The Information Directorate, Activity Based Analysis Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Rome Research Site, is soliciting white papers through this Multi-INT Enhanced Exploitation and Analysis Tools (E2AT) announcement. E2AT is focused on the improvement of operator-exploited sensor analytical performance for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems like the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) that operate within a Multiple-Intelligence (Multi-INT) environment. The advances made under E2AT will assist in operating under Anti-Access / Area Denial (A2/AD) conditions where limitations can degrade C4ISR capabilities. Multi-INT solutions are to be accomplished through the development of innovative technologies that will assist warfighting teams in target tracking and identification, dynamic information annotation, and achieving a high-level information fusion all-source situation awareness. E2AT development is comprised of two complimentary technical areas (TAs): (TA1) Full-Motion Video Exploitation (FMVE) which is an exploitation enhancement that has a focus on video and text source integration and (TA2) Multi-INT Data Association (MIDA) that has its emphasis on overcoming anticipated Anti-Access / Area Denial (A2/AD) conditions.
The objective of the DARPA Biological Control program is to build new capabilities for the control of biological systems across scales - from nanometers to centimeters, seconds to weeks, and biomolecules to populations of organisms - using embedded controllers made of biological parts to program system-level behavior. This program will apply and advance existing control theory to design and implement generalizable biological control strategies analogous to conventional control engineering, for example, for mechanical and electrical systems. The resulting advances in fundamental understanding and capabilities will create new opportunities for engineering biology. Specifically, the Biological Control program will demonstrate tools to rationally design and implement multiscale, closed-loop control of biological systems, through the development of biological controllers, testbeds to evaluate control of system-level behavior, and theory and models to predict and design effective control strategies. The resulting capabilities will be inherently generalizable to a variety of biological systems. Successful teams will integrate and apply these capabilities to demonstrate a practical proof-of-principle biological solution to a proposer-defined application relevant to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
The objective of the DARPA Biological Control program is to build new capabilities for the control of biological systems across scales - from nanometers to centimeters, seconds to weeks, and biomolecules to populations of organisms - using embedded controllers made of biological parts to program system-level behavior. This program will apply and advance existing control theory to design and implement generalizable biological control strategies analogous to conventional control engineering, for example, for mechanical and electrical systems. The resulting advances in fundamental understanding and capabilities will create new opportunities for engineering biology. Specifically, the Biological Control program will demonstrate tools to rationally design and implement multiscale, closed-loop control of biological systems, through the development of biological controllers, testbeds to evaluate control of system-level behavior, and theory and models to predict and design effective control strategies. The resulting capabilities will be inherently generalizable to a variety of biological systems. Successful teams will integrate and apply these capabilities to demonstrate a practical proof-of-principle biological solution to a proposer-defined application relevant to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
The Common Fund Program - Accelerating Translation of Glycoscience: Integration and Accessibility - aims to develop accessible and affordable new tools and technologies for studying carbohydrates that will allow biomedical researchers to significantly advance our understanding of the roles of these complex molecules in health and disease. This program will enable investigators who might not otherwise conduct research in the glycosciences, to undertake the study of carbohydrate structure and function.
NCATS plans to support the research, development and testing of up to three biomedical reasoning tool prototypes for the Biomedical Data Translator for an estimated $1,000,000 total costs each. NCATS is utilizing a three-step application process (challenge-concept-proposal) for this expedited program. The duration of each award will be less than one year. All awardees will be expected to collaborate and cooperate with NCATS staff, one another and potentially other contributors to the overall program to maximize the exploration of the potential capabilities of Translator and to understand technical feasibility and challenges of having multiple groups build a single resource.
All U.S. and foreign organizations and U.S. citizens are eligible to apply. This funding opportunity is open to U.S. and foreign organizations, including academic institutions and commercial entities; subcontracts are allowed. U.S. citizens may also apply as individuals and may be direct recipients of an award. Non-citizen individuals residing in the U.S. or foreign country not affiliated with either a U.S. or foreign organization are not eligible to be direct recipients of an award.
Successful completion of the application process will require applicants to have specific skills related to translational research and software development. Applicants need to demonstrate technical skills, including familiarity with web communication protocols, a variety of programming languages and software stack, and general algorithmic techniques in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and knowledge engineering, as well as problem solving skills, especially creativity and persistence. Applicants familiar with languages and packages most useful for solving different tasks, the entire challenge process may take between 2 and 8 hours to complete.
The purpose of this NOFO is to support a more efficient method for HIV surveillance jurisdictions to identify potential interstate duplicates. The recipient will develop and provide a secure, encrypted, on-going privacy data-sharing tool capable of identifying potential duplicates across jurisdictions, implement necessary data security, confidentiality and privacy protections according to CDC standards, obtain participation agreements with 59 state and local health department HIV surveillance programs that will allow on demand submission and matching of person-level HIV surveillance data, and report back to jurisdictions on matching levels in formats that are importable into local/state HIV data systems.
The CDS&E-MSS program accepts proposals that confront and embrace the host of mathematical and statistical challenges presented to the scientific and engineering communities by the ever-expanding role of computational modeling and simulation on the one hand, and the explosion in production of digital and observational data on the other. The goal of the program is to promote the creation and development of the next generation of mathematical and statistical theories and tools that will be essential for addressing such issues. To this end, the program will support fundamental research in mathematics and statistics whose primary emphasis will be on meeting the aforementioned computational and data-related challenges. This program is part of the wider Computational and Data-enabled Science and Engineering (CDS&E) enterprise in NSF that seeks to address this emerging discipline
The CDS&E-MSS program accepts proposals that confront and embrace the host of mathematical and statistical challenges presented to the scientific and engineering communities by the ever-expanding role of computational modeling and simulation on the one hand, and the explosion in production of digital and observational data on the other. The goal of the program is to promote the creation and development of the next generation of mathematical and statistical theories and tools that will be essential for addressing such issues. To this end, the program will support fundamental research in mathematics and statistics whose primary emphasis will be on meeting the aforementioned computational and data-related challenges. This program is part of the wider Computational and Data-enabled Science and Engineering (CDS&E) enterprise in NSF that seeks to address this emerging discipline
Background A large amount of the research and development of post-combustion carbon capture technology focuses on three main technologies: adsorption, absorption and membranes. Each of these technologies have energy and techno-economic advantages and disadvantages. However, an optimal process may involve the integration of multiple technologies into a single, hybrid, transformative process that is more economical and energy efficient. The challenge of developing this type of process is the integration of rigorous process sub-models into a single framework, where hybrid designs can be evaluated and optimized. The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has significant expertise in the development of rigorous process models and modeling for the advancement and acceleration of the commercialization of carbon capture process systems. A large part of the effort is the Carbon Capture Simulation Initiative (CCSI) [Reference 1]. The computational tools and multi-scale modeling techniques comprising the CCSI toolset can be broadly applied for the development of a wide variety of technologies well beyond carbon capture including chemicals production, petroleum refining, natural gas processing and biofuel production.
The purpose of this Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative is to encourage applications that will develop and validate tools and resources to facilitate the detailed analysis of brain microconnectivity. Novel and augmented techniques are sought that will ultimately be broadly accessible to the neuroscience community for the interrogation of microconnectivity in healthy and diseased brains of model organisms and humans. Development of technologies that will significantly drive down the cost of connectomics would enable routine mapping of the microconnectivity on the same individuals that have been analyzed physiologically, or to compare normal and pathological tissues in substantial numbers of multiple individuals to assess variability. Advancements in both electron microscopy (EM) and super resolution light microscopic approaches are sought. Applications that propose to develop approaches that break through existing technical barriers to substantially improve current capabilities are highly encouraged. Proof-of-principle demonstrations and/or reference datasets enabling future development are welcome, as are improved approaches for automated segmentation and analysis strategies of neuronal structures in EM images.
This program will increase technological investigative capacity and associated training for law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. This solicitation will particularly focus on supporting the development, refinement, and advancement of widely used investigative tools, methods and technologies that address child pornography, exploitation and sex trafficking.
This program supports innovative research on the theories of dynamical systems, including new analytical and computational tools, as well as the novel application of dynamical systems to engineered systems. The program is especially interested in transformative research in the area of complex systems, uncertain or stochastic nonlinear dynamical systems, model order reduction of nonlinear or infinite dimensional dynamical systems, discrete nonlinear dynamical systems, and modeling, simulation, analysis and design of multi-scale multi-physics dynamical systems.
The Design of Engineering Material Systems (DEMS) program supports fundamental research intended to lead to new paradigms of design, development, and insertion of advanced engineering material systems. Fundamental research that develops and creatively integrates theory, processing/manufacturing, data/informatics, experimental, and/or computational approaches with rigorous engineering design principles, approaches, and tools to enable the accelerated design and development of materials is welcome.
Research proposals are sought that strive to develop systematic scientific methodologies to tailor the behavior of material systems in ways that are driven by performance metrics and incorporate processing/manufacturing. While an emphasis on a specific material system may be appropriate to provide the necessary project focus, techniques developed should transcend materials systems. Ultimately it is expected that research outcomes will be methodologies to enable the discovery of materials systems with new properties and behavior, and enable their rapid insertion into engineering systems.
Proposals that focus on modeling, simulation, and prediction of material performance (even when research is coupled with experiments for validation or guidance) without an intellectual emphasis on design are not appropriate for this program and should be submitted to other disciplinary programs.
The Hazard Mitigation and Structural Engineering (HMSE) program supports fundamental research to mitigate impacts of natural and anthropogenic hazards on civil infrastructure and to advance the reliability, resiliency, and sustainability of buildings and other structures. Hazards considered within the program include earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, tornado and other loads, as well as explosive and impact loading. Resiliency of buildings and other structures include structural and non-structural systems that, in totality, permit continued occupation or operation in case of an impact by a hazard. Research is encouraged that integrates structural and architectural engineering advances with discoveries in other science and engineering fields, such as earth and atmospheric sciences, material science, mechanics of materials, sensor technology, high performance computational modeling and simulation, dynamic system and control, and economics. The program seeks to fund transformative and cost-effective innovations for hazard mitigation of both new and rehabilitated buildings and other structures. Research in structural and architectural engineering is encouraged that extends beyond mature or current construction materials into investigations of smart and sustainable materials and technologies, and considers the structures in their entirety. In addition, the program funds research on structural health monitoring that goes beyond data acquisition to include the holistic system, integrating condition assessment and decision making tools to improve structural performance.
The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement is to encourage collaborations between the life and physical sciences that: 1) apply a multidisciplinary bioengineering approach to the solution of a biomedical problem; and 2) integrate, optimize, validate, translate or otherwise accelerate the adoption of promising tools, methods and techniques for a specific research or clinical problem in basic, translational, or clinical science and practice. An application may propose design-directed, developmental, discovery-driven, or hypothesis-driven research and is appropriate for small teams applying an integrative approach that can increase our understanding of and solve problems in biological, clinical or translational science.
The Naval Facilities Command, through the Living Marine Resources applied science program (LMR), is soliciting pre-proposals for efforts related to any one of the six (6) themes listed below.
1. Data and Tools for the Assessment and Mitigation of Effects from Construction Noise (LMR N-0001-13).
2. Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) Technology Demonstrations (LMR N-0006-13).
3. Behavioral Responses to Navy Sound Sources (LMR N-0011-13).
4. Hearing and Auditory System Information for Hearing-Based Risk Criteria (N-0012-13).
5. Demonstration and Evaluation of Platform-Independent Improvements to Automated Signal Processing of Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) Data (LMR N0020-13).
6. Capability Development for Hearing Data Collection (LMR N0029-13).
DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of cyber analysis. 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.
ICAS aims to make IT system information readily useful for attack forensics and tactical cyber defense by automatically integrating all device data and generating a complete, current picture of the enterprise. DARPA envisions an ICAS solution comprised of two principal elements: a connecting layer to enable federation of currently stovepiped IT system data sources, and tools for analyzing, visualizing, and reasoning over the ICAS federated database.
The goal of the CPS program is to develop the core system science needed to engineer complex cyber-physical systems upon which people can depend with high confidence. The program aims to foster a research community committed to advancing research and education in CPS and to transitioning CPS science and technology into engineering practice. By abstracting from the particulars of specific systems and application domains, the CPS program aims to reveal cross-cutting fundamental scientific and engineering principles that underpin the integration of cyber and physical elements across all application sectors. To expedite and accelerate the realization of cyber-physical systems in a wide range of applications, the CPS program also supports the development of methods, tools, and hardware and software components based upon these cross-cutting principles, along with validation of the principles via prototypes and test beds.
The Combustion, Fire, and Plasma Systems program supports fundamental research and education relevant to these subjects. Among the broader societal impacts of the program are cleaner global and local environments, enhanced public safety, improved energy and homeland security, useful new materials, and more efficient manufacturing.
This program is not an applied program, but rather it endeavors to provide basic knowledge that is needed to develop useful combustion and plasma applications and for mitigating the effects of fire. Broad-based tools - experimental, diagnostic, and computational - that can be applied to a variety of problems in combustion, fires, and plasma systems are the major products of this program.
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) DEBUT Challenge is open to teams of undergraduate students working on projects that develop innovative solutions to unmet health and clinical problems. Entries are solicited in one of the following categories:
* Diagnostic Devices/Methods
* Therapeutic Devices/Methods
* Technology to Aid Underserved Populations and Individuals with Disabilities
NIBIB's mission is to improve health by leading the development and accelerating the application of biomedical technologies. The goals of the challenge are 1) to provide undergraduate students valuable experiences such as working in teams, identifying unmet clinical needs, and designing, building and debugging solutions for such open-ended problems; 2) to generate novel, innovative tools to improve healthcare, consistent with NIBIB's purpose to support research, training, the dissemination of health information, and other programs with respect to biomedical imaging and engineering and associated technologies and modalities with biomedical applications; and 3) to highlight and acknowledge the contributions and accomplishments of undergraduate students.
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) intends to assemble a group of Comprehensive Centers that will adopt scalable technology platforms and streamlined workflows to generate a comprehensive 3D brain cell reference atlas encompassing molecular, anatomical, and physiological annotations of brain cell types in mouse, and incorporate additional genetic and other advanced cell-specific targeting approaches and tools to facilitate this goal. A central goal of this and the three companion FOAs is to build a brain cell census resource that can be widely used throughout the research community.
The goals of the Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN) are to: 1) accelerate the transformation of nanoscience to nanotechnology through the integration of simulation with experimentation; 2) engage an ever-larger and more diverse cyber community sharing novel, high-quality nanoscale computation and simulation research and educational resources; 3) develop open-access, open-source software to stimulate data sharing; and 4) inspire and educate the next-generation workforce. The NCN consists of a stand-alone Cyber Platform, which provides computation, simulation, and education services to over 330,000 researchers, educators, students, and industry members of the nanoscience and engineering community annually worldwide; and Nodes, which develop compelling new computational and simulation tools to disseminate through Cyber Platform (nanoHUB.org) and cultivate communities of users in emerging areas of nanoscale science and engineering.
