New Funding Announcements
DoD Announces $400 Million Investment In Basic Research
The Department of Defense announced plans to invest an additional $400 million over the next five years to support basic research at academic institutions.
Merit-based awards, based on peer review, will support projects beginning in fiscal 2009 that will be funded for five years. Projects that can be completed in less time will be considered for funding.
The awards are intended for individual investigators but are designed to support a cadre of graduate students working with the faculty member to make process in research areas important to the DoD. Projects will be based on numerous academic disciplines, including: physics, ocean science, chemistry, electrical engineering, materials science, environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, information sciences, civil engineering, mathematics, chemical engineering, geosciences, atmospheric science, and aeronautical engineering. Topics for the initial funding will focus on the following areas: counter weapons of mass destruction (WMD), network sciences, energy and power management, quantum information sciences, human sciences, science of autonomy, information assurance, biosensors and bio-inspired systems, information fusion and decision science, and energy and power management.
DoD research offices that will make the awards include the Army Research Office http://www.aro.army.mil/, the Office of Naval Research http://www.onr.navy.mil/ and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research http://www.afosr.af.mil/ .
Information on specific program announcements and solicitations supported by this funding can be found at http://www.grants.gov , as well as at the respective research office Web sites.
Office of Naval Research: Summer Faculty Research Program (SFRP)
Due: December 5, 2008
Award: Stipends range from $1400 to $1900 per week for the summer program
Opportunity for science and engineering faculty members to participate in research with professional peers at U.S. Navy laboratories
The Summer Faculty Research Program is a on-site, continuous 10-week program, beginning in May 2009 . The program is residential and all work must be completed on-site at the sponsoring U.S. Navy laboratory.
More information is available here.
Semiconductor Research Corporation: Research in Memory Technologies
Due: December 11, 2008 (white papers)
Award: Between $50,000 to $150,000 per year for two years
Memory Technologies
The principal goals of this industry-driven research are to generate ideas and solutions in advanced memory technologies. We encourage studies in new materials with memory effects, combining materials, device, and system research. Both embedded and stand-alone memories are within focus. Priority areas are: Embedded Memory, Nonvolatile Memory, and Selection Device.
More information is available here.
IARPA: Socio-Cultural Content in Language (SCIL) Program
Due: January 22, 2009
Award: Not announced but plan is for five year project
Explore and develop novel designs, algorithms, methods, techniques and technologies to extend the discovery of the social goals of members of a group by correlating these goals with the language they use
The goals of the SCIL Program are
1) to use existing social science theories to identify the social goals of a group and its members;
2) to correlate these social goals with the language used by the members;
3) to automate this correlation;
4) to provide insight into and evidence for the nature and status of the group and the roles and relationships of its members; and
5) to attempt to generalize the behaviors across cultures in order to highlight the contrasts and similarities in accomplishing social goals.
More information is available here
NSF: Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) Instrument Development and Acquisition
Due: January 22, 2009
Award: Between $2 million - $4 million
The acquisition or development of shared research instrumentation
Proposals must be for either acquisition or development. Instruments are expected to be operational for regular research use by the end of the award period.
More information is available here.
DOE: Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Due: February 1, 2009
Award: Housing allowances, transportation, and stipends are offered to participants. The stipend is $400.00 per week.
Opportunities for undergraduates to participate in research in a broad range of science and engineering activities related to basic sciences, energy, and the environment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
A chance for undergraduate students to participate in research in a broad range of science and engineering activities related to basic sciences, energy, and the environment. Available disciplines include: computer science; earth, environmental and marine sciences; engineering; life, health and medical sciences; mathematics; and physical sciences.
More information is available here.
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education: Visiting Scientist Program, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, InnoVision Basic and Applied Research Division
Due: February 1, 2009
Award: Appointments range from three months (summer appointment) to a semester (university expert on sabbatical) to a full year or even three years (postdoctoral appointment). Appointments include a stipend and potential relocation allowance.
A chance to to research in disciplines such as: geography, statistics, economics, geospatial information science, or a closely related field. Appointments will be at various NGA locations in Alexandria, VA and St. Louis, MO.
Opportunities for postdoctoral and visiting faculty full-time residency appointments to conduct research into the use of process models and tools to support NGA for GeoINT analysis. Analysts exploit and analyze imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial information to describe, assess, and characterize physical features and a wide range of geographically referenced activities on the Earth.
More information is available here.
NRI: SRC NRI Hans J. Coufal Fellowship
Due: February 13, 2009
Award: Full tuition and fees as required by the university for enrollment, a stipend of $2,122/month, a $2,000 unrestricted gift to the recipient’s faculty advisor, and travel expenses for an NRI-sponsored annual event
For doctoral study in microelectronics-related disciplines, with preference given to proposed work in nanoelectronic device technologies, physics, and materials
The Fellowship is to stimulate non-traditional thinking and encourage exploratory, high-risk research leading to novel, high-payoff solutions for challenges faced by the semiconductor industry at and beyond the time horizons of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. The fellowship will be awarded competitively on the basis of the quality, relevance, and timeliness of the proposed research; on demonstrated academic and leadership ability, and on the appropriateness of the institutional environment for the research. The fellowship will be awarded to a graduate student who will have completed a bachelor's degree by the time the fellowship begins, and who is pursuing or is planning to undertake a doctoral program in an academic area appropriate to the fellowship.
More information is available here.
NSF: Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE)
Due: February 26, 2009 (preliminary proposal)
Award: Between $800,000 and $1,600,000 annually for five years
The program will enable U.S. scientists and engineers to establish collaborative relationships with international colleagues in order to advance new knowledge and discoveries at the frontiers of science and engineering and to promote the development of a diverse, globally-engaged U.S. scientific and engineering workforce. International partnerships are, and will be, increasingly indispensable in addressing many critical science and engineering problems. As science and engineering discoveries result more and more from international collaboration, U.S. researchers and educators must be able to operate effectively in teams comprised of partners from different nations and cultural backgrounds. The PIRE program will support bold, forward-looking research whose successful outcome results from all partners—U.S. and foreign—providing unique contributions to the research endeavor. It is also intended to facilitate greater student preparation for and participation in international research collaboration, and to contribute to the development of a diverse, globally-engaged U.S. science and engineering workforce. The program aims to support partnerships that will strengthen the capacity of institutions, multi-institutional consortia, and networks to engage in and benefit from international research and education collaborations.
More information is available here.
NSF: Cyber-Physical Systems
Due: February 27, 2009 (full proposal)
Award: Small projects up to $200,000 a year for three years/Medium projects up to $500,000 a year for three years/Large projects up to $1,000,000 a year for five years
For addressing research challenges in three CPS themes: Foundations; Methods and Tools; and Components, Run-time Substrates, and Systems
Foundations research will develop new scientific and engineering principles, algorithms, models, and theories for the analysis and design of cyber-physical systems. Research on Methods and Tools will bridge the gaps between approaches to the cyber and physical elements of systems through innovations such as novel support for multiple views, new programming languages, and algorithms for reasoning about and formally verifying properties of complex integrations of cyber and physical resources. The third CPS theme concerns new hardware and software Components, Run-time Substrates (infrastructure and platforms), and (engineered) Systems motivated by grand challenge applications.
More information is available here.
NIH: Fine Mapping and Fuction of Genes for Type 1 Diabetes
Due: February 27, 2009 (initial letter of intent)
Award: Up to $5 million for a five-year-program
To carry out fine mapping studies as well as to investigate the function of the genes involved in type 1 diabetes
The purpose of this initiative is to bring together investigators with experience in genetics, immunology, and biochemistry to perform fine mapping of the loci discovered and study the function of the genes being identified and to identify the mechanisms by which newly discovered genes predispose to T1D. This would lead to elucidation of the mechanisms whereby changes in the function or regulation of these genes are likely to provide crucial new insights into disease pathogenesis. The discovery of the genes would be relevant to developing a predictive strategy for individuals who may develop diabetes. In the future, genetic testing may lead to personalized treatment regimens by identifying the most appropriate class of drugs for particular patients. This initiative seeks to foster multi-disciplinary research that will use complementary perspectives, approaches and expertise to overcome the major challenge of dissecting the genetic basis of type 1 diabetes. The first step involves fine mapping large regions that may contain hundreds of plausible candidate genes. This initiative is intended to support state-of-the-art research conducted in very large data sets of adequate power for the detection of type 1 diabetes susceptibility genes where candidate genomic regions have been or will be identified. Applications are solicited to fine map genes and gene variants to chromosomal regions and then to demonstrate that variation in the genes is associated with the disease.
More information is available here.
NSF: Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM)
Due: March 5, 2009
Award: $700,000 a year for five years
To improve and strengthen the education infrastructure in materials research and to increase recruitment, retention and degree attainment by members of groups underrepresented in materials research and education
The objective of PREM is to broaden participation and enhance diversity in materials research and education by stimulating the development of formal, long-term, multi-investigator, collaborative research and education partnerships between minority-serving colleges and universities, women's colleges, and colleges and universities dedicated to educating a majority of students with disabilities, groups that are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and the Division of Materials Research (DMR)-supported centers and/or facilities.
More information is available here
NIH: Director's New Innovator Award Program
Due: May 27, 2009
Award: $300,000 a year for up to five years
Bold and highly innovative new research approaches that have the potential to produce a major impact on broad, important problems in biomedical and behavioral research
The NIH Director’s New Innovator Award is designed to support new investigators of exceptional creativity who propose bold and highly innovative new research approaches that have the potential to produce a major impact on broad, important problems in biomedical and behavioral research. The term “award” is used to mean a grant for conducting research, rather than a reward for past achievements. Biomedical and behavioral research is defined broadly in this announcement as encompassing scientific investigations in the biological, behavioral, clinical, social, physical, chemical, computational, engineering, and mathematical sciences. The research proposed for a New Innovator Award may be in any scientific area relevant to the mission of NIH (biological, behavioral, clinical, social, physical, chemical, computational, engineering, and mathematical sciences) but need not be in a conventional biomedical or behavioral discipline. The focus is on innovation and potential impact.
More information is available here.
Updated: December 3, 2008
