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NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Supplemental Funding in Computer and Information Science and Engineering

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The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) invites grantees with active CISE awards to submit requests for Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Supplements, following the guidelines in the REU Sites and Supplements solicitation (NSF 19-582). CISE also invites grantees with active CISE awards to submit requests for Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Supplements, following the guidelines in the RET in Engineering and Computer Science: Supplements and Sites solicitation (NSF 19-575). Requests will be considered as they are received. CISE strongly encourages the submission of requests before March 30, 2020; the potential for funding requests after this date may be limited.

REU Supplements

REU supplements help undergraduate students engage in meaningful research experiences in pursuit of their educational and career goals. To be eligible for this opportunity, a student must be a US citizen or permanent resident of the US. CISE encourages submission of REU supplemental funding requests that specifically afford US veterans an opportunity to engage in meaningful research experiences.

RET Supplements

RET supplements help K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers engage in meaningful research experiences and translate the knowledge gained into their teaching practices. The focus of their research should be in CISE disciplines rather than on education or curriculum development. Teachers who receive funding from an RET supplement must be currently teaching a STEM subject at their schools. CISE is particularly interested in RET supplements that target K-12 computer science teachers. Since a major goal of a RET activity is to create a bond between the K-12 schools and the host college or university, recruitment of RET teachers should focus on schools or school districts reasonably close to the host institutions.

How to Apply

PIs are encouraged to refer to the REU program solicitation (NSF 19-582) and the RET program solicitation (NSF 19-575) for detailed information concerning submission requirements. As described above and in those solicitations, each REU or RET supplemental funding request should include the following information:

  • A description of the research to be performed by the student or K-12 teacher, and how the student or teacher will benefit from the overall REU or RET experience;
  • The PI’s prior experience, if any, supervising REU students or working with K-12 teachers, including papers published and student placements, along with the status of prior REU or RET supplements received on the corresponding award;
  • A description of the mentoring that the student or teacher will receive as part of the REU or RET experience;
  • The relationship of the REU or RET supplemental funding request to the original award;
  • A description of the process for recruiting the students and/or teachers (including those from underrepresented groups) and the criteria for selecting the students and/or teachers; or if a student or teacher has been pre-selected, a brief bio-sketch of the student or teacher;
  • A statement acknowledging that all students to be funded will be US citizens or permanent residents; and
  • Specifics about the REU or RET request — duration, stipend rates, period of REU or RET experience, and travel justification (if any).

No particular format is required for presenting the above information, but numbered sections that address items 1 through 6 in the Summary of Proposed Work section are preferred, with item 7 addressed in the Budget Justification.

Since a supplemental funding request is handled by the cognizant NSF program officer who oversees the active award for which the request is submitted, grantees should contact the cognizant NSF program officers of their awards if they have questions or need additional information.

NSF Campus Cyberinfrastructure(CC*)

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Program Solicitation: NSF 20-507

Full Proposal Deadline: January 21, 2020

The FY 2020 CC* solicitation invests in coordinated campus-level networking and cyberinfrastructure improvements, innovation, integration, and engineering for science applications and distributed research projects. Learning and workforce development (LWD) in CI is explicitly addressed in the program. Science-driven requirements are the primary motivation for any proposed activity.

CC* awards will be supported in six program areas:

  1. Data-Driven Networking Infrastructure for the Campus and Researcher awards will be supported at up to $500,000 total for up to 2 years;
  2. Regional Connectivity for Small Institutions awards will be supported at up to $800,000 total for up to 2 years;
  3. Network Integration and Applied Innovation awards will be supported at up to $1,000,000 total for up to 2 years [in some cases, these awards are limited to $500,000 total—see program area (3) in Section II. Program Description];
  4. Campus Computing and the Computing Continuum awards will be supported at up to $400,000 total for up to 2 years;
  5. Cyber Team—Research and Education CI-based Regional Facilitation awards will be supported at up to $1,400,000 total for up to 3 years; and
  6. Planning Grants and CI-Research Alignment awards will be supported at up to $250,000 total for up to 2 years [in some cases these awards are limited to $100,000 total—see program area (6) in Section II. Program Description].

In FY 2020, the expansion in the program aims to align it with NSF’s vision for a holistic CI ecosystem outlined in “Transforming Science Through Cyberinfrastructure: NSF’s Blueprint for a National Cyberinfrastructure Ecosystem for Science and Engineering in the 21st Century” (see https://www.nsf.gov/cise/oac/vision/blueprint-2019/). These changes focus on the aggregation and integration of CI investments at the campus level, with the goal of helping campuses drive toward a 21st-century realization of an integrated CI for enabling science. Program area (1) continues to address science-driven needs in data networking intra-campus, and externally. Area (2) repeats that core theme of networking improvements, with a specific emphasis on supporting the needs of multiple under-resourced campuses through partnerships with regional entities and small institutions with experience in high-performance Research & Education (R&E) networking. Area (3) goes beyond networking infrastructure investments in areas (1) and (2) by leveraging the campus network as a compelling environment on which to develop and deploy new networking capabilities reflecting applied research and development in networking. Areas (4) and (5) build on the networking capability foundation established in the first three areas. Area (4) recognizes both the research computing needs at a campus level, and the largely untapped potential to share unused compute cycles and resources across the entire academic fabric of highly connected and increasingly resourced campuses. Area (5) applies that same approach to perhaps the most important pillar of the CI, i.e., sharing professional, researcher, and student expertise in CI among groups of institutions. It invests in the human element that is essential for bridging CI to the scientific research and education projects across campuses. Areas (3), (4), and (5) reflect NSF’s goal of democratization and broadening participation in scientific networking and computing. Area (6) supports planning and coordination, in part reflecting the challenges for institutions that presently do not participate in the R&E network fabric and community.

Additional information can be found on the NSF CC* program page.

NSF Transitions to Excellence in Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Research (Transitions)

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Program Solicitation: NSF 20-505

Full Proposal Deadline: Proposals accepted anytime

Synopsis of Program

The Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) has developed a new opportunity to enable researchers with a strong track record of prior accomplishment to pursue a new avenue of research or inquiry. This funding mechanism is designed to facilitate and promote a PI’s ability to effectively adopt empowering technologies that might not be readily accessible in the PI’s current research environment or collaboration network. Transformative research likely spans disciplines and minimizing the practical barriers to doing so will strengthen research programs poised to make significant contributions. The award is intended to allow mid-career or later-stage researchers (Associate or Full Professor, or equivalent) to expand or make a transition in their research programs via a sabbatical leave or similar mechanism of professional development and then develop that research program in their own lab. This award will also enable the PI to acquire new scientific or technical expertise, facilitate the investigator’s competitiveness, and potentially lead to transformational impacts in molecular and cellular bioscience. The award would fund up to six months of PI salary during the first sabbatical or professional development year, followed by support for continued research for two subsequent years upon the PI’s return to normal academic duties. Through this solicitation MCB and NSF hope to develop a novel mechanism that will encourage investigators to expand and/or transition to new research areas aligned with MCB priorities, to increase retention of investigators in science, and to ensure a diverse scientific workforce that remains engaged in active research.

Through the “Transitions to Excellence In Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Research” (Transitions Award) program, MCB is seeking proposals that (1) promote fundamental understanding of complex living systems at the molecular, subcellular, and cellular levels typical of its core research programs and (2) enable investigators with a strong prior track record of accomplishment to expand or change research direction, thus ensuring their continued competitiveness in science.

Core research programs in MCB place a high priority on projects that provide mechanistic insights that can be used predictively to establish and verify the rules governing life’s processes. MCB encourages proposals that address major biological questions at the intersections of biology with other disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer sciences, and engineering.

The following cross-cutting areas of research, most notably where they elucidate the rules governing life’s processes, will be given high priority for funding in all clusters in MCB core programs.

  • Integrating Across Scales: Integrating knowledge from single molecules to molecular machines and from networks to subcellular and cellular complexity.
  • Transformative Methods and Resources: Developing technologies for molecular and cellular biology research (when motivated by compelling biological questions), including biophysical and computational methods for broad application and genetic resources for model systems.
  • Molecular and Cellular Evolution: Discovering mechanisms and theoretical underpinnings of evolutionary changes in molecules, genomes, and cells.
  • Synthesizing Life-Like Systems: Using synthetic molecular parts and processes to understand the transition from simple to complex systems and to build novel living systems.
  • Genomes to Phenomes: Integrating theoretical, computational, and high-throughput experimental approaches to determine and predict how the genome/epigenome gives rise to phenotype.

Fastlane and Research.gov unavailable from Friday 11/8/19 until Tuesday 11/12/19

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Please be advised that FastLane and Research.gov will be unavailable from Friday, November 8 at 8:00 PM EST until Tuesday, November 12 at 6:00 AM EST.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is migrating its business applications to a modern and flexible platform from November 8 at 8:00 PM EST through November 12 at 6:00 AM EST. As part of this effort, NSF will also upgrade the alpha-numeric character set used by the FastLane and Research.gov systems to correct text errors, such as special characters displaying as question marks (“?”) in proposals and project reports. This migration has been scheduled over the Veterans Day holiday weekend to minimize the impact of the systems downtime on the research community and NSF staff.

During this outage, there will be no access to these websites, proposals cannot be prepared or submitted in FastLane and Research.gov, and project reports and cash requests cannot be submitted in Research.gov. However, previously saved information and uploaded documents in FastLane and Research.gov, including in-progress proposals and project reports, will be accessible after the migration is completed.

We encourage you to share this information with your colleagues. For IT system-related questions, please contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 or rgov@nsf.gov. Any policy-related questions should be directed to policy@nsf.gov.

NSF National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Institutes: Accelerating Research, Transforming Society, and Growing the American Workforce

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Synopsis of Program:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has advanced tremendously and today promises personalized healthcare; enhanced national security; improved transportation; and more effective education, to name just a few benefits. Increased computing power, the availability of large datasets and streaming data, and algorithmic advances in machine learning (ML) have made it possible for AI development to create new sectors of the economy and revitalize industries. Continued advancement, enabled by sustained federal investment and channeled toward issues of national importance, holds the potential for further economic impact and quality-of-life improvements.

This program, a joint effort of the National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), seeks to enable such research through AI Research Institutes. This program solicitation describes two tracks: Planning and Institute tracks. Submissions to the Planning track are encouraged in any areas of foundational and use-inspired research appropriate to NSF and its partner organizations. Proposals for the Institute track must have a principal focus in one or more of the following themes, detailed in the Program Description under “Institute Track”:

  • Trustworthy AI;
  • Foundations of Machine Learning;
  • AI-Driven Innovation in Agriculture and the Food System;
  • AI-Augmented Learning;
  • AI for Accelerating Molecular Synthesis and Manufacturing; and
  • AI for Discovery in Physics

Full Proposal Deadlines:

  • January 28, 2020 (for Institute proposals in one of the six specified themes)
  • January 30, 2020 (for Planning proposals)

For additional information please see NSF 20-503 .