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The Mind, Machine, and Motor Nexus (M3X) program supports fundamental research that enables intelligent engineered systems and humans to engage in bidirectional interaction in a physics-based environment, to enhance and ensure safety, productivity, and well-being. For the purpose of this program an intelligent engineered system is a human-designed system — physical, virtual, or a combination of both — that interacts with its environment to achieve specific goals. These systems collect data, analyze it to make informed decisions, and take actions that enhance safety, efficiency, and well-being. They may operate autonomously or collaboratively with humans, adapting their actions based on the data they collect. A key requirement for the M3X program is that these systems must function within a physics-based environment, whether physical or virtual, where interactions exhibit recognizable physical behaviors, such as those associated with gravity, friction, force, and inertia. Intelligent engineered systems are becoming increasingly integrated into our daily lives, interacting with humans across diverse environments and through different modalities (for example, visual, haptic, auditory). M3X aims to deepen the understanding of such interactions, particularly in complex and dynamic settings such as elder care, disaster response, and dynamic workplaces. The program encourages explorations into the physical or cognitive principles that enable or constrain human-machine collaboration, advancing foundational theories, interaction modeling, and technological innovations that enhance a...

The Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) and Research Opportunity Awards (ROA) funding opportunities support research by faculty members at predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs).  RUI proposals support PUI faculty in research that engages them in their professional field(s), builds capacity for research at their home institution, and supports the integration of research and undergraduate education. ROAs similarly support PUI faculty research, but these awards typically allow faculty to work as visiting scientists at research-intensive organizations where they collaborate with other NSF-supported investigators. Eligible PUIs are accredited colleges and universities (including two-year community colleges) that award Associate's degrees, Bachelor's degrees, and/or Master's degrees in NSF-supported fields, but have awarded 20 or fewer Ph.D./D.Sci. degrees in all NSF-supported fields during the combined previous two academic years. All NSF directorates may support RUI and ROA funding activities. Funding for these awards is contained within research and education program allocations and not held as a separate allocation. RUI and ROA proposals are evaluated and funded by NSF programs in the disciplinary areas of the proposed research and are funded at their discretion.  Prospective PIs should contact disciplinary program officers to identify specific NSF programs and to determine the feasibility and timing of RUI/ROA requests. General RUI/ROA points of contact are available through the website http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/rui_roa/contacts.jsp. 1. Research in Under...

NSF is committed to securing the nation's research enterprise as part of its core mission. The Research on Research Security (RoRS) program will advance the understanding of the full scope, potential, challenges, and nature of the research on research security field through scholarly evidence. Background The following activities provide background and context for developing proposals to submit to the RoRS program. The foundational legislative and policy documents include National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 (NSPM-33)and its associated supporting documents, as well as research security provisions in CHIPS and Science Act 2022. In 2022 NSF asked JASON to consider what a research program on research security might entail and how it would be defined.The findings are summarized in the report (JSR-22-08), Research Program on Research Security. The 2024 NSF-funded workshop, Responsible Collaboration Through Appropriate Research Security: A Workshop To Discuss and Study the Emergent Discipline of Research on Research Security, identified current themes, major issues, and challenges in research security. Program Description Collectively, the research that RoRS funds will foster a broad community that builds collaborations between the STEM research community, research security researchers, and research security practitioners. Interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged, and proposers should address how they will leverage the range of expertise, theories, and methods of the team to engage in evidence-based research on research security. Proposers are encouraged to identify col...

Infrastructure systems comprise complex connections between physical components, organizational structures and operational methods that support the needs of people and communities at the local, regional, national, and global scales. Such systems form the backbone of society, providing essential services as well as ensuring public health and welfare, economic prosperity and national security, and are expected to function under all operational conditions. Meanwhile, infrastructure systems are capital intensive and vulnerable to disruptions from extreme events, including natural disasters, social crises, and malicious attacks. Disruptions in one system can have cascading impacts on others in space and over time. Moreover, short- versus long-term trade-offs, unintended consequences, and maladaptation are not often accounted for. How systems function at the “extreme,” which can be due to disruptors from the introduction of innovation, the convergence of technologies, sudden changes to their utilization and access, dramatic changes in operating environments, and changes to demand during crises are of particular interest. To ensure the efficiency, sustainability, resilience, and fair use of infrastructure systems, it is important to continuously improve and optimize their design, operations, system monitoring and performance assessment in dynamic, uncertain and sometime unknown environments. While functioning at extremes is of interest, the program also supports infrastructure systems research under the full range of operating conditions, across a variety of hazards, and in urban,...

The Science of Science:Discovery, Communication and Impact (SoS:DCI) program is designed to advance theory and knowledge about increasing the public value of scientific activity. Science of Science draws from multiple disciplinary and field perspectives to advance theory and research about scientific discovery, communication and impact. SoS:DCI welcomes proposals applying rigorous empirical research methods to advance theory and knowledge on: The social and structural mechanisms of scientific discovery. Theories, frameworks, models and data that improve our understanding of scientific communication and outcomes. The societal benefits of scientific activity and how science advances evidence-based policy making and the creation of public value. The SoS:DCI program, which expands upon the formerScience of Science and Innovation Policy (SciSIP)program, funds research that builds theoretical and empirical understanding of the social science of science. SoS:DCI welcomes proposals to conduct research at the individual, organizational and institutional levels or from micro, meso and macro scales and complex system levels. SoS:DCI encourages multiple disciplinary perspectives, interdisciplinary research and diverse methodological approaches in the pursuit of new knowledge to advance the science of science and evidence-based policy making. With these goals in mind, proposals should: Draw from and advance theory, knowledge and frameworks on the science of science. Develop models, data, indicators and associated analytical tools that constitute and enable transformative advances rather...

Recognizing the importance of international collaborations in promoting scientific discoveries, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on research cooperation. The MoU provides an overarching framework to enhance opportunities for collaborative activities between US and German research communities and sets out the principles by which jointly supported activities might be developed. To facilitate the support of collaborative work between US researchers and their German counterparts under this MoU, the Division of Chemistry (CHE) and the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET) at NSF and the Divisions of Physics and Chemistry (PC) and Engineering Sciences (ING 1) at DFG are pleased to announce a Lead Agency Opportunity for Collaborative Research in Chemistry and Chemical Process and Transport Systems. The goal of this Lead Agency Opportunity is to reduce barriers to working internationally by allowing US and German researchers to submit a single collaborative proposal that will undergo a single review process while funding organizations maintain budgetary control over their awards. Proposals eligible for funding consideration through this Lead Agency Opportunity should review the CHE, CBET, PC, and ING 1 program descriptions for research supported through these divisions/organizations. Proposals are expected to adhere to typical proposal budgets and durations for the relevant CHE, CBET, PC, and ING 1 programs from wh...

Through this Disaster NOFO, EDA will award investments in regions experiencing severe economic distress or other economic harm resulting from hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, floods, and other natural disasters occurring in calendar years 2023 and 2024. EDA’s goal under this NOFO is to assist communities recovering from a disaster by realizing opportunities to recover and change the economic trajectory of the community for the better. In other words, EDA funding seeks to help communities recover and set them on a path to exceed their previous pre-disaster baseline. EDA seeks projects that are responsive to community needs post-disaster by engaging all aspects of the community, with special focus on private industry partners. This Disaster NOFO provides funding through three pathways: Readiness Path – Standalone non-construction projects designed to increase a community’s readiness to apply for or implement disaster recovery funding from private and public sources including, but not limited to, future EDA NOFOs and the Implementation or Industry Transformation Paths under this NOFO. Projects will fund strategy development, capacity building, and/or predevelopment costs necessary for future recovery projects. Implementation Path – Standalone construction or non-construction projects designed to address the economic challenges faced by a community recovering from a natural disaster and improve economic trajectories beyond pre-disaster economic conditions. Industry Transformation Path – Led by a coalition of regional stakeholders, a portfolio of large-scale, multicomponent con...

The NSF STEM K-12 program in the Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) in the Directorate for STEM Education (EDU) supports fundamental, applied, and translational research that advances STEM teaching and learning and improves understanding of education across the human lifespan and a range of formal and informal settings.

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) continues to develop and nurture a national innovation ecosystem that guides the output of scientific discoveries closer to the development of technologies, products, processes, and services that benefit allAmericans. The goals of the NSF I-Corps™program are to spur translation of foundational research to the marketplace, to encourage collaboration between academia and industry, and to train NSF-funded faculty, students and other researchers in innovation and entrepreneurship skills. The NSF National I-Corps programutilizes experiential learning of customer and industry discovery, coupled with first-hand investigation of industrial processes, to quickly assess the translational potential of inventions. The NSF National I-Corps programis designed to support the commercializationof "deep technologies,” those revolving around foundationaldiscoveries in science and engineering. The NSF National I-Corps programaddresses the skill and knowledge gaps associated with the transformation of basic research into deep technology ventures (DTVs). The purpose of the NSF National I-Corps Teams program is to provide NSF-funded researchers additional support in the form of entrepreneurial education, mentoring, and funding to accelerate the translation of knowledge derived from foundational research into emerging products, processes, and services that may attract subsequent third-party funding.The outcomes of NSFNational I-Corps Teams' projects are threefold: 1) a decision on a clear path forward based on an assessment of the business model, 2) subst...

The Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE) initiative integrates engineering research and education to improve and expand the nation’s engineering workforce. PFE is defined as the formal and informal processes and value systems by which people become engineers. The goal of PFE is to create an ethical engineering workforce with a global outlook and the ability to adapt to the rapidly evolving technical environment. This will help build a future engineering workforce with the skills to compete in the global marketplace, support emerging technologies, and grow U.S. industry. PFE supports projects in the ENGINEER program relating to future and current engineers’ training and education in many contexts, including formal classrooms, informal maker spaces, clubs and co-curricular activities, and workplaces. Such training encompasses cooperative education and internships, community-based experiences, and research labs. It also involves many scales of analysis, from mentor/mentee relationships to large-scale online learning and professional development experiences. Engineers must develop and maintain these learning opportunities with clear pathways to and through the profession. Such pathways include formal and informal education, apprenticeships, credentialing, and licensure, and consider relationships with other professionals, technical workers, and community members. Finally, such opportunities include transitions across and within academia and industry. To understand and improve this system requires expertise in both engineering and the social sciences.

The Engineering Environmental Resiliency (EER) program supports fundamental research to advance resource and energy conservation and recovery, and to safeguard the natural environment and human health. Better use of domestic resources will help make U.S. manufacturing and energy systems more resilient and secure. EER projects advance artificial intelligence; biotechnology; quantum science and engineering; nanoengineering; microelectronics; and other national priorities. EER supports research that transforms biotechnology and manufacturing to create domestic sources of energy; engineered chemical, biological, and/or geo-physical processes may be involved. The program supports studies on the sustainability of benign manufacturing. EER supports the development of innovative technologies that minimize or re-use waste discharges to soil, water, and air by closing resource loops. EER also supports research on sustainable recycling and management of waste materials and critical minerals. EER supports studies on life cycle assessment, materials flow analysis, and AI modeling to advance the circular economy. EER research encompasses the chemistry, biochemistry, transport, and fate of nutrients and contaminants of emerging concern in air, water, soil, and sediments. It also includes the biochemical reactivity of pollutants in the built environment. EER welcomes ideas that grow fundamental and quantitative understanding of how nanomaterials and nanosystems interact with biological and environmental media. The program also supports research on engineered systems that safeguard health a...

The Transport Phenomena (TP) program supports fundamental research to understand, model, and control the transport of mass, momentum, energy, and species across multiple scales. Innovative TP research supports advances in artificial intelligence; manufacturing; biotechnology; microelectronics; energy generation, extraction, and utilization; nuclear energy; quantum science and engineering; and other national priorities. TP projects involve experiments, theory, and/or computational modeling. They aim to improve understanding and to create novel analytical techniques. While projects focus on fundamental principles, they also have a clear vision of how research outcomes will benefit applications in engineering. TP supports research on the dynamics of single- and multiphase systems. Special interests include flow separation, transition to turbulence, drag reduction, cavitation, instabilities, and reactive flows. The program encourages research on the connection between dynamics at the microscale and material and flow properties at the macroscale. Fluids of interest include liquids, gases, suspensions, emulsions, granular materials, active fluids, biological fluids, colloids, aerosols, bubbles and drops, and fluids with surfactants. TP supports research on physicochemical phenomena at the interfaces between fluids and between fluids and solids. These phenomena include adsorption and desorption of nanoparticles and surfactants; bulk and interfacial rheology; wetting and capillarity phenomena; electrokinetics; flow in porous media; and directed and self-assembly of particles. TP su...

Society relies on chemical processes to turn raw materials into useful products. The Chemical Process Systems (CPS) program invests in fundamental research on chemical and biochemical processes to make them more efficient, sustainable, and resilient. New CPS technologies for manufacturing, biotechnology, critical minerals, energy, food, and other national priorities will help make the U.S. more competitive and secure. Research supported by the CPS program covers the full breadth of chemical and biochemical process innovation. It spans reaction engineering and molecular thermodynamics; reactor design; catalysis; electrochemical systems; separations; and process design. The program encourages proposals that connect the molecular scale to process and plant scales. The CPS program explores active-site structure and function, reaction mechanisms, in situ and operando characterization, durability, and device-level integration. Microreactors, membrane and catalytic reactors, atmospheric plasmas, and other novel configurations are of interest. The program supports research in catalysis and electrochemical systems to produce, use, and store energy, to reduce waste, to process polymers, and to synthesize fuels and chemicals. This includes process and materials innovation to support the nuclear fuel cycle. The CPS program also targets chemical and biological separations that are efficient and scalable. Research includes the design of membranes, sorbents, and specialized interfaces. Advances can be used in gas separations, the recovery of critical minerals, bioprocessing, and protein a...

The Engineering Biological and Biomedical Systems (EBBS) program expands our understanding of biological and physiological systems, and it helps improve human health. For U.S. leadership in biotechnology, the engineering of biology is required at every scale. Engineering is needed for sensing biomarkers to making proteins to restoring functions of the body. In EBBS, fundamental mechanistic insights are combined with experimental and computational techniques. This approach helps develop platforms, devices, organisms, tissues, and processes that bring new understanding and control of biological functions. EBBS supports studies of mechanisms that drive the behavior of microbial populations and cells, and of therapeutic cells and tissues. This includes discovering the underlying engineering principles that are needed to capture the responses of biological systems and bioreactors. It also includes the creation of novel biosensing platforms and new optical imaging and modulation strategies. Research that enables the design of biological systems to sense and respond to novel stimuli is welcome. Similarly, projects leading to insight into tissue changes or injury, and to systems that imitate or restore the functions of tissues or organs are encouraged. Projects that advance rehabilitation engineering through new theories and approaches are supported by the EBBS program. Fundamental engineering research driven by the needs of persons with disabilities is encouraged. The EBBS program expands what is possible in biomanufacturing; research may advance biotechnology and/or health. EBBS....

This purpose of the GlobalX Challenge is to accelerate the traditional knowledge generation cycle, proving or disproving an applied research theory on an advanced timeline, leading to the discovery of revolutionary dual-use capability for the benefit of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, the commercial marketplace, and the public. The expected outcomes of this Challenge are promising, potentially game-changing, applied concepts whose maturity may be accelerated under separate follow-on technology development efforts.

The purpose of the GlobalX Innovation Challenge is to accelerate the traditional knowledge generation cycle, rapidly testing applied research theories to enable the discovery of revolutionary dual-use capabilities for the benefit of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, the commercial marketplace, and the public. Led by the Office of Naval Research Global and targeted at researchers in the Indian subcontinent, this challenge addresses a joint Naval need and seeks to deliver outcomes of value to both the U.S. and India. The expected results are promising, potentially game-changing applied concepts whose maturity may be further advanced through separate follow-on technology development efforts.

APPLICATIONS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY THROUGH RD APPLY AT: https://rdapply.sc.egov.usda.gov/. This posting at grants.gov is informational only. The CY 2022 Disaster Water Grants Program is designed to assist communities by awarding grant funds to qualified entities for expenses related to water infrastructure systems in designated areas that were impacted by events that occurred during CY 2022 and were recognized through Presidentially Declared Disasters. In addition to damage repairs, these grants are also intended to develop system capacity and resiliency in order to reduce or eliminate long-term risks from future events. Water infrastructure systems include drinking water, wastewater, solid waste, and stormwater projects serving eligible communities. Adequate documentation must be provided to demonstrate impacts to the water infrastructure systems. Eligible applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements: (a) Be either a Public Body, an organization operated on a not-for-profit basis, a tribe, or a prefabricated home organization operating an eligible community-based system. Non-tribal applicants proposing to serve tribes and tribal areas should have the support of those tribes either in the form of a Tribal Resolution and/or letter of support for the project impacting their communities.(b) Be eligible to receive and administer a Federal grant under Federal law. (c) Each applicant must:(1) Have or will obtain the legal authority necessary for owning, constructing, operating, and maintaining the facility or service to be repaired or replaced and for...

The Endangered Species Program of the Southeast Region provides financial assistance on a competitive baiss to educators, researchers, non-federal agencies, private businesses, individuals and other partners interested in the conservation and recovery of endangered, threatened, candidate, and/or species of conservation interest.