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 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.

This BAA's primary objective is to attract outstanding researchers and scholars who will investigate topics of interest to the defense acquisition community. The program solicits innovative proposals for defense acquisition management and policy research to be conducted for approximately a 12-month period during the September 2013 through May 2015 timeframe. In this BAA, the phrase "defense acquisition management and policy research" refers to investigations in all disciplines, fields, and domains that (1) are involved in the acquisition of products and/or services for national defense, or (2) could potentially be brought to bear to improve defense acquisition. These include but are not limited to economics, finance, financial management, information systems, organization theory, operations management, human resources management, and marketing, as well as the "traditional" acquisition areas such as contracting, program/project management, logistics, and systems engineering management. The proposed research must provide through the dissemination of findings in a final Technical Report a public benefit beyond the potential to improve the efficiency, quality, innovation, and/or cost of DoD and DoN acquisition programs. Findings, for instance, should also be potentially applicable to improving private-sector competitiveness or effectiveness.

The Engineering and Systems Design (ESD) program supports descriptive and normative research leading to a theory of engineering design and an understanding of systems engineering. The program is focused on gaining an understanding of the basic processes and phenomena underlying a view of design where the system life-cycle context informs the identification and definition of preferences, analysis of alternatives, effective accommodation of uncertainty in decision-making, and the relationship between data, information, and knowledge in a digitally-supported environment. The program funds advances in a descriptive understanding of design and basic design theory that span multiple domains, such as the relationship of systems to the environment, the significance of manufacturability, and the range of complexity from small designed artifacts to large engineered systems.

The Particulate and Multiphase Processes program supports fundamental and applied research on phenomena governing particulate and multiphase processes, including flows of suspensions of particles, drops or bubbles, granular and granular-fluid flows, flow behavior of micro or nano-structured fluids, aerosol science and technology, and self- and directed-assembly processes involving particulates. Innovative research is sought that contributes to improving the basic understanding, design, predictability, efficiency, and control of particulate and multiphase processes with particular emphasis on: novel manufacturing techniques, multiphase systems of relevance to energy harvesting, multiphase transport in biological systems or biotechnology, and environmental sustainability.

he Tactical Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is soliciting executive summaries, white papers and proposals for advanced research and development of Innovative Systems for Military Missions. This solicitation seeks system and subsystem level technologies that enable revolutionary improvements to the efficiency and effectiveness of the military. Novel concepts are sought in the following focus areas: Ground Systems, Maritime Systems, Air Systems, and Space Systems. Proposals may be submitted at any time while this solicitation is open. TTO may publish groups of special topics as modifications to this BAA throughout the year.

The lack of logistics systems capable of handling and delivering sufficiently high tonnage year-round volumes of high quality feedstocks to support the rapid escalation of cellulosic biofuels production has been identified as a significant barrier to the expansion of a sustainable domestic biofuels industry. In particular, biomass physical and chemical quality parameters have repeatedly been identified as significant challenges to the smooth operation and economic viability of biorefineries. This FOA will focus on developing and demonstrating strategies, equipment, and rapid analytical methods to manage feedstock quality within economic constraints throughout the feedstock supply chain. The main effort in Proposals must be directed toward full-scale demonstration of integrated feedstock supply chain systems that can deliver the volume of high quality, affordable, high impact feedstocks required by commercial biorefineries over a significant geographic area in the United States. DOE plans to support the increased production of high volumes of sustainably produced domestic biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks by seeking Proposals to design new systems or adapt existing systems to handle industrial scale volumes of cellulosic feedstocks from the harvest point to the throat of the biorefinery reactor.

The Environmental Sustainability program supports engineering research with the goal of promoting sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being and that are also compatible with sustaining natural (environmental) systems.  These systems provide ecological services vital for human survival.  The long-term viability of natural capital is critical for many areas of human endeavor.  Research in Environmental Sustainability typically considers long time horizons and may incorporate contributions from the social sciences and ethics. This program supports engineering research that seeks to balance society's need to provide ecological protection and maintain stable economic conditions.  There are four principal general research areas which are supported, but others can be proposed by contacting the program director by email at:  bhamilto@nsf.gov Industrial Ecology Green Engineering Ecological Engineering Earth Systems Engineering

This program supports innovative research on the theories of dynamical systems, including new analytical and computational tools, as well as the novel application of dynamical systems to engineered systems.  The program is especially interested in transformative research in the area of complex systems, uncertain or stochastic nonlinear dynamical systems, model order reduction of nonlinear or infinite dimensional dynamical systems, discrete nonlinear dynamical systems, and modeling, simulation, analysis and design of multi-scale multi-physics dynamical systems. 

The SES program supports research on strategic decision making, design, planning, and operation of commercial, nonprofit, and institutional service enterprises with the goal of improving their overall effectiveness and cost reduction.  The program has a particular focus on healthcare and other similar public service institutions, and emphasizes research topics leading to more effective systems modeling and analysis as a means to improved planning, resource allocation, and policy development.

The Civil Infrastructure Systems (CIS) program supports research leading to the engineering of infrastructure systems for resilience and sustainability without excluding other key performance issues.  Areas of interest include intra- and inter-physical, information and behavioral dependencies of infrastructure systems, infrastructure management, construction engineering, and transportation systems.  Special emphasis is on the design, construction, operation, and improvement of infrastructure networks with a focus on systems engineering and design, performance management, risk analysis, life-cycle analysis, modeling and simulation, behavioral and social considerations not excluding other methodological areas or the integration of methods. This program does not encourage research proposals primarily focused on structural engineering, materials or sensors that support infrastructure system design, extreme event modeling, hydrological engineering, and climate modeling, since they do not fall within the scope of the CIS program.

The System Science (SYS) program funds fundamental research on engineered systems that will support the creation of a mathematically sound framework for systems engineering. The System Science program invites proposals that address fundamental systems issues including system performance prediction, uncertainty quantification in the systems context, theoretical foundations for aggregation in systems, decision-making in the systems context, and operation and maintenance in the systems context. 28 28