The Environmental Health and Safety of Nanotechnology (Nano EHS) program provides support to examine and mitigate the environmental effects of nanotechnologies. Fundamental research is sought to understand, evaluate, and lessen the impact of nanotechnology on the environment and biological systems.
The program emphasizes engineering principles underlying the environmental health and safety impacts of nanotechnology. Innovative methods related to clean nanomaterials production processes, waste reduction, recycling, and industrial ecology of nanotechnology are also of interest.
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.
The Fluid Dynamics program supports fundamental research on mechanisms and phenomena governing fluid flow from the molecular to the macroscopic scale. Proposed research should contribute to basic understanding, thus enabling the better design, predictability, efficiency, and control of systems that involve fluids. Encouraged are proposals that address behavior of new fluid materials and innovative uses of fluids in manufacturing, energy and the environment, materials development, biotechnology, nanotechnology, sensor development, clinical diagnostics and drug delivery. While the research should focus on fundamentals, a clear connection to potential applications with significant societal/technological impact should be outlined.
This solicitation aims at introducing nanoscale science, engineering, and technology through a variety of interdisciplinary approaches into undergraduate engineering education. The focus of the FY 2014 competition is on nanoscale engineering education with relevance to devices and systems and/or on the societal, ethical, economic and/or environmental issues relevant to nanotechnology.
he goal of the Interfacial Processes and Thermodynamics (IPT) program is to advance fundamental molecular engineering at interfaces, especially as applied to the nano-processing of soft materials. The program views fundamental interfacial interactions, molecular transport at interfaces, and molecular thermodynamics as integral to developing new approaches for solving critical engineering needs that face society. Molecules at interfaces, with functional interfacial properties, are of special interest, as these molecules have potential use in important research areas, such as adhesion and advanced manufacturing/fabrication. These interfacial molecules may also have biomolecular functions at the micro- and nano-scale, where the biomolecular functionalities may be re-directed toward engineering solutions. One new area of interest is the adhesion between unlike materials, or adhesion in adverse environments, with particular emphasis on applying strategies arising from nature. Research supported in these fundamental areas should lead to more economical and environmentally benign processing, improved water quality, and novel functional materials for sensors, in industrial, environmental, and biomedical settings. Nanotechnology plays a critical role in most of these new areas.
The Fluid Dynamics program supports fundamental research and education on mechanisms and phenomena governing fluid flow. Proposed research should contribute to basic understanding; thus enabling the better design; predictability; efficiency; and control of systems that involve fluids. Encouraged are proposals that address innovative uses of fluids in materials development; manufacturing; biotechnology; nanotechnology; clinical diagnostics and drug delivery; sensor development and integration; energy and the environment. While the research should focus on fundamentals, a clear connection to potential application should be outlined.
The Fluid Dynamics program supports fundamental research and education on mechanisms and phenomena governing fluid flow. Proposed research should contribute to basic understanding; thus enabling the better design; predictability; efficiency; and control of systems that involve fluids. Encouraged are proposals that address innovative uses of fluids in materials development; manufacturing; biotechnology; nanotechnology; clinical diagnostics and drug delivery; sensor development and integration; energy and the environment. While the research should focus on fundamentals, a clear connection to potential application should be outlined.
Recent advances in communications, computation, and sensing technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for the design of cyber-physical systems with increased responsiveness, interconnectivity and automation. To meet new challenges and societal needs, the Energy, Power, Control andNetworks (EPCN) Program invests in systems and control methods for analysis and design of cyber-physical systems to ensure stability, performance, robustness, and security. Topics of interest include modeling, optimization, learning, and control of networked multi-agent systems, higher-level decision making, and dynamic resource allocation as well as risk management in the presence of uncertainty, sub-system failures and stochastic disturbances. EPCN also invests in adaptive dynamic programing, brain-like networked architectures performing real-time learning, and neuromorphic engineering. EPCN supports innovative proposals dealing with systems research in such areas as energy, transportation, and nanotechnology. EPCN places emphasis on electric power systems, including generation, transmission, storage, and integration of renewables; power electronics and drives; battery management systems; hybrid and electric vehicles; and understanding of the interplay of power systems with associated regulatory and economic structures and with consumer behavior. Also of interest are interdependencies of power and energy systems with other critical infrastructures. Topics of interest also include systems analysis and design for energy scavenging and alternate energy technologies such as solar, wind, and hydrokinetic. The program also supports innovative tools and test beds, as well as curriculum development integrating research and education. In addition to single investigator projects, EPCN encourages cross-disciplinary proposals that benefit from active collaboration of researchers with complementary skills. Proposals for the EPCN program may involve collaborative research to capture the breadth of
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program stimulates technological innovation in the private sector by strengthening the role of small business concerns in meeting Federal research and development needs, increasing the commercial application of federally supported research results, and fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses.
The topics, listed below, are detailed on the SBIR/STTR topics homepage:
Educational Technologies and Applications (EA)
Information and Communication Technologies (IC)
Semiconductors (S) and Photonic (PH) Devices and Materials
Electronic Hardware, Robotics and Wireless Technologies (EW)
Advanced Manufacturing and Nanotechnology (MN)
Advanced Materials and Instrumentation (MI)
Chemical and Environmental Technologies (CT)
Biological Technologies (BT)
Smart Health (SH) and Biomedical (BM) Technologies
The third joint transnational call of the ERA-NET SIINN is open for the submission of innovative transnational research proposals focused on manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs) in the four topics listed below:
Exposure assessment
Toxicity mechanisms
Effects of MNMs on human health
Environmental impacts of MNMs
Please read carefully the following call documents:
The purpose of this Dear Colleague Letter is to advise you about funding opportunities at the National Science Foundation for the research community to propose research projects or workshops that will gather data on the implementation and impacts of recent science policy initiatives including, but not limited to those noted earlier. Especially encouraged are proposals that will:
Develop new, or improve existing, analytical frameworks for evaluating the impacts of federal science policy initiatives;
Explore different agencies' approaches to the implementation of particular policies to examine how variations in approach affect the achievement of intended policy outcomes;
Collect case-study or quantitative data that facilitate identification of best practices in science and innovation policy implementation.