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This program supports theoretical and computational materials research and education in the topical areas represented in DMR programs, including condensed matter physics, polymers, solid-state and materials chemistry, metals and nanostructures, electronic and photonic materials, ceramics, and biomaterials. The program supports fundamental research that advances conceptual, analytical, and computational techniques for materials research. A broad spectrum of research is supported using electronic structure methods, many-body theory, statistical mechanics, and Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations, along with other techniques, many involving advanced scientific computing. Emphasis is on approaches that begin at the smallest appropriate length scale, such as electronic, atomic, molecular, nano-, micro-, and mesoscale, required to yield fundamental insight into material properties, processes, and behavior and to reveal new materials phenomena. Areas of recent interest include, but are not limited to: strongly correlated electron systems; low-dimensional systems; nonequilibrium phenomena, including pattern formation, microstructural evolution, and fracture; high-temperature superconductivity; nanostructured materials and mesoscale phenomena; quantum coherence and its control; and soft condensed matter, including systems of biological interest.

Cyberspace has transformed the daily lives of people. Society's overwhelming reliance on cyberspace, however, has exposed its fragility and vulnerabilities: corporations, agencies, national infrastructure and individuals continue to suffer cyber-attacks. Achieving a truly secure cyberspace requires addressing both challenging scientific and engineering problems involving many components of a system, and vulnerabilities that stem from human behaviors and choices. Examining the fundamentals of security and privacy as a multidisciplinary subject can lead to fundamentally new ways to design, build and operate cyber systems, protect existing infrastructure, and motivate and educate individuals about cybersecurity. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014,as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2018, authorizes the National Science Foundation, in coordination with the Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Homeland Security, to offer a scholarship program to recruit and train the next generation of information technology professionals, industry control system security professionals and security managers to meet the needs of the cybersecurity mission for federal, state, local, and tribal governments. The goals of the CyberCorps(R): Scholarship for Service (SFS) program are aligned with the U.S. National Cyber Strategy to develop a superior cybersecurity workforce. The SFS program welcomes proposals to establish or to continue scholarship programs in cybersecurity. All scholarship recipients must work after graduation for a federal, state, local, or tribal Government organization in a position related to cybersecurity for a period equal to the length of the scholarship. A proposing institution must provide clearly documented evidence of a strong existing academic program in cybersecurity.

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.

The EBRC (Energetics Basic Research Center) is a basic research program initiated by the Combat Capabilities Development Command/Army Research Laboratory/ARO. It focuses on areas of strategic importance to U.S. national security. It seeks to increase the Army's intellectual capital in energetic materials (EM) and improve its ability to address future challenges. EBRC brings together universities, research institutions, companies, and individual scholars and supports multidisciplinary and cross-institutional projects addressing specific topic areas determined by the Department of the Army (DA). The EBRC aims to promote research in specific areas of EMs and to promote a candid and constructive relationship between DA and the energetics research community. The future Army is projected to be unable to achieve dominance in range and lethality due to inadequate energetic formulations and form factor limitations associated with current weapon systems. Basic research generates new knowledge that may be exploited to develop and deliver new materials and technologies that contribute to enhanced lethal effects at the system level as well as increased range and a smaller payload. These, in turn, enable space for larger, mission-critical systems, and shorter time-to-target ensuring Army battlefield dominance in Multi-Domain Operations. Army research must encompass new ways to expedite the discovery, design, and scale-up of new materials and concepts which when integrated into newly designed weapons components (e.g. additively manufactured high strength steels with pre-formed fragmentation patterns, and structural reactive materials) developed at ARL and across the Army and DoD communities, will deliver decisive weapons overmatch.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of processes and technology for assembly of systems, components, and materials at millimeter scale or larger from nanometer scale constituents. 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.

The U.S. Army Research Office (ARO) in collaboration with the National Security Agency (NSA) is soliciting proposals for research in High Performance Superconducting Qubit Systems. This BAA has two primary goals; (a) substantially improve the fidelity of one and two-qubit operations over current state-of-the-art performance, and (b) design and test qubits with built-in error protection. While proposals that advance both primary goals in an integrated approach are encouraged, proposers may focus on either goal individually, given the state-of-the-art of their approach. There are two types of proposals with different research scopes covered in this announcement: 1. High performance superconducting qubit systems a. High Fidelity 2-qubit gates b. Error protected qubits 2. Key supporting technology to high-performance superconducting qubits

The objective of the Advanced Energy Systems Program is to solicit and competitively award research projects under this Funding Opportunity Announcement to successfully complete the maturation of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell technology from its present state to the point of commercial readiness. The Program will support two topic areas to include Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Prototype System Testing and Core Technology Development.

With this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the Department of Energy (DOE) SunShot Initiative is soliciting collaborative research teams to define and fabricate model systems that utilize a single p-n junction device structure and have the potential to approach Shockley-Queisser power conversion efficiency limits (for a chosen bandgap and absorber material). The emphasis of this FOA is assembling cohesive and highly diverse teams of experts within and outside the PV community who can achieve the goals of creating a model system concept and a subsequent device that can approach theoretical limits. DOE SunShot anticipates significant collaboration between experts in fundamental materials, characterization, device physics, ab-initio simulations, and PV device integration to adequately address these issues.

This FOA invites applications for the Microphysiological Systems (MPS) for Disease Modeling and Efficacy Testing Program to develop highly reproducible and translatable in vitro models for preclinical efficacy studies through discovery and validation of translatable biomarkers, development of standardized methods for preclinical efficacy testing and definitive efficacy testing of candidate therapeutics using best practices and rigorous study design. An essential feature will be a multidisciplinary approach that brings together experts in bioengineering, microfluidics, material science, "omic" sciences, computational biology, disease biology, pathology, electrophysiology, pharmacology, biostatistics and clinical science.

This FOA invites applications for the Microphysiological Systems (MPS) for Disease Modeling and Efficacy Testing Program to develop highly reproducible and translatable in vitro models for preclinical efficacy studies through discovery and validation of translatable biomarkers, development of standardized methods for preclinical efficacy testing and definitive efficacy testing of candidate therapeutics using best practices and rigorous study design. An essential feature will be a multidisciplinary approach that brings together experts in bioengineering, microfluidics, material science, "omic" sciences, computational biology, disease biology, pathology, electrophysiology, pharmacology, biostatistics and clinical science.

The goal of this collaborative effort between the Department of Defense and the industrial participants is to substantially increase the performance, efficiency, and capabilities of broad classes of electronics systems for both commercial and military applications. These research and development efforts should benefit both the military and industrial sectors by providing the Department of Defense with an unmatched technological edge in advanced radar, communications, and weapons systems, and provide the U.S. economy with unique information technology and processing capabilities critical to commercial competitiveness and future economic growth.

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 Government intends for this solicitation to support the establishment of a Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing Innovation (LM3I) Institute that will advance the state of processing and fabrication technologies for lightweight and modern metals by facilitating the transition between basic/early research and full-scale production of associated materials, components and systems. This research activity generally falls within a manufacturing readiness level (MRL) range of 4 to 7. These manufacturing advancements in-turn spur the integration of new material, component and system designs for defense and commercial applications. The Government seeks proposals to this announcement that describe the proposed infrastructure, technical applications and sustainable business plan for the Institute, to include providing detailed example research project focus areas and technology transition plans supporting DoD and other high value governmental and commercial applications.

The Materials Engineering and Processing (MEP) program supports fundamental research addressing the interrelationship of materials processing, structure, properties and/or life-cycle performance for targeted applications. Research proposals should be driven by the performance or output of the material system relative to the targeted application(s). Research plans driven by scientific hypotheses are encouraged when suitable. Materials in bulk form or focus on special zones such as surfaces or interfaces that are to be used in structural and/or functional applications are appropriate. All material systems are of interest including polymers, metals, ceramics, semiconductors, composites and hybrids thereof. Analytical, experimental, and numerical studies are supported and collaborative proposals with industry (GOALI) are encouraged.

The Materials Engineering and Processing (MEP) program supports fundamental research addressing the interrelationship of materials processing, structure, properties and/or life-cycle performance for targeted applications. Research proposals should be driven by the performance or output of the material system relative to the targeted application(s). Research plans driven by scientific hypotheses are encouraged when suitable. Materials in bulk form or focus on special zones such as surfaces or interfaces that are to be used in structural and/or functional applications are appropriate. All material systems are of interest including polymers, metals, ceramics, semiconductors, composites and hybrids thereof. Analytical, experimental, and numerical studies are supported and collaborative proposals with industry (GOALI) are encouraged.

The objective of this effort is the development and application of artificial intelligence, data analytics, and decision science to advance materials problems of interest to the USAF through strong, organic collaborations between the Recipient and USAF researchers. The program will seek to grow these collaborations by funding graduate students at the Recipient institution(s) performing basic research in materials problem spaces via application and adaptation of approaches in data analytics. Research under this program should produce actionable, quantifiable information that furthers fundamental knowledge of materials systems.

The Advanced Manufacturing (AM) program supports the fundamental research needed to revitalize American manufacturing to grow the national prosperity and workforce, and to reshape our strategic industries. The AM program accelerates advances in manufacturing technologies with emphasis on multidisciplinary research that fundamentally alters and transforms manufacturing capabilities, methods and practices. Advanced manufacturing research proposals should address issues related to national prosperity and security, and advancing knowledge to sustain global leadership. Areas of research, for example, include manufacturing systems; materials processing; manufacturing machines; methodologies; and manufacturing across the length scales. Researchers working in the areas of cybermanufacturing systems, manufacturing machines and equipment, materials engineering and processing, and nanomanufacturing are encouraged to transcend and cross domain boundaries. Interdisciplinary, convergent proposals are welcome that bring manufacturing to new application areas, and that incorporate challenges and approaches outside the customary manufacturing portfolio to broaden the impact of America's advanced manufacturing research. Proposals of all sizes will therefore be considered as justified by the project description. Investigators are encouraged to discuss their ideas with AM program directors well in advance of submission at AdvancedManufacturing@nsf.gov.

The Division of Materials Research (DMR), the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS), the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS), and the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) seek to rapidly accelerate quantum materials design, synthesis, characterization, and translation of fundamental materials engineering and information research for quantum devices, systems, and networks. The new program of Enabling Quantum Leap: Convergent Accelerated Discovery Foundries for Quantum Materials Science, Engineering, and Information (Q-AMASE-i) aims to support these goals by establishing Foundries with mid-scale infrastructure for rapid prototyping and development of quantum materials and devices. The new materials, devices, tools and methods developed by Q-AMASE-i will be shared with the science and engineering communities through a Foundry-operated network. Technology transfer of Foundry activities will be enabled by close cooperation with industrial partners.

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.

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.