Opportunity number
NSF 21-617
Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Program
Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI)
Link
Website
Due date
December 08, 2021
Location
National
Sector
Big Data Education Information Technologies Infrastructure Innovation Research
Project funding
Elements awards up to $600K. Framework Implementations awards $600K - $5M. Transition to Sustainability awards up to $1M.
Program funding
Number of Awards: 35 Anticipated Funding Amount: $34M
Funding size
Up to $5M

Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI)

RFP Summary provided by the agency

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. Further, not all divisions are participating at the same level, and division-specific priorities differ. Prospective PIs should also refer to the directorate/division-specific descriptions contained in Section II of this solicitation.

Finally, it is strongly recommended that prospective PIs contact program officer(s) from the list of Cognizant Program Officers in the division(s) that typically support the scientists and engineers who would make use of the proposed work, to gain insight into the priorities for the relevant areas of science and engineering to which their proposals should be responsive. As part of contacting Cognizant Program Officers, prospective PIs are also encouraged to ascertain that the focus and budget of their proposed work are appropriate for this solicitation.

What is the mission and focus of the program: research, social, economic or others?

Research

How do you submit to this opportunity?

Proposers may opt to submit proposals in response to this Program Solicitation via Grants.gov or via the NSF FastLane system.
An unsolicited proposal from a commercial organization may be funded when the project is of special concern from a national point of view, special resources are available for the work, or the proposed project is especially meritorious. NSF is interested in supporting projects that couple industrial research resources and perspectives with those of universities; therefore, it especially welcomes proposals for cooperative projects involving both universities and the private commercial sector;

Who are the target applicants: cities, universities, companies, small business, nonprofits, or others?

Proposals may only be submitted by the following:
Universities and Colleges – Universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in, the US acting on behalf of their faculty members. Such organizations also are referred to as academic institutions.
Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities.
Federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) may not receive funds directly from NSF under this solicitation.

Example project(s) summaries from past RFPs:

Collaborative Research: SI2-SSI: Inquiry-Focused Volumetric Data Analysis Across Scientific Domains: Sustaining and Expanding the yt Community
Scientific discovery across the physical sciences is increasingly dependent on the analysis of volumetric – or three-dimensional – data, that may come from a supercomputer simulation, direct measurement, or mathematical models. Researchers typically seek to extract meaningful insights from this data by visualizing and analyzing it in various ways. The ways in which scientists process volumetric data are actually quite similar across domains, but cross-disciplinary knowledge transfer and tool development is blocked by barriers of terminology. This project seeks to enhance an analysis and visualization toolkit named yt that is currently primarily used for astrophysical simulations. yt allows scientists to access and analyze data at several different levels by providing an interface that is designed to answer questions motivated by the underlying scientific problem, while worrying less about details such data formats, specific analysis techniques etc.
Award: $1,061,721.00
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1663914

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