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This program supports fundamental scientific research in ceramics (e.g., oxides, carbides, nitrides and borides), glass-ceramics, inorganic glasses, ceramic-based composites and inorganic carbon-based materials. Projects should be centered on experiments; inclusion of computational and theory components are encouraged. The objective of the program is to increase fundamental understanding and to develop predictive capabilities for relating synthesis, processing, and microstructure of these materials to their properties and ultimate performance in various environments and applications.

Ninesigma's client is a global supplier of high performance materials for a variety of high temperature applications. The ability to functionalise graphite flakes (plus powder and expanded graphite conformations) is important to improve the variety of product formulations currently available. The high hydrophobic nature of graphite materials causes issues in using certain green functional methods. The current methodology involves using different acids which are hazardous and only yields 7-8% of Oxygen or metals on the graphite flakes. Any proposed solutions must be able to provide variable yield functionalisation of hydroxyl and acid groups with the potential to expand to other functional groups listed. The client is open to all solutions from academia and from industry, as long as a clear understanding of the method and requirements for up-scaling are detailed.

The overall goal of the Structural and Architectural Engineering and Materials (SAEM) program is to enable sustainable buildings and other structures that can be continuously occupied and/or operated during the structure's useful life. The SAEM program supports fundamental research for advancing knowledge and innovation in structural and architectural engineering and materials that promotes a holistic approach to analysis and design, construction, operation, maintenance, retrofit, and repair of structures. For buildings, all components including the foundation-structure-envelope (the façade, curtain-wall, windows, and roofing) and interior systems (flooring, ceilings, partitions walls), are of interest to the program. The SAEM program encourages the integration of research with knowledge dissemination and activities that can lead to broader societal benefit for provision of sustainable structures.

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) has issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for various research and development topic areas. The ERDC consists of the Coastal and Hydraulics Lab (CHL), the Geotechnical and Structures Lab (GSL), the Reachback Operations Center (UROC), the Environmental Lab (EL) and the Information Technology Lab (ITL) in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire, the Construction Engineering Research Lab (CERL) in Champaign, Illinois, and the Geospatial Research Laboratory (GRL) in Alexandria, Virginia. The ERDC is responsible for conducting research in the broad fields of hydraulics, dredging, coastal engineering, instrumentation, oceanography, remote sensing, geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering, soil effects, vehicle mobility, self-contained munitions, military engineering, geophysics, pavements, protective structures, aquatic plants, water quality, dredged material, treatment of hazardous waste, wetlands, physical/mechanical/ chemical properties of snow and other frozen precipitation, infrastructure and environmental issues for installations, computer science, telecommunications management, energy, facilities maintenance, materials and structures, engineering processes, environmental processes, land and heritage conservation, and ecological processes.

Request for Information - Upgrading Carbon Derived from Methane Pyrolysis This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. This RFI is not accepting application for financial assistance. The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E consideration to inform the possible formulation of future programs. The Advanced Research Projects Agency -Energy (ARPA-E) in the US Department of Energy is seeking information concerning technologies to produce hydrogen and elemental carbon from the thermal decomposition of methane (also known as methane pyrolysis, methane cracking, or methane splitting). Recognizing that the value of the carbon product would be a key factor in the economic feasibility of such processes, ARPA-E seeks input from experts in the fields of materials science (including advanced carbon fiber synthesis), process engineering, methane pyrolysis, plasma chemistry, and chemical engineering regarding potential mechanisms for the bulk conversion of carbon materials, specifically from less valuable forms (e.g. amorphous carbon) or mixtures, to more valuable single allotropes or controlled mixtures of high-value carbon structures. Consistent with the agency's mission, ARPA-E is seeking insights on clearly disruptive, novel technologies for such conversions, early in the R&D cycle, and not integration strategies for existing technologies. The information you provide may be used by ARPA-E in support of program planning.

The Catalysis program is part of the Chemical Process Systems cluster, which also includes: 1) the Electrochemical Systems program; 2) the Interfacial Engineering program; and 3) the Process Systems, Reaction Engineering, and Molecular Thermodynamics program. The goals of the Catalysis program are to increase fundamental understanding in catalytic engineering science and to advance the development of catalytic materials and reactions that are beneficial to society. Research in this program should focus on new concepts for catalytic materials and reactions, utilizing synthetic, theoretical, and experimental approaches. Target applications include fuels, specialty and bulk chemicals, environmental catalysis, biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals, conversion of greenhouse gases, and generation of solar hydrogen, as well as efficient routes to energy utilization. Heterogeneous catalysis represents the main thrust of the program. Proposals related to both gas-solid and liquid-solid heterogeneous catalysis are welcome, as are proposals that incorporate concepts from homogeneous catalysis. Topic areas that are of particular interest include: · Renewable energy-related catalysis with applications in electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and catalytic conversion of biomass-derived chemicals. Catalysis aimed at closing the carbon cycle (especially conversion of CO2, methane, and natural gas to fuels and chemical intermediates). · Catalytic alternatives to traditionally non-catalytic reaction processes, as well as new catalyst designs for established catalytic processes. · Environmental catalysis (including energy-efficient and green routes to fuels and chemicals). ·

Topological Excitations in Electronics is a fundamental science program that seeks to challenge the limits in present electronic components by exploiting topological excitations. The program aims to demonstrate the utility of topological excitations in various applications including memory, logic, sensors, and quantum information processing. By the end of the program, the following goals should be achieved: 1. A determination of what materials or combination of materials that host topological excitations hold the most promise for specific applications. 2. A full characterization of the properties of said excitations (e.g., topology, size, stability, interactions, time-scales) and in particular, a validation of how topology enhances these properties. 3. A demonstration of nanometer scale (<10 nm) room temperature topological excitations for memory and/or logic, as well as efficient write and read protocols. 4. The development of topological qubits and a demonstration of topological operations between them.

The Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) Program supports the generation of extended time series of data to address important questions in evolutionary biology, ecology, and ecosystem science. Research areas include, but are not limited to, the effects of natural selection or other evolutionary processes on populations, communities, or ecosystems; the effects of interspecific interactions that vary over time and space; population or community dynamics for organisms that have extended life spans and long turnover times; feedbacks between ecological and evolutionary processes; pools of materials such as nutrients in soils that turn over at intermediate to longer time scales; and external forcing functions such as climatic cycles that operate over long return intervals. The Program intends to support decadal projects. Funding for an initial, 5-year period requires submission of a preliminary proposal and, if invited, submission of a full proposal that includes a 15-page project description. Proposals for the second five years of support (renewal proposals) are limited to an eight-page project description and do not require a preliminary proposal. Continuation of an LTREB project beyond an initial ten year award will require submission of a new preliminary proposal that presents a new decadal research plan.?? Successful LTREB proposals address three essential components: A Decadal Research Plan that clearly articulates important questions that cannot be addressed with data that have already been collected, but could be answered if ten additional years of data were collected. This plan is not a research timeline or management plan. It is a concise justification for ten additional years of support in order to advance understanding of key concepts, questions, or theories in environmental biology.Core Data: LTREB proposals require that the author has studied a particular phenomenon or process for at least six years up to the present or for long enough to gene

The competition for individual sites will be for consideration of large and small university-based user facilities, including those at minority-serving institutions, that are geographically distributed and with diverse and complementary capabilities to support current and anticipated future user needs across the broad spectrum of nanoscale science, engineering, and technology domains. The selected individual sites will have autonomy in their operation and management, but will be required to act in concert with a Coordinating Office that will be separately competed and chosen at a later stage. Some sites may choose to partner with facilities at regional or smaller institutions that would bring specific capabilities for users and benefits to student training. The overall collection of selected sites and their capabilities will provide users with cost-effective access both to the specialized tools, processes, and expertise to support complex multi-step fabrication at the nanoscale level for structures, materials, devices, and systems, as well as to the associated instrumentation for characterization, analysis, and probing at these dimensions. The program aims to make these capabilities broadly available to the nation's researchers in academe, industry, and government to help catalyze new discoveries in science and engineering and to stimulate technological innovation.

Zonta Anchorage is a chartered club of Zonta International, a global service organization of executives in business and the professions working to advance the status of women. In support of its mission, Zonta is inviting applications for its Amelia Earhart Fellowship from women of any nationality who are pursuing a PhD. Fellowships of $10,000 are awarded to thirty-five women each year and may be used at any university or college offering accredited postgraduate courses and degrees. The program aims to help talented women pursuing advanced studies in the typically male-dominated fields of aerospace-related sciences and engineering achieve their educational goals. The fellowship is intended to help these women invest in state-of-the-art computers to conduct their research, purchase expensive books and resource materials, and participate in specialized studies around the globe. Women of any nationality pursuing a PhD/doctoral degree who demonstrate a superior academic record in the field of aerospace-related sciences or aerospace-related engineering are eligible to apply. Applicants must be registered in a full-time PhD./doctoral program when funds are received in September and not be on track to graduate before April.

In support of its mission, Zonta is inviting applications for its Amelia Earhart Fellowship from women of any nationality who are pursuing a PhD. Fellowships of $10,000 are awarded to thirty-five women each year and may be used at any university or college offering accredited postgraduate courses and degrees. The program aims to help talented women pursuing advanced studies in the typically male-dominated fields of aerospace-related sciences and engineering achieve their educational goals. The fellowship is intended to help these women invest in state-of-the-art computers to conduct their research, purchase expensive books and resource materials, and participate in specialized studies around the globe. Women of any nationality pursuing a PhD/doctoral degree who demonstrate a superior academic record in the field of aerospace-related sciences or aerospace-related engineering are eligible to apply. Applicants must be registered in a full-time PhD./doctoral program when funds are received in September and not be on track to graduate before April.

ACS PRF research grant programs support fundamental research in the petroleum field, and development of the next generation of engineers and scientists through advanced scientific education. Research areas supported include chemistry, the earth sciences, chemical and petroleum engineering, and related fields such as polymers and materials science. Membership in the American Chemical Society is not a requirement or a factor in awarding ACS PRF grants.

Creating solutions to pressing environmental and sustainability challenges will require input and imaginative approaches from various fields, perspectives, and disciplines. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), in their report "Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century: Addressing Grand Challenges," identified five critical challenges we must address as a society: o Sustainably supply food, water, and energy o Curb climate change and adapt to its impacts o Design a future without pollution and waste o Create efficient, healthy, and resilient cities o Foster informed decisions and actions The report further states, "The challenges provide focal points for evolving environmental engineering education, research, and practice toward increased contributions and a greater impact. Implementing this new model will require modifications in educational curriculum and creative approaches to foster interdisciplinary research on complex social and environmental problems." This solicitation aims to address these grand challenges by supporting a collaborative research model that seamlessly integrates sustainability, environmental engineering, and process science and engineering. Accordingly, the Environmental Convergence Opportunities in Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (ECO-CBET) solicitation will support activities that confront vexing environmental engineering and sustainability problems by uncovering and incorporating fundamental knowledge to design new processes, materials, and devices from a systems-level perspective. Projects should be compelling and reflect sustained, coordinated efforts from interdisciplinary research teams.

The Science and Technology Centers (STC): Integrative Partnerships program supports innovative, potentially transformative, complex research and education projects that require large-scale, long-term awards. STCs conduct world-class research through partnerships among academic institutions, national laboratories, industrial organizations, and/or other public/private entities, and via international collaborations, as appropriate. They provide a means to undertake significant investigations at the interfaces of disciplines and/or fresh approaches within disciplines. STCs may involve any area of science and engineering that NSF supports

This program element solicits proposals that advance the goals and objectives of NASA's Earth Science Division by conducting unique research to investigate 1) unforeseen or unpredictable Earth system events and opportunities that require a rapid response 2) novel ideas of potential high merit and relevance for ESD science to advance Earth remote sensing that have not otherwise been solicited by NASA in the past three years

The National Science Foundation (NSF) hereby solicits proposals to manage and operate the Arecibo Observatory (AO). The AO is a multidisciplinary research and education facility. AO's cornerstone research instrument is a 305-meter diameter fixed spherical reflector, located on approximately 120 acres of U.S. Federal Government-owned land near Arecibo, Puerto Rico. AO conducts research in passive radio astronomy, solar system radar astronomy, and space and atmospheric sciences.

The goal of the Process Systems, Reaction Engineering and Molecular Thermodynamics (PRM) program is to advance fundamental engineering research on the rates and mechanisms of important classes of catalyzed and uncatalyzed chemical reactions as they relate to the design, production, and application of catalysts, chemical processes, biochemical processes, and specialized materials that have important impacts on society.  The program seeks to advance electrochemical and photochemical processes of engineering significance or with commercial potential, design and optimization of complex chemical and biochemical processes, thermodynamic modeling and experiments that relate molecular dynamics to macroscopic properties and behavior, dynamic modeling and control of process systems and individual process units, reactive processing of polymers/ceramics/thin films, and interactions between chemical reactions and transport processes in reactive systems, for the integration of this information into the design of complex chemical and biochemical reactors.  A substantial focus of the PRM program is to impact the chemical manufacturing enterprise by funding projects aimed at zero emissions and environmentally-friendly, smart manufacturing using sustainable materials.  Areas that focus on reactors of all types (fuel cells, batteries, microreactors, biochemical reactors, etc.), reactor design in general, and design and control of all systems associated with energy from renewable sources have a high priority for funding

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program stimulates technological innovation in the private sector by strengthening the role of small business concerns in meeting Federal research and development needs, increasing the commercial application of federally supported research results, and fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses. The topics, listed below, are detailed on the SBIR/STTR topics homepage: Educational Technologies and Applications (EA) Information and Communication Technologies (IC) Semiconductors (S) and Photonic (PH) Devices and Materials Electronic Hardware, Robotics and Wireless Technologies (EW) Advanced Manufacturing and Nanotechnology (MN) Advanced Materials and Instrumentation (MI) Chemical and Environmental Technologies (CT) Biological Technologies (BT) Smart Health (SH) and Biomedical (BM) Technologies

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of processes and technology for assembly of systems, components, and materials at millimeter scale or larger from nanometer scale constituents. 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 Program aims to enhance the capability of forensic science applications in traditional law enforcement/criminal justice purviews and in expeditionary environments. The Program accomplishes this mission by funding research projects that lead to the production of useful knowledge, materials, devices, systems, or methods that have forensic function. To be eligible for an award under this announcement, a prospective awardee must meet certain minimum standards pertaining to financial resources and responsibility, ability to comply with the performance schedule, past performance, integrity, experience, technical capabilities, operational controls, and facilities