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NIST is soliciting applications for financial assistance for Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) within the following NIST Laboratory grant programs: (1) the Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) Grant Program; (2) the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) Grant Program; (3) the Engineering Laboratory (EL) Grant Program; (4) the Fire Research (FR) Grant Program; (5) the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) Grant Program; (6) the Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL) Grant Program; (7) the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) Grant Program; (8) the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) Grant Program; (9) the Special Programs Office (SPO) Grant Program; (10) the Standards Coordination Office (SCO) Grant Program; (11) the International and Academic Affairs Office (IAAO) Grant Program; and (12) the Associate Director for Laboratory Programs (ADLP) Grant Program.

NIST is soliciting applications for financial assistance for Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) within the following NIST Laboratory grant programs: (1) the Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) Grant Program; (2) the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) Grant Program; (3) the Engineering Laboratory (EL) Grant Program; (4) the Fire Research (FR) Grant Program; (5) the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) Grant Program; (6) the Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL) Grant Program; (7) the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) Grant Program; (8) the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) Grant Program; (9) the Special Programs Office (SPO) Grant Program; (10) the Standards Coordination Office (SCO) Grant Program; (11) the International and Academic Affairs Office (IAAO) Grant Program; and (12) the Associate Director for Laboratory Programs (ADLP) Grant Program.

The Department of Education is issuing a notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year (FY) 2018 for Educational Technology, Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities-Stepping-up Technology Implementation, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number 84.327S.

The Client is engaged in the development of high-throughput inspection systems for hazardous materials (explosives and/or illegal drugs), to be used at airports, etc. These inspection systems consist of a mechanism to collect particulate matters of explosives or drugs that are attached to inspection targets such as pieces of luggage or clothing, and a sensor to inspect the collected particulate matters. The development of a particulate matter collecting system has been completed, as has been the development of a high-speed, high-accuracy sensor for the detection mechanism. However, lower-cost sensors are needed for the development of less expensive versions of the system with priority given to the cost over the accuracy, intended for use in developing countries.

This BAA is intended for industry and academia submissions and considerations related to advanced research technology development, innovative commercial technologies, development not related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement. However, submissions may be directly relevant to enhancing mission effectiveness of military personnel and the supporting platforms, systems, components, or material proposed to be acquired or developed by the Department of Defense, or improvement of platforms, systems, components, or materials in use by the armed forces. Work funded under this BAA may include applied research and advanced technology development that may or may not be related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement.

The Research and Development program supports projects that address major challenges in preserving or providing access to humanities collections and resources. These challenges include the need to find better ways to preserve materials of critical importance to the nation's cultural heritage-from fragile artifacts and manuscripts to analog recordings and digital assets subject to technological obsolescence-and to develop advanced modes of organizing, searching, discovering, and using such materials. This program recognizes that finding solutions to complex problems often requires forming interdisciplinary project teams, bringing together participants with expertise in the humanities; in preservation; and in information, computer, and natural science. All projects must demonstrate how advances in preservation and access would benefit the cultural heritage community in supporting humanities research, teaching, or public programming. Research and Development offers two funding tiers in order to address projects at all stages of development and implementation. Tier I: Planning and Basic Research Tier I provides awards up to $75,000 for a period of performance of one to two years.

The Advanced Manufacturing (AM) program supports the fundamental research needed to revitalize American manufacturing to grow the national prosperity and workforce, and to reshape our strategic industries. The AM program accelerates advances in manufacturing technologies with emphasis on multidisciplinary research that fundamentally alters and transforms manufacturing capabilities, methods and practices. Advanced manufacturing research proposals should address issues related to national prosperity and security, and advancing knowledge to sustain global leadership. Areas of research, for example, include manufacturing systems; materials processing; manufacturing machines; methodologies; and manufacturing across the length scales. Researchers working in the areas of cybermanufacturing systems, manufacturing machines and equipment, materials engineering and processing, and nanomanufacturing are encouraged to transcend and cross domain boundaries. Interdisciplinary, convergent proposals are welcome that bring manufacturing to new application areas, and that incorporate challenges and approaches outside the customary manufacturing portfolio to broaden the impact of America's advanced manufacturing research. Proposals of all sizes will therefore be considered as justified by the project description. Investigators are encouraged to discuss their ideas with AM program directors well in advance of submission at AdvancedManufacturing@nsf.gov.

The National Science Foundation (NSF), through its Divisions of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS), Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF), Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB), and Materials Research (DMR) announces a follow-up solicitation on the Semiconductor Synthetic Biology for Information Storage and Retrieval Program (SemiSynBio-II). Future ultra-low energy storage-based computing systems can be built on principles derived from organic systems that are at the intersection of physics, chemistry, biology, computer science and engineering. Next-generation information storage technologies can be envisioned that are driven by biological principles and use biomaterials in the fabrication of devices and systems that can store data for more than 100 years with storage capacity 1,000 times more than current storage technologies. Such a research effort can have a significant impact on the future of information storage and retrieval technologies. This focused solicitation seeks high-risk/high-return interdisciplinary research on novel concepts and enabling technologies that will address the fundamental scientific issues and technological challenges associated with the underpinnings of synthetic biology integrated with semiconductor technology. This research will foster interactions among various disciplines including biology, physics, chemistry, materials science, computer science and engineering that will enable in heretofore unanticipated breakthroughs.

The purposes of the Educational Technology, Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities Program are to: (1) Improve results for students with disabilities by promoting the development, demonstration, and use of technology; (2) support educational activities designed to be of educational value in the classroom for students with disabilities; (3) provide support for captioning and video description that is appropriate for use in the classroom; and (4) provide accessible educational materials to students with disabilities in a timely manner.Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number 84.327A. Applications for grants under the Research and Development Center on Developing Software to Adapt and Customize Instruction in Digital Learning Environments to Improve Results for Children with Disabilities competition

The Engineering Design and Systems Engineering (EDSE) program supports fundamental research into the basic processes and phenomena of engineering design and systems engineering. The program seeks proposals leading to improved understanding about how processes, organizational structure, social interactions, strategic decision making, and other factors impact success in the planning and execution of engineering design and systems engineering projects. It also supports advances pertaining to engineering design and systems engineering in areas that include, but are not limited to, decision making under uncertainty, including preference and demand modeling; problem decomposition and decision delegation; applications of reverse game theory (mechanism design); computer-aided design; design representation; system performance modeling and prediction; design optimization; uncertainty quantification; domain- or concern-specific design methods; and advanced computational techniques for supporting effective human cognition, decision making, and collaboration. Competitive proposals for novel methods will include a plan to evaluate rigorously the effectiveness and performance of the proposed approach. The EDSE program encourages multidisciplinary collaborations of experts in design and systems engineering with experts in other domains. Of particular interest is research on the design of engineering material systems that leverages the unique aspects of a particular material system to realize advanced design methods that are driven by performance metrics and incorporate processing/manufacturing considerations.

NIST is soliciting proposals for financial assistance from eligible applicants to support basic research, in a consortium-based setting, focused on the long-term research needs of industry in the area of future computing and information processing. There is a critical need for scientific and engineering advances in novel computing paradigms with long-term impact on the semiconductor, electronics, computing, and defense industries. The proposed activities should advance the physical and materials aspects of future computing technologies with a focus on alternatives that provide low latency, low energy per operation, improved data/communication bandwidth, and higher clock speed. Activities should include innovative research in devices, circuits, architectures, metrology or characterization to enable future computing paradigms. Applicants should create mechanisms for extended collaboration with NIST researchers.

NIST is soliciting proposals for financial assistance from eligible applicants to support basic research, in a consortium-based setting, focused on the long-term research needs of industry in the area of future computing and information processing. There is a critical need for scientific and engineering advances in novel computing paradigms with long-term impact on the semiconductor, electronics, computing, and defense industries. The proposed activities should advance the physical and materials aspects of future computing technologies with a focus on alternatives that provide low latency, low energy per operation, improved data/communication bandwidth, and higher clock speed. Activities should include innovative research in devices, circuits, architectures, metrology or characterization to enable future computing paradigms. Applicants should create mechanisms for extended collaboration with NIST researchers.

Today, complex data-its form, manipulation, and interpretation-are as important to humanities study as more traditional research materials. Datasets, for example, may represent digitized historical records, high-quality image data, or even multimedia collections, all of which are increasing in number due to the availability and affordability of mass data storage devices and international initiatives to create digital content. Moreover, extensive networking capabilities, sophisticated analytical tools, and new collaboration platforms are simultaneously providing and improving interactive access to and analysis of these data as well as a multitude of other resources. The Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities program seeks to enable humanities scholars in the United States to incorporate advances like these into their scholarship and teaching.

Today, complex data-its form, manipulation, and interpretation-are as important to humanities study as more traditional research materials. Datasets, for example, may represent digitized historical records, high-quality image data, or even multimedia collections, all of which are increasing in number due to the availability and affordability of mass data storage devices and international initiatives to create digital content. Moreover, extensive networking capabilities, sophisticated analytical tools, and new collaboration platforms are simultaneously providing and improving interactive access to and analysis of these data as well as a multitude of other resources. The Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities program seeks to enable humanities scholars in the United States to incorporate advances like these into their scholarship and teaching.

First Round of HPC4Mtls Solicitation is Now Open The first HPC4Mtls Program solicitation seeks concept papers that will address key challenges in developing, modifying, and/or qualifying new or modified materials that perform well in severe and complex energy application environments using high performance computing, modeling, simulation, and data analysis. For each of the program offices supporting this solicitation, we provide brief descriptions of their mission and the topics of interest to them. Deadline for concept paper submission is April 19, 2018 at 11:59 pm PDT.

Future ultra-low-energy computing, storage and signal-processing systems can be built on principles derived from organic systems that are at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and engineering. New information technologies can be envisioned that are based on biological principles and that use biomaterials in the fabrication of devices and components; it is anticipated that these information technologies could enable stored data to be retained for more than 100 years and storage capacity to be 1,000 times greater than current capabilities. These could also facilitate compact computers that will operate with substantially lower power than today's computers. Research in support of these goals can have a significant impact on advanced information processing and storage technologies. This focused solicitation seeks high-risk/high-return interdisciplinary research on novel concepts and enabling technologies that will address the scientific issues and technological challenges associated with the underpinnings of synthetic biology integrated with semiconductor technology. This research will foster interactions among various disciplines including biology, engineering, physics, chemistry, materials science, computer science, and information science that will enable heretofore-unanticipated breakthroughs as well as meet educational goals.

NIST is soliciting applications from eligible institutions of higher education in the U.S. and its territories that offer two- or four- year degrees in academic science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, which include but are not limited to biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical sciences, physics, and statistics, to establish and manage a program to support collaborative research relationships among NIST staff, undergraduate and graduate students, individuals with bachelor's or master's degrees, post-doctoral fellows, and academic affiliates, and the PREP researchers' academic institutions. These collaborative relationships will include research opportunities at the relevant NIST campuses in Boulder, Colorado (CO) (PREP Boulder), or Gaithersburg, Maryland (MD), and/or Charleston, South Carolina (SC) (PREP Gaithersburg). Eligible applicants may apply to establish and manage a PREP Boulder program or a PREP Gaithersburg program or may apply to establish and manage programs for both.

The Arthur L. Norberg Travel Fund provides short-term grants-in-aid to help scholars with travel expenses to use archival collections at the Charles Babbage Institute. Each year we plan to award two or more $750 grants. The Charles Babbage Institute (CBI) is an internationally recognized research center and archives focused on the history of information technology. CBI conducts major research projects; publishes books and articles; and collects, processes, and provides open public access to the most diverse and extensive collection of archival materials on computing, software, and networking in the world. CBI collections include the records of corporations, technical and trade associations, personal papers, industry publications, oral histories, photographs, film/video, and an extensive reference library. The Norberg Travel Fund is named for CBI's founding director, Arthur L. Norberg, and is funded by generous gifts from his friends and colleagues.

The Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (TUES) program seeks to improve the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for all undergraduate students. This solicitation especially encourages projects that have the potential to transform undergraduate STEM education, for example, by bringing about widespread adoption of classroom practices that embody understanding of how students learn most effectively. Thus transferability and dissemination are critical aspects for projects developing instructional materials and methods and should be considered throughout the project's lifetime.  More advanced projects should involve efforts to facilitate adaptation at other sites.

Innovation in information technology (IT) has driven economic growth, underlies many of our recent scientific advances, and ensures our national security; it is not surprising then that predicted IT job growth is very strong. Yet students are not majoring in computing in sufficient numbers to fulfill the forecasted demand. This shortfall is exacerbated by the longstanding underrepresentation of women, persons with disabilities, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and indigenous peoples in computing. We cannot meet workforce demands without their participation and we cannot, in an increasingly competitive world economy, afford to cede the talents and creativity of so many. To ensure their participation, and the full participation of all students, we must provide better opportunities to study computing in K-12. We must start with a better understanding of how students learn computing. Unlike many of the other STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines, computing has not developed a robust research base on the teaching and learning of its fundamental concepts and skills. That research base must be built and it must be used in providing all students with rigorous academic curricula that cover computational concepts and skills, and the breadth of application and potential of computing. Providing access to rigorous, academic computing in K-12 will require an unprecedented effort to develop curriculum and materials and to prepare teachers.

Sophisticated electronic microsystems can now be made at such low cost that they are increasingly pervasive throughout the battlefield and large numbers can be widely proliferated and used for applications such as distributed remote sensing and communications. However, it is nearly impossible to track and recover every device, resulting in unintended accumulation in the environment as well as subsequent unauthorized use. DARPA seeks innovative proposals to address this pervasive challenge by developing electronic systems capable of physically disappearing in a controlled, triggerable manner. The goal of the Vanishing Programmable Resources (VAPR) BAA is to develop and establish a basis set of materials, components, integration, and manufacturing capabilities to undergird this new class of electronics. See the full DARPA-BAA-13-23 document attached.

An objective of the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI) is to bring together capabilities of colleges, universities, federal laboratories, industry, and nonprofit organizations to assess and improve resilience in the ten critical infrastructures for which the Department of Homeland Security is the designated sector-specific agency: * Chemical * Commercial Facilities * Communications * Critical Manufacturing * Dams * Emergency Services * Government Facilities * Information Technology * Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste * Transportation Systems CIRI activities are organized around four themes: 1. Understanding resilient critical infrastructure systems. 2. Application of critical infrastructure in the real world. 3. The business case for infrastructure resiliency. 4. The future of resiliency. With those objectives in mind, CIRI is seeking proposals for projects that will improve the nation's ability to * Understand vulnerabilities and risks * Quantitatively assess risks and resilience measures * Mitigate risks and improve resilience * Establish the business case for resiliency * Deploy resiliency measures