Dear Chemistry Community:
Welcome back from the Thanksgiving Holidays! I hope you were able to spend a joyous and relaxing holiday with family and friends.
We’d like to bring your attention to three new NSF-wide funding opportunities to submit proposals and well as opportunities for employment as a Program Director in NSF CHE.
You are encouraged to submit to these solicitations in addition to the CHE Disciplinary Research Program solicitation.
- Enabling Quantum Leap: Quantum Idea Incubator for Transformational Advances in Quantum Systems (QII-TAQS, NSF 19-532,https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2019/nsf19532/nsf19532.pdf). Letters of Intent are due January 7, 2019; Preliminary Proposals are due February 21, 2019; and Full Proposals are due May 24, 2019.
| QII – TAQS is designed to support interdisciplinary teams that will explore highly innovative, original, and potentially transformative ideas for developing and applying quantum science, quantum computing, and quantum engineering. Proposals with the potential to deliver new concepts, new platforms, and/or new approaches that will accelerate the science, computing, and engineering of quantum technologies are encouraged. Breakthroughs in quantum sensing, quantum communications, quantum simulations, or quantum computing systems are anticipated. This Quantum Idea Incubator solicitation aims to support the process of translating such ideas into reality.
This solicitation calls for proposals focused on interdisciplinary research that includes elements from the following thrust areas: (i) fundamental science such as, but not limited to physics, chemistry, materials science, mathematics, biology, or geoscience, as well as foundational concepts and techniques in quantum information science and engineering; (ii) communication, computation, and modeling; and (iii) devices and engineered systems. Proposals must articulate how the project leverages and/or promotes advances in knowledge in the selected thrust areas. Proposals should be innovative and must focus on quantum functionality and must result in experimental demonstrations and/or transformative advances towards quantum systems and/or proof-of-concept validations. Competitive proposals will come from an interdisciplinary research team led by at least three investigators who collectively contribute synergistic expertise from one or more engineering domains, from mathematics, computational and/or computer and information science, and from one or more physical, chemical, biological, or materials science domains. Proposals will be judged on how likely the integrated effort is to lead to transformative advances in quantum systems. Both fundamental and applied topics are encouraged.
CHE contacts are: Evi Goldfield (EGoldfie@nsf.gov), Tingyu Li (TLi@nsf.gov), and John Papanikolas (JPapanik@nsf.gov) |
- Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure-1 (Mid-scale RI-1, NSF 19-537;https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2019/nsf19537/nsf19537.pdf). Preliminary proposals due February 19, 2019; Full Proposals due May 20, 2019.
| NSF-supported science and engineering research increasingly relies on cutting-edge infrastructure. With its Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program and Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC)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 MREFC thresholds.
Within Mid-scale RI-1, proposers may submit two types of projects, “Implementation” and “Design”. Design and Implementation projects may comprise any combination of equipment, infrastructure, computational hardware and software, and necessary commissioning. Design includes planning (preliminary and final design) of research infrastructure with an anticipated total project cost that is appropriate for future Mid-scale RI-1, Mid-scale RI-2 or MREFC-class investments. Mid-scale RI-1 uses an inclusive definition of implementation, which can include traditional stand-alone construction or acquisition and can include a degree of advanced development leading immediately to final system acquisition and/or construction.
Mid-scale RI-1 “Implementation” projects may have a total project cost ranging from $6 million up to below $20million. Projects must directly enable advances in fundamental science, engineering or science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education research in one or more of the research domains supported by NSF Implementation projects may support new or upgraded research infrastructure. Only Mid-scale RI-1 “Design” projects may request less than $6 million, with a minimum request of $600,000 and a maximum request below $20 million as needed to prepare for a future mid-scale or larger infrastructure implementation project. (Successful award of a Mid-scale RI-1 design project does not imply NSF commitment to future implementation of that project.)
Note: Mid-scale research infrastructure projects beyond the Mid-scale RI-1 program limit are anticipated to be separately solicited by a Mid-scale RI-2 program.
Mid-scale RI-1 emphasizes strong scientific merit and response to an identified need of the research community. Demonstrated technical and managerial experience is required for both design and implementation projects, as are well-developed plans for student training and the involvement of a diverse workforce in all aspects of mid-scale activities. |
CHE contacts are: Carlos Murillo (CMurillo@nsf.gov); Kelsey Cook (KCook@nsf.gov); and Colby Foss (CFoss@nsf.gov); and Anne-Marie Schmoltner (ASchmolt@nsf.gov)
- Harnessing the Data Revolution: Data Science Corps (HDR: DSC, NSF 19-518:https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2019/nsf19518/nsf19518.htm) Submission Window: January 28, 2019 – February 4, 2019.
NSF’s Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR) Big Idea is a visionary, national-scale activity to enable new modes of data-driven discovery, allowing fundamentally new questions to be asked and answered in science and engineering frontiers, generating new knowledge and understanding, and accelerating discovery and innovation. The HDR vision is realized via a coordinated set of program solicitations resulting in an ecosystem of interrelated activities enabling (i) research in the foundations of data science; frameworks, algorithms, and systems for data science; and data-driven research in science and engineering; (ii) advanced cyberinfrastructure; and (iii) education and workforce development—all of which are designed to amplify the intrinsically multidisciplinary nature of the data science challenge. The HDR Big Idea will establish theoretical, technical, and ethical data science frameworks, and apply them to practical problems in science and engineering, and in society more generally.
The Data Science Corps is one of the components of the HDR ecosystem, focusing on building capacity for harnessing the data revolution at the local, state, national, and international levels to help unleash the power of data in the service of science and society. The Data Science Corps will provide practical experiences, teach new skills, and offer teaching opportunities, in a variety of settings, to data scientists and data science students. It will also strive to promote data literacy and provide basic training in data science to the existing workforce across communities.
As a first step in establishing the Data Science Corps, this solicitation focuses specifically on enabling participation by undergraduate students in the Data Science Corps, by supporting student stipends for participation in data science projects and supporting integration of real-world data science projects into classroom instruction.
CHE Contacts are P. Shing Ho (puiho@nsf.gov) and Lin He (lhe@nsf.gov).
Dear Colleague Letter regarding opportunities to serve as a Program Director within the Chemistry Division at NSF. We are seeking applicants in all CHE Programs, especially individuals with broad knowledge in fundamental chemistry research and in areas that align with one of the NSF Big Ideas, such as Quantum Leap, Harnessing the Data Revolution, Understanding the Rules of Life, or Midscale Research Infrastructure. For more information about the openings, please see the Dear Colleague Letter athttps://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=che19001 (CHE 19-001: Dear Colleague Letter: The Division of Chemistry (CHE), in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) Employment Opportunity for a Program Director). It is critical to note that Program Directors are encouraged to maintain their research group and interests while on rotation at the Foundation; NSF supports travel back to your home institution up to 50 days per year.
Formal consideration of Program Director applicants will begin in early January 2019, and will continue until selections are made. Applications and nominations are welcomed. Please send your curriculum vitae to CHE-recruit@nsf.gov.