OARS funding Materials Science

The Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program of the NSF Directorate for Engineering (ENG) serves a critical role in helping ENG focus on important emerging areas in a timely manner. This solicitation is a funding opportunity for interdisciplinary teams of researchers to embark on rapidly advancing frontiers of fundamental engineering research. For this solicitation, we will consider proposals that aim to investigate emerging frontiers in one of the following two research areas: Distributed Chemical Manufacturing (DCheM) Engineering the Elimination of End-of-Life Plastics (E3P) This solicitation will be coordinated with the Directorate for Biological Sciences, the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences and the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. EFRI seeks proposals with potentially transformative ideas that represent an opportunity for a significant shift in fundamental engineering knowledge with a strong potential for long term impact on national needs or a grand challenge. The proposals must also meet the detailed requirements delineated in this solicitation.

NSF-supported science and engineering research increasingly relies on cutting-edge infrastructure. With its Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program and Major Multi-user Facilities (Major Facilities) projects, NSF supports infrastructure projects at the lower and higher ends of infrastructure scales across science and engineering research disciplines. The Mid-scale Research Infrastructure Big Idea is intended to provide NSF with an agile, Foundation-wide process to fund experimental research capabilities in the mid-scale range between the MRI and Major Facilities thresholds. NSF defines Research Infrastructure (RI) as any combination of facilities, equipment, instrumentation, or computational hardware or software, and the necessary human capital in support of the same. Major facilities and mid-scale projects are subsets of research infrastructure. The NSF Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1 Program (Mid-scale RI-1) supports the design or implementation of unique and compelling RI projects. Mid-scale RI-1 implementation projects may include any combination of equipment, instrumentation, cyberinfrastructure, broadly used large-scale datasets, and the commissioning and/or personnel needed to successfully complete the project, or the design efforts intended to lead to eventual implementation of a mid-scale class project. Mid-scale RI-1 design projects will include the design efforts intended to lead to eventual implementation of a mid-scale class RI project. Mid-scale RI-1 projects should fill a research community-defined scientific need or enable a national research priority to be met. Mid-scale RI-projects should also enable US researchers to remain competitive in a global research environment and involve the training of a diverse workforce engaged in the design and implementation of STEM infrastructure.

A. Noam Chomsky Global Connections Awards celebrate the power of human connections. The awards recognize distinguished service to the global mission of the STAR Scholars Network. Several individuals with a deep impact on advancing global, social mobility are recognized every year. We live in a time when innovation and creativity in support of humanity are of great importance. The Star Scholars Network recognizes the commitment of concerned people able and willing to make a difference in the lives of others. Nominations for this award are solicited from around the world. The nominee can be from any field. Beginning in 2020, the Star Scholars Network is committed to promoting transnational research, or collaborative research between scholars of two or more countries (e.g., joint publications, research partnerships, etc.). The Global Connections Awards recognize STAR Scholars for their achievements and distinctive contributions to translational research that demonstrates the very best of scholarly collaboration among scholars around the world. In December 2020, the Star Scholars Network will provide awards in three categories: North Star Medal of Lifetime Achievement, Shining Star Achievement in Research Award, Rising Star Emerging Scholar Certificate

The Hertz Fellowship provides financial and lifelong professional support for the nation's most promising graduate students in science and technology. The fellowship includes up to five years of funding, valued at up to $250,000, and the freedom to pursue innovative projects wherever they may lead. In addition, fellows take part in ongoing mentoring, symposia, and workshops with our vibrant community of more than 1200 fellows, a set of peers who span disciplines, generations, and geography.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award (YFA) program aims to identify and engage rising stars in junior faculty positions in academia and equivalent positions at non-profit research institutions and expose them to Department of Defense (DoD) and National Security challenges and needs. In particular, YFA will provide high-impact funding to elite researchers early in their careers to develop innovative new research directions in the context of enabling transformative DoD capabilities. The long-term goal of the program is to develop the next generation of scientists and engineers in the research community who will focus a significant portion of their future careers on DoD and National Security issues. DARPA is particularly interested in identifying outstanding researchers who have previously not been performers on DARPA programs, but the program is open to all qualified applicants with innovative research ideas.

The Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) will make strategic investments to support expanded opportunities for students in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medical (STEMM) fields. The investments will directly impact the ability of the state of Ohio to educate and train students to meet Ohio's career and job opportunities today and tomorrow. Choose Ohio First provides scholarships to students in innovative academic programs developed by Ohio's two-year and four-year, public and private colleges and universities, along with their business partners. The scholarships connect students to work-based learning experiences and careers in STEMM fields in order to recruit and retain these students in Ohio. Choose Ohio First is part of a strategic effort to deepen Ohio's economic strength by increasing the talent pipeline for STEMM-related industries, including computer science, through degree and certificate completion.

Pre-release of the latest topics in the Air Force's SBIR and STTR Commercial Solutions Opening program, which include COVID-19 pandemic materials and manufacturing advances, human performance and medical response advances/solutions and information sciences' advances/solutions

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is sponsoring a Proposers Day webcast to provide information to potential proposers on the objectives of an anticipated Research Announcement (RA) for the Young Faculty Award Program 2021 (YFA 2021) program. The Proposers Day will be held via prerecorded webcast on September 25, 2020 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. Advance registration is required for viewing the webcast.

The objectives of the DoD STTR Program include stimulating technological innovation, strengthening the role of small business in meeting DoD research and development needs, fostering and encouraging participation by minority and disadvantaged persons in technological innovation, and increasing the commercial application of DoD-supported research or research and development results. Focus areas: - 5G - AI and ML - Autonomy - Biotechnology - Cybersecurity - Direct Energy - Hypersonics - Microelectronics - Networked Command, Control & Communications - Nuclear - Quantum Science - Space - General Warfighting Requirements

Pharmaceutical blister packages often have moisture and oxygen barrier requirements to maintain the efficacy of the drug they contain. Traditional barrier materials used today are PCTFE, EVOH, PVDC, PVC, COC, and combinations thereof. Klockner Pentaplast Films is seeking a thermoformable solution that can be made into blister packs that protects pharmaceuticals from moisture and oxygen. Although the use of glass bottles meets the technical specs of this RFP, studies have shown that compliance to medication instructions increases when patients and consumers use blister packs. The technology must: * Be a material, or a technology that enables the modification of a material, to achieve ALL of the following properties: - Can be made into a thermoformable film - Provides the moisture barrier equivalence of 0.015 g-mil/100 in²-day - Provides an oxygen barrier equivalence of 0.005 cm³-mil/100 in²-day - Be approved (or approvable) for food safety by the FDA - Contains no halogens *Other properties that are highly desired but not required for this application: - Optically clear - Can be recycled in traditional recycling streams - Contains mostly bio-based, natural, or sustainable materials

Solid research is the underlying driving force to crystallize fearless creativity and innovation. While we are committed to run in-house research and engineering, we are also excited to collaborate with academic partners to facilitate exploration of new and promising research. The Sony Focused Research Award provides an opportunity for university faculty and Sony to conduct this type of collaborative, focused research. The award provides up to $150K USD* in funds, and may be renewed for subsequent year(s). A list of candidate research topics appears below: - Manipulation Secure Image Sensing - Self-Supervised Learning for Spiking Neural Networks with Event-Based Vision Sensor - Deep Learning & Deep Fusion Towards Automotive Scene Perception - Designing and Implementing Camera ISP Algorithms Using Deep Learning and Computer Vision - Robust Mesh Tracking for Volumetric Capture - Advanced Image Processing Enabled by AI - Novel Actuator - Machine Learning/AI for Wireless Communications - Reconfigurable Reflector Type Materials - Individual Treatment Effect Estimation - Acoustic Metamaterials - Novel Technologies for GaN-based VSCELs - Intelligent Sensing of Patient-Reported Outcomes

NineSigma, representing Betco Corporation, a privately held specialty chemical and equipment manufacturer, is seeking partners with solutions to clean, disinfect, and sanitize skin and surfaces. Novel products, technology advancements, or other approaches that can demonstrate efficacy to improve the overall cleanliness, health, and safety of commercial environments are of immediate interest.

Funding is awarded to universities and institutions nationwide for projects in research that: - Focus on important and emerging areas of research - Have the potential to develop breakthrough technologies, instrumentation or methodologies - Are innovative, distinctive and interdisciplinary - Demonstrate a high level of risk due to unconventional approaches, or by challenging the prevailing paradigm - Have the potential for transformative impact, such as the founding of a new field of research, the enabling of observations not previously possible, or the altered perception of a previously intractable problem - Does not focus on clinical or translational research, treatment trials or research for the sole purpose of drug development - Fall outside the mission of public funding agencies - Demonstrate that private philanthropy generally, and the W. M. Keck Foundation in particular, is essential to the project's success

CMMT supports theoretical and computational materials research in the topical areas represented in DMR's Topical Materials Research Programs (these are also variously known as Individual Investigator Award (IIA) Programs, or Core Programs, or Disciplinary Programs), which include: Condensed Matter Physics (CMP), Biomaterials (BMAT), Ceramics (CER), Electronic and Photonic Materials (EPM), Metals and Metallic Nanostructures (MMN), Polymers (POL), and Solid State and Materials Chemistry (SSMC). The CMMT program supports fundamental research that advances conceptual understanding of hard and soft materials, and materials-related phenomena; the development of associated analytical, computational, and data-centric techniques; and predictive materials-specific theory, simulation, and modeling for materials research. First-principles electronic structure, quantum many-body and field theories, statistical mechanics, classical and quantum Monte Carlo, and molecular dynamics, are among the methods used in the broad spectrum of research supported in CMMT. Research may encompass the advance of new paradigms in materials research, including emerging data-centric approaches utilizing data-analytics or machine learning.

Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane and the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E))'s Joint Hypersonic Transition Office (JHTO) are interested in receiving research proposals in the following areas. Each will have a Period of Performance (PoP) of 12 months. a. Systems-level design of high-temperature composite materials and structures research utilization of fiber architectures and matrix compositions b. Novel position, navigation, and timing and adaptive flight controls c. Design-oriented models to optimize scramjet and multi-mode engines d. Simulation Methods for the Rapid Prediction of Hypersonic Environments e. Addressing the flow path processes that occur in rectangular or curved inlets and isolators including the destabilization that may occur due to junction flows or off-nominal flight conditions f. The development of methods and models including validation experiments and instrumentation to provide high quality data on multiphase blast properties and structural responses to structures g. Improving the understanding of rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) physics and developing design solutions for their inherent technical challenges h. Hypersonic Workforce Curricula Development

The Laura Bassi Scholarship was established by Editing Press in 2018 with the aim of providing editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics whose research focuses on neglected topics of study, broadly construed, within their disciplines.

In consideration of the challenges facing many in our country, NSF is extending the upcoming proposal deadline for the Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) until 5:00 p.m. submitter's local time on Tuesday, August 11, 2020.

EPA Region 5 is soliciting applications that address one of the two Sustainable Materials Management priorities identified in Section I below. These projects benefit states in Region 5, which includes Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Minnesota.

This FOA will support high-impact R&D for plastics by developing new plastics that are capable of efficient recyclability and improving recycling strategies that can break existing plastics into chemical building blocks that can be used to make higher-value products. DOE's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) develops technologies that convert domestic biomass and waste resources into fuels, products, and power to enable affordable energy, economic growth, and innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production. DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) develops technologies that drive energy productivity improvements in the U.S. manufacturing sector, efficiently utilize abundant and available domestic energy resources, and support the manufacture of clean energy products with benefits extending across the economy. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will support high-impact technology research and development (R&D) to enable the development of technologies that overcome the challenges associated with plastic waste. Topic Areas include: 1) Highly Recyclable or Biodegradable Plastics: develop new plastics that have improved performance attributes over a comparable existing plastic that can be cost-effectively recycled or biodegrade completely in the environment or in compost facilities. 2) Novel Methods for Deconstructing and Upcycling Existing Plastics: generate energy efficient recycling technologies (mechanical, chemical, or biological) that are capable of breaking plastic streams into intermediates which can be upgraded into higher value products. 3) BOTTLE Consortium Collaborations to Tackle Challenges in Plastic Waste: create collaborations with the Bio-Optimized Technologies to Keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment (BOTTLE) Laboratory Consortium to further the long-term goals of the Consortium and the Plastics Innovation Challenge.

The Transformational Tools and Technologies (TTT) Project advances state-of-the-art computational and experimental tools and technologies that are vital to aviation applications in the six strategic thrusts. The project develops new computer-based tools, computational fluid dynamics models, and associated scientific knowledge that will provide first-of-a-kind capabilities to analyze, understand, and predict aviation concept performance. These revolutionary tools will be applied to accelerate NASA's research and the community's design and introduction of advanced concepts. The Project also explores technologies that are broadly critical to advancing ARMD strategic outcomes. Such technologies include the understanding of new types of strong and lightweight materials, innovative controls techniques, and experimental methods. The TTT Materials and Structures Discipline emphasizes improved multifunctional and high temperature materials for airframe and engine application, as well as integrated multiscale modeling and simulation tool development to improve validated first-principles materials and structural modeling.