsor Letters of Intent Deadline (not required): August 4, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline (if nominated): August 28, 2020
Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline (if nominated): September 4, 2020
Award Amount: Up to $250,000/year in direct costs for up to 5 years plus applicable indirect costs
Eligible Applicants: Date of terminal doctoral degree or completion of post-graduate clinical training of the PI must be between June 1, 2019 and September 30, 2021. At the sponsor application deadline, the PI must not have served as a post-doctoral fellow following a previous doctoral degree for more than twelve months and must not yet have research independence.
 
The NIH Director's Early Independence Award Program supports exceptional investigators who wish to pursue independent research directly after completion of their terminal doctoral degree or post-graduate clinical training, thereby forgoing the traditional post-doctoral training period and accelerating their entry into an independent research career. Though most newly graduated doctoral-level researchers would benefit from post-doctoral training, a small number of outstanding junior investigators would benefit instead by launching directly into an independent research career. Applications in all topics relevant to the broad mission of NIH are welcome, including, but not limited to, topics in the behavioral, social, biomedical, applied, and formal sciences and topics that may involve basic, translational, or clinical research. The primary requirements are that the research be highly innovative and have the potential for unusually broad impact.
 
To be eligible, at the time of application, candidates must have received their most recent doctoral degree or completed clinical training within the previous fifteen months or expect to do so within the following twelve months. By the end of the award period, Early Independence Award investigators are expected to be competitive for continued funding of their research program through other NIH funding activities and for permanent research-oriented positions.
 
This is a limited submission opportunity and only two applications may be submitted by Harvard University from the University Area (Cambridge Campus) to each solicitation (COVID and non-COVID). Potential applicants to be hosted by Harvard schools in the University Area must submit a pre-proposal to Erin Hale via email at [email protected]  in order to be considered for the Harvard nominations. The pre-proposal should include:

  • A two-page research proposal. Subsequent pages for references and/or graphics may be included and do not count toward the page limit.
  • A current CV
  • A letter of support from the department chair or program director of the candidate's proposed host department/program at Harvard. The letter should describe the position details, the institutional resources to be committed, and the commitment of the host to the career development of the applicant.
 
Applicants should also specify if they intend to apply to funding opportunity announcement RFA-RM-20-014 (non-COVID-19-related research) or funding opportunity announcement RFA-RM-20-021 (COVID-19-related research).
NIH_MIRA
Optional Pre-Application Webinar: August 6, 2020 at 1:00PM
SEAS/FAS/OSP Deadline: September 25, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: October 2, 2020
Award Amount: Up to $250,000 direct costs per year for five years
 
The Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) is a grant to provide support for a program of research in an  early stage investigator's  laboratory that falls within the mission of NIGMS. For the purpose of this FOA, a program of research is a collection of projects in the investigator's lab that are relevant to the  mission of NIGMS . The goal of MIRA is to increase the efficiency and efficacy of NIGMS funding. It is anticipated that this FOA will:

  • Enable investigators to apply earlier in their independent research careers, allowing them to secure grant funding that will launch and sustain successful research careers.
  • Enhance investigators' ability to move into research areas that are distinct from those of their postdoctoral mentors, which could lead to new scientific discoveries.
  • Increase the stability of funding for NIGMS-supported investigators, which could enhance their ability to take on ambitious scientific projects and approach problems more creatively.
  • Increase flexibility for investigators to follow important new research directions as opportunities arise, rather than being bound to specific aims proposed in advance of the studies.
  • More widely distribute funding among the nation's highly talented and promising investigators to increase overall scientific productivity and the chances for important breakthroughs.
  • Reduce the time spent by researchers writing and reviewing grant applications, allowing them to spend more time conducting research.
  • Enable investigators to devote more time and energy to mentoring trainees in a more stable research environment.
 
Eligibility to apply for this FOA is limited to NIH defined  Early Stage Investigators . ESI eligibility is determined at the time the application is submitted. Applicants who receive R01, SC1, DP1, DP2, or any other type of disqualifying award prior to issuance of the ESI-MIRA, are ineligible to receive the award.  The PD/PI is required to devote at least 51% of his/her total research effort to this award. Only single PD/PI applications are allowed. 
 
NIGMS will host a webinar to provide advice and respond to questions from prospective applicants who plan to submit applications on Thursday, August 6, 2020 at 1:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time.  Join the meeting here:  https://nih.webex.com/nih/j.php?MTID=m3cf6bbdf6ba328ed397dd945e5ba084d
Meeting number: 126 938 7475
Meeting password: NIGMS
Call-in toll number (US/Canada): 1-650-479-3208

Participation in the webinar, although encouraged, is optional and is not required for the submission of an application.
nih_NIA
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 14, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: August 21, 2020
Award Amount: Up to $1,500,000 in direct costs for 5 years
 
The NIH Director's New Innovator Award supports early stage investigators of exceptional creativity who propose highly innovative research projects with the potential to produce a major impact on broad, important areas relevant to the mission of NIH,  including, but not limited to, topics in the behavioral, social, biomedical, applied, and formal sciences and topics that may involve basic, translational, or clinical research. The award is designed specifically to support unusually creative investigators with highly innovative research ideas at an early stage of their career when they may lack the preliminary data required for an R01 grant application. The emphasis is on innovation and creativity; preliminary data are not required, but may be included. No detailed, annual budget is requested in the application. The review process emphasizes the individual's creativity, the innovativeness of the research approaches, and the potential of the project, if successful, to have a significant impact on an important biomedical or behavioral research problem. 
 
Applicants must meet the definition of an Early Stage Investigator (ESI) at the time of application. An ESI is a new investigator (defined as a PD/PI who has not competed successfully for a significant NIH independent research award) who is within 10 years of completing his/her terminal research degree or end of post-graduate clinical training. Applicants must hold an independent research position at a U.S. institution by September 1, 2021.
 
nih_PA 
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 3, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: September 11, 2020
Award Amount: $700,000/year in direct costs for up to 5 years plus applicable indirect costs
 
The NIH Director's Pioneer Award supports individual scientists of exceptional creativity who propose highly innovative approaches to addressing major challenges in the biomedical or behavioral sciences towards the goal of enhancing human health. Applications proposing research on any topic within the broad mission of NIH are welcome. Emphases are on the qualities of the investigator and the innovativeness and potential impact of the proposed research. Preliminary data and detailed experimental plans are not requested. To be considered pioneering, the proposed research must reflect substantially different ideas from those being pursued in the investigator's current research program or elsewhere. The Pioneer Award is not intended to expand a current research program into the area of the proposed project. While the research direction may rely on the applicant's prior work and expertise as its foundation, it cannot be an obvious extension or scale-up of a current research enterprise. Rather, the proposed project must reflect a fundamental new insight into the potential solution of a problem, which may develop from exceptionally innovative approaches and/or radically unconventional hypotheses. 
 
  nih_TRA
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 23, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: September 30, 2020
Award Amount: Application budgets are not limited but should reflect the needs of the proposed project.
 
The NIH Director's Transformative Research Award supports individual scientists or groups of scientists proposing groundbreaking, exceptionally innovative, original, and/or unconventional research with the potential to create new scientific paradigms, establish entirely new and improved clinical approaches, or develop transformative technologies. Consistent with this focus, Transformative Research Award applications should propose research substantially different from current mainstream research. Applications are welcome in all topics relevant to the broad mission of NIH, including, but not limited to, topics in the behavioral, social, biomedical, applied, and formal sciences and topics that may involve basic, translational, or clinical research. Little or no preliminary data are expected. The Transformative Research application focuses on the importance of the problem, the novelty of the hypothesis and/or the proposed methodology, and the magnitude of the potential impact rather than on preliminary data or experimental details.
 
Towards the objective of funding the best possible science, NIH is piloting a process for initial peer review of applications received in response to this FOA in which the identity of the investigators and institutions are withheld until the last phase of review. Instructions for anonymizing components of the application must be carefully followed.
 
Non-COVID-19-related research proposals should apply to funding opportunity announcement  RFA-RM-20-013. COVID-19-related research proposals should apply to funding opportunity announcement  RFA-RM-20-020.
OtherNIHOpps
Other NIH Opportunities
National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation: Dear Colleague Letters
DCL_iucrc
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: N/A
Sponsor Deadline: N/A
Award Amount: N/A
 
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) Program fosters long-term partnerships among academia, industry, and government in various technology sectors through multi-university, industry-focused research centers. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a great deal of uncertainty in the US economy, and across nearly all industry sectors. In recognition of the high level of industry engagement (within both existing and proposed future IUCRCs), the COVID-19 pandemic could present new challenges related to industry membership commitments at the current time and into the near future. Therefore, industry membership requirements could be more difficult to meet. Potential impacts may be in relation to confirming commitments related to both the retention of existing members and the recruitment of new members. To mitigate possible adverse effects of the COVID-19 hardship with respect to meeting Center/Site membership requirements, this Dear Colleague Letter offers guidance for IUCRCs with active NSF grants, applicable through December 31, 2020.
NSFDCL_civic
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: July 27, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: August 3, 2020
Award Amount:
up to $50,000 for 4 months
 
With this Dear Colleague Letter, the National Science Foundation (NSF) wishes to notify the community that research projects focused on pandemics are considered appropriate for the  Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC; NSF 20-562) , a research and action competition in the smart and connected communities (S&CC) domain. While CIVIC was planned long in advance of the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, today the world is focused on this pandemic. Given this reality, NSF is notifying the community of its interest in pandemics as an  example  of a disaster pursuant to the resilience track or as a possible consideration in framing the focus of the mobility track. Additionally, NSF wishes to notify the community of broadened NSF support for CIVIC. Together with the NSF directorates and federal partners listed in the solicitation - NSF's directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE), the U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicles Technologies Program, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate - NSF's division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) within its directorate for Engineering (ENG) is now also supporting CIVIC.
NSFDCL_future
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 7, 2020 (ITEST); February 3, 2021 (CS for All)
Sponsor Deadline: August 14, 2020 (ITEST); February 10, 2021 (CS for All)
Award Amount: varies by program
 
The purpose of this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) is to encourage proposals to the National Science Foundation's (NSF)  Computer Science for All (CSforAll: Research and RPPs)  and  Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST)  programs that specifically investigate promising educational approaches to motivate and prepare preK-12 learners for computationally-intensive industries of the future. Proposals submitted to either  CS for All  or  ITEST  must be responsive to requirements of that solicitation. The CSforAll program (the next deadline is currently February 10, 2021) aims to provide all US preK-12 students with opportunities to participate in rigorous computer science and computational thinking education in their schools through funding both research and research-practitioner partnerships. The ITEST program (the next deadline is currently August 14, 2020) is an applied research and development program designed to broaden participation in STEM and information and communication technology (ICT) careers and career pathways by providing preK-12 youth with technology-rich learning experiences in formal or informal settings.
 
This DCL also encourages Conference proposals to convene stakeholders with a range of relevant expertise and experience. These conferences may respond to pressing questions that would advance knowledge or practice; identify leverage points for addressing core issues; or set an agenda for future research and practice. Proposers are encouraged to contact a program officer prior to submitting a Conference proposal, and to follow the preparation and content requirements specified in NSF's  Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide Chapter II.E.7 .
  NSFdcl_cyberAI
Cybersecurity Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: not required for Research Concept Outline stage
Sponsor Deadline: August 31, 2020 (Round 2)
Award Amount: up to $300,000 over 2 years
 
NSF is announcing its intention 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. In particular, with this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), NSF announces its interest in using the EAGER mechanism to encourage new collaborations between the Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and education research communities. Responses to this DCL will be handled as a two-step process:
  • Step 1: Teams are required to send a research concept outline, including project title, team members, institutions involved, and a summary of the project concept (up to two pages) by email to [email protected]. To ensure proper processing, please begin the proposal title as well as the subject line of your initial email with: "EAGER: SaTC AI-Cybersecurity". NSF Program directors will review these research concept outlines and will invite the authors of those of most interest to submit full EAGER proposals.
  • Step 2: Those who have been invited will submit their EAGER proposal for review. Submissions received without an invitation from an NSF program director will be returned without review.
NSFDCL_grsv
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: Supplemental requests may be submitted at any time.
Award Amount: Varies; the only allowable expenses in the MPS-GRSV supplemental funding request are: student stipend and fringe benefits, consistent with institutional practices, tuition support, and any allowable indirect costs.
 
The Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) at NSF is now accepting supplemental funding requests to support one (additional) Ph.D. student per award, as long as the student is a United States veteran. The proposed MPS-GRSVs will afford veterans an opportunity to conduct research towards a doctoral degree with an NSF MPS Directorate active awardee. The MPS-GRSV program will support one (additional) Ph.D. student under each research award at any given time. The student's research project must be consistent with the research topic of the original MPS award and the term of an MPS-GRSV award may not exceed that of the underlying research project. The supplemental funding request will be internally reviewed by the managing program officer of the MPS award and any award is subject to the availability of funds.
DCL_erase
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
Award Amount: Please refer to the 
Environmental Engineering program description  for further information regarding the typical budget and duration of CBET-funded projects.
 
The Environmental Engineering program in the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) in the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) announces a special funding focus on new science and technologies for the treatment and remediation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to improve and protect public and environmental health. Priority topics for this special funding focus include:
 
  • Research that enables the development of technologies for mitigation, remediation, and/or treatment of PFAS in the environment;
  • Research that elucidates the underlying limitations of PFAS transformation reactions that could lead to potentially transformative, feasible technologies for PFAS remediation; and
  • Research that identifies biological, chemical, and/or physical reaction mechanisms for the treatment of fluorotelomer-based fluorosurfactants in AFFFs and other products.
 
The most competitive proposals will address fundamental engineering science that leads to advances in the mitigation, remediation, and/or treatment of PFAS in the environment. Although inclusion of a full technical economic analysis (TEA) in submissions is not necessary, proposers should provide a basis of comparison to existing technologies using preliminary data, theoretical arguments, and/or modeling to provide evidence of sustainability and feasibility. Individuals interested in submitting a proposal relevant to this special funding focus are strongly encouraged to contact the cognizant Program Officer(s) for the  Environmental Engineering program .
 
DCL_CRII
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: N/A
Sponsor Deadline: N/A
Award Amount: N/A


With this Dear Colleague Letter, the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) seeks to provide members of the CISE research community with clarifying guidance about the directorate's implementation of the NSF Faculty Early-Career Development (CAREER) and CISE Research Initiation Initiative (CRII) programs. The intended audiences include both prospective early-career principal investigators (PIs) and relevant academic leadership. Prospective CAREER awardees should submit proposals to the program early in their faculty careers; CISE encourages candidates to submit their first CAREER proposals within two years of starting their tenure-track appointments. This guidance is consistent with the foundational principle of the CAREER program, which is to enable, rather than simply recognize, outstanding research and educational scholarship by early-career faculty. The CRII and CAREER programs have different goals and purposes. The CRII program is intended to provide start-up support for early-career faculty without access to the necessary resources, defined in this case to be two years of support for two graduate students per year or the equivalent thereof, to initiate their independent research careers. Faculty already having this level of support, either in the form of start-up packages from their universities or from other sources (e.g., institutional / federal / industry / non-profit), are not eligible for CRII awards and should not submit proposals for them. The CAREER program, on the other hand, is intended to provide early-career faculty with stable support over a sustained period (of about five years) to develop their careers as outstanding researchers and educators. CRII awards are not intended to be, and should not be viewed as, prerequisites for CAREER awards. Please see the 
CAREER  and  CRII  program webpages for complete information about the goals and eligibility criteria for these respective programs. In case of inconsistencies between the guidance in this DCL and the respective solicitations for these programs, the solicitation guidance will take precedence.
 
 
DCL_dfg
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling (NSF Advanced Manufacturing Program)
Award Amount: varies
 
Recognizing the importance of international collaborations in promoting scientific discoveries, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the German Research Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on research cooperation. The MoU provides an overarching framework to enhance opportunities for collaborative activities between U.S. and German research communities and sets out the principles by which jointly supported activities might be developed. To facilitate the support of collaborative work between U.S. researchers and their German counterparts under this MoU, the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) at the NSF and the Division of Engineering (ING) at the DFG are pleased to announce a Lead Agency Activity in the area of Advanced Manufacturing. International collaborations between eligible U.S. and German institutions are invited to submit joint proposals in the areas described on the web pages for NSF's Advanced Manufacturing Program and DFG's review board 401 Production Technology . This Lead Agency Activity will allow U.S. and German researchers to submit a single collaborative proposal that will undergo a single review process while allowing funding organizations to maintain budgetary control over their awards. Proposals eligible to apply for this Lead Agency Activity in FY 2020 should have a research focus relevant to the topic areas identified in the links above.
 
DCL_removal
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: N/A
Award Amount: Guidance applies to proposals
under $500,000 and no more than three years in duration.
 
The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) is notifying members of the research community about an important change to submission windows for proposals for Small projects (under $500,000 and no more than three years) to all core research programs within its divisions of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF), Computer and Network Systems (CNS), and Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS). This change does not apply to proposals for Medium or Large projects submitted to the CISE core research programs, nor to proposals for Small projects submitted to the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure's (OAC) core program. This will be effective starting October 1, 2020.

DCL_bsf
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: varies by program
Award Amount: varies/wide range
 
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Research Cooperation. The goal of this US-Israel collaborative research opportunity is to help reduce some of the current barriers to working internationally. Through a lead agency model, NSF and BSF will address these issues by allowing U.S. and Israeli researchers to submit a single collaborative proposal that will undergo a single review process at NSF, which will be the lead agency. Collaborative research proposals will be accepted to the NSF programs listed on the   https://www.nsf.gov/od/oise/NSF-BSF/participating_programs.jsp   webpage. Note that deadlines and application windows vary by program.
NSFdcl_spectrum
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: varies
Award Amount: varies
 
With this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), the National Science Foundation (NSF) announces opportunities that fall under the purview of the Foundation's new  Spectrum Innovation Initiative (SSI)  and  calls attention to opportunities under this initiative for supplemental support to existing NSF-owned and operated facilities, NSF platforms, NSF-supported projects, and NSF educational programs directly related to spectrum innovation as well as support for conferences and workshops . NSF's Spectrum Innovation Initiative covers innovation in the following areas:
  1. National Radio Dynamic Zones (NRDZ) - establishing new pilot test ranges and enhancing existing test facilities to allow dynamic spectrum sharing research and development for passive and active users;
  2. National Center for Wireless Spectrum Research - connecting spectrum researchers with the nationwide challenges and growing the spectrum workforce in support of the IotF;
  3. Spectrum Research Integrative Activities - promoting and developing the means for increased and more effective use of the spectrum for passive and active applications, especially activities of a cross-disciplinary nature;
  4. Education and Workforce Development - increasing awareness and participation among the public and encouraging the development of a skilled and diverse workforce through education and training programs.
Supplemental funding is available for National Radio Dynamic Zones, Spectrum Use and Needs for Research Activities, Education and Workforce Development, and Conferences. Specific guidance for submitting to National Radio Dynamic Zones can be found in the separate Dear Colleague Letter here . For Spectrum Use and Needs for Research Activities and Education and Workforce Development, proposers are required to email the SII program team at  [email protected]  with a one paragraph summary of the request and a notification of which award they will be requesting a supplement. The SII program team will subsequently invite the supplemental funding submission. For Conferences, a cognizant program officer listed in the Dear Colleague Letter should be contacted for further instruction prior to submission.
OtherNSFCISE
National Science Foundation: Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (NSF: CISE)

National Science Foundation: Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (NSF: MPS)
NSFMPS_cci
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 4, 2020 (Phase I Preliminary Proposals); January 7, 2021 (Phase II Full Proposals); February 9, 2021 (Invited Phase I Full Proposals)
Sponsor Deadline: August 11, 2020 (Phase I Preliminary Proposals); January 14, 2021 (Phase II Full Proposals); February 17, 2021 (Invited Phase I Full Proposals)
Award Amount:
up to $1.8M for 3 years (Phase I); up to $4M per year for 5 years (Phase II)
 
The Centers for Chemical Innovation (CCI) Program supports research centers focused on major, long-term fundamental chemical research challenges. CCIs that address these challenges will produce transformative research, lead to innovation, and attract broad scientific and public interest. CCIs are agile structures that can respond rapidly to emerging opportunities through enhanced collaborations. CCIs integrate research, innovation, education, broadening participation, and informal science communication. The CCI Program is a two-phase program. Both phases are described in the solicitation linked above. Phase I CCIs receive significant resources to develop the science, management and broader impacts of a major research center before requesting Phase II funding. Satisfactory progress in Phase I is required for Phase II applications; Phase I proposals funded in FY 2021 will seek Phase II funding in FY 2024.
 
The FY 2021 Phase I CCI competition is open to projects in all fields supported by the Division of Chemistry, and must have scientific focus and the potential for transformative impact in chemistry. NSF Chemistry particularly encourages fundamental chemistry projects related to one or more of NSF's Big Ideas, including Quantum Leap, Understanding the Rules of Life, and Harnessing the Data Revolution. Similarly, the Division of Chemistry encourages CCI projects aligned with chemistry aspects of other articulated budget priorities, including Advanced Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology, and Quantum Information Science. More information on all of these is available in Section IX of the program solicitation. The FY 2021 Phase II CCI competition is open to projects funded as Phase I awards in FY 2018. 
 
NSFMPS_nigms
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: September 1, 2020 - September 18, 2020 (Submission Window)
Award Amount: up to $600,000 over 3 years (Track 1); up to $1.2M over 3-4 years (Track 2)
 
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.

 NSFMPS_chedrp
Division of Chemistry: Disciplinary Research Programs (CHE-DRP)
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: varies by program; please see below
Award Amount:
Average award size varies among programs but averages $150,000 per year for three years ($450,000 total) for single PI awards.
 
CHE supports a large and vibrant research community engaged in fundamental discovery, invention, and innovation in the chemical sciences. The projects supported by CHE explore the frontiers of chemical science, develop the foundations for future technologies and industries that meet changing societal needs, and prepare the next generation of chemical researchers. Some of the areas supported by CHE include:
 
  • designing, synthesizing and characterizing new molecules, catalysts, surfaces, and nanostructures - especially those with a focus on sustainability;
  • increasing our fundamental understanding of chemical specie, their structures, and their chemical transformations, kinetics, and thermodynamics;
  • developing new tools and novel instrumentation for chemical discovery, including those in sensing, communication, and data discovery science where increasing volumes and varieties of data are harnessed to advance innovation;
  • determining structure-function relationships in biological systems and contributing to our understanding of the fundamental rules of life;
  • observing, manipulating, and controlling the behavior of matter and energy in nanometer dimensions such as the quantum regime;
  • understanding chemical processes in the environment;
  • expanding chemical understanding through data sharing, mining, and repurposing; and expanding state-of-the-art data analytics tools in service of artificial intelligence and robotics for molecular and materials synthesis and characterization; 
  • solving complex chemical problems by the development of new theories, computations, models, and tools, including the synergistic combination of multiple types of instruments.; and
  • contributing to industries of the future as applied to the chemical sciences: quantum information systems, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and 5G.
 
This solicitation includes the programs below with the following submission windows:
  • Chemical Catalysis (CAT); Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms-A (CSDM-A); Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms-B (CSDM-B); Chemical Theory, Models and Computational Methods (CTMC); and Chemical Synthesis (SYN): September 01, 2020 - September 30, 2020
  • Chemical Measurement and Imaging (CMI); Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP); Environmental Chemical Sciences (ECS); and Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry (MSN): October 01, 2020 - November 02, 2020
 NSFMPS_phy
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: varies by program
Award Amount: varies/wide range

The Division of Physics (PHY)  supports physics research and the preparation of future scientists in the nation's colleges and universities across a broad range of physics disciplines that span scales of space and time from the largest to the smallest and the oldest to the youngest. The Division is comprised of disciplinary programs covering experimental and theoretical research in the following major subfields of physics: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics; Elementary Particle Physics; Gravitational Physics; Integrative Activities in Physics; Nuclear Physics; Particle Astrophysics; Physics at the Information Frontier; Physics of Living Systems; Plasma Physics; and Quantum Information Science.

The Division of Physics strongly encourages single proposal submission for possible co-review rather than submission of multiple related proposals to several programs. PIs considering submitting more than one proposal to this solicitation, or who already have an active PHY award, are encouraged to first consult with the relevant program officer(s) before preparing a new proposal. This does not apply to awards from or submissions to the MRI, REU, and/or center programs, or in cases of renewal proposals.
NSF:MPS
Other NSF: MPS Opportunities
National Science Foundation: Directorate for Engineering (NSF: ENG)
NSFeng_DRRG
Sponsor Deadline for Letter of Intent: August 14, 2020
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 8, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposal: September 15, 2020
Award Amount: It is anticipated that 8 to 12 awards will be made, with an award size of $200,000 up to a maximum of $400,000.

With this joint solicitation, the NSF and the U.S Department of Commerce (DOC) National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) call for proposals for research to advance fundamental understanding of disaster resilience in support of improved, science-based planning, policy, decisions, design, codes, and standards. Scientific and engineering research can contribute significantly to disaster resilience by revealing fundamental principles with implications for actions that can improve the nation's disaster resilience. This solicitation, therefore, seeks to catalyze research into disaster-resilience relevant phenomena in support of improved, science-based measures or mechanisms for improved resilience, including improved planning, policy, decisions, design, codes, and standards or other relevant mechanisms. This joint solicitation is designed to enable both NSF and NIST to collaborate and partner to, among other things:
  • Encourage the nations' university-based research communities to pursue resilience-relevant research across the spectrum from fundamental to applied, in support of NEHRP and NWIRP;
  • Enable agency staff (as well as the reviewing community) to better understand the range of research ideas and capabilities across the nation, across the fundamental to applied spectrum. Improved understanding will enable more effective policy design and coordination across agencies going forward;
  • Convene all the awardees in a jointly designed annual PI meeting, that will (a) enable investigators to share research approaches and results; (b) ensure that findings are shared with Federal scientists and engineers with responsibility to improve resilience policies and standards; and (c) encourage discussion of potential new collaborations, including translational opportunities.
NSFENG_gen4
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 26, 2020 (Letter of Intent); September 25, 2020 (Preliminary Proposal); April 30, 2021 (Full Proposal)
Sponsor Deadline: September 2, 2020 (Letter of Intent); October 2, 2020 (Preliminary Proposal); May 7, 2021 (Full Proposal)
Award Amount: Invited full proposals will include a budget for each of the five years. Allowable budgets for the first five years are as follows: The budget for year one may be no more than $3,500,000, no more than $4,500,000 for year two, no more than $6,000,000 per year for year three, four, and five.
 
The goal of the ERC program has traditionally been to integrate engineering research and education with technological innovation to transform and improve national prosperity, health, and security. Building upon this tradition, NSF is interested in supporting ERCs to develop and advance engineered systems, which if successful, will have a high Societal Impact. ERCs create inclusive cultures not only to integrate scientific discovery with technological innovation through convergent engineered systems research and education, but also to benefit from the full participation of people traditionally underrepresented in engineering, stimulating creativity and fresh perspectives. ERCs build partnerships with industry, practitioners, and other key stakeholders to strengthen the innovative capacity of the United States in a global context. In addition to building capacity for research, innovation, and a diverse workforce, ERCs are expected to produce significant outcomes within the 10-year timeframe of NSF support and beyond.
 
ERCs should realize a vision of advancing an engineered system driven by clearly articulated societal impact and should have strong synergies or value-added rationale that justifies a center or institute-like approach. As part of creating sustainable positive impacts on society and communities, ERCs should focus on positive outcomes that can be seen within engineering communities and build and empower human resource capacity for their targeted engineering challenges. Beyond this, ERCs should contribute to the scientific enterprise by advancing research, science, engineering fundamentals, and research communities. This should be demonstrated with benchmarks against the state-of-the-art. ERCs should build knowledge, prepare students and researchers that respect and flourish in an environment with diverse perspectives, impact how engineering research is conducted and provide value for society.

NSFeng_UKRI

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission of a full proposal
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling; a Research Concept Outline (RCO) must be submitted to  [email protected]  at least 60 days prior to the submission of a full proposal.
Award Amount: The overall funding for the program is established independently by each participating division. Budgets are not set aside separately but are, instead, parts of existing program budgets.

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

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

Please Note:  A Research Concept Outline (RCO) must be submitted to  [email protected]  at least 60 days prior to the submission of a full proposal. A proposal that is submitted without a previously approved RCO will be returned without review (RWR).
NSF:ENG
Other NSF: ENG Opportunities
National Science Foundation: Crosscutting and Interdisciplinary
NSFCross_cope
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 3, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: August 10, 2020
Award Amount:
up to $1M per year for 3-5 years (Focused Hubs); up to $2M-$4M per year for up to 5 years (Large-Scale Hubs)
 
Scientific research into complex coastal systems and the interplay with coastal hazards is vital for predicting, responding to and mitigating threats in these regions. Understanding the risks associated with coastal hazards requires a holistic Earth Systems approach that integrates improved understanding of and, where possible, predictions about natural, social, and technological processes with efforts to increase the resilience of coastal systems. The Coastlines and People program supports diverse, innovative, multi-institution awards that are focused on critically important coastlines and people research that is integrated with broadening participation goals. The objective of this solicitation is to support Coastal Research Hubs, structured using a convergent science approach, at the nexus between coastal sustainability, human dimensions, and coastal processes to transform understanding of interactions among natural, human-built, and social systems in coastal, populated environments.
NSFCross_ret
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: September 23, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: September 30, 2020
Award Amount:
The total anticipated annual funding for both Sites and Supplements is approximately $5,800,000 per year, subject to the availability of funds. It is anticipated that approximately 9 Site awards will be made per year. 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, subject to the availability of funds.

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.

Partnerships with inner city, rural, or other high-needs schools are especially encouraged. Proposals emphasizing broadening participation of underrepresented groups in Engineering and Computer Science, including women, persons with disabilities, veterans, African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, are also encouraged. These proposals could focus on participation of teachers who are themselves underrepresented, or teachers who serve large populations of underrepresented students. 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.
OtherCross
Other NSF: Crosscutting and Interdisciplinary Opportunities
 

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.  You are receiving this newsletter because you are subscribed to our mailing list. All Harvard University faculty and administrators may subscribe here, and you may unsubscribe at any time. Visit our email archive to see our past newsletters.  

In addition, you may access the Science Division Funding Spotlight here Harvard affiliates also have access to Pivot, a funding opportunity database. You can also  receive personalized suggestions on research funding opportunities via   Harvard Link from  the Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning. 

For more information on our support services, please visit our  website
For assistance, please contact:

Erin Hale,  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