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n 2016, the National Science Foundation (NSF) unveiled a set of "Big Ideas," 10 bold, long-term research and process ideas that identify areas for future investment at the frontiers of science and engineering (seehttps://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/big_ideas/index.jsp). The Big Ideas represent unique opportunities to position our Nation at the cutting edge of global science and engineering leadership by bringing together diverse disciplinary perspectives to support convergence research. As such, when responding to this solicitation, even though proposals must be submitted to the Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences/Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (MPS/OMA),once received, the proposals will be managed by a cross-disciplinary team of NSF Program Directors. The Quantum Idea Incubator for Transformational Advances in Quantum Systems (QII - TAQS) program is designed to support interdisciplinary teams that will explore highly innovative, original, and potentially transformative ideas for developing and applying quantum science, quantum computing, and quantum engineering. Proposals with the potential to deliver new concepts, new platforms, and/or new approaches that will accelerate the science, computing, and engineering of quantum technologies are encouraged. Breakthroughs in quantum sensing, quantum communications, quantum simulations, or quantum computing systems are anticipated.

The Therapeutic Idea Award is designed to promote new ideas aimed at drug or treatment discovery that are still in the early stages of development. Projects that focus primarily on investigating the pathophysiology of ALS are not within the scope of this Funding Opportunity. Development and/or modification of preclinical model systems or the application of high- throughput screens to define or assess lead compounds for ALS treatment are of interest. Development of methods to adequately measure target binding and proximal downstream effects (target engagement) and the potential for undesirable activities at related but unintended targets (selectivity) are also encouraged. While the inclusion of preliminary data is not prohibited, the strength of the application should not rely on preliminary data, but on the innovative approach. All proposed research projects should include a well-formulated, testable hypothesis based on strong scientific rationale that holds translational potential to improve ALS treatment and/or advance a novel treatment modality. Innovation and impact are important aspects of the Therapeutic Idea Award. Research deemed innovative may introduce a new paradigm, challenge current paradigms, introduce novel concepts or technologies, or exhibit other uniquely creative qualities that may lead to potential therapeutics for ALS. Impact may be near-term or long-term, but must be significant and move beyond an incremental advancement.

The illicit sale of fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and other synthetic drugs is incredibly profitable, and their high potency in small quantities presents a low risk to traffickers. To respond to this challenge, the U.S. government's understanding of the production, transit, and sale of these drugs and their precursor chemicals must continually increase. We will support a data analytics provider that can produce reliable information to inform our future capacity building programming efforts to combat transnational organized crime. The combination of technology and investigative research on transnational criminal organizations has various potential applications, such as building partner capacity by giving countries leads on various transnational criminal networks, identifying target cells before problems infiltrate neighboring areas, using network overviews for strategy information, and providing training on a limited basis.

The Defense Sciences Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of advanced chemical and biological detector technologies to support a networked system of sensors for the detection, interdiction, and deterrence of clandestine weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices, or systems. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

The purpose of this FOA is to invite applications for Genomics, Epigenomics, and Transcriptomics Chemical Analysis Sites to join the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium. Awards made through this FOA will support the establishment of sites that will use appropriate technology to conduct genomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics analysis of tissues collected from human participants and animals undergoing a physical activity intervention, contribute that data to a public consortium database, and participate in the initial statistical analysis to generate fingerprints of candidate molecular transducers of physical activity.

The overall goals of the Bioinformatics Center are to provide a database and associated tools for storage and integration of clinical physiological and metabolic data along with multiple types of chemical analysis data derived through metabolomics, proteomics, genomics, transcriptomics, or similar technologies. 

The Confluence Tech Showcase will connect vendors, manufacturers, developers, entrepreneurs, technologists, engineers, and students to our regional utilities to share solutions to the top challenges that have been identified by the utilities. This call for abstracts is addressed to vendors, manufacturers, developers, researchers, technologists, engineers, utilities, entrepreneurs, students and anyone with a solution to the challenges outlined by the Regional Utility Network.   Topics: (Sessions have been categorized into the following tracks: financial innovations, operational efficiencies, business drivers, resiliency opportunities, regulatory concerns, and water sector challenges for utilities within the water cycle (stormwater, drinking water, wastewater).  Abstracts should provide a technology, process, and/or case study of solutions related to these topics, and clearly indicate their value proposition and unique aspects in addressing the problem.  )

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is interested in receiving white papers and proposals in support of advancing high temperature superconducting wire technology for future naval applications. Work under this program will consist of basic and applied research, and it will be funded under Budget Activity 1 and 2 (as defined in DoD Financial Management Regulation Vol. 2B, Ch. 5). The overall S&T effort is envisioned to be conducted at the TRL 1-3 stage. The overall objective of this program is to advance the state of art characteristics of high temperature superconductors to support applications demanding power delivery, pulsed current delivery, AC and DC magnetic fields, and magnetic energy storage.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages applications from institutions/organizations proposing original research addressing barriers that limit progress toward effective open- and closed-loop glucose control systems. Proposed research should tackle important obstacles at the level of sensing, hormone formulation and delivery, self-management decision support systems, and/or design of automated controllers/algorithms able to manage an integrated platform. This research may contribute to development of affordable and user friendly technologies to improve glucose control in patients with type 1 diabetes.

Description: The Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems (CCSS) Program supports innovative research in circuit and system hardware and signal processing techniques. CCSS also supports system and network architectures for communications and sensing to enable the next-generation cyber-physical systems (CPS) that leverage computation, communication, and sensing integrated with physical domains. CCSS invests in micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), physical, chemical, and biological sensing systems, neurotechnologies, and communication & sensing circuits and systems. The goal is to create new complex and hybrid systems ranging from nano- to macro-scale with innovative engineering principles and solutions for a variety of applications including but not limited to healthcare, medicine, environmental and biological monitoring, communications, disaster mitigation, homeland security, intelligent transportation, manufacturing, energy, and smart buildings. CCSS encourages research proposals based on emerging technologies and applications for communications and sensing such as high-speed communications of terabits per second and beyond, sensing and imaging covering microwave to terahertz frequencies, personalized health monitoring and assistance, secured wireless connectivity and sensing for the Internet of Things, and dynamic-data-enabled autonomous systems through real-time sensing and learning.

The Course Hero-Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching will support rising stars in the academy who love teaching, demonstrate excellence as educators, and are making their mark as exceptional researchers, poised to shape their fields. Designed for young scholars working towards tenure, the Course Hero-WW Fellowship is a "genius grant" that will emphasize the balance between scholarly excellence and commitment to teaching practice that draws on new approaches to pedagogy, creating a new level of engagement for students in and beyond the classroom. In short, Fellows will be emerging heroes in their fields, on a clear trajectory to become great college educators. In its inaugural year, the Course Hero-WW Fellowship will identify five outstanding junior faculty members. Fellows will receive a one-year grant of $40,000-approximately $30,000 to support the engagement of a student assistant and the balance to be used for research and travel support. Exceptional candidates teach in ways that build student confidence and mastery of a subject; encourage critical thinking; explore foundational concepts through the lens of broader themes and global events; promote the power of learning communities beyond the classroom; leverage technology to complement the classroom experience; consider and serve different learning styles; prepare students for lifelong learning; and can serve as replicable teaching models for other educators. Selection takes place in June 2018. The five Fellows will be invited to attend the Course Hero Education Summit in July 2018, where their Fellowships will be announced.

The Process Separations program is part of the Chemical Process Systems cluster, which includes also 1) Catalysis; 2) Process Systems, Reaction Engineering, and Molecular Thermodynamics; and 3) Energy for Sustainability. The Process Separations program supports research focused on novel methods and materials for separation processes, such as those central to the chemical, biochemical, bioprocessing, materials, energy, and pharmaceutical industries. A fundamental understanding of the interfacial, transport, and thermodynamic behavior of multiphase chemical systems as well as quantitative descriptions of processing characteristics in the process-oriented industries is critical for efficient resource management and effective environmental protection. The program encourages proposals that address long standing challenges and emerging research areas and technologies, have a high degree of interdisciplinary work coupled with the generation of fundamental knowledge, and the integration of education and research. Research topics of particular interest include fundamental molecular-level work on: Design of scalable mass separating agents and/or a mechanistic understanding of the interfacial thermodynamics and transport phenomena that relate to purification of gases, chemicals, or water

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to promote the discovery of novel small molecules that may enhance the ability of the immune system to selectively recognize and attack cancer cells. These small molecules could be further developed into stand-alone immunotherapeutics or synergistic partners for existing therapies, or as chemical probes for the discovery and validation of novel targets involved in anti-tumor immunity. Investigators from multiple scientific disciplines (immuno-oncology, tumor biology, screening technology, medicinal chemistry, and pharmacology) are encouraged to establish collaborative teams to discover and develop novel small molecule immunomodulators for cancer therapy. This FOA encourages the design of research projects that utilize the following phases of discovery research: 1) assay development specifically designed for immuno-oncology targets with the intent to screen for novel small molecule compounds that show potential as either probes or drugs, or as pre-therapeutic leads; 2) screen implementation for immunomodulatory targets to identify initial screening hits (from high throughput target-focused approaches or moderate throughput phenotypic- and fragment-based approaches); 3) hit validation through secondary orthogonal and counter screening assays, and hit prioritization; and 4) hit-to-lead optimization.

The Office of Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation, under Defense Programs within the Department of Energy's (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), announce their interest in receiving grant applications for new or renewal awards for research in the Stewardship Science Academic Alliances (SSAA) Program. The SSAA Program, established in 2002, was developed to support state-of-the-art research at U.S. academic institutions in areas of fundamental physical science and technology of relevance to the Stockpile Stewardship Program mission, with a focus on those areas not supported by other federal agencies. For purposes of this FOA, the research areas of interest are: properties of materials under extreme conditions and/or hydrodynamics (condensed matter physics and materials science, and fluid dynamics); low energy nuclear science; and radiochemistry.

The Molecular Separations program is part of the Chemical Process Systems cluster, which also includes 1) Catalysis; 2) Electrochemical Systems; and 3) Process Systems, Reaction Engineering, and Molecular Thermodynamics. The Molecular Separations program supports research focused on novel methods and materials for separation processes, such as those central to the chemical, biochemical, bioprocessing, materials, energy, and pharmaceutical industries. A fundamental understanding of the interfacial, transport, and thermodynamic behavior of multiphase chemical systems as well as quantitative descriptions of processing characteristics in the process-oriented industries is critical for efficient resource management and effective environmental protection. The program encourages proposals that address long standing challenges and emerging research areas and technologies, have a high degree of interdisciplinary work coupled with the generation of fundamental knowledge, and the integration of education and research. Research topics of particular interest include fundamental, molecular-level work.

The mission of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is to identify and pursue high-risk, high-payoff research initiatives across a broad spectrum of science and engineering disciplines and to transform these initiatives into disruptive technologies for U.S. national security. In support of this mission, the DSO Office-wide BAA invites proposers to submit innovative basic or applied research concepts that address one or more of the following technical domains:

The U.S. Army Research Office (ARO) in partnership with the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) seeks research and development of technology and techniques for energy-efficient, high data rate transmission of digital signals between computing systems operating at room and cryogenic temperatures. The focus in the SuperCables program is research and demonstration of components to convert from low level electrical signals in circuits operating at a temperature of approximately 4 kelvins to conventional optical signals at room temperature and to move the information therein from one environment to the other. Pending results of this program, IARPA may support a follow-on program to develop the complete system for bidirectional data transmission between room temperature and 4 kelvins.

The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to help ensure the vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or in STEM education. The GRFP provides three years of support for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements in STEM or STEM education. NSF especially encourages women, members of underrepresented minority groups, persons with disabilities, veterans, and undergraduate seniors to apply.

TheDisability and Rehabilitation Engineeringprogram is part of the Engineering Biology and Health cluster, which also includes: 1) the Biophotonics program; 2) the Biosensing program; 3) the Cellular and Biochemical Engineering program; and 4) the Engineering of Biomedical Systems program. TheDisability andRehabilitation Engineeringprogram supports fundamental engineering research that will improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities through: development of new technologies, devices, or software; advancement of knowledge regarding healthy or pathological human motion; or understanding of injury mechanisms. Research may be supported that is directed toward the characterization, restoration, rehabilitation, and/or substitution of human functional ability or cognition, or to the interaction between persons with disabilities and their environment. Areas of particular interest are neuroengineering and rehabilitation robotics. The program will also consider research in the areas of: new engineering approaches to understand healthy or pathological motion, both as a target for rehabilitation and as a means to characterize motion related to disability or injury; understanding injury at the tissue- or system-level such that interventions may be developed to reduce the impact of trauma and subsequent disability; or understanding the role of gut microbiota in modulating disability in the context of rehabilitation. Emphasis is placed on significant advancement of fundamental engineering knowledge that facilitates transformative outcomes.

Research supported by the Division of Materials Research (DMR) focuses on advancing fundamental understanding of materials, materials discovery, design, synthesis, characterization, properties, and materials-related phenomena. DMR awards enable understanding of the electronic, atomic, and molecular structures, mechanisms, and processes that govern nanoscale to macroscale morphology and properties; manipulation and control of these properties; discovery of emerging phenomena of matter and materials; and creation of novel design, synthesis, and processing strategies that lead to new materials with unique characteristics. These discoveries and advancements transcend traditional scientific and engineering disciplines. The Division supports research and education activities in the United States through funding of individual investigators, teams, centers, facilities, and instrumentation. Projects supported by DMR are essential for the development of future technologies and industries that meet societal needs, as well preparation of the next generation of materials researchers.