The NRA will cover all aspects of research to provide human health and performance countermeasures, knowledge, technologies, and tools to enable safe, reliable, and productive human space exploration, and to ensure safe and productive human spaceflight.
The mission of the Biomedical Engineering (BME) program is to provide opportunities to develop novel ideas into discovery-level and transformative projects that integrate engineering and life science principles in solving biomedical problems that serve humanity in the long-term. The Biomedical Engineering (BME) program supports fundamental research in the following BME themes:
Neural engineering (brain science, computational neuroscience, brain-computer interface, neurotech, cognitive engineering)
Cellular biomechanics (motion, deformation, and forces in biological systems; how mechanical forces alter cell growth, differentiation, movement, signal transduction, transport, cell adhesion, cell cytoskeleton dynamics, cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions; genetically engineered stem cell differentiation with long-term impact in tissue repair and regenerative medicine)
The BME projects must be at the interface of engineering and life sciences, and advance both engineering and life sciences. The projects should focus on high impact transforming methods and technologies. The project should include methods, models and tools of understanding and controlling of living systems; fundamental improvements in deriving information from cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems; new approaches to the design of structures and materials for eventual medical use in the long-term; and new novel methods of reducing health care costs through new technologies.
The projects should emphasize the advancement of fundamental engineering knowledge, possibly leading to the development of new methods and technologies in the long-term; and highlight multi-disciplinary nature, integrating engineering and the sciences. The long-term impact of the projects can be related to disease diagnosis and/or treatment, improved health care delivery, or product development.
Biophotonics applies photonics technology to the fields of medicine, biology and biotechnology. Basic research and innovation in photonics that is very fundamental in science and engineering is needed to lay the foundation for new technologies beyond those that are mature and ready for application in medical diagnostics and therapies. Advances are needed in nanophotonics, optogenetics, contrast and targeting agents, ultra-thin probes, wide field imaging, and rapid biomarker screening. Low cost and minimally invasive medical diagnostics and therapies are key goals.
Examples of topics are:
Macromolecule Markers - Innovative methods for labeling of macromolecules, new compositions of matter/methods of fabrication of multi-color probes such as might be used for marking and detection of specific pathological cells and push the envelope of optical sensing to the limits of detection, resolution, and identification
Low Coherence Sensing at the Nanoscale - Low coherence enhanced backscattering (LEBS), n-dimensional elastic light scattering, and angle-resolved low coherence interferometry for early cancer detection (dysplasia)
Neurophotonics - Studies of photon activation of neurons at the interface of nanomaterials attached to cells. Development and application of biocompatible photonic tools such as parallel interfaces and interconnects for communicating and control of neural networks
Micro- and Nano-photonic - Development and application of nanoparticle fluorescent quantum-dots; sensitive, multiplexed, high-throughput characterization of macromolecular properties of cells; nanomaterials and nanodevices for biomedicine
Optogenetics - Employing light-activated channels and enzymes for manipulation of neural activity with temporal precision.
The Control Systems (CS) program supports fundamental research on control theory and control technology driven by real life applications. The program emphasis is on paradigm-shifting ideas for control strategies that are inspired by nature, unconventional applications, and the combined roles of feedback, feedforward and uncertainty in systems. The program supports research that advances fundamental understanding, analysis and synthesis of control strategies and tools based on system formulation, assumptions and constraints that are motivated and derived from real-life applications and/or industry needs. Integration of novel sensing and actuation concepts that combine feedback, communication and signal processing and analysis to achieve a sensing or actuation objectives are also supported.
The mission of the Biomedical Engineering (BME) program is to provide opportunities to develop novel ideas into discovery-level and transformative projects that integrate engineering and life science principles in solving biomedical problems that serve humanity in the long-term. The Biomedical Engineering (BME) program supports fundamental research in the following BME themes:
Neural engineering (brain science, computational neuroscience, brain-computer interface, neurotech, cognitive engineering)
Cellular biomechanics (motion, deformation, and forces in biological systems; how mechanical forces alter cell growth, differentiation, movement, signal transduction, transport, cell adhesion, cell cytoskeleton dynamics, cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions; genetically engineered stem cell differentiation with long-term impact in tissue repair and regenerative medicine)
The BME projects must be at the interface of engineering and life sciences, and advance both engineering and life sciences. The projects should focus on high impact transforming methods and technologies. The project should include methods, models and tools of understanding and controlling of living systems; fundamental improvements in deriving information from cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems; new approaches to the design of structures and materials for eventual medical use in the long-term; and new novel methods of reducing health care costs through new technologies.
The Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies (VT) Program, is seeking applications that will lead to computational modeling advances and development of lightweight alloys for lightweighting and propulsion applications. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) includes three (3) Areas of Interest; Area of Interest 3 includes two (2) subtopics. Areas of Interest are indentified below:
Area of Interest 1: Predictive Engineering Tools for Injection Molded Long Carbon Fiber Thermoplastic Composites
Area of Interest 2: Integrated Computation Materials Engineering (ICME) Development of Advanced Steel for Lightweight Vehicles
Area of Interest 3: Advanced Alloy Development for Automotive and Heavy-Duty Engines
3a) Lightweight Cast Alloy Development for Light Duty Automotive Engine Applications
3b) High Strength Cast Alloy Development for Heavy-Duty On-Road Engine Applications
During 2015 - 2019, NHERI will be a distributed, multi-user, national facility to provide the natural hazards engineering community with access to research infrastructure (earthquake and wind engineering experimental facilities, cyberinfrastructure, computational modeling and simulation tools, and research data), coupled with education and community outreach activities. NHERI will enable research and educational advances that can contribute knowledge and innovation for the nation's civil infrastructure and communities to prevent natural hazard events from becoming societal disasters.
NHERI will consist of the following components, established through up to ten individual awards:
Network Coordination Office (one award),
Cyberinfrastructure (one award),
Computational Modeling and Simulation Center (one award), and
Experimental Facilities for earthquake engineering and wind engineering research (up to seven awards, including one award for a Post-Disaster, Rapid Response Research Facility).
The Geobiology and Low-Temperature Geochemistry Program focuses on geochemical processes in terrestrial Earth's surface environmental systems, as well as the interaction of geochemical and biological processes. The program supports field, laboratory, theoretical, and modeling studies of these processes and related mechanisms at all spatial and temporal scales. Studies may address: 1) inorganic and/or organic geochemical processes occurring at or near the Earth's surface now and in the past, and across the broad spectrum of interfaces ranging in scale from planetary and regional to mineral-surface and supramolecular; 2) the role of life in the transformation and evolution of Earth's geochemical cycles; 3) surficial chemical and biogeochemical systems and cycles, including their modification through environmental change and human activities; 4) low-temperature aqueous geochemical processes; 5) mineralogy and chemistry of earth materials; 6) geomicrobiology and biomineralization processes; and 7) medical mineralogy and geochemistry. The Program encourages research that focuses on geochemical processes as they are coupled with physical and biological processes in the critical zone. The Program also supports work on the development of tools, methods, and models for the advancement of low-temperature geochemistry and geobiology.
The Geobiology and Low-Temperature Geochemistry Program is interested in supporting transformational and cutting-edge research. The Program is highly interdisciplinary and interfaces with other programs within the Earth Surface Section and with programs in biology, chemistry and engineering.
The purpose of this FOA is to competitively solicit and award R&D projects that will meet the following Objectives: (1) advancing Intelligent Monitoring Systems (IMS) for monitoring, controlling, and optimizing CO2 injection operations. The implementation of a CCS-specific IMS should result in more efficient use of pore space, but also reduce the potential risk and provide mitigation options in real-time for Carbon Storage. And (2) advance diagnostic tools and methods capable of characterizing borehole leakage pathways or fluid flow in existing wells, and advance next-generation materials and methods for mitigating wellbore leakage.
This FOA encourages Exploratory/ Developmental Research Project (R21) applications for design and development of novel technologies to monitor health or deliver care in a real-time, accessible, effective, and minimally obtrusive way. These may be novel sensor or monitoring systems, home-use point-of-care devices, home or mobile therapy or rehabilitation tools, or information systems and should have the goal of fostering healthy and independent living. The development of such technologies has the potential to significantly improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, people aging with mild impairments, as well as individuals with chronic conditions.
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 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 Sensors, Dynamics, and Control (SDC) program supports fundamental research on the analysis, measurement, monitoring and control of complex dynamical and structural systems, including development of new analytical, computational and experimental tools, and novel applications to engineered and natural systems. Program objectives are the discovery of new phenomena and the investigation of innovative methods and applications for dynamics, measurement, and control. Transformative research on complex networks, linear and nonlinear discrete or infinite dimensional systems spanning a multitude of time and length scales and physical domains are of interest, as are highly interdisciplinary projects and projects addressing security, resilience and sustainability. Basic research strongly motivated by industry needs or other real-life applications is welcome.The SDC program supports fundamental research on the theories of dynamical systems to uncover novel paradigms for modeling, control and analysis of dynamic phenomena and systems that undergo spatial and temporal evolution with applications crossing interdisciplinary boundaries, along with fundamental studies on stability, phase transitions, and wave propagation in complex and non-local media. Furthermore, the program supports fundamental research on monitoring, analysis, and decision-making processes for integrity monitoring, sensors reliability and safety of complex engineered systems, especially under conditions of uncertainty. Of interest is the investigation of big data (high-volume and high-speed) issues related to virtually-continuous streams of measurements from heterogeneous sensors for continuous systems monitoring. The SDC program also includes fundamental research on control theory and its applications. Topics of current interest include unconventional applications of control; the combined roles of feedback, feedforward and uncertainty; integrated feedback, communication and signal processing; and control conc
In emerging areas of technology at the interface between fields such as the engineering of biology and cellular biomanufacturing, including the field of synthetic biology, there is an even greater need for collaborative precompetitive research that will ensure the success of these nascent technology areas. In particular, research that contributes to the establishment of standards for production; provides tools for the assessment of quality, robustness and stability of the process and product; and develops metrics that will facilitate risk assessment associated with a regulatory framework, will be essential for the eventual commercialization of products from the engineering of biology.
The Science of Science & Innovation Policy (SciSIP) program supports research designed to advance the scientific basis of science and innovation policy. Research funded by the program thus develops, improves and expands models, analytical tools, data and metrics that can be applied in the science policy decision making process.
The Science of Science & Innovation Policy (SciSIP) program supports research designed to advance the scientific basis of science and innovation policy. Research funded by the program thus develops, improves and expands models, analytical tools, data and metrics that can be applied in the science policy decision making process. For example, research proposals may develop behavioral and analytical conceptualizations, frameworks or models that have applications across a broad array of SciSIP challenges, including the relationship between broader participation and innovation or creativity. Proposals may also develop methodologies to analyze science and technology data, and to convey the information to a variety of audiences. Researchers are also encouraged to create or improve science and engineering data, metrics and indicators reflecting current discovery, particularly proposals that demonstrate the viability of collecting and analyzing data on knowledge generation and innovation in organizations.
Biophotonics applies photonics technology to the fields of medicine, biology and biotechnology. Basic research and innovation in photonics that is very fundamental in science and engineering is needed to lay the foundation for new technologies beyond those that are mature and ready for application in medical diagnostics and therapies. Advances are needed in nanophotonics, optogenetics, contrast and targeting agents, ultra-thin probes, wide field imaging, and rapid biomarker screening. Low cost and minimally invasive medical diagnostics and therapies are key goals.
Examples of topics are:
Macromolecule Markers - Innovative methods for labeling of macromolecules, new compositions of matter/methods of fabrication of multi-color probes such as might be used for marking and detection of specific pathological cells and push the envelope of optical sensing to the limits of detection, resolution, and identification
Low Coherence Sensing at the Nanoscale - Low coherence enhanced backscattering (LEBS), n-dimensional elastic light scattering, and angle-resolved low coherence interferometry for early cancer detection (dysplasia)
Neurophotonics - Studies of photon activation of neurons at the interface of nanomaterials attached to cells. Development and application of biocompatible photonic tools such as parallel interfaces and interconnects for communicating and control of neural networks
Micro- and Nano-photonic - Development and application of nanoparticle fluorescent quantum-dots; sensitive, multiplexed, high-throughput characterization of macromolecular properties of cells; nanomaterials and nanodevices for biomedicine
Optogenetics - Employing light-activated channels and enzymes for manipulation of neural activity with temporal precision.
The Biotechnology, Biochemical, and Biomass Engineering (BBBE) program supports fundamental engineering research that advances the understanding of cellular and biomolecular processes (in vivo, in vitro, and/or ex vivo) and eventually leads to the development of enabling technology and/or applications in support of the biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, and bioenergy industries, or with applications in health or the environment. Quantitative assessments of bioprocesses are considered vital to successful research projects in the BBBE program.
Fundamental to many research projects in this area is the understanding of how biomolecules and cells interact in their environment, and how those molecular level interactions lead to changes in structure, function, phenotype, and/or behavior. The program encourages proposals that address emerging research areas and technologies that effectively integrate knowledge and practices from different disciplines, and effectively incorporate ongoing research into educational activities.
Research projects of particular interest in BBBE include, but are not limited to:
Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology
Quantitative systems biotechnology
Tissue engineering and stem cell culture technologies
Protein engineering/protein design
Development of novel "omics" tools for biotechnology applications
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.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), invests in high-risk, high-value research, development and deployment in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. EERE, through the Building Technologies Office (BTO) is issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001117, entitled ?Building America Industry Partnerships for High Performance Housing Innovations?. The FOA seeks to develop technologies, techniques, and tools for making buildings more energy efficient, productive, and affordable. BTO's strategic goal is to significantly improve the energy efficiency of new and existing buildings to reduce national energy demand and allow the nation to work toward greater energy independence and a cleaner environment. With this FOA, EERE anticipates selecting and funding 1 to 4 building science teams in 2015 for the Building America Research Program. Selected teams will conduct applied Research and Development (R&D) in real world houses, develop and implement solutions to three inter-related core technical challenges which are necessary to meet the program goals for both new and existing homes. Core technical challenges include: A) high performance, low risk building envelope assemblies and systems to achieve low heating and cooling loads; B) optimal comfort systems (HVAC and distribution) for low-load homes; and C) high performance ventilation systems and indoor air quality strategies for low-load homes The full Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is posted on the EERE eXCHANGE website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov. Applications must be submitted through the EERE eXCHANGE website to be considered for award. The applicant must first register and create an account on the EERE eXCHANGE website. A User Guide for the EERE eXCHANGE can be found on the EERE website https://eere- exchange.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx after logging in to the system. Information on where to submit questions regardi
