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The National Science Foundation Directorate for Engineering (NSF/ENG) invites the engineering research community to establish an organization that will serve to identify and develop bold and societally impactful new engineering research directions and thereby catalyze the engineering research community's pursuit of innovative, high-impact research. Specifically, NSF/ENG calls on the engineering research community to establish an Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA) that ENG will support to facilitate the articulation of compelling research visions that align with national and global challenges. This organization will be charged with obtaining and integrating input from all stakeholders with interest in engineering research, including academia, industry, societies, government agencies and the public.A reciprocal goal of the organization will be to communicate coordinated information on nascent opportunities and priorities in engineering research to these stakeholders. It is anticipated that through its activities the ERVA will strengthen connectivity across these diverse stakeholders, and increase coordinationamong engineering disciplinary communities. The ERVA should have membership/representation of academic, industrial and other stakeholders, and should be inclusive of all engineering disciplines. Through its proposed activities, the ERVA should provide the engineering community with a process for identifying future research challenges and enable the engineering research community to speak with a unified voice.

The Foundational Research in Robotics (Robotics) program supports research on robotic systems that exhibit significant levels of both computational capability and physical complexity. For the purposes of this program, a robot is defined as intelligence embodied in an engineered construct, with the ability to process information, sense, and move within or substantially alter its working environment. Here intelligence includes a broad class of methods that enable a robot to solve problems or make contextually appropriate decisions. Research is welcomed that considers inextricably interwoven questions of intelligence, computation, and embodiment. Projects may also focus on a distinct aspect of intelligence, computation, or embodiment, as long as the proposed research is clearly justified in the context of a class of robots. The focus of the Robotics program is on foundational advances in robotics. Robotics is a deeply interdisciplinary field, and proposals are encouraged that explore the full range of fundamental engineering and computer science research challenges arising in robotics. However, all proposals must convincingly explain how a successful outcome will enable transformative new robot functionality or substantially enhance existing robot functionality. The proposal should clearly articulate how the intellectual contribution of the proposed work addresses fundamental gaps in robotics. Meaningful experimental validation on a physical platform is strongly encouraged. Projects that do not represent a direct fundamental contribution to robotics should not be submitted to the Robotics program.

The Foundational Research in Robotics (Robotics) program supports research on robotic systems that exhibit significant levels of both computational capability and physical complexity. For the purposes of this program, a robot is defined as intelligence embodied in an engineered construct, with the ability to process information, sense, and move within or substantially alter its working environment. Here intelligence includes a broad class of methods that enable a robot to solve problems or make contextually appropriate decisions. Research is welcomed that considers inextricably interwoven questions of intelligence, computation, and embodiment. Projects may also focus on a distinct aspect of intelligence, computation, or embodiment, as long as the proposed research is clearly justified in the context of a class of robots.  The focus of the Robotics program is on foundational advances in robotics. Robotics is a deeply interdisciplinary field, and proposals are encouraged that explore the full range of fundamental engineering and computer science research challenges arising in robotics. However, all proposals must convincingly explain how a successful outcome will enable transformative new robot functionality or substantially enhance existing robot functionality. The proposal should clearly articulate how the intellectual contribution of the proposed work addresses fundamental gaps in robotics. Meaningful experimental validation on a physical platform is strongly encouraged. Projects that do not represent a direct fundamental contribution to robotics should not be submitted to the Robotics program.

The Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) program provides support to enhance the research capabilities of minority-serving institutions (MSI) through the establishment of centers that effectively integrate education and research. MSIs of higher education denote institutions that have undergraduate enrollments of 50% or more (based on total student enrollment) of members of minority groups underrepresented among those holding advanced degrees in science and engineering fields: African Americans, Alaska Natives, American Indians, Hispanic Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders. CREST promotes the development of new knowledge, enhancements of the research productivity of individual faculty, and an expanded presence of students historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. CREST Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (PRF) awards provide research experience and training for early career scientists at active CREST Centers. HBCU-RISE awards specifically target HBCUs to support the expansion of institutional research capacity as well as the production of doctoral students, especially those from groups underrepresented in STEM, at those institutions.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorates for Engineering (ENG) and Geosciences (GEO), the Divisions of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) and Environmental Biology (DEB), in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO), the Division of Computer and Network Systems in the Directorate Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE/CNS), and the Division of Chemistry (CHE) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, in collaboration with the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) encourage convergent research that transforms existing capabilities in understanding dynamic soil processes, including soil formation, through advances in sensor systems and modeling. The Signals in the Soil (SitS) program fosters collaboration among the two partner agencies and the researchers they support by combining resources and funding for the most innovative and high-impact projects that address their respective missions. To make transformative advances in our understanding of soils, multiple disciplines must converge to produce environmentally-benign novel sensing systems with multiple modalities that can adapt to different environments and collect and transmit data for a wide range of biological, chemical, and physical parameters. Effective integration of sensor data will be key for achieving a better understanding of signaling interactions among plants, animals, microbes, the soil matrix, and aqueous and gaseous components. New sensor networks have the potential to inform models in novel ways, to radically change how data is obtained from various natural and managed (both urban and rural) ecosystems, and to better inform the communities that directly rely on soils for sustenance and livelihood.

The Cyberinfrastructure for Emerging Science and Engineering Research (CESER) program aims to catalyze new science and engineering discovery pathways through early-stage collaborative activities between disciplinary scientists and engineers as well as developers/implementers of innovative cyberinfrastructure (CI) capabilities, services, and approaches. Beginning in FY 2017, the CESER program replaced the Strategic Technologies for Cyberinfrastructure (STCI) program. CESER has retained STCI's focus on supporting innovation across the CI ecosystem with increased emphasis on addressing and enabling emerging areas of potentially transformative research, including NSF priority areas, national strategic directions, and international collaborative research. CESER accepts proposals pursuant to this Program Description year-round. From time to time, NSF may also issue Dear Colleague Letters pursuant to CESER to signal special thematic interests and opportunities. CESER employs existing NSF funding mechanisms to accomplish the program's goals.

The Educational Materials for Professional Organizations Working on Efficiency and Renewable Energy Developments (EMPOWERED) funding program is a collaborative effort across EERE's Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), and Building Technologies Office (BTO), to provide professionals with educational materials and training resources in fields newly interacting with distributed energy resources (DER). In this program, DER includes distributed solar, like on homes and businesses, as well as efficient building technologies and sustainable transportation technologies, such as electric vehicles. The goal of this program is to create resources that will help those on the front lines of DER adoption-like first responders, safety officials, and building managers and owners keep up with these rapidly emerging and advancing technologies. These professionals are at the forefront of America's energy transition and play a role in easing adoption, ensuring safety, and reducing installation costs. Because of this, the participating EERE offices see these professionals as key to enabling understanding and acceptance of new energy technologies.

Section 313 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 (H.R. 1105, P.L. 111-8) created the Integrated University Program (IUP). DNN R&D is one of the three participants in this program and is continuing a nuclear science and engineering program to support multi-year research projects critical to maintaining the discipline of nuclear science and engineering. Throughout this document the term, DOE National Laboratories, is used to collectively refer to DOE and NNSA National Laboratories, Sites, and Complexes. For DNN R&D, the role of Institutions of Higher Education (IHE; as defined in Section III.A. below) is to innovate, develop, and prove some of the most challenging basic aspects of new technology and methods in coordination with the DOE National Laboratories which can in turn fulfill their unique role to perform mission-specific research and development that improves on capabilities until they are either adopted by operational enterprises or transitioned into private industry for commercialization. Transparently and effectively linking the roles of these IHE and DOE National Laboratory represents the core of how DNN R&D proposes to meet its objectives. The intent of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to award ONE or TWO five-year cooperative agreement(s) to a consortium consisting of accredited IHE's to allow them to receive and administer funds for student and faculty research, fellowships, and scholarship funding awarded by DOE/NNSA, DNN R&D. The cooperative agreement will be awarded to a consortium of IHEs which will include the participation of DOE National Laboratories as a consortium-member(s). Individual consortium-member IHEs shall make specific contributions and shall receive specified portions of the funding. The consortium may include student and research fellows and must have a long-term objective of building expertise in nuclear science and engineering. Research results should be incorporated readily into IHE curricula. Students, faculty

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002332 is focused on maturing energy storage technologies that have the potential to be integrated with large scale fossil assets, both existing and new build, with and without carbon capture.

It is NASA's intent to update these foci and compete this element on an annual basis to best address scientific and programmatic priorities: 1. High-End Computing for ESI: Research advancing the use of High-End Computing (HEC) resources to answer specific questions in solid-Earth science. This subsection welcomes proposals addressing observational network design and augmentation, automated processing of large datasets, and advanced analysis and simulation. Proposals that demonstrate a clear need and robust plan for use of NASA HEC resources are especially encouraged. 2. Geomagnetic Research: Research that utilizes remotely sensed geomagnetic observations to further advance our understanding of the solid Earth. 3. Strengthening ESI Community Knowledge and Skills: New ESI-relevant activities that strengthen knowledge and skills of graduate students and/or postdoctoral researchers and broaden community awareness of the ESI mission. Prospective proposers are encouraged to contact the program point of contact to discuss the relevance of their proposal.

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.

The DREaM program will develop new materials and novel device structures to create RF/millimeter wave transistors that enable high dynamic range RF systems. Such RF systems fundamentally require either high transmitting power to increase the signal strength or high linearity signal reception to minimize the spurs or noise in the spectrum. The DREaM program will dramatically increase the output power density at the transistor level as compared to present GaN technology. In addition, DREaM devices with intrinsically higher linearity will enable circuit and system designs with superior reception at much lower power consumption penalties.

Purpose of Program: The purpose of the RERC program is to improve the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act by conducting advanced engineering research on and development of innovative technologies that are designed to solve particular rehabilitation problems or to remove environmental barriers. RERCs also demonstrate and evaluate such technologies, facilitate service delivery system changes, stimulate the production and distribution of new technologies and equipment in the private sector, and provide training opportunities. NIDILRR seeks to fund an RERC on Technologies to Promote Exercise and Health Among People with Disabilities. This RERC must investigate access to exercise by people with disabilities in both recreational and clinical settings and evaluate the impact of exercise on health outcomes of people with disabilities.

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 explore Physical and Natural Systems, Human-Machine and Social Systems, and/or Math and Computational Systems through the lens of one or more of the following technical domains: Complexity Engineering, Science of Design, Noosphere, Fundamental Limits, and New Foundations. Each of these domains is described below and includes a list of example research topics that highlight several (but not all) potential areas of interest. Proposals must investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances. DSO is explicitly not interested in approaches or technologies that primarily result in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) seeks unclassified proposals from educational institutions in the United States for a University Center of Excellence (UCoE) in in Trusted Human-Machine Teaming. Proposals must not contain any proprietary information. This center is a joint project between the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Air Force Research Laboratory, Airman Systems Directorate (AFRL/RH), referred to collectively as "we, our, or us" in this announcement. The center will extend the research capabilities of the Air Force Research Laboratory, and provide opportunities for a new generation of United States scientists and engineers to address the basic research needs of the Air Force. We will consider proposals for up to five (5) years with a three-year (3) base period and a two-year (2) option period.

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 explore Physical and Natural Systems, Human-Machine and Social Systems, and/or Math and Computational Systems through the lens of one or more of the following technical domains: Complexity Engineering, Science of Design, Noosphere, Fundamental Limits, and New Foundations. Proposals must investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances. DSO is explicitly not interested in approaches or technologies that primarily result in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

The High-Performance Computing for Manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) Program seeks qualified industry partners to participate in short-term, collaborative projects with the Department of Energy's (DOE's) national laboratories. Through support from the Advanced Manufacturing Office of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), selected industry partners will be granted access to High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities and experienced staff at DOE National Laboratories. The collaborations will address key challenges in U.S. manufacturing by apply modeling, simulation, and data analysis to the manufacturing of materials with the intent to improve energy efficiency, increase productivity, reduce cycle time, enable next-generation technologies, test control system algorithms, investigate intensified processes, lower energy cost, and accelerate innovation. Projects must demonstrate potential impact to energy efficiency in manufacturing and/or the development of new clean energy technologies with a potential for broad national impact. We solicit proposals in the following primary areas:

In FY 2016, the Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs: Establishing Spokes to Advance Big Data Applications (BD Spokes) solicitation began extending the BD Hubs network by establishing multi-institutional and multi-sector collaborations to focus on topics of specific interest to a given region. The first set of BD Spokes was funded in FY 2016. This solicitation calls for new BD Spoke proposals to be awarded in FY 2018. Collaborating with BD Hubs, each BD Spoke will focus on a particular topic that requires Big Data approaches and solutions. The set of activities managed by a BD Spoke will promote progress towards solutions in the chosen topic area. The regional BD Hub Steering Committee will provide general guidance to each BD Spoke and will assist the BD Spoke in coordinating with the national BD Hub network, with other BD Spokes, and with the broader innovation ecosystem.

The primary objective is to support scholarships for nuclear science, engineering, technology and related disciplines to develop a workforce capable of supporting the design, construction, operation, and regulation of nuclear facilities and the safe handling of nuclear materials. The primary objective is to support fellowships for nuclear science, engineering, technology and related disciplines to develop a workforce capable of supporting the design, construction, operation, and regulation of nuclear facilities and the safe handling of nuclear materials. The primary objective is to support faculty development for nuclear science, engineering, technology and related disciplines to develop a workforce capable of supporting the design, construction, operation, and regulation of nuclear facilities and the safe handling of nuclear materials. The grants specifically target probationary, tenure-track faculty during the first 6 years of their career and new faculty hires in the following academic areas: Nuclear, Mechanical, Civil, Environmental, Electrical, Fire Protection, Geotechnical, Structural and Materials Sciences Engineering as well as Health Physics. The program provides support to enable newer faculty to enhance their careers as professors and researchers in the university department where employed.

CISE's Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS) supports research and education projects that develop new knowledge in three core programs: The Cyber-Human Systems (CHS) program; The Information Integration and Informatics (III) program; and The Robust Intelligence (RI) program. Proposals in the area of computer graphics and visualization may be submitted to any of the three core programs described above. Proposers are invited to submit proposals in three project classes, which are defined as follows: Small Projects - up to $500,000 total budget with durations up to three years; Medium Projects - $500,001 to $1,200,000 total budget with durations up to four years; and Large Projects - $1,200,001 to $3,000,000 total budget with durations up to five years.