Faculty Opportunities

• The Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) program solicitation has been revised, and prospective Principal Investigators (PIs) are encouraged to read the solicitation carefully. Among the changes are the following:

  • There is no longer a deadline for S&CC Integrative Research Grants (SCC-IRG) Tracks 1 and 2, and S&CC Planning Grants (SCC-PG) proposals --- they will be accepted at any time.

  • The participating divisions have changed. Proposers are strongly encouraged to focus multi-disciplinary S&CC research on areas of interest to those divisions and directorates participating in the program, as listed at the top of the solicitation.

  • The Joint Research Collaboration with the Japan Science and Technology (IRG-JST) and the Virtual Organization (VO) proposal tracks have been removed.

  • Within the Program Description for SCC-IRG proposals, the description of the "Evaluation" section has been revised to articulate the intent of this section more clearly.

  • Within the Program Description for SCC-IRG proposals, the Scope and Scale section has been removed, and a new required section has been added called "Scalability, Transferability, and Sustainability".

• Proposals Accepted Anytime Until April 1, 2024

• The specific objectives of the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier program are to

  • (1) facilitate multi-disciplinary or convergent research that employs the joint perspectives, methods, and knowledge of behavioral science, computer science, economics, engineering, learning sciences, research on adult learning and workforce training, and the social sciences; 

  • (2) develop deeper understandings of how human needs can be met and values respected in regard to how new technologies, conditions, and work experiences are changing; 

  • (3) support deeper understanding of the societal infrastructure that accompanies and leads to new work technologies and new approaches to work and jobs, and that prepares people for the future world of work; 

  • (4) encourage the development of a research community dedicated to designing intelligent technologies and work organization and modes inspired by their positive impact on individual workers, the work at hand, the way people learn and adapt to technological change, creative and inclusive workplaces (including remote locations, homes, classrooms, or virtual spaces), and benefits for social, economic, educational, and environmental systems at different scales; 

  • (5) promote deeper basic understanding of the interdependent human-technology partnership to advance societal needs by advancing design of intelligent technologies that operate in harmony with human workers, including consideration of how adults learn the new skills needed to interact with these technologies in the workplace, and by enabling broad and diverse workforce participation, including improving accessibility for those challenged by physical or cognitive impairment; and 

  • (6) understand, anticipate, and explore ways of mitigating potential risks including inequity arising from future work at the human-technology frontier.

• Full Proposal Deadline: March 02, 2022

• This Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) is to encourage the submission of proposals from interdisciplinary teams comprised of computer scientists, electrical engineers, mathematicians and statisticians, and social, behavioral, and economic scientists to address the most challenging theoretical and foundational questions in machine learning.

• Deep learning and other related modern machine learning technologies have met with impressive empirical success, fueling fundamental scientific discoveries, and transforming numerous application domains of artificial intelligence. 

• The incomplete theoretical understanding of the field, however, impedes the use of machine learning techniques by a wider range of participants. Confronting this incomplete understanding of the mechanisms underlying the successes and failures of machine learning is essential to overcoming its limitations and expanding its applicability.

• In this overview of the NSF Engineering Design & Systems Engineering (EDSE) program, EDSE Program Director Kathryn Jablokow will discuss her vision for the future of design research, including trending synergies with data science, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and immersive technologies. 

• Other programmatic research aims related to design cognition, design collaboration, design in under-resourced communities, and extreme design will also be reviewed. 

• Finally, Dr. Jablokow will discuss best practices for successful proposal writing and offer ample time for questions from the audience.

• Also: There will be an "Open House" session for faculty to meet her and talk about funding opportunities in her area at NSF.

  • This session is Thursday, 12/9 at 9:45-11:00 am in the University Center Faculty Lounge East on the 3rd floor.

• Where: Lewis Lab, 270

• When: Wednesday, December 8 at 4:00pm

Workshops

• The NSF CISE Directorate supports research and education projects that develop new knowledge in all aspects of computing, communications, and information science and engineering, as well as advanced cyberinfrastructure, through the following core programs:

• Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF):

  • Algorithmic Foundations (AF) program;

  • Communications and Information Foundations (CIF) program;

  • Foundations of Emerging Technologies (FET) program; and

  • Software and Hardware Foundations (SHF) program.

• Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS):

  • CNS Core (CNS Core) program.

• Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS):

  • Human-Centered Computing (HCC) program;

  • Information Integration and Informatics (III) program; and

  • Robust Intelligence (RI) program.

• Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC):

  • OAC Core Research (OAC Core) program;

• Proposers are invited to submit proposals in several project classes, which are defined as follows:

  • Small Projects -- up to $600,000 total budget with durations up to three years: projects in this class may be submitted to CCF, CNS, and IIS only;

  • Medium Projects -- $600,001 to $1,200,000 total budget with durations up to four years: projects in this class may be submitted to CCF, CNS, and IIS only; and

  • OAC Core Projects -- up to $600,000 total budget with durations up to three years: projects in this class may be submitted to OAC only.

• A more complete description of these project classes can be found in Section II. Program Description.

• Full Proposal Deadline: Proposals Accepted Anytime

  • SMALL Projects

• Submission Window Date:

  • December 01, 2021 - December 22, 2021

    • MEDIUM Projects

  • December 01, 2021 - December 22, 2021

    • OAC Core Projects

• The Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI) umbrella program seeks to enable funding opportunities that are flexible and responsive to the evolving and emerging needs in cyberinfrastructure (CI). This solicitation expands the CSSI program by adding a new project class: Transition to Sustainability. The program continues to emphasize integrated CI services, quantitative metrics with targets for delivery and usage of these services, and community creation.

• The CSSI umbrella program anticipates three classes of awards:

  • Elements: These awards target small groups that will create and deploy robust services for which there is a demonstrated need, and that will advance one or more significant areas of science and engineering.

  • Framework Implementations: These awards target larger, interdisciplinary teams organized around the development and application of services aimed at solving common research problems faced by NSF researchers in one or more areas of science and engineering, and resulting in a sustainable community framework providing CI services to a diverse community or communities.

  • Transition to Sustainability: These awards target groups who would like to execute a well-defined sustainability plan for existing CI with demonstrated impact in one or more areas of science and engineering supported by NSF. The sustainability plan should enable new avenues of support for the long-term sustained impact of the CI.

  • Prospective Principal Investigators (PIs) should be aware that this is a multi-directorate activity and that they are encouraged to submit proposals with broad, interdisciplinary interests. 

• Up to $10,000,000 is expected to be available for Elements awards, up to $20,000,000 is expected to be available for Framework Implementations awards, and up to $4,000,000 is expected to be available for the Transition to Sustainability awards, all subject to the availability of funds.

• Full Proposal Deadline: December 08, 2021

NSF - Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI-2022/23) 1. Engineered Living Systems (ELiS) 2. Brain-Inspired Dynamics for Engineering Energy-Efficient Circuits and Artificial Intelligence (BRAID)

• 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:

  • Engineered Living Systems (ELiS)

  • Brain-Inspired Dynamics for Engineering Energy-Efficient Circuits and Artificial Intelligence (BRAID)

• This solicitation will be coordinated with the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO), the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO), and the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE), along with Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Department of Defense - Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

• Letter of Intent Due Dates:

  • November 10, 2021

  • September 12, 2022

• Preliminary Proposal Due Dates:

  • December 16, 2021

  • October 13, 2022

• Full Proposal Deadlines:

  • March 10, 2022

  • February 07, 2023

NSF - Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences Program (HEGS)

• The objective of the Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences Program is to support basic scientific research about the nature, causes and/or consequences of the spatial distribution of human activity and/or environmental processes across a range of scales. Contemporary geographical research is an arena in which diverse research traditions and methodologies are valid. Recognizing the breadth of the field's contributions to science, the HEGS Program welcomes proposals for empirically grounded, theoretically engaged, and methodologically sophisticated, generalizable research in all sub-fields of geographical and spatial sciences.

• Anticipated number of awards annually is 30-40. HEGS generally recommends a total of 15 to 25 regular research project awards; 0 to 2 faculty early-career development (CAREER) awards; and 1 to 3 awards to support conferences, group travel, and/or other community-development activities; 0 to 1 research coordination network (RCN) awards.

• Anticipated Funding Amount: $5,000,000 to $7,000,000

• Full Proposal Deadline:

• January 18, 2022

• Third Tuesday in January, Annually Thereafter

• August 16, 2022

• Third Tuesday in August, Annually Thereafter

• Concentrating solar-thermal (CST) technologies have great potential to decarbonize the industrial sector because they can directly produce steam and other high-temperature fluids for integration with thermally driven industrial process, including steel, cement, and bulk chemicals. These three industries represent 15% of the total fossil consumption by the industrial sector and 5% of total fossil fuel consumed, which is nearly 10% of all carbon dioxide emitted in the United States.

• The RFI seeks information from industry and researchers on opportunities to develop solar thermal industrial process technologies for high temperatures above 400°C that are capable of being rapidly advanced to industrial-scale demonstrations. Additionally, the RFI is interested in the production of fuels, including hydrogen, that can be generated using CST energy for simplified transportation and storage of renewable heat.

• The responses will help DOE better understand the capabilities of CST technologies for use in industrial processes. DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) has previously funded CST projects that use lower-temperature heat in food processing, waste management, and water desalination.

• RFI submissions are due on October 13, 2021 at 5 p.m. ET.

• The Solar Futures Study estimates that, to meet the Biden administration’s decarbonization goals, the country would need 1 terawatt (TW) of solar capacity by 2035. This would require about 5.7 million acres of land for utility-scale solar installations. Although the land requirements are less than 0.3% of the land in the contiguous United States, minimizing the impacts on wildlife and wildlife habitat—as well as maximizing the benefits—will be critical to meeting these climate goals in partnership with local communities.

• Understanding these impacts will also be key to ensuring that the transition to a decarbonized electrical grid is managed in a way that is conducive to energy justice and in collaboration with local communities. 

• The RFI seeks information on the current practices related to siting large-scale solar energy plants and how stakeholders evaluate the impacts and potential benefits these plants may have on the surrounding environment, especially on wildlife.

• Industry, government agencies, non-profits, academia, research laboratories, and other stakeholders are encouraged to respond. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is specifically interested in information on current practices and trends as well as identifying what data or resources would enable greater confidence in solar energy impact assessments.

• RFI submissions are due on September 30, 2021 at 5 p.m. ET. 

• The IBUILD: Innovation in Buildings Graduate Research Fellowship will begin accepting new applications starting on September 22, 2021. The fellowship, now in its second year, is open to Master’s and PhD students doing research in the area of building sciences. The broad goal is to increase the presence of diverse perspectives supporting the larger mission of building energy efficiency and building decarbonization. Of particular interest in this year’s solicitation are students working on deployment and market barriers research as well as those conducting collaborative research to increase market adoption around building energy efficiency and building decarbonization technologies.

• IBUILD Fellows receive a competitive financial award package supporting the proposed research at their home institution and participate in professional development activities that provide access to a network of mentors and potential internships with national laboratories or industry. The IBUILD Fellowship is renewable for up to 3 years.

• The application window will close on December 1, 2021, with selected Fellows beginning their appointments in Summer/Fall 2022.

• To sign-up for the upcoming informational webinar on October 13th, 2021, 3:30 – 4:30 EST, register here.

• Gender Equity: 101

  • October 19th, 11:30-1:00

  • In this workshop, we will explore various ways that gendered behaviors and roles may be rewarded, ignored, and devalued in different contexts. We are all social creatures, and in our social interactions, we use past experiences to guide present-day engagements. Sometimes bias takes the lead, discouraging us from learning more about people and avoiding assumptions. We will provide interactive ways for people to think about how they have internalized understandings of gender domination and using a social change model, we will give participants the ability to make commitments to move from gender domination to gender equity.

• Listening Differently

  • November 16th, 11:30-1:00

  • Please join the Lehigh University Center for Gender Equity in a workshop that will provide you the skills both to listen differently and listen for difference. Speaking and listening are learned skills, typically influenced by cultures, genders, and social classes. In this interactive workshop, you will be able to learn more about the context of listening and speaking, try different methods, and create an action plan to move forward on your diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging journey.