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In 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 (see https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/big_ideas/index.jsp). One of these ideas, "The Quantum Leap: Leading the Next Quantum Revolution," advances quantum technologies of the future: quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum simulations and quantum sensors. Recent advances in understanding and exploiting quantum mechanics are laying the foundation for generations of new discoveries that can benefit society in unforeseen ways. This "quantum revolution" requires a highly-trained workforce that can advance the envelope of what is possible, through research and development of practical solutions for quantum technologies. Academic faculty serve a vital role in the development of this workforce, by training the next generation of students while performing vital research. The disciplines of computer science (CS), information science (IS), and computer engineering (CE) are at the nexus of the interdisciplinary breakthroughs needed to design advanced quantum computing, modeling, communication and sensing technologies. NSF recognizes that there is inadequate research capacity in the CS/CE disciplines in the realm of Quantum Computing & Information Science (QCIS).

Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes are large-scale interdisciplinary research projects that aim to advance the frontiers of quantum information science and engineering. Research at these Institutes will span the focus areas of quantum computation, quantum communication, quantum simulation and/or quantum sensing. The institutes are expected to foster multidisciplinary approaches to specific scientific, technological, educational workforce development goals in these fields. Two types of awards will be supported under this program: (i) 12-month Conceptualization Grants (CGs) to support teams envisioning subsequent Institute proposals and (ii) 5-year Challenge Institute (CI) awards to establish and operate Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes. This activity is part of the Quantum Leap, one of the research Big Ideas promoted by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes program is consistent with the scope of NSF multidisciplinary centers for quantum research and education as described in the National Quantum Initiative Act[1]. In 2016, the NSF unveiled a set of "Big Ideas," ten 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. Although proposals responding to this solicitation must be submitted tothe Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA) in the Directorate of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS),they will subsequently be managed by a cross-disciplinary team of NSF Program Directors.

In 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 (see https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/big_ideas/index.jsp). One of these ideas, "The Quantum Leap: Leading the Next Quantum Revolution," advances quantum technologies of the future: quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum simulations and quantum sensors. Recent advances in understanding and exploiting quantum mechanics are laying the foundation for generations of new discoveries that can benefit society in unforeseen ways. This "quantum revolution" requires a highly-trained workforce that can advance the envelope of what is possible, through research and development of practical solutions for quantum technologies. Academic faculty serve a vital role in the development of this workforce, by training the next generation of students while performing vital research.

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) announces its interest in receiving applications to explore of the suitability of various implementations of quantum computing hardware for science applications. This foundational research will facilitate the development of device architectures well-suited for scientific applications of quantum computing and improve our understanding of the advantages and limitations of various approaches to quantum computing for science applications. The purpose of this FOA is to invite applications for foundational research in the following two areas: 1. Exploring the relationship between device architecture and application performance 2. Developing meaningful metrics for evaluating the suitability of quantum computing hardware for science applications Applications may address one or both of these themes. Proposed research should focus on devices that are already available or that become available during the term of the award rather than large-scale, high-fidelity, fault-tolerant machines. Funded teams will be expected to collaborate externally with researchers working to develop applications and algorithms that can expand the frontiers of scientific discovery. Funded teams will also be expected to participate in community engagement activities that support the growth of an active, integrated research community committed to the common goal of developing quantum computing resources for advancing scientific discovery. Topics that are out of scope include: development and optimization of quantum algorithms; development of new candidate qubit systems; schemes based on qubits that have not yet demonstrated high-fidelity gates; schemes to improve the performance and functionality of qubits; quantum transduction; quantum communication, networking, and key distribution; cryptography and cryptanalysis; and logical qubits beyond considerations given to scaling to ~10 qubit devices.

The U.S. Army Contracting Command - Aberdeen Proving Ground RTP Division, on behalf of the U.S. Army Research Office (ARO), is issuing a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), W911NF-13-R-0010, for the establishment of Research in Quantum Computing. There are two separate research topics covered in this announcement: 1. Quantum characterization, verification, and validation The Quantum Characterization, Verification, and Validation (QCVV) research topic seeks proposals addressing the development of theoretical and experimental techniques, procedures, and methods for characterizing few-qubit systems with a focus on metrics relevant to robust fault-tolerant quantum computation (FTQC). The ultimate goal is to develop a set of standards and procedures, together with experimental demonstration, that will aid in characterizing increasingly complex quantum information systems. 2. Advanced quantum computing measurement technology Quantum information systems utilize measurement in a variety of ways: for diagnostic purposes while calibrating a quantum information system, to tune up a process for optimal operation, and for final read-out when implementing a quantum information process.

Quantum computing is a revolutionary approach to information processing based on the quantum physics of coherent superposition and entanglement.  Advantages of quantum computing include efficient algorithms for computationally difficult tasks, efficient use of resources such as memory and energy needed for computations, and new platforms for the simulation of quantum mechanical systems that are currently intractable using conventional computers.  Applications for quantum computing, such as integer number factoring, search and optimization algorithms, and quantum simulations, will accelerate discoveries in a broad range of disciplines including physics, engineering, and computer science.

PIF provides support for physics proposals in three subareas: 1) computational physics, 2) data enabled physics, and 3) quantum information science and revolutionary computing. Computational physics emphasizes methods for high-performance computing that require significant code development, are led by physicists, and may include applied mathematicians and computer scientists. Priority will be given to proposals that, in addition to compelling scientific goals, have a computational advance or new enabling capability. Proposals should include either innovation in computing such as algorithm development and efficient use of novel architectures or provide significant improvement to community codes. Data enabled physics seeks proposals to develop tools and infrastructure that provide rapid, secure, and efficient access to physics data stores via heterogeneous or distributed computing resources and networks. Examples include development of reliable digital preservation, access, integration, and curation capabilities associated with data from Physics Division experimental facilities and the tools for data handling needed to maximize the scientific payoff. Priority will be given to proposals that serve broad communities or that bring dramatic new capabilities to a specific sub-area of physics. Quantum information and revolutionary computing supports theoretical and experimental proposals that explore applications of quantum mechanics to new computing paradigms or that foster interactions between physicists, mathematicians, and computer scientists that push the frontiers of quantum-based information, transmission, and manipulation.

This solicitation describes an Ideas Lab focused on the Practical Fully-Connected Quantum Computer (PFCQC) challenge. Ideas Labs are intensive meetings that bring together multiple diverse perspectives to focus on finding innovative cross-disciplinary solutions to grand challenge problems. The ultimate aim of this Ideas Lab is to facilitate the development and operation of a practical-scale quantum computer. The aspiration is that bringing together researchers from diverse scientific backgrounds will engender fresh thinking and innovative approaches that will provide a fertile ground for new ideas on the design and fabrication of quantum devices and processors and implementation of quantum information processing algorithms. This will enable the solution of science problems that are currently beyond the reach of modern high-performance computing applications on classical computers. U.S. researchers may submit preliminary proposals for participation in the Ideas Lab only via FastLane. The goal is to form teams of domain scientists and engineers that will develop multidisciplinary ideas that eventually will be submitted as full proposals.

Quantum Information Science (QIS) supports theoretical and experimental proposals that explore quantum applications to new computing paradigms or that foster interactions between physicists, mathematicians, and computer scientists that push the frontiers of quantum-based information, transmission, and manipulation. The quantum information science program is focused on investigations relevant to disciplines supported by the Physics Division, while encouraging broader impacts on other disciplines. 

Quantum Information Science (QIS) supports theoretical and experimental proposals that explore quantum applications to new computing paradigms or that foster interactions between physicists, mathematicians, and computer scientists that push the frontiers of quantum-based information, transmission, and manipulation.

The Algorithmic Foundations (AF) program supports potentially transformative research and education projects advancing design and analysis of algorithms and characterized by algorithmic thinking accompanied by rigorous analysis. Research on algorithms for problems that are central to computer science and engineering, as well as new techniques for the rigorous analysis of algorithms, are of interest. AF supports theoretical research that bounds the intrinsic difficulty of problems to determine the measures of complexity in formal models of computation, classical or new. The goal is to understand the fundamental limits of resource-bounded computation and to obtain efficient algorithms operating within those limits. The time and space complexity of finding exact and approximate solutions in deterministic and randomized models of computation is a central concern of the program; research on resources other than time and space, such as communication and energy, is also encouraged. In addition to the traditional, sequential computing paradigm, AF supports research on the design and analysis of novel algorithms in parallel and distributed models, in particular, in heterogeneous multi-core and many-core machines; the computational models and algorithms that capture essential aspects of computing over massive data sets; and alternative forms of computation and information processing, including quantum computing and biological models of computation.

Physics at the Information Frontier (PIF) includes support for data-enabled science, community research networks, and new computational infrastructure, as well as for next-generation computing. It focuses on cyber-infrastructure for the disciplines supported by the Physics Division while encouraging broader impacts on other disciplines. Disciplines within the purview of the Physics Division include: atomic, molecular, optical, plasma, elementary particle, nuclear, particle astrophysics, gravitational and biological physics. Proposals with intellectual focus in areas supported by other NSF Divisions should be submitted to those divisions directly. Proposals that cross Divisional lines are welcome, but the Physics Division encourages PIs to request a co-review by naming other divisional programs on the cover sheet. This facilitates the co-review and participation of other programs in the review process. PIF provides support for physics proposals in three subareas: 1) computational physics, 2) data enabled physics, and 3) quantum information science and revolutionary computing. Computational physics emphasizes methods for high-performance computing that require significant code development, are led by physicists, and may include applied mathematicians and computer scientists. Priority will be given to proposals that, in addition to compelling scientific goals, have a computational advance or new enabling capability. Proposals should include either innovation in computing such as algorithm development and efficient use of novel architectures or provide significant improvement to community codes.Data enabled physics seeks proposals to develop tools and infrastructure that provide rapid, secure, and efficient access to physics data stores via heterogeneous or distributed computing resources and networks.

SoftwareInfrastructure for Sustained Innovation (SI2) is a long-term investment focused on realizing a portion of the Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CIF21, http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504730) vision and catalyzing new thinking, paradigms and practices in science and engineering. CIF21 envisions a linked cyberinfrastructure architecture that integrates large-scale computing, high-speed networks, massive data archives, instruments and major facilities, observatories, experiments, and embedded sensors and actuators, across the nation and the world, and that enables research at unprecedented scales, complexity, resolution, and accuracy by integrating computation, data, and experiments in novel ways. Software is a primary modality through which CIF21 innovation and discovery will be realized. It permeates all aspects and layers of cyberinfrastructure (from application codes and frameworks, programming systems, libraries and system software, to middleware, operating systems, networking and the low-level drivers). The CIF21 software infrastructure must address the complexity of this cyberinfrastructure, accommodating: disruptive hardware trends; ever-increasing data volumes; data integrity, privacy, and confidentiality; security; complex application structures and behaviors; and emerging concerns such as fault-tolerance and energy efficiency. The programs must focus on building robust, reliable and sustainable software that will support and advance sustained scientific innovation and discovery.
 The Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure in the Computer & Information Science & Engineering Directorate (CISE/ACI) is partnering with Directorates and Offices across the NSF to support SI2, a long-term comprehensive program focused on realizing a sustained software infrastructure that is an integral part of CIF21.

The Chemical Theory, Models and Computational Methods program supports the discovery and development of theoretical and computational methods or models to address a range of chemical challenges, with emphasis on emerging areas of chemical research.  Proposals that focus on established theoretical or computational approaches should involve innovative additions or modifications that substantially broaden their applicability.  Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, electronic structure, quantum reaction dynamics, statistical mechanics, molecular dynamics, and simulation and modeling techniques for molecular systems and systems in condensed phases.  Areas of application span the full range of chemical systems from small molecules to mesoscopic aggregates, including single molecules, biological systems and materials in condensed phases.   Despite the diverse application areas, the goal of the program is to support the development of new theoretical and computational methodologies that have the potential of being broadly applicable to a range of challenging chemical problems. We are particularly interested in fundamental areas of chemical research that are difficult or impossible to address using current synthetic, experimental, and/or computational methodologies.  We encourage the integration of innovative software development with methodological and algorithmic development, especially computational approaches that allow efficient utilization of the high end computers of the future.

The CISE-MPS Interdisciplinary Faculty Program in Quantum Information Science is designed to promote research in the area of Quantum Information Science (QIS) by providing resources to allow QIS researchers and researchers from the CISE or MPS disciplines to actively engage in joint research efforts, addressing problems at the interface between the mathematical and physical sciences and computer and information sciences through long-term visits by faculty to a host institution. 

CMMT supports theoretical and computational materials research in the topical areas represented in DMR's Topical Materials Research Programs (these are also variously known as Individual Investigator Award (IIA) Programs, or Core Programs, or Disciplinary Programs), which include: Condensed Matter Physics (CMP), Biomaterials (BMAT), Ceramics (CER), Electronic and Photonic Materials (EPM), Metals and Metallic Nanostructures (MMN), Polymers (POL), and Solid State and Materials Chemistry (SSMC). The CMMT program supports fundamental research that advances conceptual understanding of hard and soft materials, and materials-related phenomena; the development of associated analytical, computational, and data-centric techniques; and predictive materials-specific theory, simulation, and modeling for materials research. First-principles electronic structure, quantum many-body and field theories, statistical mechanics, classical and quantum Monte Carlo, and molecular dynamics, are among the methods used in the broad spectrum of research supported in CMMT. Research may encompass the advance of new paradigms in materials research, including emerging data-centric approaches utilizing data-analytics or machine learning.

The ACI is a DoD-sponsored computing systems research program initiated by the NSA and the Combat Capabilities Development Command/Army Research Laboratory/ARO. It focuses on areas of strategic importance to U.S. national security policy. It seeks to increase the Department's intellectual capital in computing systems and improve its ability to address future challenges and build bridges between the Department and the computing research community. ACI brings together universities, research institutions, companies, and individual scholars and supports multidisciplinary and cross-institutional projects addressing specific topic areas determined by the Department of Defense. The ACI aims to promote research in specific areas of computing systems and to promote a candid and constructive relationship between DoD and the computing research community.

In celebrating its 350th anniversary, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany offers a series of research grants to stimulate innovative research in challenging areas of future importance. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany intends to provide several research grants of up to EUR 350,000 per year for 3 years in various research areas with the option of extension or expansion. Grants are offered for research in the following areas: Healthy Lives / Drug Discovery: Challenge 1: What is the next game-changing molecule or technology to help cure cancer or autoimmune disease? Life Reimagined / Synthetic Biology: Challenge 1: What is the next generation production technology for biologics? Challenge 2: Can you revolutionize microbiome research? Materials & Solutions: Challenge 1: Can you develop a new generation of intelligent materials? Challenge 2: Can you develop advances in characterization, control and surface chemistry? Challenge 3: Can you develop better atomic layer processes - from modelling to materials? Digitalization / Computing: Challenge 1: How can in-silico research benefit from deep learning or quantum computing?

The Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program of the NSF Directorate for Engineering (ENG) serves a critical role in helping ENG focus on important emerging areas in a timely manner. This solicitation is a funding opportunity for interdisciplinary teams of researchers to embark on rapidly advancing frontiers of fundamental engineering research. For this solicitation, we will consider proposals that aim to investigate emerging frontiers in the following two research areas: -Advancing Communication Quantum Information Research in Engineering (ACQUIRE) -New Light, EM (Electronic) and Acoustic Wave Propagation: Breaking Reciprocity and Time-Reversal Symmetry (NewLAW) EFRI seeks proposals with transformative ideas that represent an opportunity for a significant shift in fundamental engineering knowledge with a strong potential for long term impact on national needs or a grand challenge.The proposals must also meet the detailed requirements delineated in this solicitation.

The Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program of the NSF Directorate for Engineering (ENG) serves a critical role in helping ENG focus on important emerging areas in a timely manner. This solicitation is a funding opportunity for interdisciplinary teams of researchers to embark on rapidly advancing frontiers of fundamental engineering research. For this solicitation, we will consider proposals that aim to investigate emerging frontiers in the following two research areas: -Advancing Communication Quantum Information Research in Engineering (ACQUIRE) -New Light, EM (Electronic) and Acoustic Wave Propagation: Breaking Reciprocity and Time-Reversal Symmetry (NewLAW) EFRI seeks proposals with transformative ideas that represent an opportunity for a significant shift in fundamental engineering knowledge with a strong potential for long term impact on national needs or a grand challenge.The proposals must also meet the detailed requirements delineated in this solicitation.

The Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program of the NSF Directorate for Engineering (ENG) serves a critical role in helping ENG focus on important emerging areas in a timely manner. This solicitation is a funding opportunity for interdisciplinary teams of researchers to embark on rapidly advancing frontiers of fundamental engineering research. For this solicitation, we will consider proposals that aim to investigate emerging frontiers in the following two research areas: -Advancing Communication Quantum Information Research in Engineering (ACQUIRE) -New Light, EM (Electronic) and Acoustic Wave Propagation: Breaking Reciprocity and Time-Reversal Symmetry (NewLAW)