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Funding Opportunity: NSF Releases Solicitation for Science and
Technology Centers (STC) Competition
Lewis‐Burke Associates LLC – August 14, 2014 The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released the highly anticipated solicitation for the next round of Science and Technology Centers (STC). STCs support complex research and education projects that require large‐scale and long‐term awards. While this STC competition is open to any area of research NSF supports, the solicitation states that, “Themes consistent with NSF priorities, including such areas as cognitive science and neuroscience, clean energy, and food security, as well as other national priorities are encouraged.” While the STC program is NSF‐wide, oversight for each STC is the responsibility of the appropriate research directorate in coordination with NSF’s Office of International and Integrative Activities. As in past STC competitions, education activities will be an important component with proposed Centers encouraged to focus efforts on specific programs that are appropriately integrated into the research activities of the Center. STCs are further encouraged, but not required, to form collaborations with institutions that serve underrepresented students interested in STEM. In addition to education and diversity, “PIs are encouraged to exploit aspects of cyberinfrastructure such as high performance computing, data analysis and visualization, and virtual organizations for distributed communities in order to support the science and engineering goals of the Center, and to enable and enhance collaborations and resource sharing among the partner institutions.” Centers are also expected to facilitate knowledge transfer; examples include: technology transfer with the intention of supporting innovation, providing key information to public policy makers, or dissemination of knowledge from one field of science to another. For more background on the STC program and an analysis of existing Centers, please see Lewis‐Burke’s April 2014 analysis of the program following this summary. Total Funding, Award Size, and Budget Information: Pending funding availability, NSF intends to award $16 million in fiscal year (FY) 2016 for up to four new STCs and $20 million per year for the remaining four years, with the possibility of a five‐year renewal. Proposed STC budgets may range up to $4 million in the first year and $5 million per year thereafter—preliminary and invited full proposals beyond this range will not be reviewed. The inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited; however, proposals will in part be judged on having appropriate institutional commitments to carry out the proposed research. Eligibility: Preliminary and invited full proposals may be submitted by U.S. academic institutions with doctoral degree‐granting research and education programs in any area of research supported by NSF. The Center proposal must be led by a faculty member at the lead institution.
Institution and PI Limitations: An institution may submit up to three preliminary proposals as the lead institution; however, NSF will not support more than one Center from any lead institution in this competition. There is no limit on the number of proposals in which an organization participates as a partner. A PI or co‐PI on one proposal in this competition may not be a participant in another STC proposal in the same competition. Should a proposal be declined at any stage, a PI or co‐PI on the declined proposal may then participate in another STC proposal. The solicitation further states that past members of STCs may participate only if the themes “are substantially different from those they pursued with prior NSF Center support.” Partners: Lead institutions are expected to develop partnerships with other organizations, such as: other universities and colleges, national laboratories, research museums, private sector research laboratories, state and local government laboratories, and international organizations as appropriate. While not every partner must support all Center activities, all of the expected features of the Center must be accomplished through the partners’ activities. NSF further encourages, but does not require, international dimensions. Although not required by NSF, STCs are strongly encouraged to build “substantive and long‐term” partnerships with institutions that serve underrepresented students interested in STEM. Preliminary Proposals: Preliminary proposals are required and are due December 11, 2014. NSF will not review any proposals that are duplicative or substantially similar to proposals submitted to other NSF programs. Full Proposals: NSF will accept full proposals by invitation only. For those invited, full proposals will be due June 16, 2015. Recommended awards are expected to be announced by April 15, 2016. Sources and Additional Information: The complete STC solicitation is available at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14600/nsf14600.htm. Complete details of the STC program, including information on past awards, are available on the NSF website at http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5541&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund.
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NSF Science and Technology Centers (STCs) – Update
Lewis‐Burke Associates LLC— April 8, 2014 Introduction This document provides background and analysis for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Research Centers (STCs) to assist in the development of ideas and proposals for the next STC solicitation. According to the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget request for NSF, the next solicitation is expected to be released in FY 2014 with awards made in FY 2016. The next solicitation is likely to follow a similar format to the most recent (2011) solicitation in terms of composition requirements; assessment will address many of the broader impact management issues outlined in the last solicitation. This memorandum overviews existing STCs as well as information from the 2011 solicitation and the key issues that should be considered when developing STC proposals. It should be noted that on April 1, 2014, Dr. France Córdova was sworn in as the new Director for NSF. NSF and the research community wait to see Dr. Córdova’s priorities for the organization and how these will impact high profile NSF programs such as the STC program. Background STCs support large interdisciplinary research projects that promote partnership between industry, universities, and national laboratory facilities. STCs also train the next generation of scientists with a range of skills and expertise to become leaders in industry, academia, and government. Through partnerships, the STCs help fund large‐scale projects that emphasize innovation and enable the U.S. to maintain its leadership in the field of science and technology. The last STC solicitation, which was announced in January 2011 with awards announced in September 2013, included priorities to increase diversity in science leadership, enhance science education for students, and apply scientific findings to society. The President’s NSF budget request for FY 2015 included $48.42 million for the STC program. This is a 17.6% decrease over the FY 2014 level. There are currently 20 STCs in operation, with six centers from the STC class of 2002 due to be completed this year. Each STC award is granted for five years with a possibility for an extension and is typically between $4 million and $5 million dollars per year. 1. What are the research areas and make‐up of the current STCs? There are currently 20 STCs. The STCs may target any area of research that falls under the purview of any NSF discipline. Current STCs are supported through the Directorates for: Biological Sciences (BIO);
Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE); Engineering (ENG); Geological Sciences (GEO); and Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS). STCs are large multi‐institutional, multi‐regional collaborations with industry. The number of entities involved in current STCs ranges from three to fourteen, and the average number of entities participating in each center is 8.5. There are between one and nine states involved in current STCs, with an average of 5.6 different states. New STC proposals that overlap with existing centers should demonstrate how the new proposed STC is different, and how it will collaborate with the existing center. More detailed information on the current and recent STCs is presented in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2. 2. What was highlighted in the most recent solicitation? STCs support large scale projects that warrant NSF funding. These projects must contribute to the advancement and innovation in a specific scientific field. These centers promote the transfer of knowledge, collaboration, educational outreach, and diversity in science. STCs will be led by U.S. academic universities that conduct research in NSF supported areas. The sponsoring university will form partnership with other academic universities, industry groups, laboratories, or international entities. In these partnerships, one emphasis from the latest solicitation was on diversity. NSF expects the STC to involve leadership, faculty, and students that are diverse in gender, race, and ethnicity and representative of people with disabilities. To accomplish this, STCs can establish partnerships with entities focusing on minorities. Another theme in the 2011 solicitation is that STCs must offer formal or informal educational opportunities for students that advance STEM education. These opportunities can target students, researchers, or faculty. The goal with these integrated educational opportunities is to ensure that the U.S. is developing a competitive workforce. It should be noted that NSF recently issued the first solicitation for its new NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) program1, which replaces the former Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program, and outlines NSF’s new priorities for interdisciplinary education and training. In addition the NSF Innovation Corps (I‐Corps) program remains a priority for NSF and any activity related to entrepreneurial training should be highlighted in future STC proposals. Finally, the solicitation highlighted that STCs must enable the transfer of scientific knowledge to the general community (ranging from government to nonprofits, to industry partners). This transfer allows the community the opportunity to apply the research findings and permit additional scientific progress. The STCs were reviewed using the standard NSF criteria: intellectual merit and broader impacts. Some broader impacts for the STCs include: increasing diversity in science, facilitating the transfer and innovation of strategies and goals, furthering partnerships, ensuring national security, and enhancing STEM education. It is worth noting that there is increased focus at NSF to ensure the Broader Impacts criterion is fully addressed, especially for large center awards. 1 http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14548/nsf14548.htm
5 The 2011 solicitation included preliminary proposal and invited full proposal stages. This process was also applied for the recent NSF Engineering Research Center solicitation. The latest STC competition applied a submission maximum of three preliminary proposals per institution, had no limit on the number of proposals an institution could partner on, but stated that NSF would only fund one proposal from any lead organization. In the 2011 solicitation, NSF noted that it would fund up to six centers and grant each up to $5 million. These awards would be given for five years. However following the five years, there would be a possibility of extending the award if the Center demonstrated need for additional funding and achieved goals. NSF ended up supporting three centers for the class of 2013 STCs. 3. What are potential themes for the next STC solicitation? As noted above, according to the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget request for NSF, the next solicitation is expected to be released in FY 2014 with awards made in FY 2016. It is likely that NSF will want to fund STCs that align with current NSF priorities. In the President’s FY 2015 budget, the top investment priorities highlighted for NSF include: Research at the Interface of Biological, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences (BioMaPS) Advanced Manufacturing including: Cyber‐Enabled Materials, Manufacturing and Smart Systems (CEMMSS); the National Robotics Initiative (NRI); and the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI). Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science, Engineering, and Education (CIF21) Clean Energy and Sustainability Cognitive Science and Neuroscience Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) Interdisciplinary research e.g. through Integrated NSF Support Promoting Interdisciplinary Research and Education (INSPIRE) 4. Advice to Potential Applications Universities considering developing an STC proposal should do as much research as possible on the existing centers to ensure they do not significantly overlap with an existing STC. For a list of current STCs and links to each center’s individual site, please see http://www.nsf.gov/od/iia/programs/stc/active_centers/ACTIVE.jsp. All partners should be fully involved in the development of the STC to ensure full commitment to the project. The STC need a supportive university administration; not just enthusiastic researchers. Proposers should note that STC review panels will have wider expertise than for standard program panels. Therefore, STC proposals should be written for a broader audience than is usually the case. Organization and management is key to a successful STC, so clear charts and plans are useful in the proposal.
Previous experience of center management (especially from the PI) is seen very positively by NSF, so this should be highlighted in the proposal. 5. Sources The information in this document was gathered from: The 2011 STC solicitation document is available at http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?WT.z_pims_id=5541&ods_key=nsf11522. The President’s FY 2015 budget request for NSF is available at https://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2015/pdf/Entire_Document_FY2015.pdf. An overview of the STC program is available at http://www.nsf.gov/od/iia/programs/stc/.
Appendix 1: Active NSF Science and Technology Centers (STCs)
Information from http://www.nsf.gov/od/iia/programs/stc/active_centers/ACTIVE.jsp and http://www.nsf.gov/od/iia/programs/stc/map.jsp.
Center Lead Institution NSF Program Area Partners States
Represented Class Area of Research Biology with X‐ Ray Free Electron Lasers (BioXFEL) University at Buffalo Biological Sciences: Biological Infrastructure Arizona State University; CFEL Science; Cornell University; The Hauptman‐Woodward Institute; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Rice University; Stanford University; University of California – Davis; University of California ‐ San Francisco; University of Wisconsin ‐ Milwaukee Six 2013 Biology A Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines: the Science and Technology of Intelligence (CBMM) Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer & Information Science & Engineering; Computing and Communications Foundation Allen Institute for Brain Science; Cornell University; Harvard University; Howard University; Hunter College; MIT; Rockefeller University; Stanford University; UCLA; Universidad Central del Caribe Puerto Rico; University of Puerto Rico ‐ Rio Piedras; Wellesley College Four 2013 Information Science / Neuroscience Center for Integrated Quantum Materials (CIQM) Harvard University Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Materials Research Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Museum of Science, Boston One 2013 Materials Science An NSF Center for the Study of Evolution in Michigan State University Biological Science; Biological Infrastructure North Carolina A&T State University; University of Idaho; University of Texas at Austin; Five 2010 Ecology
Action (BEACON) University of Washington Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C‐ DEBI) University of Southern California Geosciences; Ocean Sciences University of Alaska, Fairbanks; University of California, Santa Cruz; University of Hawaii; University of Rhode Island Four 2010 Environmental Science Center for Energy Efficient Electronics Science (E3S) University of California Berkeley Engineering; Electrical, Communications, and Cyber Systems Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Stanford University; The University of Texas at El Paso; Contra Costa College; Los Angeles Trade Technical College Three 2010 Electrical Engineering Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems (EBICS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineering; Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems Clark Atlanta University; Georgia Institute of Technology; Morehouse College; University of California, San Diego; University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign; University of Michigan; University of Minnesota; University of Pennsylvania; Spelman College; Texas A&M Eight 2010 Bioengineering Center for Science of Information (CSoI) Purdue University Computer & Information Science & Engineering; Computing and Communications Foundation Bryn Mawr College; Howard University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Princeton University; Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, San Diego; University of Illinois at Urbana‐ Champaign Seven 2010 Information Science Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction (CMOP) Oregon Health and Science University Geosciences; Ocean Sciences Oregon State University; Saturday Academy; University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; University of Utah; University of Washington; University of Wisconsin, Madison Five 2006 Environmental Science
9 Center for Layered Polymeric Systems (CLiPS) Case Western Reserve University Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Materials Research Cleveland Institute of Art; Cleveland Minicipal School District Ohio Northern University; Fisk University; Naval Research Laboratory; Rochester Institute of Technology; Rose‐Hulman Institute of Technology; State University of New York; University of Southern Mississippi; University of Texas at Austin Seven 2006 Materials Science Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C‐ MORE) University of Hawaii Biological Sciences; Biological Infrastructure Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; Monterey Peninsula College; Oregon State University; University of California‐Santa Cruz; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Four 2006 Microbiology ScCenter for Multi‐Scale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes (CMMAP) Colorado State University Geosciences; Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Colorado College; Columbia University; Hampton University; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; National Center for Atmospheric Research; Pacific Northwest National Laboratories; The Catamount Institute; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Diego; University of Colorado at Boulder; University of Maryland; University of Utah; University of Washington Seven 2006 Environmental Science Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets University of Kansas Geosciences; Polar Programs Elizabeth City State University; Ohio State University; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Seven 2005 Environmental Science
(CReSIS) NASA JPL; Pennsylvania State University; University of Maine Team for Research in Ubiquitous Secure Technology (TRUST) University of California at Berkeley Computer & Information Science & Engineering; Computing and Communication Foundations Carnegie Mellon University; Cornell University; Mills College; San Jose State University; Smith College; Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; Vanderbilt University Five 2005 Cyber Security
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Appendix 2: 2002 NSF Science and Technology Centers (STCs) Expired or Due to Expire Shortly
Information from http://www.nsf.gov/od/iia/programs/stc/active_centers/ACTIVE.jsp and http://www.nsf.gov/od/iia/programs/stc/map.jsp.
Center
Lead Institution NSF Program Area Partners States
Represented Class Area of Research Center for Advanced Materials for the Purification of Water with Systems (WaterCAMPWS) University of Illinois Engineering; Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems Clark Atlanta University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; National Risk Management Research Laboratory; Rose Hulman Institute; Rutgers University; Sandia National Laboratories; University of California at Berkeley; University of Notre Dame; Yale University Eight 2002 Environmental Engineering Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology (CBST) University of California at Davis Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Physics Alabama A&M University; Fisk University; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Mills College; Stanford University; University of California at Berkeley; University of California at San Francisco; University of Texas at San Antonio Four 2002 Biophotonics National Center for Earth‐surface Dynamics (NCED) University of Minnesota Geosciences; Earth Sciences Johns Hopkins University; Louisiana State University; Science Museum of Minnesota; Southern Illinois University Carbondale; St. Anthony Falls Laboratory; University of California at Berkeley; University of Colorado at Boulder; University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign; University of Texas at Austin Seven 2002 Environmental Science Center for Embedded University of California at Los Computer & Information Science & California Institute of Technology; University of California, Merced; One 2002 Computer Science
Networked Sensing (CENS) Angeles Engineering; Computing and Communication Foundation University of California, Riverside; University of Southern California Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM) Boston University Geosciences; Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Alabama A&M University; Dartmouth College; Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne; National Center for Atmospheric Research; Rice University; Science Applications International Corporation; Stanford University; University of California at Berkeley; University of Colorado at Boulder; University of Maryland Nine 2002 Environmental Science Center for Materials and Devices For Information Technology Research (CMDITR) University of Washington Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Materials Research California Institute of Technology; Cornell University; Georgia Institute of Technology; New Mexico Highlands University; Norfolk State University; University of Arizona; University of Central Florida; University of Maryland, Baltimore County Nine 2002 Materials Science
