1. Educational Offerings
2. Career Pipeline/Placement
3. Faculty & Institution Building
4. Strengthening the PIT-UN

1. Proposals from new or founding network members who are proposing a new project for 2020
2. Proposals from awarded Year 1 (2019) applicants who wish to continue and/or scale their projects
3. Proposals from network members who were not awarded funding in Year 1 (2019) and have adjusted their previously proposed project

Booz Allen Foundation Innovation Fund *

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: May 29, 2020

Sponsor Deadline: June 5, 2020

Award Amount: up to $100,000

 

The Booz Allen Foundation has established an Innovation Fund to help nonprofits, entrepreneurs, thought leaders, innovators at colleges and universities, and startups and small businesses harness the power of data, technology, and diverse intellectual capital to improve COVID-19 relief efforts and make a difference. The goal of the fund is to surface the best solutions for addressing the social issues created by COVID-19 and empower the people and organizations behind those solutions to drive their development and implementation. Applications for consideration should offer new ideas and solutions for addressing social issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation is specifically interested in solutions and projects that will build lasting community resilience through protecting vulnerable populations and frontline workers or providing for the safe return to work. Consider if your proposed solution or project fits one or more of the following descriptions: a new system, new product, new approach, new technology, new way to deliver existing solutions, or new process.

 

Solutions and projects can address both U.S. and international issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and proposed solutions may be employed in both the U.S. and outside the U.S. If a proposer has more than one solution, they are welcome to submit more than one application; however, only one grant will be awarded for a single eligible individual or team of individuals, nonprofit organization, or for-profit business entity.

 

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation EPiQS Flexible Funding Grants *

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: Researchers should submit their project ideas individually through the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation application portal linked above; budgets, cover letters, or official endorsements from Harvard are not required at this time. Applicants whose ideas have been selected for the next stage will be contacted and invited, by June 30, to submit additional information.

Sponsor Deadline: May 31, 2020 at 5 PM

Award Amount: $300,000-$2M; Overhead on this award is limited to 12.5%. This falls short of the 15% overhead required by FAS/SEAS policy. Please discuss with your grants administrator before preparing an application. 

 

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announces a call for ideas for flexible funding grants, as part of the Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems Initiative (EPiQS). Through EPiQS, the foundation strives to accelerate progress in the field of quantum materials - solids and engineered structures characterized by novel quantum phases of matter and exotic cooperative behaviors of electrons.

 

The goal of flexible funding grants is to drive scientific innovation by enhancing experimental capabilities at leading research institutions and supporting projects with significant potential to create breakthroughs in the field of quantum materials. Equipment grants support the development of sophisticated and sometimes one-of-a-kind instrumentation at institutions with active research programs in quantum materials. Rapid response grants support projects that are exceptionally timely and have very high potential impact. These projects may include experimental tests of novel important theoretical concepts and innovative, unconventional research endeavors that are unlikely to be supported through traditional funding channels due to their high-risk nature. Rapid response grant ideas may include experimental work, theoretical studies, or a combination of the two.

 

Candidates are invited to submit ideas in one of the two categories:

Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation Grants Program

Harvard Pre-Proposal Deadline: June 1, 2020 by 12 PM

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline (if nominated): July 24, 2020

Sponsor Deadline (if nominated): August 1, 2020

Award Amount: $60,000 per year for up to three years

 

The Mallinckrodt Foundation supports early stage investigators engaged in biomedical research that has the potential to significantly advance the understanding, diagnosis, or treatment of disease. The funds are designed to provide faculty members who hold M.D. and/or Ph.D. degrees, and who are in the first to fourth year of a tenure-track position (appointed on or after August 1, 2016), with support to move the project forward to the point where R01 or other independent funding can be obtained. Applicants with current R01 funding are not eligible to apply.

 

This is a limited submission opportunity and Harvard may put forward only one nominee to submit a proposal. The Office of the Vice Provost for Research will conduct 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.

Research Corporation for Science Advancement: Cottrell Scholar Award *

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

Sponsor Deadline: The proposal target date is July 1, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 emergency, the submission portal will remain open until August 15, 2020 midnight PDT. (Updated Deadline)

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.

 

Sample proposals are available at  https://rescorp.org/cottrell-scholars/examples-of-educational-proposals .

 

Paralyzed Veterans of America Research Grants

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: June 24, 2020

Sponsor Deadline: July 1, 2020

Award Amount: Varies; see below. This award provides 8% in overhead costs, which falls short of the 15% overhead required by FAS/SEAS policy. Please discuss with your grants administrator before preparing an application.

The mission of the Paralyzed Veterans of America Research Foundation is to promote innovative research to find better treatments and cures for paralysis; support efforts to improve the quality of life of individuals with spinal cord dysfunction until treatments are found; and train post-doctoral fellow investigators and encourage them to specialize in the area of spinal cord research. 

 

The Foundation supports one or two-year grants in four areas of emphasis:

1. Laboratory research in the basic sciences related to spinal cord injury or disease. Grants funded up to $75,000 for 1 year or up to $150,000 for 2 years.
2. Clinical and functional studies of the medical, psychosocial, and economic effects of spinal cord injury or disease, and/or interventions proposed to alleviate these effects. Grants funded up to $75,000 for 1 year or up to $150,000 for 2 years.
3. Design and development of new or improved rehabilitative and assistive devices to improve function for individuals with spinal cord injury or disease. Funding may be used to develop drawings, schematics, or prototypes, and for the testing necessary to further the design of assistive technology devices. Grants funded up to $75,000 for one year or up to $150,000 for 2 years.
4. Fellowships for postdoctoral students in basic science, clinical applications, or design and development, intended to encourage training and specialization in the field of spinal cord research. Grants funded up to $50,000 for 1 year or up to $100,000 for 2 years.

BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: Review by Harvard OSP not required

Sponsor Nomination Deadline: June 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:

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.

Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation: Bird Energy  *

FAS/SEAS/OSP Executive Summary Deadline: June 23, 2020

Sponsor Executive Summary Deadline: June 30, 2020

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: August 6, 2020

Sponsor Deadline: August 13, 2020

Award Amount: Up to $1M, but no more than 50% of the R&D costs associated with the joint project. This award provides 5% in overhead costs, which falls short of the 15% overhead required by FAS/SEAS policy. Please discuss with your grants administrator before preparing an application.

 

"BIRD Energy" is the implementation of a cooperation agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the Israel Ministry of Energy jointly with the Israel Innovation Authority, and the BIRD Foundation.

 

To be considered, a project proposal should include:

 

Beckman Young Investigator Program *

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 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.

3. 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.

Searle Scholars Program *

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.

The Franklin Institute Bower Award & Prize for Achievement in Science *

Nomination Deadline: December 31, 2020 (Updated Deadline)

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 are encouraged in, but not limited to, the following subtopics and their intersections:

Nominations from any individual or organization will be accepted, including self-nominations. The winner must be available to participate in The Franklin lnstitute Awards Week programs, to be held in April 2021 in Philadelphia.

The Star-Friedman Challenge will briefly reopen to accept proposals related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the magnitude of the global crisis which emerged shortly after the original deadline in February, the Challenge is interested in expanding its application pool to include high-risk and high-impact research projects in the life, physical, and social sciences with relevance to COVID-19.

Ladder faculty in FAS, SEAS, HMS and HSPH may submit an application following the guidelines in the  initial call for proposals .  The deadline for submitting COVID-19 related proposals is 5:00pm EST on May 20, 2020.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dean's Fund for Scientific Advancement: Acceleration Award

Notice of Intent Deadline (required): May 20, 2020

Application Deadline: June 22, 2020

Award Amount: Up to $100,000 (direct costs) for a 12-month project period, with an automatic 6-month no-cost extension if needed.

Target Applicants: This award is open to faculty of any rank who have a primary appointment at the Harvard Chan School, but applications will require the substantial engagement of at least two Harvard Chan School Departments or Centers and must include collaboration from at least one other Harvard School.

 

The Dean's Fund for Scientific Advancement expands the School's internal research funding with the goal of creating a pipeline of support that facilitates the exploration of early ideas, the development of strong interdisciplinary team science and creation of transformative research collaborations that advance the frontiers of science. Acceleration Awards are intended to nurture collaborations in research, develop platforms, and support educational projects. Up to three awards will be distributed annually across three focal areas:

1. Research Grants will be aligned with School priorities, and will overlap with at least one Incubation Award priority from the previous year. This year, the priority areas are:
   • Reimagining Aging
   • Overcoming Violence
   • Confronting Climate Change
   • Cultivating Well-Being and Nutrition
   • Conquering Epidemics
2. Research Platforms are adaptable and dynamic resources that can be accessed by multiple faculty to support projects in a variety of disciplines. The goal of these awards is to provide one-time support for the development of research platforms that can be funded in the future by external support mechanisms.
3. Public Health Pedagogy awards intend to produce scalable innovations that will improve the quality of teaching and learning at the Harvard Chan School. Special consideration will be given to applications that have the potential to be scaled up School-wide to benefit teaching and learning at all levels. The goal is to provide one-time support for the development of pedagogical innovations that can be integrated into educational programs or funded in the future by external support mechanisms.

Harvard Data Science Initiative Special COVID-19 Trust in Science RFP *

Deadline: May 25, 2020

Award Amount: up to $100,000 for a 12 to 18-month project period

The Harvard Data Science Initiative Research Fund for Trust in Science supports research that advances understandings of trust and mistrust in science by leveraging data science, toward the goal of creating actionable insights that will advance trust in science. In 2020, a portion of the fund will be used to support projects that employ data-driven approaches to advance our understanding of trust and mistrust in science in the context of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The HDSI welcomes data-science related proposals from all disciplines that seek to explore issues such as: the credibility of data and data models, the spread of information and misinformation, issues related to communication of scientific findings in a pandemic, data-driven indicators of consensus around scientific findings and recommendations, uptake of recommendations in different communities and national contexts, and the effect and impact of open data on public trust. These are examples only and applicants are encouraged to think broadly.

The Aramont Fellowship Fund for Emerging Science Research provides critical funding to advance early-career, high-risk, high reward science and engineering conducted at Harvard Medical School, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.   

Funds will be awarded in two categories:

In order to be considered in the University-wide competition faculty and postdoctoral fellows with a primary appointment in SEAS must first apply for the SEAS nomination via the link above.   Those with a primary appointment in FAS should apply to the  FAS competition .

Harvard Data Science Initiative Faculty Special Projects Fund

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.

 

Facebook Research: Explorations of Trust in AR, VR, and Smart Devices

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: June 5, 2020

Sponsor Deadline: June 12, 2020

Award Amount: Up to $75,000. Please discuss overhead requirements and options for shortfall recovery with your grants administrator prior to beginning an application.

 

Facebook invites university faculty to respond to this call for research proposals on exploring unique challenges, threats, attacks, mitigations, and other considerations in the burgeoning space of AR, VR, and smart devices. Facebook is soliciting proposals to help accelerate research in these fields with the hope of helping to foster a world of trustworthy mixed-reality and smart device products. There are fairly robust research fields in traditional computing paradigms from cloud to mobile, and Facebook hopes to drive similar progress in the fields of AR/VR.

 

Facebook is interested in a broad range of topics relating to applications like AR glasses, VR headsets, other AR or VR form-factors, smart home products, and more. Examples might include, but are not limited to, the following:

Microsoft AI for Health COVID-19 *

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

Sponsor Deadline: Rolling through June 15, 2020 or until further notice

Award Amount: Awards are in the form of Azure cloud and High-Performance Computing capabilities

 

Given the urgency of the COVID-19 crisis, Microsoft is accepting requests in the AI for Health program for COVID-19 grant proposals from nonprofits, academia, and governments. This is a focused effort for COVID-19 grant requests only. This grant program provides Azure cloud and High-Performance Computing capabilities. Microsoft's team of AI for Health data science experts, whose mission is to improve the health of people and communities worldwide, is also open to collaborations with COVID-19 researchers as they tackle this critical challenge. More broadly, Microsoft's research scientists across the world, spanning computer science, biology, medicine, and public health, will also be available to provide advice and collaborate per mutual interest.

 

 

Amazon Web Services Diagnostic Development Initiative (DDI) *

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: June 23, 2020

Sponsor Deadline: June 30, 2020

Award Amount: Awarded amounts will vary depending on the research proposal and usage requirements documented in the proposal and will be in the form of promotional credits applicable to AWS services. The credits can be used for up to one year.

 

The AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative (DDI) provides support for innovation in rapid and accurate patient testing for 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and other diagnostic solutions to mitigate future outbreaks. Although vaccine and treatment development research is generally funded by private foundations and government agencies, fast and reliable diagnostic techniques are slow to be developed. Accurate testing and diagnosis at point-of-care or regional locations for patients with COVID-19 is critical to early intervention and treatment. AWS is offering technical support and providing AWS promotional credits to support the use of AWS services to advance diagnostic research for selected institutions and companies.

Microsoft AI for Earth Grants

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

Sponsor Deadlines: July 6, 2020 and 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.

Pfizer Competitive Grants Program Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Research in Hemophilia *

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.

Merck 2020 Research Grants *

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:

Amazon Machine Learning Research Awards

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.

 

• Tailored Material and Manufacturing
• Multifunctional Maritime Films for Persistent and Survivable Platforms and Warfighters
• Object Detection and Identification in any Medium (Air, Water, Sand/Earth) 

DARPA Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Opportunity: Cooperative Secure Learning *

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: May 26, 2020

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: June 2, 2020

Award Amount: The total award value for the combined Phase 1 base and Phase 2 option is limited to $1M ($500,000 per phase).   The periods of performance for these phases are 9 months for the Phase 1 effort and 9 months for the Phase 2 effort.

 

DARPA is issuing an Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Opportunity, inviting submissions of innovative basic research concepts in the technical domain of maximizing cooperation within a community of data and model owners, with the aim of obtaining the best machine learning capabilities while minimizing the privacy impact to the community members and/or of the shared data and models. CSL will enable multiple parties to cooperate for the purpose of improving each other's ML models while assuring that each entity's individual, pre-existing datasets and models will remain private. Possible technical approaches can draw upon cryptographic methods (e.g., secure multiparty computation, homomorphic encryption, etc.), differential privacy, and other methodologies.

 

This AIE Opportunity is issued under the Program Announcement for AIE, DARPA-PA-19-03 .

CDMRP PRMRP Awards for Emerging Viral Diseases and Respiratory Health

Sponsor Deadline for Pre-Applications (required): May 28, 2020 for Investigator-Initiated Research Awards and Technology/Therapeutic Development Awards; June 8, 2020 for Clinical Trial Awards

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

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: June 12, 2020 for Investigator-Initiated Research Awards and Technology/Therapeutic Development Awards; June 22, 2020 for Clinical Trial Awards

Award Amount: Varies by award type (see below for details)

 

The PRMRP challenges the scientific and clinical communities to address at least one of the FY20 PRMRP Topic Areas of Emerging Viral Diseases and Respiratory Health (see the solicitation for a complete list of Focus Areas within these topics) with original ideas that foster new directions along the entire spectrum of research and clinical care.

 

Three award mechanisms are available for projects in this area:

• The PRMRP Investigator-Initiated Research Award is intended to support studies that will make an important contribution toward research and/or patient care in one or more Focus Areas. Research projects may focus on any phase of research from basic laboratory research through translational research, including preclinical studies in animal models and human subjects, as well as correlative studies associated with an existing clinical trial. The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY20 PRMRP Investigator-Initiated Research Award will not exceed $1.6M for a single investigator project, or $2M for projects utilizing the Partnering PI Option. The maximum period of performance is 4 years.
• The PRMRP Technology/Therapeutic Development Award is a product-driven award mechanism intended to provide support for the translation of promising preclinical findings into products for clinical applications in one or more Focus Areas. Products in development should be responsive to the healthcare needs of military Service members, Veterans, and/or beneficiaries. The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY20 PRMRP Technology/Therapeutic Development Award will not exceed $4M. The maximum period of performance is 4 years.
• The PRMRP Clinical Trial Award supports the rapid implementation of clinical trials with the potential to have a significant impact in one or more of the Focus Areas. Applications are not restricted to a predetermined cost limit. The maximum period of performance is 4 years.

The CDMRP expects to allot up to $12M to fund approximately four Investigator-Initiated Research Award applications for Emerging Viral Diseases and/or Respiratory Health, up to $25M to fund approximately four Technology/Therapeutic Development Award applications, and up to $30M to fund approximately five Clinical Trial Awards.

DARPA Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice - Acceleration of Quantum Dot Device Development (Topic 20)

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: May 21, 2020

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: May 29, 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 the acceleration of quantum dot device development. The topic will be refined as the incubator conversation evolves. The updated topic can be found in the "Acceleration of Quantum Dot Device Development (Topic 20)" 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) .

FY2021 DoD Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI)

Sponsor Deadline for White Papers (encouraged): June 1, 2020

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):

White papers and proposals addressing the following topics should be submitted to the Army Research Office (ARO):

White papers and proposals addressing the following topics should be submitted to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR):

White papers and proposals addressing the following OSD topic should be submitted to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR):

DARPA Data Protection in Virtual Environments (DPRIVE)

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: May 26, 2020

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: June 2, 2020

Award Amount: The level of funding for individual awards made under this BAA will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. The DPRIVE program will be a 42-month program composed of three phases, a base Phase 1 (15 months) and optional Phases 2 (15 months) and 3 (12 months).

 

DARPA's Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) is soliciting innovative research and development to reduce the computation run time of fully homomorphic encrypted computation through hardware acceleration. The goal of the DPRIVE program is to enable fully homomorphic encrypted computation to within one order of magnitude of the compute time of current unencrypted computation. The outcome of DPRIVE will be a fabricated chip and supporting hardware/software that realizes the goals of the program. Given the anticipated challenges of the DPRIVE program, multidisciplinary teams with grounded experience in the mathematics of FHE, embedded software systems, and unconventional VLSI hardware design are encouraged to submit proposals.

 

DPRIVE will have a single Technical Area. Each DPRIVE team will need to address all required DPRIVE development activities (hardware + software + algorithms).

 

Multiple awards are anticipated. Total award funding is expected to be $33M.

DARPA Polyplexus Pilot Topic Opportunity Notice - Detecting the Presence of Artificially Intelligent Systems (Topic 21)

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: May 28, 2020

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: June 4, 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 the fundamental understanding of detecting artificial intelligence. The topic will be refined as the incubator conversation evolves. The updated topic can found in the "Detecting the Presence of Artificially Intelligent Systems (Topic 21)" 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).

DARPA Wideband Adaptive RF Protection (WARP) *

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: May 28, 2020

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: June 4, 2020 (Updated Deadline)

Award Amount: It is anticipated that $40M of total funding will be awarded across both technical areas, approximately partitioned as follows: $20M for Technical Area 1 (TA1), 3 phases, 48 months, 6.2 funding; and $20M for Technical Area 2 (TA2), 3 phases, 48 months, 6.2 funding. The total program is expected to run 48 months, where Phase 1 and Phase 2 will each be 18 months long, while Phase 3 will last 12 months.

DARPA's Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) seeks innovative proposals to develop wideband, adaptive RF filters and cancellers that selectively attenuate interference and protect wideband digital radios from saturation. When exposed to interference/self-interference, the filters and cancellers will automatically sense and adapt to the electromagnetic environment through the intelligent control of its adaptive hardware. WARP will ultimately enable the use of wideband software defined radios in congested and contested environments.

 

WARP will be executed across two technical areas (TAs): TA1 - Wideband Adaptive Filtering and TA2 - Wideband Signal Cancellation. Proposers should not propose to more than one Technical Area in a single proposal. Proposers who wish to propose to more than one Technical Area must submit a separate full proposal for each individual Technical Area. Proposals must include all phases for the associated Technical Area.

Multiple awards with a variety of technical approaches in each technical area are anticipated.

DARPA Invisible Headlights *

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: June 10, 2020

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: June 17, 2020

Award Amount: The level of funding for individual awards made under this BAA will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. The DARPA Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative (EEI) will provide additional funding, up to $250,000, to employ one entrepreneur-in-residence or one corporate business development lead. The entrepreneurial lead's ultimate goal is to develop a robust go-to-market strategy for entering into defense and commercial markets. The Invisible Headlights program is a 57-month research and development effort comprising three phases.

 

DARPA's Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of passive three-dimensional (3D) vision using ambient thermal emissions. The Invisible Headlights approach is fundamentally different than previous efforts aimed at target recognition using infrared emissions. Conventional infrared sensors fail, by design, to collect almost all available information from ambient thermal emissions. Under the Invisible Headlights approach, non-target artifacts in the scene which might previously have been considered "clutter" will instead provide the signal needed to enable 3D vision. Because the utility of this approach is limited to the information content available in real scenes, the Invisible Headlights program will quantify the available information in ambient thermal emissions, determine how much of that information is useful for building a 3D model of a scene, define the tradespace of sensor designs capable of gathering this information, develop new sensors capable of dramatically increased measurement diversity, and validate all of the above via testing in the field.

 

The Invisible Headlights Program's development efforts will be divided into four primary areas:

• Technical Area 1: Near-Term Passive 3D Vision
• Technical Area 2: Novel Sensors for Measurement Hyperdiversity
• All Performers: Virtual Tradespace Exploration
• Government Test and Evaluation (T&E) Team: Ground Truth Data Collection (not being solicited under this BAA)

Proposers wishing to propose to multiple Technical Areas must submit separate technical and cost proposals for each.

 

DARPA anticipates one or more awards in Technical Area 1 and one or more awards in Technical Area 2.

 

FY20 Funding Opportunity Announcement for the Department of Navy (DoN) Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM), Education and Workforce Program administered by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) *

Sponsor Deadline for White Papers (required): June 12, 2020

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

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals (if invited): August 28, 2020

Award Amount: Maximum of $250,000 per year for up to 3 years. Applications for larger amounts will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will be dependent on availability of funds.

 

ONR seeks a broad range of applications for augmenting existing or developing innovative solutions that directly maintain, or cultivate a diverse, world-class STEM workforce in order to maintain the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps' technological superiority. The goal of any proposed effort must provide solutions that will establish and maintain pathways of diverse U.S. citizens who are interested in uniformed or civilian Department of Navy (DoN) STEM workforce opportunities. This announcement explicitly encourages projects that improve the capacity of education systems and communities to create impactful STEM educational experiences for students and workers. While this announcement is relevant for any stage of the STEM educational system, funding efforts will be targeted primarily toward projects addressing the following communities or any combination of these communities: secondary education communities; post-secondary communities; informal science communities; and current Naval STEM workforce communities.

 

The technical content of any idea must establish Naval relevance within the priority areas as outlined in the "Naval Research and Development Framework and Addendum", https://www.onr.navy.mil/our-research/naval-research-framework . Broad priority areas are:

• Augmented Warfighter
• Integrated & Distributed Forces
• Operational Endurance
• Sensing & Sense-Making
• Scalable Lethality

Innovation Corps @ Department of Defense Program (I-Corps @ DoD Program) Fiscal Year 2020

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

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: Rolling through June 15, 2020

Award Amount: $40,000-$70,000 in total costs for 12 months. Up to 10 awards are anticipated for FY 20.

 

The Department of Defense (DoD) is soliciting applications from current/recent DoD awardees on research topics (the award must either be current or completed after 15 February 2015) to receive mentoring and funding to accelerate the transition and commercialization of the funded research. The I-Corps @ DoD program is designed to support the acceleration of research innovations from qualifying institutions by providing Principal Investigators (PIs) and students with training and mentorship in customer discovery and the commercialization process. Successful applicants will receive a grant to attend a program that provides extensive training in product commercialization from industry experts and 'serial entrepreneurs' who have helped train over 1,000 I-Corps™ Teams in how to bring their innovations to market. The I-Corps @ DoD program is a pilot program modeled after the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps™ program. The key component of the I-Corps @ DoD program is the I-Corps Team. The I-Corps Team is comprised of the Technical Lead, the Entrepreneurial Lead and the Mentor. The Entrepreneurial Lead is typically a postdoctoral researcher, graduate student, or other student, possesses relevant technical knowledge and a deep commitment to investigate the commercial landscape surrounding the innovation. The Mentor brings entrepreneurial experience and serves as the principal guide in determining the technology disposition. Technical Leads/PIs ideally locate their own mentor, but can also contact the I-Corps @ DoD Program Manager for assistance with locating a mentor.

 

There will be three outcomes of the I-Corps @ DoD program: 1) a clear go/no go decision regarding viability of products and services, 2) should the decision be to move the effort forward, a transition plan to do so, and 3) an understanding of what kind of minimum viable product demonstration would be required by key partners and customer segments.

DARPA ADvanced Acclimation and Protection Tool for Environmental Readiness (ADAPTER)

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: June 11, 2020

Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposals: June 18, 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 ADAPTER program spans 4.5 years and consists of a 24-month Phase I, 18-month Phase II Option, and 12-month Phase III Option.

 

The Biological Technologies Office (BTO) is soliciting innovative proposals to enable the development of hybrid technology (bioelectronics and synthetic biology) for warfighter-controlled, on-demand enhanced management of circadian rhythms and mitigation of gastrointestinal stress caused by pathogenic bacteria. While jet lag and traveler's diarrhea are inconveniences for an average traveler, they are critical challenges to operational readiness for a warfighter and can be the difference between mission success or failure. To maximize warfighter performance, the ADvanced Acclimation and Protection Tool  for Environmental Readiness (ADAPTER) program will develop systems to provide warfighters with control over their own physiology. This program will integrate therapeutic cellular factories and biomolecules into an internal, bioelectronics carrier that the warfighter can signal, as needed, to initiate the production and release of therapies that either eliminate the principal cause of traveler's diarrhea - pathogenic bacteria - or regulate disrupted circadian rhythms caused by jetlag or shift work schedules.

Developing the therapeutic systems will require two Technical Areas (TAs)-Accurate Therapies (TA1) and Carrier/Communication (TA2). Performers will choose one of two application tracks: (1) in vivo compound delivery to entrain circadian rhythm/restore sleep-cycles or (2) in vivo decontamination of food and water from bacterial causes of traveler's diarrhea. An individual proposal must address both TAs and must address only one application track. Proposers may propose to both tracks but must provide separate proposals; although allowed, this is highly discouraged.

 

Multiple awards are anticipated.

CDMRP Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program Clinical Trial Award

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).

NRC Research Associateship Program (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.

DTRA Strategic Trends Research Initiative (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:

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:

Track 1.5 and Track 2 Strategic Dialogues with:

Tabletop Exercises (TTXs) that are focused on:

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.

DOE Seeking Input and Collaboration on Science and Technology Response to COVID-19

 

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:

 

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. 

Novel Research and Development for the Direct Capture of Carbon Dioxide from the Atmosphere

SEAS/FAS/OSP Deadline: May 21, 2020

Sponsor Deadline: May 29, 2020

Award Amount: Up to $2.5M for up to 36 months. Cost sharing of at least 20% is required.

 

DOE-Fossil Energy's program in Carbon Capture has been developing carbon capture technologies since 2001 with the goal of decreasing the cost of carbon capture systems. Technologies developed to date have focused on the capture of Carbon Dioxide directly from fossil fuel power plant gases. The Carbon Capture program is aiming to leverage this past research in materials and systems development for application to the conditions and process requirements of Direct Air Capture (DAC). However, there are several significant differences between these applications that will require applied research and the development of alternative capture media. The primary difference is the concentration of Carbon Dioxide.

 

This FOA is comprised of two Areas of Interest (AOI):

DOE wishes to encourage team-oriented approaches as part of their response to this announcement. Involvement of various stakeholders is seen as an important facet to providing a fully integrated solution. It is considered critical that analyses related to environmental performance, safety, technical and economic assessment be conducted by individuals or organizations with professional capabilities in these areas.

 

ARPA-E: Submarine Hydrokinetic and Riverine Kilo-Megawatt Systems (SHARKS)

Concept Paper Deadline: May 27, 2020

SEAS/FAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days in advance of sponsor full proposal deadline

Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline: TBD

Award Amount: $250,000-$10M for up to 36 months. Cost sharing may be required depending on project participants.

 

The SHARKS Program seeks to develop new designs for economically attractive Hydrokinetic Turbines (HKT) for tidal and riverine currents. Tidal and riverine energy resources are renewable, have the advantage of being highly reliable and predictable, and are often co-located with demand centers, while HKT devices can be designed with low visual profiles and minimal environmental impact. These energy-producing devices are also uniquely suited for micro-grid applications, supplying energy to remote communities and other "blue economy" or utility-scale applications. This Program is aimed at applying Control Co-Design (CCD), Co-Design (CD) and Designing-for-OpEx (DFO) methodologies to HKT design. These three design methodologies require the concurrent (rather than sequential) application of a wide range of disciplines, starting at the conceptual design stage. The technical challenges that inhibit the development of highly efficient HKT designs are mutually dependent, and require expertise from a range of scientific and engineering fields for optimization. These codependent technical challenges make HKT design a perfect candidate for CCD, CD and DFO, and will necessitate the formation of multi-disciplinary teams to resolve their inherently coupled design considerations.

Neuromorphic Computing for Accelerating Scientific Discovery *

Sponsor Pre-Application Deadline (required): June 3, 2020
SEAS/FAS/OSP Deadline: June 24, 2020

Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline: July 1, 2020

Award Amount: $200,000-$400,000 for two years

 

The DOE SC program in Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) hereby announces its interest in proposals for basic research that significantly advances Neuromorphic Computing as a brain-inspired, energy-efficient tool for scientific discovery. DOE has the responsibility to address the energy, environmental and nuclear security challenges that face our nation. SC's mission is the delivery of scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and to advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States.

 

In the post-exascale computing timeframe, scientific progress will be predicated on our ability to create, transfer, and process large complex datasets from extreme scale simulations, experiments, and/or observational facilities. Scientific computing is facing multiple challenges i.e. high energy usage, memory, concurrency, parallelism, heterogeneity, input/output, storage, retrieval, fault tolerance, etc. Currently, high performance computing systems consume in the order of megawatts of power, and energy consumptions levels have been kept manageable through the usage of heterogeneous architectures. On the other hand, the energy consumption of the human brain is in the order of watts, or about six orders of magnitude more energy efficient than current state-of-the-art HPC systems.

 

This program call is focused on high-risk, high-reward basic research to explore how neuromorphic computing could address emerging scientific computational challenges in energy efficient computing primarily.

 

ARPA-E: Ultrahigh Temperature Impervious Materials Advancing Turbine Efficiency *

Sponsor Concept Paper Deadline (required): June 5, 2020 by 9:30AM

SEAS/FAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to sponsor deadline

Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline: TBD

Award Amount: $250,000-$10M over a period of up to 42 months. Cost sharing may be required depending on project participants. See solicitation for more detail.

 

The ULTIMATE Program seeks to fund the development and demonstration of ultrahigh temperature materials that can operate continuously at 1300 ºC in a standalone material test environment (or with coatings, enabling gas turbine inlet temperatures of 1800 ºC) or higher, targeting gas turbine applications in the power generation and aviation industries. The successful materials must be able to withstand not only the highest temperature in a turbine but also the extreme stresses of a turbine blade. This program will concurrently fund the development of manufacturing processes for turbine components using these materials, enabling complex geometries that can be seamlessly integrated in the system design. Coatings including both environmental barrier coatings (EBC) and thermal barrier coatings (TBC) are also within the scope of this program. It is expected that the development of novel ultrahigh temperature materials in combination with compatible coatings and manufacturing technologies will enable the efficiency of gas turbines to be improved by up to 7%, which will result in significant reductions in wasted energy and carbon emissions.

 

See also:  ARPA-E: Ultrahigh Temperature Impervious Materials Advancing Turbine Efficiency (Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR))

 

Energy Storage for Fossil Power Generation *

Sponsor Concept Paper Deadline (required): June 16, 2020

SEAS/FAS/OSP Deadline: August 6, 2020

Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline: August 13, 2020

Award Amount: Up to $800,000 depending on area of interest. Cost sharing of at least 20% of the total allowable costs is required.

 

This opportunity is focused on maturing energy storage technologies that have the potential to be integrated with large scale fossil assets, both existing and new build, with and without carbon capture. The objectives of this FOA are to accomplish the following

This FOA provides three specific opportunities (i.e., Areas of Interest) that span a broad range of the applied technology development continuum: engineering-scale, near-term prototypes; mid-term component development; and exploration of longer-term, advanced concepts. If warranted, future FOAs may sponsor work on additional fossil-related scope. The Areas of Interest (AOIs) are as follows:

Coal-Derived Materials for Building, Infrastructure, and Other Applications

SEAS/FAS/OSP Deadline: July 7, 2020

Sponsor Deadline: July 14, 2020

Award Amount: Up to $2M for up to 2 years depending on area of interest. Cost sharing of at least 20% is required.

 

The overall objective of the FOA is to support the development of value-added products from coal. This will be accomplished through the research and development of coal-derived components for residential, commercial, and infrastructure applications. Another path to developing value-added products from coal is the production of high-value specialty products, as well as research and development of technologies capable of producing carbon-based building materials using a continuous, rather than batch, manufacturing process. The FOA will also support the design, R&D, and validation of a prototype carbon-based building.

 

The FOA includes the following Areas of Interest (AOIs)

Other DOE Opportunities

• Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement entitled "FY20 Advanced Manufacturing Multi-topic FOA"*
• Request for Information (RFI) on Identifications and Quantification of Electronic Waste (e-waste) in Municipal Solid Waste Streams - June 5, 2020*
• Research, Development and Training in Isotope Production - June 15, 2020
• Request for Information: DOE Hydropower Program Research and Development Strategy and HydroWIRES Research Roadmap - June 24, 2020*
• Notice of Intent to Issue Federal Agency Call (FAC) entitled "Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT) 2020"
• Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement entitled "Energy Storage for Fossil Power Generation"
• Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement entitled: Workforce Development in Emerging Fields
• FY 2020 Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program, Department of Energy, Office of Science - September 30, 2020 or until replaced by a successor FOA
• Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement entitled: Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), Electrolyzer and Hybrid Technology Development
• Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement entitled: Connected Communities

Assessment Tools for Biotechnology Products  *

SEAS/FAS/OSP Deadline: July 8, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: July 15, 2020

Award Amount:  Up to $760,000 for regular awards, and up to $453,333 for early career awards, including direct and indirect costs, with a maximum duration of 3 years.

 

The EPA, as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications proposing research to support the development of improved science-based human health and environmental risk assessments of new biotechnology products, including those developed through synthetic biology, genome editing, and metabolic engineering. For the purposes of this RFA, biotechnology products of interest include: industrial or consumer chemicals; pesticides (including pesticide intermediates); and new microbes used in biomass conversion for chemical production, microbial fuel cells, mining and resource extraction, building materials, waste remediation and pollution control, and nonpesticidal agriculture applications (e.g., biofertilizers, weather and climate modification). Robust and efficient evaluation and monitoring tools are needed to ensure these biotechnology products' safety and to assure public trust (Morton et al., 2019). Some examples of appropriate risk assessment tools include models, bioinformatic systems, and field-based and in vitro methods.

 

In addition to regular awards, this solicitation includes the opportunity for early career awards. The purpose of the early career award is to fund research projects smaller in scope and budget by early career PIs. To be eligible for the early career awards, principal investigators must be employed in a tenure-track position (or tenure-track-equivalent position) as an assistant professor at the award date. While a specific award date is not provided, awards are expected to made 9-12 months after the solicitation closing date of July 15, 2020.

• Topic 1 - Advanced High-Capacity Cryogenic Refrigeration Components
• Topic 2 - Modeling of Lunar Dust Behavior and Mitigation Techniques
• Topic 3 - Micromachining of Optical Structures for Remote Sensing Applications
• Topic 4 - Modeling and Model Validation of Parachute Dynamics During Inflation and Descent
• Topic 5 - Methodologies for Assessing Space Technology Portfolio Investments
• Topic 6 - Advancement of Additive Manufacturing Techniques for High Temperature Materials

Research Opportunities in Aeronautics-2019 (ROA-2019) Appendix D.5: University Student Research Challenge (USRC) *

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: June 17, 2020

Sponsor Deadline Cycle 3 Proposals: June 24, 2020

Award Information: NASA's share of the awards will not exceed $80,000 in total costs for one year. Applicants must also cost-share up to $2,000 through crowdfunding or industry/organization support.

NASA's University Student Research Challenge (USRC) seeks to challenge students to propose new aeronautics ideas/concepts that are relevant to its Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). Apart from this, the students also have the challenge of raising cost share funds through a crowdfunding platform. The process of creating and preparing a crowdfunding campaign acts as a teaching accelerator - requiring students to act like entrepreneurs and take action. Student applicants must include a letter of support in their proposal from a discipline-relevant faculty mentor in their college or university.

Research projects must address one of ARMD's six strategic thrusts as they affect aviation:

• 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

Unsolicited Proposals

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:

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.

Other NASA Opportunities

• Research Opportunities in Aeronautics 2019 (ROA-2019) - August 31, 2020*
• NASA Space Technology Research, Development, Demonstration, and Infusion-2020 (SpaceTech-REDDI-2020)  - December 18, 2020
• Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences 2020 (ROSES-2020)

   - July 21, 2021*

   

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Information for NIH Applicants and Recipients

 

 

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. 

NIBIB Trailblazer Award for New and Early Stage Investigators (R21)

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.

Dear Colleague Letter on the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: varies
Award Amount: varies

 

In light of the emergence and spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States and abroad, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is accepting proposals to conduct non-medical, non-clinical-care research that can be used immediately to explore how to model and understand the spread of COVID-19, to inform and educate about the science of virus transmission and prevention, and to encourage the development of processes and actions to address this global challenge. NSF encourages the research community to respond to this challenge through  existing funding opportunities . In addition, researchers are invited to use the Rapid Response Research (RAPID) funding mechanism, which allows NSF to receive and review proposals having a severe urgency with regard to availability of or access to data, facilities or specialized equipment as well as quick-response research on natural or anthropogenic disasters and similar unanticipated events. Requests for RAPID proposals may be for up to $200K and up to one year in duration. Well-justified proposals that exceed these limits may be entertained. All questions should be directed either to a program officer managing an NSF program with which the research would be aligned or to  [email protected] .

Proposals in response to this DCL may also request the use of NSF-funded advanced computing resources such as  Frontera ,  Stampede2, Bridges, Comet, and JetStream . To ensure availability of thes e computing resources, investigators must contact the NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) at  [email protected]  prior to submission of the proposal.

 

Cybersecurity Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: not required for Research Concept Outline stage
Sponsor Deadline: May 15, 2020 (Round 1); 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]. Two rounds of submissions are available with the deadline for the first round at midnight EDT on May 15, 2020, and for the second round at midnight EDT on August 31, 2020. 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.

Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure - Engineering Conferences

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: May 15, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: May 22, 2020 for FY2020 consideration
Award Amount: generally limited to $50,000, but under exceptional circumstances up to $100,000

 

Through this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), the NSF Directorate for Engineering (ENG) plans to fund workshops to identify critical needs for unique research infrastructure that can serve a research community at a national needs level, and have the potential to significantly advance engineering research. Members of the engineering research community are invited to propose conferences that identify gaps in existing mid-scale research infrastructure and define the infrastructure that would be needed to address grand-challenge-level engineering research questions. Conference outcomes may help define either design or implementation projects for future mid-scale research infrastructure.

 

With this DCL, NSF anticipates funding up to 10 engineering research conferences on mid-scale research infrastructure. Each conference proposal should have strong science and engineering drivers with the aim of identifying potential projects that will identify and address national research infrastructure gaps. The conference should support 20 to 80 attendees. In addition to academic researchers, conference participants may include relevant scientists, engineers, and practitioners from industry, federal agencies, and international organizations. Conferences are encouraged to include individuals with experience in the management of research infrastructure at this scale for the purpose of mentoring investigators in the development of Project Management and Project Execution Plans . Conference proposals should include the deliverable of a report with recommendations that address the identified gap in research infrastructure. The report should position the engineering research community to respond to future opportunities for mid-scale research infrastructure projects. Prior to submitting a conference proposal, the PI must contact one of the individuals listed in the Dear Colleague Letter to ensure that the proposal fits the goals of the program .

Supplemental Funding Opportunity to Explore Feasibility of National Radio Dynamic Zones (NRDZ) *

Sponsor Deadline for White Paper: June 1, 2020

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline for Supplemental Funding Request (if invited): June 24, 2020

Sponsor Deadline for Supplemental Funding Request (if invited): July 1, 2020
Award Amount: unspecified; if the supplemental funding request exceeds 20% of the original award amount, the proposer is asked to bring this to the attention of the cognizant program officer prior to submitting the supplemental request.

 

With this Dear Colleague Letter, NSF is offering an opportunity to explore the feasibility of establishing National Radio Dynamic Zones (NRDZ) and identify the underlying research and deployment challenges through supplements to existing NSF awards. Existing awardees of facilities and/or platforms owned/operated/funded by NSF are encouraged to submit supplemental funding requests, building on their expertise in national quiet zones, innovation zones, and coordination zones. The NRDZ-relevant questions that NSF seeks answers for through these supplements include:

 

 

Supplemental funding requests should be aligned with the statement of work in the original award. Potential applicants should propose a scope of work that has the potential to answer the above questions within an appropriate period that does not exceed the end date of the original award. Prior to submitting an NRDZ supplemental funding request, proposers are required to submit a white paper, not exceeding three pages, summarizing their request, via email to  [email protected]   for consideration. This DCL will expire on July 1, 2021. For consideration for funding in FY 2020, proposers should email their intent to submit a supplemental funding request with the information identified in the DCL by June 1, 2020. Invited supplemental funding requests must be received no later than July 1, 2020.

Cyberinfrastructure Centers of Excellence *

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: June 8, 2020

Sponsor Deadline: June 15, 2020

Award Amount:   up to $300,000 over up to 2 years (Concept Definition Studies); up to $1.5M over up to 2 years (Demonstration Pilots)

 

T his Dear Colleague Letter identifies focus areas of current interest for the Cyberinfrastructure Centers of Excellence (CI CoE) program. In FY 2020, NSF anticipates making awards for early-stage   concept definition studies   and   demonstration pilot   projects as preparatory precursor activities towards potential full-scale CI CoEs. The following topical areas are encouraged for such projects:

 

 

Concept definition study proposals on service-oriented cyberinfrastructure topics beyond those listed above are welcome; demonstration pilot proposals on other topics are also welcome but may be considered at a lower priority. However,   CI CoE proposals related in any way to cybersecurity are discouraged   as NSF already supports a CoE in this area. Individuals interested in submitting a proposal for a CI CoE project are strongly encouraged to discuss their project idea with the cognizant CI CoE Program Director(s) in the relevant areas prior to submission. To initiate discussion a project idea, prospective proposers are encouraged to send an email to  [email protected] .

Enabling Quantum Computer Platform Access for National Science Foundation Researchers with Amazon Web Services, IBM, and Microsoft Quantum

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: June 11, 2020

Sponsor Deadline: June 18, 2020

Award Amount: up to $50,000

In light of the quantum-computing developments in the private sector as well as the opportunity for further innovation in the academic setting, the National Science Foundation and Amazon Web Services, IBM, and Microsoft Quantum are coordinating to make available cloud-based quantum-computing platforms to advance research and build capacity in the academic setting. More information about the platforms is available below.  

 

 

With this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), NSF's Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) wish to notify the community of their intention to support supplemental funding requests for active awards to enable use of these quantum-computing cloud platforms. NSF's supplemental funding will support graduate-student time to work on these platforms. In parallel, Amazon Web Services, IBM, and Microsoft Quantum intend to make platform use available to recipients of these supplemental awards at no financial cost, pending a mutually agreeable arrangement between the principal investigators (PIs) and a given company. Supplemental funding requests will be limited to research activities in one or more of the following research area(s):

 

 

PIs are encouraged to contact one of the program officers listed in the Dear Colleague Letter prior to submitting a request for supplemental funding.

Developing Long-term Strategies to Transform Manufacturing

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: June 23, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: June 30, 2020
Award Amount: up to $100,000 for up to 12 months

 

The National Science Foundation wishes to notify the community of its intention to support workshops for future manufacturing (FM) science and technology in support of the goals and vision of the report Strategy for American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing  by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The conferences should identify areas and thrusts for fundamental research that will enable future manufacturing:  manufacturing that is either entirely new or that can be done today but not at a sufficient scale to make it viable . Conferences should explore new, potentially transformative, manufacturing capabilities rather than aiming to improve current manufacturing or make incremental improvements over existing Advanced Manufacturing technologies. Proposers are encouraged to contact one of the program directors listed in the Dear Colleague Letter to discuss their ideas before submitting a proposal.

Research Experiences for Undergraduates Supplemental Funding in Computer and Information Science and Engineering *

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: June 24, 2020
Sponsor Deadline: July 1, 2020
Award Amount: $8,000 per REU student

 

NSF is aware of the disruption to undergraduate employment and education opportunities caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) previously issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL;  NSF 20-016 ) expressing interest in funding  supplements to active CISE awards for Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), consistent with NSF's REU Sites and Supplements solicitation ( NSF 19-582 ). In light of COVID-19, and to enable the CISE research community to provide additional opportunities to engage undergraduates who are US citizens and permanent residents in research pathways, CISE reiterates this interest via this DCL. CISE will prioritize REU supplemental funding requests most responsive to the mitigation of adverse undergraduate employment and education circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and such requests are anticipated to provide for undergraduate research experiences this Summer and/or Fall. Supplemental funding requests should explain how students will be mentored if the awardee organization is closed, for example, through virtual mentorship experiences.

 

CISE will consider requests for an additional number of students per active project beyond the limitations specified in NSF 20-016, at a funding level of $8,000 per REU student. For example, for single-investigator projects, CISE will consider requests in excess of two students per project for this summer. Proposers who received REU supplements earlier this year are also eligible to apply for additional supplements if they are able to identify opportunities to mentor additional REU students.

Critical Aspects of Sustainability (CAS): Micro- and Nanoplastics (MNP)

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: varies
Award Amount: varies

 

This Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) encourages the submission of proposals that tackle some of the fundamental scientific questions underlying micro- and nanoplastic characterization, behavior, and reactivity in the environment (including animal and human health), as well as their elimination from land and water systems. Sustainable solutions to the plastic waste problem require creative approaches from many scientific disciplines, to reduce the burden and harmful effects of micro- and nanoplastics and ensure our ability to track their fate in the environment. Several Directorates/Offices/Divisions participate in this DCL and welcome the submission of proposals on this topic, though each division will only accept proposals of a certain type, as described in detail within the DCL. All questions regarding proposals should be addressed to the cognizant Program Officers to whom submission is contemplated. Proposals involving international collaboration are welcome when the collaboration enhances the proposed research.

NSF's Spectrum Innovation Initiative and Associated Supplemental Funding Opportunities *

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.

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

Sponsor Deadline: Rolling
Award Amount: varies by program

 

This Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) highlights existing programs in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) and the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) offering support for proposals that advance the growing field of plant synthetic biology, including support for basic research, tool development, and applications; and proposals that emphasize the potential outcomes with benefits to society. Proposal titles should be prefaced with "PlantSynBio:" and submitted to the program most closely related to the proposed research. The three relevant programs are:

 

• The Plant Genome Research Program (NSF 18-579) in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.
• The Systems and Synthetic Biology Cluster in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (NSF18-585).
• The Cellular and Biochemical Engineering Program in the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (NSF PD 20-1491).

 

This DCL is not intended to announce a special competition nor a new program, but simply highlight NSFs interest in an area of research that is funded through existing programs. The three relevant programs all accept proposals without deadline. Investigators interested in submitting a proposal are strongly encouraged to contact one of the program directors listed in the DCL.

Announcing Creation of the Foundational Research in Robotics (Robotics) Program

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: Rolling starting August 1, 2020
Award Amount: unspecified

 

The National Science Foundation announces the creation of the Foundational Research in Robotics (Robotics) program as a program jointly managed by the Directorates for Engineering (ENG) and Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). The Robotics program supports research on robotic systems that exhibit significant levels of both computational capability and physical complexity. For the purposes of this program, a robot is defined as intelligence embodied in an engineered construct, with the ability to process information, sense, and move within or substantially alter its working environment. Here intelligence includes a broad class of methods that enable a robot to solve problems or make contextually appropriate decisions. Research proposals are welcomed that consider inextricably interwoven questions of intelligence, computation, and embodiment. Projects may also focus on a distinct aspect of intelligence, computation, and/or embodiment, as long as the proposed research is clearly justified in the context of a class of robots. The goal of the Robotics program is to erase artificial disciplinary boundaries and provide a single home for foundational research in robotics. Robotics is a deeply interdisciplinary field, and proposals are encouraged across the full range of fundamental engineering and computer science research challenges arising in robotics. All proposals should convincingly explain how a successful outcome will enable transformative new robot functionality or substantially enhance existing robot functionality.

Supplemental Funding Requests to Conduct Experimental Research on the NSF-funded Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR)

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: 5 business days prior to submission
Sponsor Deadline: June 1, 2023
Award Amount: $50,000 with higher amounts requiring additional justification (must be less than one-fifth of the original award); supplements will provide support for up to two years but cannot exceed the existing award period

 

With this Dear Colleague Letter, NSF's Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) wishes to notify the community of its intention to support  supplemental funding requests for active research awards to conduct experimental research on the NSF-funded Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) . NSF's PAWR program ( https://advancedwireless.org/ ) is currently supporting the deployment and initial operations of three advanced wireless research platforms conceived by the U.S. academic and industrial wireless research community. Active NSF-funded wireless researchers may propose, as part of their supplemental funding requests, experiments that utilize the PAWR platforms as these platforms become 'generally available' for experimenter use. PIs interested in submitting supplemental funding requests (or with other questions pertaining to this DCL) are strongly encouraged to contact one of the NSF/CISE program directors listed in the DCL.

Expeditions in Computing

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline for Preliminary Proposal: June 9, 2020

Sponsor Deadline for Preliminary Proposal: June 16, 2020
Award Amount: up to $15,000,000 for durations of seven years

 

The Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering has established the Expeditions in Computing (Expeditions) program to provide the CISE research and education community with the opportunity to pursue ambitious, fundamental research agendas that promise to define the future of computing and information. In planning Expeditions projects, investigators are encouraged to come together within or across departments or institutions to combine their creative talents in the identification of compelling, transformative research agendas that promise disruptive innovations in computer and information science and engineering for many years to come. Together with the Science and Technology Centers that CISE supports, Expeditions projects form the centerpiece of the directorate's center-scale award portfolio. With awards funded at levels that promote the formation of large research teams, CISE recognizes that concurrent research advances in multiple fields or sub-fields are often necessary to stimulate deep and enduring outcomes. The awards made in this program will complement research areas supported by other CISE programs, which target particular computer and information science and engineering fields. 

Additionally, CISE offers Innovation Transition (InTrans) awards for teams nearing the end of their Expeditions as well as Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) Frontier projects. The goal of InTrans is to continue the long-term vision and objectives of CISE's center-scale projects. Through InTrans awards, CISE will provide limited funds to match industry support. InTrans proposals can be submitted on a rolling basis beginning on April 25.

National Science Foundation: Directorate for Engineering (NSF: ENG)

Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA): Future Research Directions for the Engineering Research Community 

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline for Letter of Intent: June 30, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Letter of Intent: July 8, 2020

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline for Full Proposal: August 5, 2020
Sponsor Deadline for Full Proposal: August 12, 2020
Award Amount: NSF anticipates funding a single award for 5 years, subject to the availability of funds, with the funding for each year of the award in the range of $1,000,000 to $2,000,000, not to exceed $2,000,000 in any one year. Proposers are encouraged to take into consideration when developing their proposed budget that expenses necessary to effect and sustain the organization will likely increase from establishment through maintenance phases, consistent with an increasing scope of activities with time.

 

The National Science Foundation Directorate for Engineering (NSF/ENG) invites the engineering research community to establish an organization that will serve to identify and develop bold and societally impactful new engineering research directions and thereby catalyze the engineering research community's pursuit of innovative, high-impact research. Specifically, NSF/ENG calls on the engineering research community to establish an Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA) that ENG will support to facilitate the articulation of compelling research visions that align with national and global challenges. This organization will be charged with obtaining and integrating input from all stakeholders with interest in engineering research, including academia, industry, societies, government agencies and the public. A reciprocal goal of the organization will be to communicate coordinated information on nascent opportunities and priorities in engineering research to these stakeholders. It is anticipated that through its activities the ERVA will strengthen connectivity across these diverse stakeholders, and increase coordination among engineering disciplinary communities.

The ERVA should have membership/representation of academic, industrial and other stakeholders, and should be inclusive of all engineering disciplines. Through its proposed activities, the ERVA should provide the engineering community with a process for identifying future research challenges and enable the engineering research community to speak with a unified voice.

Please Note: This is a limited submission opportunity, and Harvard may submit only one proposal. Please contact Erin Hale at [email protected] if you are interested in applying.

NSF Engineering - UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Lead Agency Opportunity (ENG-EPSRC)

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).

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

Program on Fairness in Artificial Intelligence in Collaboration with Amazon (FAI) *

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: July 6, 2020

Sponsor Deadline: July 13, 2020

Award Amount: $750,000 - $1.25M over up to 3 years

 

NSF and Amazon are partnering to jointly support computational research focused on fairness in AI, with the goal of contributing to trustworthy AI systems that are readily accepted and deployed to tackle grand challenges facing society. Specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to transparency, explainability, accountability, potential adverse biases and effects, mitigation strategies, algorithmic advances, fairness objectives, validation of fairness, and advances in broad accessibility and utility. Funded projects will enable broadened acceptance of AI systems, helping the U.S. further capitalize on the potential of AI technologies. Although Amazon provides partial funding for this program, it will not play a role in the selection of proposals for award.

 

Advancing AI is a highly interdisciplinary endeavor drawing on fields such as computer science, information science, engineering, statistics, mathematics, cognitive science, and psychology. As such, NSF and Amazon expect these varied perspectives to be critical for the study of fairness in AI. NSF's ability to bring together multiple scientific disciplines uniquely positions the agency in this collaboration, while building AI that is fair and unbiased is an important aspect of Amazon's AI initiatives. This program supports the conduct of fundamental computer science research into theories, techniques, and methodologies that go well beyond today's capabilities and are motivated by challenges and requirements in real systems.

Coastlines and People (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.