OARS funding Engineering

Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0001616 The Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), on behalf of the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE), is seeking applications under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), herein referred to as Announcement, to conduct research, development and demonstrations (RD&D). This RD&D, in the areas of low cost sensors and improved modeling using sensor data input, will lead to enhanced observability and controllability of power systems to support increased hosting capacity for distributed energy resources (DERs), including energy storage. Capturing the benefits commonly attributed to DERs and/or microgrids, as well as establishing new value propositions that could be enabled by these RD&D efforts is the focus of this FOA. New value propositions could include, but are not limited to, mitigating ancillary resource requirements and meeting the growing demand for reliable and resilient grid operations against outages under all-hazards conditions.

Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0001616 The Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), on behalf of the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE), is seeking applications under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), herein referred to as Announcement, to conduct research, development and demonstrations (RD&D). This RD&D, in the areas of low cost sensors and improved modeling using sensor data input, will lead to enhanced observability and controllability of power systems to support increased hosting capacity for distributed energy resources (DERs), including energy storage. Capturing the benefits commonly attributed to DERs and/or microgrids, as well as establishing new value propositions that could be enabled by these RD&D efforts is the focus of this FOA. New value propositions could include, but are not limited to, mitigating ancillary resource requirements and meeting the growing demand for reliable and resilient grid operations against outages under all-hazards conditions.

DMREF is the primary program by which NSF participates in the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) for Global Competitiveness. MGI recognizes the importance of materials science and engineering to the well-being and advancement of society and aims to "deploy advanced materials at least twice as fast as possible today, at a fraction of the cost." MGI integrates materials discovery, development, property optimization, and systems design with a shared computational framework. This framework facilitates collaboration and coordination of research activities, analytical tools, experimental results, and critical evaluation in pursuit of the MGI goals. The MGI Strategic Plan highlights four sets of goals: -Leading a culture shift in materials science research to encourage and facilitate an integrated team approach; -Integrating experimentation, computation, and theory and equipping the materials community with advanced tools and techniques; -Making digital data accessible; and -Creating a world-class materials science and engineering workforce that is trained for careers in academia or industry.

DMREF is the primary program by which NSF participates in the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) for Global Competitiveness. MGI recognizes the importance of materials science and engineering to the well-being and advancement of society and aims to "deploy advanced materials at least twice as fast as possible today, at a fraction of the cost." MGI integrates materials discovery, development, property optimization, and systems design with a shared computational framework. This framework facilitates collaboration and coordination of research activities, analytical tools, experimental results, and critical evaluation in pursuit of the MGI goals. The MGI Strategic Plan highlights four sets of goals: -Leading a culture shift in materials science research to encourage and facilitate an integrated team approach; -Integrating experimentation, computation, and theory and equipping the materials community with advanced tools and techniques; -Making digital data accessible; and -Creating a world-class materials science and engineering workforce that is trained for careers in academia or industry.

The Applied Mathematics program supports mathematics research motivated by or having an effect on problems arising in science and engineering. Mathematical merit and novelty, as well as breadth and quality of impact on applications, are important factors. Proposals to develop critical mathematical techniques from individual investigators as well as from interdisciplinary teams are encouraged.

The Applied Mathematics program supports mathematics research motivated by or having an effect on problems arising in science and engineering. Mathematical merit and novelty, as well as breadth and quality of impact on applications, are important factors. Proposals to develop critical mathematical techniques from individual investigators as well as from interdisciplinary teams are encouraged.

The Engineering for Natural Hazards (ENH) program supports fundamental research that advances knowledge for understanding and mitigating the impact of natural hazards on constructed civil infrastructure.  Natural hazards considered by the ENH program include earthquakes, windstorms (such as tornadoes and hurricanes), tsunamis, storm surge, and landslides.  The constructed civil infrastructure supported by the ENH program includes building systems, such as the soil-foundation-structure-envelope-nonstructural system, as well as the façade and roofing, and other structures, geostructures, and underground facilities, such as tunnels.  While research may focus on a single natural hazard, research that considers civil infrastructure performance over its lifetime in the context of multiple hazards, that is, a multi-hazard approach, is encouraged.  Research may integrate geotechnical, structural, and architectural engineering advances with discoveries in other science and engineering fields, such as earth and atmospheric sciences, materials science, mechanics of materials, dynamic systems and control, systems engineering, decision theory, risk analysis, high performance computational modeling and simulation, and social, behavioral, and economic sciences.  Multi-disciplinary and international collaborations are encouraged.  The ENH program encourages research integrated with knowledge dissemination and activities that can lead to broader societal benefit for reducing the impact of natural hazards on civil infrastructure.

The Geotechnical Engineering and Materials Program (GEM) supports fundamental research in soil and rock mechanics and dynamics in support of physical civil infrastructure systems. Also supported is research on improvement of the engineering properties of geologic materials for infrastructure use by mechanical, biological, thermal, chemical, and electrical processes. The Program supports the traditional areas of foundation engineering, earth structures, underground construction, tunneling, geoenvironmental engineering, and site characterization, as well as the emerging area of bio-geo engineering, for civil engineering applications, with emphasis on sustainable geosystems. Research related to the geotechnical engineering aspects of geothermal energy and geothermal heat pump systems is also supported. The GEM program encourages knowledge dissemination and technology transfer activities that can lead to broader societal benefit and implementation for provision of physical civil infrastructure. The Program also encourages research that explores and builds upon advanced computing techniques and tools to enable major advances in Geotechnical Engineering.

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 IMEE program supports fundamental, multidisciplinary research on the impact of hazards and disasters upon civil infrastructure and society. The program is focused upon research on the mitigation of, preparedness for, response to, and recovery from multi-hazard disasters. Community and societal resilience and sustainability are important topics within the research portfolio of IMEE. The program is deeply multidisciplinary, integrating multiple perspectives, methods and results from diverse areas in engineering, social and natural sciences, and computing. Among these are civil, mechanical, transportation and system engineering; sociology, cognitive science and psychology, economics, geography, political science and urban planning; geology, biology and meteorology; and applied computing. Methodological innovations that span multiple, diverse disciplines are strongly encouraged.

Cities and communities in the U.S. and around the world are entering a new era of transformational change, in which their inhabitants and the surrounding built and natural environments are increasingly connected by smart technologies, leading to new opportunities for innovation, improved services, and enhanced quality of life. The goal of this Smart & Connected Communities (S&CC) solicitation is to support strongly interdisciplinary, integrative research and research capacity-building activities that will improve understanding of smart and connected communities and lead to discoveries that enable sustainable change to enhance community functioning. Unless stated otherwise, for the purposes of this year's solicitation, communities are physical, geographically-defined entities, such as towns, cities, or incorporated rural areas, consisting of various populations, with a governance structure and the ability to engage in meaningful ways with the proposed research.

Cities and communities in the U.S. and around the world are entering a new era of transformational change, in which their inhabitants and the surrounding built and natural environments are increasingly connected by smart technologies, leading to new opportunities for innovation, improved services, and enhanced quality of life. The goal of this Smart & Connected Communities (S&CC) solicitation is to support strongly interdisciplinary, integrative research and research capacity-building activities that will improve understanding of smart and connected communities and lead to discoveries that enable sustainable change to enhance community functioning. Unless stated otherwise, for the purposes of this year's solicitation, communities are physical, geographically-defined entities, such as towns, cities, or incorporated rural areas, consisting of various populations, with a governance structure and the ability to engage in meaningful ways with the proposed research.

This program element solicits proposals for the acquisition and analysis of new scientific data from the K2 mission (http://keplerscience.arc.nasa.gov). K2 repurposes the space-borne hardware and ground-based operations of the Kepler mission (http://keplerscience.arc.nasa.gov) for a pointed survey of predetermined locations along the ecliptic plane. The single, visible-wavelength instrument on board K2 provides high-precision photometry capability, with short cadence and long cadence modes (1 minute and 30 minute exposures, respectively), and provides a powerful tool for broadband variability analyses of planetary, stellar, extragalactic, and solar system sources.

This program element solicits proposals for the acquisition and analysis of new scientific data from the K2 mission (http://keplerscience.arc.nasa.gov). K2 repurposes the space-borne hardware and ground-based operations of the Kepler mission (http://keplerscience.arc.nasa.gov) for a pointed survey of predetermined locations along the ecliptic plane. The single, visible-wavelength instrument on board K2 provides high-precision photometry capability, with short cadence and long cadence modes (1 minute and 30 minute exposures, respectively), and provides a powerful tool for broadband variability analyses of planetary, stellar, extragalactic, and solar system sources.

Applications are invited in two categories: SFARI Pilot Awards and SFARI Research Awards. 1) SFARI Pilot Awards: Grants are awarded to innovative, high-impact proposals requesting support for small-scale projects or early-stage experiments designed to build on preliminary data or a prior track record and lead to competitive applications for funding by SFARI or other organizations. Investigators new to the field of autism are encouraged to apply. The maximum budget is $150,000 (including indirect costs) per year for up to two years. 2) SFARI Research Awards: Grants awarded through this category are designed for investigators with demonstrated expertise conducting compelling high-impact research on an experimental hypothesis for which, in most cases, preliminary data has already been gathered. The foundation also will consider projects focused on a central hypothesis where success depends on close collaboration between two or more labs. The initiative expects to fund proposals for a maximum of $275,000 per year (including indirect costs) for up to three years, but under exceptional circumstances will consider proposals at higher funding levels.

Applications are invited in two categories: SFARI Pilot Awards and SFARI Research Awards. 1) SFARI Pilot Awards: Grants are awarded to innovative, high-impact proposals requesting support for small-scale projects or early-stage experiments designed to build on preliminary data or a prior track record and lead to competitive applications for funding by SFARI or other organizations. Investigators new to the field of autism are encouraged to apply. The maximum budget is $150,000 (including indirect costs) per year for up to two years. 2) SFARI Research Awards: Grants awarded through this category are designed for investigators with demonstrated expertise conducting compelling high-impact research on an experimental hypothesis for which, in most cases, preliminary data has already been gathered. The foundation also will consider projects focused on a central hypothesis where success depends on close collaboration between two or more labs. The initiative expects to fund proposals for a maximum of $275,000 per year (including indirect costs) for up to three years, but under exceptional circumstances will consider proposals at higher funding levels.

Nanomanufacturing is the production of useful nano-scale materials, structures, devices and systems in an economically viable manner. The NSF Nanomanufacturing Program supports fundamental research in novel methods and techniques for batch and continuous processes, top-down (addition/subtraction) and bottom-up (directed self-assembly) processes leading to the formation of complex heterogeneous nanosystems. The program supports basic research in nanostructure and process design principles, integration across length-scales, and system-level integration. The Program leverages advances in the understanding of nano-scale phenomena and processes (physical, chemical, electrical, thermal, mechanical and biological), nanomaterials discovery, novel nanostructure architectures, and new nanodevice and nanosystem concepts. It seeks to address quality, efficiency, scalability, reliability, safety and affordability issues that are relevant to manufacturing. To address these issues, the Program encourages research on processes and production systems based on computation, modeling and simulation, use of process metrology, sensing, monitoring, and control, and assessment of product (nanomaterial, nanostructure, nanodevice or nanosystem) quality and performance.

Nanomanufacturing is the production of useful nano-scale materials, structures, devices and systems in an economically viable manner. The NSF Nanomanufacturing Program supports fundamental research in novel methods and techniques for batch and continuous processes, top-down (addition/subtraction) and bottom-up (directed self-assembly) processes leading to the formation of complex heterogeneous nanosystems. The program supports basic research in nanostructure and process design principles, integration across length-scales, and system-level integration. The Program leverages advances in the understanding of nano-scale phenomena and processes (physical, chemical, electrical, thermal, mechanical and biological), nanomaterials discovery, novel nanostructure architectures, and new nanodevice and nanosystem concepts. It seeks to address quality, efficiency, scalability, reliability, safety and affordability issues that are relevant to manufacturing. To address these issues, the Program encourages research on processes and production systems based on computation, modeling and simulation, use of process metrology, sensing, monitoring, and control, and assessment of product (nanomaterial, nanostructure, nanodevice or nanosystem) quality and performance.

Materials processing proposals should focus on manufacturing processes that convert material into a useful form as either intermediate or final composition. These include processes such as extrusion, molding, casting, forming, deposition, sintering and printing. Proposed research should include the consideration of cost, performance, and feasibility of scale-up, as appropriate. Novel processes for the production of nanoscale materials (nanotubes, nanocrystals, etc.) are of interest. Process optimization studies without a fundamental scientific contribution are not supported. Research approaches which exploit knowledge of biological processes for the processing of non-biological materials, as well as the utilization of advanced computing techniques to enable major advances in Materials Engineering and Processing are encouraged.

Materials processing proposals should focus on manufacturing processes that convert material into a useful form as either intermediate or final composition. These include processes such as extrusion, molding, casting, forming, deposition, sintering and printing. Proposed research should include the consideration of cost, performance, and feasibility of scale-up, as appropriate. Novel processes for the production of nanoscale materials (nanotubes, nanocrystals, etc.) are of interest. Process optimization studies without a fundamental scientific contribution are not supported. Research approaches which exploit knowledge of biological processes for the processing of non-biological materials, as well as the utilization of advanced computing techniques to enable major advances in Materials Engineering and Processing are encouraged.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) National Technical Nuclear Forensics Center (NTNFC) is inviting U.S. colleges and universities to apply for the Nuclear Forensics Research Award (NFRA). The NFRA supports the establishment of a team of faculty, students, and technical staff at the national or defense laboratories to conduct research in the field of nuclear forensics. NTNFC was tasked with two core missions: to provide national-level integration, centralized planning, and stewardship for the National Technical Nuclear Forensics (NTNF) community; and to lead the U.S. Government (USG) in establishing a robust and enduring pre-detonation radiological/nuclear materials forensics capability. A top priority of DNDO/NTNFC's stewardship mission is to lead USG efforts in addressing the enduring challenge of sustaining a preeminent Nuclear Forensics (NF) workforce of recognized technical experts and leaders through fostering scholastic and research collaboration between and among academia, the national and defense laboratories, and the NTNF Interagency.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) National Technical Nuclear Forensics Center (NTNFC) is inviting U.S. colleges and universities to apply for the Nuclear Forensics Research Award (NFRA). The NFRA supports the establishment of a team of faculty, students, and technical staff at the national or defense laboratories to conduct research in the field of nuclear forensics. NTNFC was tasked with two core missions: to provide national-level integration, centralized planning, and stewardship for the National Technical Nuclear Forensics (NTNF) community; and to lead the U.S. Government (USG) in establishing a robust and enduring pre-detonation radiological/nuclear materials forensics capability. A top priority of DNDO/NTNFC's stewardship mission is to lead USG efforts in addressing the enduring challenge of sustaining a preeminent Nuclear Forensics (NF) workforce of recognized technical experts and leaders through fostering scholastic and research collaboration between and among academia, the national and defense laboratories, and the NTNF Interagency.

The goal of the Smart and Connected Health (SCH) Program is to accelerate the development and use of innovative approaches that would support the much needed transformation of healthcare from reactive and hospital-centered to preventive, proactive, evidence-based, person-centered and focused on well-being rather than disease. Approaches that partner technology-based solutions with biobehavioral health research are supported by multiple agencies of the federal government including the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The purpose of this program is to develop next generation health care solutions and encourage existing and new research communities to focus on breakthrough ideas in a variety of areas of value to health, such as sensor technology, networking, information and machine learning technology, decision support systems, modeling of behavioral and cognitive processes, as well as system and process modeling. Effective solutions must satisfy a multitude of constraints arising from clinical/medical needs, social interactions, cognitive limitations, barriers to behavioral change, heterogeneity of data, semantic mismatch and limitations of current cyberphysical systems. 

The Graduate Research Fellowship in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (GRF-STEM) provides awards to accredited academic institutions to support graduate research leading to doctoral degrees in topic areas that are relevant to ensuring public safety, preventing and controlling crime, and ensuring the fair and impartial administration of criminal justice in the United States. Applicant academic institutions sponsoring doctoral students are eligible to apply only if the doctoral student's degree program is a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) discipline; and the student's proposed dissertation research has demonstrable implications for addressing the challenges of crime and/or the fair and impartial administration of criminal justice in the United States. Awards are anticipated to be made to successful applicant institutions in the form of grants to cover fellowships for the sponsored doctoral students. Although the initial award is only for 1 year of funding, each fellowship potentially provides up to 3 years of support usable over a 5-year period, pending NIJ review of continued enrollment and adequate progress. For each year of support, NIJ provides the degree-granting institution a stipend of $35,000 usable toward the student's salary and related costs, and up to $15,000 to cover the student's tuition and fees, research expenses, and related costs.

As part of this mission, CCCD has issued a Request for Proposals for a new pilot grant initiative that aims to support the expanding definition of craft-based research and promote collaboration between the fields of craft, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.     Through the Materials-Based Research Grant program, grants of up to $15,000 over eighteen months will be awarded to interdisciplinary teams of researchers to encourage mutually beneficial innovation in craft and STEM fields, with a focus on materials and process-based research. The teams should include one maker and one professional working in a STEM-based field (e.g., material science, manufacturing, environmental studies, medicine, structural engineering, etc.). This can include academics, researchers, scientists, full-time makers, or other skilled specialists. 

The HFC program seeks proposals for research to develop and test hybrid geopolitical forecasting systems. These systems will integrate human and machine forecasting components to create maximally accurate, flexible, and scalable forecasting capabilities. Human-generated forecasts may be subject to cognitive biases and/or scalability limits. Machine-generated (i.e., statistical, computational) forecasting approaches may be more scalable and data-driven, but are often ill-suited to render forecasts for idiosyncratic or newly emerging geopolitical issues. Hybrid approaches hold promise for combining the strengths of these two approaches while mitigating their individual weaknesses. Performers will develop systems that will integrate human and machine forecasting contributions in novel ways. These systems will compete in a multi-year competition to identify approaches that may enable the Intelligence Community (IC) to radically improve the accuracy and timeliness of geopolitical forecasts.

The Solar and Planetary Research Grants (SPG) Program provides individual investigator and collaborative research grants for observational, theoretical, laboratory, and archival data studies in the science of our solar system and extrasolar planetary systems. Proposals for projects and tools that enable and enhance research in those areas may also be submitted.

The goal of the Smart and Connected Health (SCH) Program is to accelerate the development and use of innovative approaches that would support the much needed transformation of healthcare from reactive and hospital-centered to preventive, proactive, evidence-based, person-centered and focused on well-being rather than disease. Approaches that partner technology-based solutions with biobehavioral health research are supported by multiple agencies of the federal government including the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The purpose of this program is to develop next generation health care solutions and encourage existing and new research communities to focus on breakthrough ideas in a variety of areas of value to health, such as sensor technology, networking, information and machine learning technology, decision support systems, modeling of behavioral and cognitive processes, as well as system and process modeling. Effective solutions must satisfy a multitude of constraints arising from clinical/medical needs, social interactions, cognitive limitations, barriers to behavioral change, heterogeneity of data, semantic mismatch and limitations of current cyberphysical systems. Such solutions demand multidisciplinary teams ready to address technical, behavioral and clinical issues ranging from fundamental science to clinical practice.

The Science of Learning program supports potentially transformative basic research to advance the science of learning. The goals of the SL Program are to develop basic theoretical insights and fundamental knowledge about learning principles, processes and constraints. Projects that are integrative and/or interdisciplinary may be especially valuable in moving basic understanding of learning forward but research with a single discipline or methodology is also appropriate if it addresses basic scientific questions in learning.   The possibility of developing connections between proposed research and specific scientific, technological, educational, and workforce challenges will be considered as valuable broader impacts, but are not necessarily central to the intellectual merit of proposed research. The program will support  research addressing learning in a wide range of domains at one or more levels of analysis including: molecular/cellular mechanisms; brain systems; cognitive affective, and behavioral processes; and social/cultural influences. The program supports a variety of methods including: experiments, field studies, surveys, secondary-data analyses, and modeling.