Dear Colleague Letter: Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) Call for High Priority GEO-Themed IUCRCS (Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers)
09/19/2022
Dear Colleague Letter: Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) Call for High Priority GEO-Themed IUCRCS (Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers)
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Document Number: nsf22121
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Dear Colleague Letter: Supplemental Funding for Space-Related Preparation and Awareness for Career Equity (SPACE)
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Document Number: nsf22123
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Dear Colleague Letter: Planning Proposals to Catalyze Innovative and Inclusive Wildland Fire Science through Diverse Collaborations
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Document Number: nsf22122
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Dear Colleague Letter: Seafloor Geodesy 2022
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Document Number: nsf22124
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NSF News
NSF invests in bio-inspired and bioengineered systems for artificial intelligence, infrastructure and healthSeptember 19, 2022
The U.S. National Science Foundation announces an investment of $30 million to support new interdisciplinary, fundamental research projects for the…
Research News
Reintroducing bison to grasslands increases plant diversity, drought resilience, study findsSeptember 19, 2022
A Kansas State University-led study has found that reintroducing bison — a formerly dominant grazer — doubles plant biodiversity in a tallgrass…
Research News
Thinking like a cyber-attacker to protect user dataSeptember 19, 2022
A component of computer processors that connects different parts of the chip can be exploited by malicious agents who seek to steal secret information…
NSF News
Exploring how future tech can benefit people in the workplace — NSF greenlights 14 new 'Future of Work' research projectsSeptember 19, 2022
The U.S. National Science Foundation will invest more than $29 million in research projects designed to increase opportunities for U.S. workers and…
Science Matters
The importance of bee-ing togetherSeptember 19, 2022
From habitat loss to pesticides, many bees face threats to survival, and in turn, so do the flowers that depend on them. However, simply saving a greater number of bees is not enough. Whether in fields, forests or farms, flowers rely on a wide range of pollinators to be most productive — including dozens of species of wild bees.
Which wild bees appear in a given field can vary wildly over time, from month to month and year to year. In fact, in a study by Rutgers University and the University of California, Davis, insect ecologists found evidence that the bee diversity required for crop pollination increases each year. In just one study region, the scientists identified more than 70 wild bee species over a multi-year period, each species helps fill gaps left by others...
Dear Colleague Letter: Planning Proposals to Catalyze Innovative and Inclusive Wildland Fire Science through Diverse Collaborations
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Document Number: nsf2212
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EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: Track-2 Focused EPSCoR Collaborations (RII Track-2 FEC)
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Document Number: nsf22633
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Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI)
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Document Number: nsf22632
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Exploring how future tech can benefit people in the workplace
09/19/2022
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Exploring how future tech can benefit people in the workplace — NSF greenlights 14 new 'Future of Work' research projects
The U.S. National Science Foundation will invest more than $29 million in research projects designed to increase opportunities for U.S. workers and generate positive societal and economic impacts at the local and national level. Researchers in 17 states will examine subjects including the health and safety on construction sites, training and well-being in the childcare industry, and time-sensitive medical decision-making. The projects are supported by the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier program, one of NSF's 10 Big Ideas initiatives launched in 2017 to foster bold research at the frontiers of science and engineering.
Scientists and engineers will collaborate on 14 projects exploring a broad range of people-focused studies with the potential to enable new methods and technologies that can enhance public health and well-being, increase worker safety, and open rewarding new career paths in fields like heavy construction, education and transportation.
Read the full announcement
📰 In case you missed it
Predicting and preventing pandemics is goal of new NSF awards
The potential for future pandemics is an ever-present and growing threat, whether they are due to known diseases like monkeypox or Ebola, or an as-yet-unknown infection. Nearly $26 million in new awards from the U.S. National Science Foundation will support interdisciplinary investigations and collaborations that aim to predict and prevent the next infectious disease outbreak, significantly contributing to national security, public health and economic stability.
Read the full announcement
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What’s hot in science and engineering? Check out NSF news for the day of September 20, 2022
09/20/2022
Research News
Plants reprogram their cells to fight invaders. Here's how.September 20, 2022
In times of war, factories retool to support the needs of battle. Assembly lines change course from turning out car parts to machine guns, or from…
Research News
Silicon image sensor that computesSeptember 20, 2022
As any driver knows, accidents can happen in the blink of an eye — so when it comes to the camera system in autonomous vehicles, processing time is…
Technology, Innovation and Partnerships
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NSF launches entrepreneurial fellowships
for engineers and scientists
The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a new $20 million investment in Entrepreneurial Fellowships through a multi-year cooperative agreement with Activate.org. The Activate Fellows supported by NSF will be scientists and engineers from a variety of backgrounds and regions across the U.S. who will translate research breakthroughs to new products and services with broad societal benefits.
The Entrepreneurial Fellowships will help make entrepreneurship more accessible for people in less-developed innovation ecosystems, expanding geographic diversity and increasing participation of women and others who have been traditionally underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Over two years, Entrepreneurial Fellows will receive training and at least $350,000 in direct support, plus access to specialized research facilities and equipment through Activate. The fellows will advance their prototypes, refine their business models, build their teams, and secure follow-on funding. The initiative will be run by Activate.org, a nonprofit organization that launched the entrepreneurial fellowship model with the Cyclotron Road program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and has partnered with U.S.-based funders and research institutions to grow the approach.
"Entrepreneurial fellowships offer another pathway for researchers to transition promising ideas and technologies from the lab to society," said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF assistant director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. "This new initiative strengthens NSF's existing lab-to-market programs, and our commitment to translational research and developing a diverse and inclusive innovation ecosystem that involves every part of the country."
“We are thrilled to partner with the National Science Foundation to empower more scientists and engineers to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market. With this support, we will scale our efforts to ensure that early-stage hard-tech entrepreneurs have the funding, technical support, mentorship, community, and education they need at the outset of their entrepreneurial journeys. We are thankful to TIP for leading the way to scale this impact,” said R. Todd Johnson, interim CEO, Activate.
The initiative includes three possible pathways for scientists and engineers to participate:Activate Anywhere — A connected, yet not co-located, community of fellows that allows for any qualified scientist anywhere in the country to benefit from Activate fellowship support and leverage the concentrated resources of traditional innovation centers where Activate has in-residence offerings.
A New Activate In-residence Community — A new in-person location that expands physical communities beyond Activate's existing locations ensuring that a regional hub exists for any fellow across the country who wants to be in-residence, and to strengthen the national base of resources that any fellow across the network can leverage.
Pre-doctoral Translational Research Experience — A new mechanism aimed at expanding opportunities for diverse talent and overcoming racial imbalance in the science innovation ecosystem by supporting pre-doctoral scientists and engineers and exposing them to nascent science-based startups under the mentorship of Activate’s network.
To learn more about Entrepreneurial Fellowships including how to apply, visit https://www.activate.org/apply.
ABOUT THE TIP DIRECTORATE
The NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, TIP, harnesses the nation's vast and diverse talent pool to accelerate critical and emerging technologies and address pressing societal and economic challenges. TIP comprises three primary focus areas – fostering innovation and technology ecosystems, establishing translation pathways, and partnering across sectors to improve U.S. competitiveness, grow the U.S. economy and engage and train a diverse workforce for future, high-wage jobs.
For more information about TIP, visit beta.nsf.gov/tip/latest.
NSF's Convergence Accelerator invests $30 million to tackle challenges related to the blue economy
09/21/2022
NSF Convergence Accelerator
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NSF's Convergence Accelerator invests $30 million to tackle challenges related to the blue economy
6 NSF-funded multidisciplinary teams will further develop prototypes for practical application to improve the ocean ecosystem
The U.S National Science Foundation is tackling challenges related to climate, sustainability, food, energy, pollution and the economy through a $30 million investment to advance six convergent research teams from Phase 1 to Phase 2 of NSF's Convergence Accelerator Track E: Networked Blue Economy.
The focus of the track includes interconnecting the blue economy and accelerating convergence research across ocean sectors — including creating a smart, integrated, connected and open ecosystem for ocean innovation, exploration and sustainable use. Collectively, Phase 2 teams are producing tools, methods and educational resources to improve human engagement with the world's oceans.
In September 2021, the program issued 16 Phase 1 awards from which the six Phase 2 awardees were selected after a formal proposal and pitch. Over the course of two years, the Phase 2 teams will participate in an innovation and entrepreneurial curriculum that includes training on product development, intellectual property, financial resources, sustainability planning, and communications and outreach.
"A convergence approach between academic researchers, industry, government, nonprofits and other communities is vital to developing solutions to address unresolved ocean-wide challenges related to the blue economy," said Douglas Maughan, head of the NSF Convergence Accelerator program. "The teams selected for Phase 2 are building solutions and strong partnerships to improve human engagement with the ocean and to tackle some of the most pressing ocean-related challenges such as plastic waste and coastal erosion. Within the next two years, we expect the teams to provide high-impact deliverables that will be sustained beyond NSF support
2021 Cohort, Track E, Phase 2 Awardees:
Led by the University of Washington, Backyard Buoys empowers Indigenous and other coastal communities to collect and use ocean data to support maritime activities, food security and coastal hazard protection.
Led by the University of South Florida, the BlueGAP project connects community organizations across watersheds to address economic and health challenges caused by nitrogen pollution. BlueGAP empowers people to reach well-informed decisions for better living through storytelling, reliable water quality information and tailored decision trees that link to next steps for action.
Led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Digital Reefs delivers interactive 4D visualizations of reef environments into the hands of local communities, helping to ensure a sustainable future for all coral reefs.
Led by the University of California, Santa Barbara, Nereid Biomaterials is enabling a healthier ocean through safe and rapid ocean degradation of plastic components of equipment. By merging marine microbiology, synthetic biology, materials science and robotics, the team is developing "ocean degradable" polymers with embedded additives to accelerate and control degradation.
Led by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Ocean Vision AI accelerates the processing of underwater visual data with a globally integrated network of services, tools and diverse community of users. Ocean Vision AI streamlines access and analysis of ocean visual data to enable effective marine stewardship.
Led by Tulane University, ReCoast is ensuring ecological safety and mitigation of land loss through coastal community recycling programs to keep glass out of landfills by creating glass sand products that support coastal restoration and preservation projects.
About the Convergence Accelerator
Launched in 2019, the Convergence Accelerator — a Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, or TIP, program — builds upon NSF's investment in basic research and discovery to accelerate solutions toward societal and economic impact. Convergence Accelerator multidisciplinary teams use convergence research fundamentals and innovation processes to stimulate innovative idea sharing and development of sustainable solutions.
More information about the Convergence Accelerator program is available at: beta.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/convergence-accelerator.
About the TIP Directorate
The NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, TIP, harnesses the nation's vast and diverse talent pool to accelerate critical and emerging technologies and address pressing societal and economic challenges. TIP comprises three primary focus areas – fostering innovation and technology ecosystems, establishing translation pathways, and partnering across sectors to improve U.S. competitiveness, grow the U.S. economy and engage and train a diverse workforce for future, high-wage jobs.
For more information about TIP, visit beta.nsf.gov/tip/latest.
What’s hot in science and engineering? Check out NSF news for the day of September 21, 2022
09/21/2022
Keep up with the latest from the U.S. National Science Foundation. This is a daily look at notable news, scientific findings and stories brought to you by NSF.
Research News
Mimicking termites to generate new materialsSeptember 21, 2022
Inspired by the way termites build their nests, researchers at Caltech have developed a framework to design new materials that mimics the fundamental…
Research News
How did slime, a marvel of biology, evolve?September 21, 2022
From the slime coatings of slugs to the saliva in our mouths, many animals contain mucus. How did this marvel of biology evolve? In mammals, the…
NSF News
NSF's Convergence Accelerator invests $30 million to tackle challenges related to the blue economySeptember 21, 2022
The U.S National Science Foundation is tackling challenges related to climate, sustainability, food, energy, pollution and the economy through a $30…
EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: Track-2 Focused EPSCoR Collaborations (RII Track-2 FEC)
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Document Number: nsf2263
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Fast Links and Funding Opportunities
Research Experiences for Teachers in Engineering and Computer Science
Full Proposal Deadline: October 12, 2022.
Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI)
Full Proposal Deadline: December 16, 2022.
Computer and Information Science and Engineering: Core Programs
Small Projects: Proposals Accepted Anytime.
Medium Projects and OAC Core Projects: December 22, 2022.
A Message from CISE Leadership
Hello CISE community.
This month, I would like to focus my letter on the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. As you may know, last month, President Biden signed this legislation to fund domestic semiconductor manufacturing, and boost federal scientific research and development. On the “CHIPS” side, the Act appropriates $200 million for NSF over five years to advance on semiconductor workforce. Also related to these efforts is the newly released Request for Information (RFI) regarding the draft National Strategy on Microelectronics Research. Please read and respond with your input!
On the “Science” side of the legislation, NSF is also a significant focus. The legislation has $81 billion over the next five years in authorizing language that touches on many aspects of NSF including the new Technology, Innovation and Partnership (TIP) Directorate, STEM Education, expanding the geography of innovation, and bolstering NSF’s core research funding. The Act has the potential for tremendous impact on America’s STEM research and researchers, technology innovation, and cutting-edge industries like semiconductor research and manufacturing. Noting the distinction between authorization language and appropriations language, we are hopeful to see the CHIPS and Science Act reach its full potential, and we look forward to it being able to expand discovery through innovation anywhere, and opportunities everywhere.
I hope you enjoy our September newsletter, and I encourage you to share it with your colleagues and networks.
Best,
Margaret Martonosi
NSF Assistant Director for CISE
News & Announcements
Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention Phase I: Development Grants (PIPP Phase I)
Image Credit: iStock.com/peterschreiber.media, monsitj, smartboy10
Nearly $26 million in new awards from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) will support interdisciplinary investigations and collaborations that aim to predict and prevent the next infectious disease outbreak, significantly contributing to national security, public health and economic stability.
New NSF Center of Excellence in Cyberinfrastructure Announced
Image Credit: Shuttershock
NSF announces a new Center of Excellence, SGX3, that enhances the creation, use, and ongoing sustainability of science gateways—a web-based platform that allows large audiences of researchers, educators, students, and the public to access complex, expensive resources such as supercomputers, scientific instruments, and large data sets.
Get more NSF News
Events
September 27, 2022
Intro to NSF’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships
October 11, 2022
Waterman Lecture: Past climates inform our future
November 14-17, 2022
NSF Virtual Grants Conference
Career Opportunities
Division Director, Division of Computer and Network Systems
Opening and Closing Dates: July 11, 2022 to October 11, 2022.
Office Director, Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure
Opening and Closing Dates: July 11, 2022 to October 11, 2022.
Program Director positions within OAC, CNS, and CCF
Multiple Application Deadlines
Program Spotlight
The Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention initiative is an NSF-funded program that aims to prevent pandemics that have not yet happened. The multi-directorate initiative calls for researchers from a broad range of scientific disciplines—computing and information science, biology, engineering, and social, behavioral and economic sciences—to work together to address the complex challenges involved in forecasting and avoiding future pandemic-scale outbreaks.
Specifically, PIPP seeks to foster fundamental research in the multidisciplinary areas related to the dynamic nature of pathogen and disease emergence; thus, significantly contributing to national security, health and economic stability, by creating new knowledge and employing novel paradigms in computing, including machine learning algorithms, smart sensor networks, cutting-edge modeling systems to forecast critical data, to name a few.
The first phase of the initiative provides support for projects that identify major challenges involved in predicting and preventing pandemics, and how those challenges could be overcome through the creation of multidisciplinary research teams and activities.
A solicitation for phase two is expected to be released in 2023.
In the next section, we highlight three PIPP-funded programs that showcase examples of the PIPP’s multi-disciplinary approach to pandemic research and prevention.
Dynamics of Pandemic Spread and Prevention in Indigenous Communities
Image Credit: NIAID
Led by Lehigh University, this research aims to contribute to global pandemic prediction and prevention by advancing knowledge about pandemic dynamics within isolated and underserved populations. Specifically, the investigators will examine how pandemics of infectious disease affect and are affected by their spread in Indigenous communities. The focus will be on how specific features of these communities influence various aspects of epidemics, such as the initial spillover to humans, the human-to-human spread of the pathogen, the biological behavior of the pathogen, and countermeasures that can mitigate the impact of the disease. The project will innovate collaboratively in the fields of engineering, biology, data science, and cognitive psychology along four interlinked thrusts:
community understanding of cause and prevention;
predicting virus spillover and spread;
engineering devices for point-of-care sensing; and
biological differentiators: predicting infection, which will investigate virus-host cell interactions, and phenotypic and genotypic differentiators.
Real-time Analytics to Monitor and Predict Emerging Plant Disease
Image Credit: Patrick E. McGuire, University of California, Davis
This research led by North Carolina State University focuses on plant disease outbreaks, which are increasing and threatening food security for vulnerable populations in the US and around the world. This research will characterize how human attitudes and social behavior of stakeholders impact plant disease transmission and adoption of sensor, surveillance and disease prediction technologies. The team will engage a diverse group of postdoctoral associates, graduate students and research staff through research and workshop participation and foster partnerships for a future Plant Disease Pandemic Preparedness Center.
In addition, the research team plans to work collaboratively with a broad group of stakeholders including scientists; growers; extension specialists; personnel at the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine; Department of Homeland Security inspectors; and diagnosticians in the National Plant Diagnostic Network.
Advancing Environmental Surveillance for Pandemic Prediction in Remote and Resource Poor Settings
Image Credit: Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MA
Led by University of Kentucky, the overarching goal of this project is to address the challenges associated with the development and deployment of “universal” environmental surveillance strategies for pathogens of pandemic potential. To advance this goal, the project team will leverage the PIPP funding to lay the foundation for the establishment of the Center for the Discovery of Emerging Environmental Pathogens (C-DEEP) — a Center with globally linked network of environmental surveillance tools that would be deployed in emerging infectious disease hot spots.
The mission of the C-DEEP will be to advance the science of environmental surveillance and metagenomics, especially in low-resources or remote settings where pandemics are likely to emerge and where current disease surveillance processes are inadequate. In collaboration with partners in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, the project team plans to extend existing expertise in environmental surveillance of emerging pathogens by building transdisciplinary collaborations, critically defining knowledge and technology gaps, and conducting preliminary research designed to enrich the capabilities of the C-DEEP.
Faces of CISE: Nina H. Fefferman, Ph.D.
Nina H. Fefferman, Ph.D., and her dog companion, Baldur
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Mathematics
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Image Credit: Homayoun Saleh
Nina H. Fefferman, Ph.D., is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and of mathematics at University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Her work focuses on mathematical and computational models of biological systems, and generally falls into one or all the following categories: epidemiology; evolutionary and behavioral ecology; conservation biology; and bioinspired algorithms. As one aspect of her work, Fefferman leads a team of researchers now funded by the NSF PIPP program.
"I am interested in the effects of animal behavior, ecology, and infectious disease epidemiology on one another. I model disease in both human and animal populations and am interested in how disease and disease-related behavioral systems can affect the short-term survival and long-term success of a population,” Fefferman said.
Some of her current projects focus on the modeling of social insect populations and their susceptibility to pathogens based on their behavior and nesting ecology, the effects of stress and resource limitations on populations in fluctuating environments, and how best to maintain human societal infrastructure in the face of pandemic disease.
“Mathematically, I am interested in Complex Systems: the mathematics of studying the conclusions or outputs of systems where each component is relatively simple (governed by a small set of logical rules), but when you put a lot of them together, they react to each other and create highly organized systems and incredibly complex behaviors. Not only are these systems fascinating and beautiful by themselves, but they have direct applications to the types of biological problems mentioned above.”
Fefferman has published numerous scholarly works, and in addition, Fefferman has received many accolades and awards. These include the 2021 University of Tennessee Chancellor’s award for Success in Multidisciplinary Research and the 2011 Virginia Governor’s Technology Award for Cross-Boundary Collaboration.
CISE Units
Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS)
CNS invents new computing and networking technologies, while ensuring their security and privacy, and finds new ways to make use of current technologies.
Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF)
CCF advances computing and communication theory, algorithms for computer and computational sciences and architecture and the design of computers and software.
Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS)
IIS studies the interrelated roles of people, computers and information to increase the ability to understand data, as well as mimic the hallmarks of intelligence in computational systems.
Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC)
OAC supports and coordinates the development, acquisition and provision of state-of-the-art cyberinfrastructure resources, tools and services essential to the advancement and transformation of Science and engineering.
Racial Equity in STEM Education (EHR Racial Equity)
09/23/2022
Racial Equity in STEM Education (EHR Racial Equity)
See this in PDF format
Document Number: nsf22634
Continue reading on NSF.gov
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for CISE Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) Initiative
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Document Number: nsf22125
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Keep up with the latest from the U.S. National Science Foundation. This is a daily look at notable news, scientific findings and stories brought to you by NSF.
NSF News
This week with NSF Director PanchanathanSeptember 23, 2022
This week, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan promoted greater domestic production of critical computer chips and the benefits of enhanced…
Science Matters
The bubble-bursting, causality-revealing awesomeness of randomized controlled trialsSeptember 22, 2022
In the 1990s, a small group of researchers developed a scientifically rigorous way to design complex social experiments that can clearly distinguish causes from mere correlations and coincidences. Their method recast a statistical technique traditionally used in clinical medical trials, giving rise to a new movement in social science research and winning them a Nobel Prize.
Appropriately referred to as "the gold standard" for its highly valued ability to unmask the hidden nature of human behavior and society, its actual name is mundane: the randomized controlled trial, or RCT for short. Over more than 20 years, RCTs have been used again and again in social experiments to slice through misconceptions, dispel vagaries and provide the evidence needed to implement policies and interventions that have saved millions of lives and improved the quality of life for countless more…
See all the latest NSF news.
For cool science bytes, explainers and more, visit Science Matters.
The potential for future pandemics is an ever-present and growing threat, whether they are due to known diseases like monkeypox or Ebola, or an as-yet-unknown infection. Nearly $26 million in new awards from the U.S. National Science Foundation will support interdisciplinary investigations and collaborations that aim to predict and prevent the next infectious disease outbreak, significantly contributing to national security, public health and economic stability.
Read the full announcement
Tweeting about your research?
Tag @NSF to share your work with the NSF community!
What’s hot in science and engineering? Check out NSF news for the day of September 20, 2022
09/20/2022
Research News
Plants reprogram their cells to fight invaders. Here's how.September 20, 2022
In times of war, factories retool to support the needs of battle. Assembly lines change course from turning out car parts to machine guns, or from…
Research News
Silicon image sensor that computesSeptember 20, 2022
As any driver knows, accidents can happen in the blink of an eye — so when it comes to the camera system in autonomous vehicles, processing time is…
Technology, Innovation and Partnerships
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NSF launches entrepreneurial fellowships
for engineers and scientists
The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a new $20 million investment in Entrepreneurial Fellowships through a multi-year cooperative agreement with Activate.org. The Activate Fellows supported by NSF will be scientists and engineers from a variety of backgrounds and regions across the U.S. who will translate research breakthroughs to new products and services with broad societal benefits.
The Entrepreneurial Fellowships will help make entrepreneurship more accessible for people in less-developed innovation ecosystems, expanding geographic diversity and increasing participation of women and others who have been traditionally underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Over two years, Entrepreneurial Fellows will receive training and at least $350,000 in direct support, plus access to specialized research facilities and equipment through Activate. The fellows will advance their prototypes, refine their business models, build their teams, and secure follow-on funding. The initiative will be run by Activate.org, a nonprofit organization that launched the entrepreneurial fellowship model with the Cyclotron Road program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and has partnered with U.S.-based funders and research institutions to grow the approach.
"Entrepreneurial fellowships offer another pathway for researchers to transition promising ideas and technologies from the lab to society," said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF assistant director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. "This new initiative strengthens NSF's existing lab-to-market programs, and our commitment to translational research and developing a diverse and inclusive innovation ecosystem that involves every part of the country."
“We are thrilled to partner with the National Science Foundation to empower more scientists and engineers to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market. With this support, we will scale our efforts to ensure that early-stage hard-tech entrepreneurs have the funding, technical support, mentorship, community, and education they need at the outset of their entrepreneurial journeys. We are thankful to TIP for leading the way to scale this impact,” said R. Todd Johnson, interim CEO, Activate.
The initiative includes three possible pathways for scientists and engineers to participate:Activate Anywhere — A connected, yet not co-located, community of fellows that allows for any qualified scientist anywhere in the country to benefit from Activate fellowship support and leverage the concentrated resources of traditional innovation centers where Activate has in-residence offerings.
A New Activate In-residence Community — A new in-person location that expands physical communities beyond Activate's existing locations ensuring that a regional hub exists for any fellow across the country who wants to be in-residence, and to strengthen the national base of resources that any fellow across the network can leverage.
Pre-doctoral Translational Research Experience — A new mechanism aimed at expanding opportunities for diverse talent and overcoming racial imbalance in the science innovation ecosystem by supporting pre-doctoral scientists and engineers and exposing them to nascent science-based startups under the mentorship of Activate’s network.
To learn more about Entrepreneurial Fellowships including how to apply, visit https://www.activate.org/apply.
ABOUT THE TIP DIRECTORATE
The NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, TIP, harnesses the nation's vast and diverse talent pool to accelerate critical and emerging technologies and address pressing societal and economic challenges. TIP comprises three primary focus areas – fostering innovation and technology ecosystems, establishing translation pathways, and partnering across sectors to improve U.S. competitiveness, grow the U.S. economy and engage and train a diverse workforce for future, high-wage jobs.
For more information about TIP, visit beta.nsf.gov/tip/latest.
NSF's Convergence Accelerator invests $30 million to tackle challenges related to the blue economy
09/21/2022
NSF Convergence Accelerator
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NSF's Convergence Accelerator invests $30 million to tackle challenges related to the blue economy
6 NSF-funded multidisciplinary teams will further develop prototypes for practical application to improve the ocean ecosystem
The U.S National Science Foundation is tackling challenges related to climate, sustainability, food, energy, pollution and the economy through a $30 million investment to advance six convergent research teams from Phase 1 to Phase 2 of NSF's Convergence Accelerator Track E: Networked Blue Economy.
The focus of the track includes interconnecting the blue economy and accelerating convergence research across ocean sectors — including creating a smart, integrated, connected and open ecosystem for ocean innovation, exploration and sustainable use. Collectively, Phase 2 teams are producing tools, methods and educational resources to improve human engagement with the world's oceans.
In September 2021, the program issued 16 Phase 1 awards from which the six Phase 2 awardees were selected after a formal proposal and pitch. Over the course of two years, the Phase 2 teams will participate in an innovation and entrepreneurial curriculum that includes training on product development, intellectual property, financial resources, sustainability planning, and communications and outreach.
"A convergence approach between academic researchers, industry, government, nonprofits and other communities is vital to developing solutions to address unresolved ocean-wide challenges related to the blue economy," said Douglas Maughan, head of the NSF Convergence Accelerator program. "The teams selected for Phase 2 are building solutions and strong partnerships to improve human engagement with the ocean and to tackle some of the most pressing ocean-related challenges such as plastic waste and coastal erosion. Within the next two years, we expect the teams to provide high-impact deliverables that will be sustained beyond NSF support
2021 Cohort, Track E, Phase 2 Awardees:
Led by the University of Washington, Backyard Buoys empowers Indigenous and other coastal communities to collect and use ocean data to support maritime activities, food security and coastal hazard protection.
Led by the University of South Florida, the BlueGAP project connects community organizations across watersheds to address economic and health challenges caused by nitrogen pollution. BlueGAP empowers people to reach well-informed decisions for better living through storytelling, reliable water quality information and tailored decision trees that link to next steps for action.
Led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Digital Reefs delivers interactive 4D visualizations of reef environments into the hands of local communities, helping to ensure a sustainable future for all coral reefs.
Led by the University of California, Santa Barbara, Nereid Biomaterials is enabling a healthier ocean through safe and rapid ocean degradation of plastic components of equipment. By merging marine microbiology, synthetic biology, materials science and robotics, the team is developing "ocean degradable" polymers with embedded additives to accelerate and control degradation.
Led by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Ocean Vision AI accelerates the processing of underwater visual data with a globally integrated network of services, tools and diverse community of users. Ocean Vision AI streamlines access and analysis of ocean visual data to enable effective marine stewardship.
Led by Tulane University, ReCoast is ensuring ecological safety and mitigation of land loss through coastal community recycling programs to keep glass out of landfills by creating glass sand products that support coastal restoration and preservation projects.
About the Convergence Accelerator
Launched in 2019, the Convergence Accelerator — a Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, or TIP, program — builds upon NSF's investment in basic research and discovery to accelerate solutions toward societal and economic impact. Convergence Accelerator multidisciplinary teams use convergence research fundamentals and innovation processes to stimulate innovative idea sharing and development of sustainable solutions.
More information about the Convergence Accelerator program is available at: beta.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/convergence-accelerator.
About the TIP Directorate
The NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, TIP, harnesses the nation's vast and diverse talent pool to accelerate critical and emerging technologies and address pressing societal and economic challenges. TIP comprises three primary focus areas – fostering innovation and technology ecosystems, establishing translation pathways, and partnering across sectors to improve U.S. competitiveness, grow the U.S. economy and engage and train a diverse workforce for future, high-wage jobs.
For more information about TIP, visit beta.nsf.gov/tip/latest.
What’s hot in science and engineering? Check out NSF news for the day of September 21, 2022
09/21/2022
Keep up with the latest from the U.S. National Science Foundation. This is a daily look at notable news, scientific findings and stories brought to you by NSF.
Research News
Mimicking termites to generate new materialsSeptember 21, 2022
Inspired by the way termites build their nests, researchers at Caltech have developed a framework to design new materials that mimics the fundamental…
Research News
How did slime, a marvel of biology, evolve?September 21, 2022
From the slime coatings of slugs to the saliva in our mouths, many animals contain mucus. How did this marvel of biology evolve? In mammals, the…
NSF News
NSF's Convergence Accelerator invests $30 million to tackle challenges related to the blue economySeptember 21, 2022
The U.S National Science Foundation is tackling challenges related to climate, sustainability, food, energy, pollution and the economy through a $30…
EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: Track-2 Focused EPSCoR Collaborations (RII Track-2 FEC)
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Document Number: nsf2263
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Fast Links and Funding Opportunities
Research Experiences for Teachers in Engineering and Computer Science
Full Proposal Deadline: October 12, 2022.
Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI)
Full Proposal Deadline: December 16, 2022.
Computer and Information Science and Engineering: Core Programs
Small Projects: Proposals Accepted Anytime.
Medium Projects and OAC Core Projects: December 22, 2022.
A Message from CISE Leadership
Hello CISE community.
This month, I would like to focus my letter on the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. As you may know, last month, President Biden signed this legislation to fund domestic semiconductor manufacturing, and boost federal scientific research and development. On the “CHIPS” side, the Act appropriates $200 million for NSF over five years to advance on semiconductor workforce. Also related to these efforts is the newly released Request for Information (RFI) regarding the draft National Strategy on Microelectronics Research. Please read and respond with your input!
On the “Science” side of the legislation, NSF is also a significant focus. The legislation has $81 billion over the next five years in authorizing language that touches on many aspects of NSF including the new Technology, Innovation and Partnership (TIP) Directorate, STEM Education, expanding the geography of innovation, and bolstering NSF’s core research funding. The Act has the potential for tremendous impact on America’s STEM research and researchers, technology innovation, and cutting-edge industries like semiconductor research and manufacturing. Noting the distinction between authorization language and appropriations language, we are hopeful to see the CHIPS and Science Act reach its full potential, and we look forward to it being able to expand discovery through innovation anywhere, and opportunities everywhere.
I hope you enjoy our September newsletter, and I encourage you to share it with your colleagues and networks.
Best,
Margaret Martonosi
NSF Assistant Director for CISE
News & Announcements
Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention Phase I: Development Grants (PIPP Phase I)
Image Credit: iStock.com/peterschreiber.media, monsitj, smartboy10
Nearly $26 million in new awards from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) will support interdisciplinary investigations and collaborations that aim to predict and prevent the next infectious disease outbreak, significantly contributing to national security, public health and economic stability.
New NSF Center of Excellence in Cyberinfrastructure Announced
Image Credit: Shuttershock
NSF announces a new Center of Excellence, SGX3, that enhances the creation, use, and ongoing sustainability of science gateways—a web-based platform that allows large audiences of researchers, educators, students, and the public to access complex, expensive resources such as supercomputers, scientific instruments, and large data sets.
Get more NSF News
Events
September 27, 2022
Intro to NSF’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships
October 11, 2022
Waterman Lecture: Past climates inform our future
November 14-17, 2022
NSF Virtual Grants Conference
Career Opportunities
Division Director, Division of Computer and Network Systems
Opening and Closing Dates: July 11, 2022 to October 11, 2022.
Office Director, Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure
Opening and Closing Dates: July 11, 2022 to October 11, 2022.
Program Director positions within OAC, CNS, and CCF
Multiple Application Deadlines
Program Spotlight
The Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention initiative is an NSF-funded program that aims to prevent pandemics that have not yet happened. The multi-directorate initiative calls for researchers from a broad range of scientific disciplines—computing and information science, biology, engineering, and social, behavioral and economic sciences—to work together to address the complex challenges involved in forecasting and avoiding future pandemic-scale outbreaks.
Specifically, PIPP seeks to foster fundamental research in the multidisciplinary areas related to the dynamic nature of pathogen and disease emergence; thus, significantly contributing to national security, health and economic stability, by creating new knowledge and employing novel paradigms in computing, including machine learning algorithms, smart sensor networks, cutting-edge modeling systems to forecast critical data, to name a few.
The first phase of the initiative provides support for projects that identify major challenges involved in predicting and preventing pandemics, and how those challenges could be overcome through the creation of multidisciplinary research teams and activities.
A solicitation for phase two is expected to be released in 2023.
In the next section, we highlight three PIPP-funded programs that showcase examples of the PIPP’s multi-disciplinary approach to pandemic research and prevention.
Dynamics of Pandemic Spread and Prevention in Indigenous Communities
Image Credit: NIAID
Led by Lehigh University, this research aims to contribute to global pandemic prediction and prevention by advancing knowledge about pandemic dynamics within isolated and underserved populations. Specifically, the investigators will examine how pandemics of infectious disease affect and are affected by their spread in Indigenous communities. The focus will be on how specific features of these communities influence various aspects of epidemics, such as the initial spillover to humans, the human-to-human spread of the pathogen, the biological behavior of the pathogen, and countermeasures that can mitigate the impact of the disease. The project will innovate collaboratively in the fields of engineering, biology, data science, and cognitive psychology along four interlinked thrusts:
community understanding of cause and prevention;
predicting virus spillover and spread;
engineering devices for point-of-care sensing; and
biological differentiators: predicting infection, which will investigate virus-host cell interactions, and phenotypic and genotypic differentiators.
Real-time Analytics to Monitor and Predict Emerging Plant Disease
Image Credit: Patrick E. McGuire, University of California, Davis
This research led by North Carolina State University focuses on plant disease outbreaks, which are increasing and threatening food security for vulnerable populations in the US and around the world. This research will characterize how human attitudes and social behavior of stakeholders impact plant disease transmission and adoption of sensor, surveillance and disease prediction technologies. The team will engage a diverse group of postdoctoral associates, graduate students and research staff through research and workshop participation and foster partnerships for a future Plant Disease Pandemic Preparedness Center.
In addition, the research team plans to work collaboratively with a broad group of stakeholders including scientists; growers; extension specialists; personnel at the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine; Department of Homeland Security inspectors; and diagnosticians in the National Plant Diagnostic Network.
Advancing Environmental Surveillance for Pandemic Prediction in Remote and Resource Poor Settings
Image Credit: Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MA
Led by University of Kentucky, the overarching goal of this project is to address the challenges associated with the development and deployment of “universal” environmental surveillance strategies for pathogens of pandemic potential. To advance this goal, the project team will leverage the PIPP funding to lay the foundation for the establishment of the Center for the Discovery of Emerging Environmental Pathogens (C-DEEP) — a Center with globally linked network of environmental surveillance tools that would be deployed in emerging infectious disease hot spots.
The mission of the C-DEEP will be to advance the science of environmental surveillance and metagenomics, especially in low-resources or remote settings where pandemics are likely to emerge and where current disease surveillance processes are inadequate. In collaboration with partners in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, the project team plans to extend existing expertise in environmental surveillance of emerging pathogens by building transdisciplinary collaborations, critically defining knowledge and technology gaps, and conducting preliminary research designed to enrich the capabilities of the C-DEEP.
Faces of CISE: Nina H. Fefferman, Ph.D.
Nina H. Fefferman, Ph.D., and her dog companion, Baldur
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Mathematics
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Image Credit: Homayoun Saleh
Nina H. Fefferman, Ph.D., is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and of mathematics at University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Her work focuses on mathematical and computational models of biological systems, and generally falls into one or all the following categories: epidemiology; evolutionary and behavioral ecology; conservation biology; and bioinspired algorithms. As one aspect of her work, Fefferman leads a team of researchers now funded by the NSF PIPP program.
"I am interested in the effects of animal behavior, ecology, and infectious disease epidemiology on one another. I model disease in both human and animal populations and am interested in how disease and disease-related behavioral systems can affect the short-term survival and long-term success of a population,” Fefferman said.
Some of her current projects focus on the modeling of social insect populations and their susceptibility to pathogens based on their behavior and nesting ecology, the effects of stress and resource limitations on populations in fluctuating environments, and how best to maintain human societal infrastructure in the face of pandemic disease.
“Mathematically, I am interested in Complex Systems: the mathematics of studying the conclusions or outputs of systems where each component is relatively simple (governed by a small set of logical rules), but when you put a lot of them together, they react to each other and create highly organized systems and incredibly complex behaviors. Not only are these systems fascinating and beautiful by themselves, but they have direct applications to the types of biological problems mentioned above.”
Fefferman has published numerous scholarly works, and in addition, Fefferman has received many accolades and awards. These include the 2021 University of Tennessee Chancellor’s award for Success in Multidisciplinary Research and the 2011 Virginia Governor’s Technology Award for Cross-Boundary Collaboration.
CISE Units
Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS)
CNS invents new computing and networking technologies, while ensuring their security and privacy, and finds new ways to make use of current technologies.
Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF)
CCF advances computing and communication theory, algorithms for computer and computational sciences and architecture and the design of computers and software.
Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS)
IIS studies the interrelated roles of people, computers and information to increase the ability to understand data, as well as mimic the hallmarks of intelligence in computational systems.
Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC)
OAC supports and coordinates the development, acquisition and provision of state-of-the-art cyberinfrastructure resources, tools and services essential to the advancement and transformation of Science and engineering.
Racial Equity in STEM Education (EHR Racial Equity)
09/23/2022
Racial Equity in STEM Education (EHR Racial Equity)
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Document Number: nsf22634
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for CISE Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) Initiative
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Document Number: nsf22125
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Keep up with the latest from the U.S. National Science Foundation. This is a daily look at notable news, scientific findings and stories brought to you by NSF.
NSF News
This week with NSF Director PanchanathanSeptember 23, 2022
This week, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan promoted greater domestic production of critical computer chips and the benefits of enhanced…
Science Matters
The bubble-bursting, causality-revealing awesomeness of randomized controlled trialsSeptember 22, 2022
In the 1990s, a small group of researchers developed a scientifically rigorous way to design complex social experiments that can clearly distinguish causes from mere correlations and coincidences. Their method recast a statistical technique traditionally used in clinical medical trials, giving rise to a new movement in social science research and winning them a Nobel Prize.
Appropriately referred to as "the gold standard" for its highly valued ability to unmask the hidden nature of human behavior and society, its actual name is mundane: the randomized controlled trial, or RCT for short. Over more than 20 years, RCTs have been used again and again in social experiments to slice through misconceptions, dispel vagaries and provide the evidence needed to implement policies and interventions that have saved millions of lives and improved the quality of life for countless more…
See all the latest NSF news.
For cool science bytes, explainers and more, visit Science Matters.
