The goal of a Bioengineering Research Partnership (BRP) is to drive the development and speed the adoption of promising tools and technologies that can address important biomedical problems for which insufficient or no solutions exist. The use of engineering principles is encouraged to establish these tools and technologies as robust, well-characterized solutions that fulfill an unmet need. A synergistic partnership between engineering and the life, physical, and computational sciences is also encouraged, where the unique skills of each discipline combine to enhance our understanding of life science processes or the practice of medicine.
The purpose of this FOA is to encourage BRP applications that: 1) establish a robust engineering solution to a problem in biomedical research or the practice of medicine; 2) develop a strategic alliance of multidisciplinary partners based on a well-defined leadership plan; and 3) realize a specific endpoint within 5-10 years based on a detailed plan with a timeline and quantitative milestones.
New Connections: Increasing Diversity of RWJF Programming is celebrating its 10th year of supporting research grants and career development opportunities for a network of more than 830 researchers from diverse, underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds. The program aims to expand the diversity of perspectives that inform RWJF programming and introduce new researchers to the Foundation to help address research and evaluation needs. New Connections is a career development program for early career researchers. Through grantmaking, mentorship, career development and networking, New Connections enhances the research capacity of its grantees and network members. The researchers in this program transcend disciplines (health; health care; social sciences; business; urban planning; architecture and engineering); work to build the case for a Culture of Health with strong qualitative and quantitative research skills; and produce and translate timely research results.
The Fellowship Program expects to award two new Ph.D. Fellowships each year to students who are interested in careers related to the development and implementation of quantitative methods for assessing the economics of the conservation and management of living marine resources. Fellows will work on thesis problems of public interest and relevance to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) under the guidance of NMFS mentors at participating NMFS Science Centers or Offices. The NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship in Marine Resource Economics meets NOAA's Healthy Oceans goal of "Marine fisheries, habitats, biodiversity sustained with healthy and productive ecosystems." The expected annual award per Fellow will be $46,000 (Federal plus matching funds), which is funded jointly by NOAA Fisheries and Sea Grant.
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to support the research necessary to elucidate how systematic alterations to the qualitative (Q1) and/or quantitative (Q2) composition of topical formulations impacts their physical, structural, and functional properties. A key aspect of the research relates to understanding how the thermodynamic properties of a topical dosage form change as it undergoes metamorphosis during dose application and drying on the skin, how the drug's thermodynamic activity profile during the metamorphosis of the dosage form may compare between compositionally different (non-Q1 and/or non-Q2) topical formulations, and how these and other forces may modulate the rate and extent to which topically applied drugs may become available at or near their site(s) of action in the skin. Another key aspect of the research relates to identifying and understanding other potential failure modes for bioequivalence (BE) and/or therapeutic equivalence (TE) (e.g., differences in irritation potential) that may arise between compositionally different (non-Q1 and/or non-Q2) topical formulations.
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 Cellular and Biochemical Engineering (CBE)program is part of the Engineering Biology and Health cluster, which also includes 1) Biophotonics; 2) Biosensing; 3) Disability and Rehabilitation Engineering; and 4) Engineering of Biomedical Systems. TheCellular and Biochemical Engineering program supports fundamental engineering research that advances understanding of cellular andbiomolecular processes in engineering biology. CBE-funded research eventually leads to the development of enabling technology for advanced biomanufacturing in support of the therapeutic cell, biochemical, biopharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries. Fundamental to many research projects in this area is the understanding of how biomolecules, subcellular systems, cells, and cell populations interact in the biomanufacturing environment, and how those interactions lead to changes in structure, function, and behavior. A quantitative treatment of problems related to biological processes is considered vital to successful research projects in the CBE program. The program encourages highly innovative and potentially transformative engineering research leading to novel bioprocessing and biomanufacturing approaches. The CBE program also encourages proposals that effectively integrate knowledge and practices from different disciplines while incorporating ongoing research into educational activities.
The Operations Engineering (OE) program supports fundamental research on advanced analytical methods for improving operations in complex decision-driven environments. Analytical methods include, but are not limited to, deterministic and stochastic modeling, optimization, decision and risk analysis, data science, and simulation. Methodological research is highly encouraged but must be motivated by problems that have potential for high impact in engineering applications. Application domains of particular interest to the program arise in commercial enterprises (e.g., production/manufacturing systems and distribution of goods, delivery of services), the public sector/government (e.g., public safety and security), and public/private partnerships (e.g., health care, environment and energy). The program also welcomes operations research in new and emerging domains and addressing systemic societal or technological problems. The OE program particularly values cross-disciplinary proposals that leverage application-specific expertise with strong quantitative analysis in a decision-making context. Proposals for methodological research that are not strongly motivated by high-potential engineering applications are not appropriate for this program.
The Nanoscale Interactions program is part of the Environmental Engineering and Sustainabilitycluster, which also includes: 1) the Environmental Engineering program; and 2) the Environmental Sustainability program. The goal of theNanoscale Interactions program is to support research toadvance fundamental and quantitative understanding of the interactions of nanomaterials and nanosystems with biological andenvironmental media. Materials of interest include one- to three-dimensional nanostructures, heterogeneous nano-bio hybrid assemblies, dendritic and micelle structures, quantum dots, and other nanoparticles.Such nanomaterials and systems frequently exhibit novel physical, chemical, photonic, electronic, and biological behavior as compared to the bulk scale. Collaborative and interdisciplinary proposals are encouraged. Research areas supported by the program include:
The Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI) umbrella program seeks to enable funding opportunities that are flexible and responsive to the evolving and emerging needs in cyberinfrastructure. This program continues the CSSI program by removing the distinction between software and data elements/framework implementations, and instead emphasizing integrated cyberinfrastructure services, quantitative metrics with targets for delivery and usage of these services, and community creation.
With this DCL, ECR invites proposals on the development, application, and extension of formal models and methodologies for STEM education research and evaluation, including methods for improving statistical modeling, qualitative modeling, measurement, replication, and learning analytics. This includes research on methodological aspects of new or existing procedures for data collection, curation, and inference in STEM education. Similarly, ECR seeks proposals related to collection of unique databases with cross-boundary value, particularly when paired with innovative developments in measurement or methodology (standard statistical modeling, qualitative research, measurement, replication and learning analytics). Proposers must demonstrate how advances in the methodology will support important theoretical insights in STEM education research or evaluation. Proposers are encouraged to explore a wide range of fundamental research projects (in the areas of quantitative, qualitative, measurement, replication, and learning analytics methodologies)
The Operations Engineering (OE) program supports fundamental research on advanced analytical methods for improving operations in complex decision-driven environments. Analytical methods include, but are not limited to, deterministic and stochastic modeling, optimization, decision and risk analysis, data science, and simulation. Methodological research is highly encouraged but must be motivated by problems that have potential for high impact in engineering applications. Application domains of particular interest to the program arise in commercial enterprises (e.g., production/manufacturing systems and distribution of goods, delivery of services), the public sector/government (e.g., public safety and security), and public/private partnerships (e.g., health care, environment and energy). The program also welcomes operations research in new and emerging domains and addressing systemic societal or technological problems. The OE program particularly values cross-disciplinary proposals that leverage application-specific expertise with strong quantitative analysis in a decision-making context. Proposals for methodological research that are not strongly motivated by high-potential engineering applications are not appropriate for this program.
The primary objectives of the Reversible/Quantum Machine Learning and Simulation (RQMLS) AIE opportunity are (1) to explore the fundamental limits of reversible quantum annealers; (2) to quantitatively predict the computational utility of these systems for machine learning, simulation, and other important tasks; and (3) to design experimental tests for these predictions that can be carried out on newly fabricated small-scale reversible quantum annealers.
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