Physical Sciences & Engineering

Limit: 3 // Tickets Available: 2

N. Rengaswamy (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

The DOE SC program in Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) announces its interest in receiving applications that advance the field of quantum computing by developing enabling end-to-end software infrastructures. This FOA solicits applications from large cross- disciplinary teams that will advance computer science toward a software stack that is ready to leverage multiple quantum technologies, or will develop mathematical foundations, algorithms, and software tools toward quantum utility [1] demonstration for applications within the DOE mission.

Research proposed in response to this FOA must primarily focus on addressing one of the two topics described below:

Topic 1 – Modular Software Stack: The diversity of quantum computing architectures and hardware technologies is expected to persist into the foreseeable future; this is an important consideration that guides the advancement of computer science sought in this topic. The development of an integrated computational ecosystem requires a general-purpose quantum software stack that is adaptable to, and takes advantage of, multiple kinds of quantum hardware. We seek basic research in computer science and applied mathematics that:

• Addresses practical and fundamental bottlenecks that hinder modularity and potential synergy among selected hardware technologies;
• Pursues general approaches to integration that may remain relevant for future technologies;
• Devises ways to embed quantum processors in parallel and distributed computing models; and
• Integrates error management across the software stack.

Topic 2 – Quantum Utility: This topic aims to advance the research towards achievement and demonstration of quantum utility [1] by developing new algorithms and fine-tuning all levels of the software stack for a selected portfolio of promising problems within the ASCR mission.

Applications should:

• Choose generalizable application-inspired target problems;
• Develop algorithms for optimized math kernels and math primitives for selected current (NISQ) and future quantum systems that significantly advance state-of-the-art performance for the selected target problems;
• Adapt, if needed, any level of the software stack for the specific target problems; and
• Estimate quantum resources by employing important complementary metrics, including energy-to-solution.

Verification protocols and tools are important for both Topic 1 and Topic 2 and should be discussed in the application.Applicants must choose and specify Topic 1 or Topic 2 as the focus of their application. In the choice of Topic 1 or 2, proposed research is encouraged to consider multiple metrics, such as qubit count, gate fidelity, and qubit connectivity.

The ceiling and floor specified below are for total costs, both direct and indirect costs.

Ceiling

$3,000,000 per year

Applications requesting more than this amount of support may be declined without further review.

Floor

$250,000 per year

Applications requesting less than this amount of support may be declined without further review.

No Applicants  // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 
 

The NSF ADVANCE program goal is to broaden the implementation of evidence-based systemic change strategies that promote equity for STEM faculty in academic workplaces and the academic profession. The NSF ADVANCE program provides grants to enhance the systemic factors that support equity and inclusion and to mitigate the systemic factors that create inequities in the academic profession and workplaces. Systemic (or organizational) inequities may exist in areas such as policy and practice as well as in organizational culture and climate. UArizona is only elegible for the Partnership Track.

• Partnership projects are expected to result in national or regional transformation in STEM academic workplaces and the academic profession and demonstrate significant reach. Partnership projects can focus on the transformation of institutions and organizations and/or the transformation within one or more STEM disciplines.

No Applicants  // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

The intent of this solicitation is to request proposals from organizations who are willing to serve as resource providers within the NSF Advanced Computing Systems and Services (ACSS) program. Resource providers would (1) provide advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI) resources in production operations to support the full range of computational- and data-intensive research across all of science and engineering (S&E), and (2) ensure democratized and equitable access to the proposed resources. The current solicitation is intended to complement previous NSF investments in advanced computational infrastructure by provisioning resources, broadly defined in this solicitation to include systems and/or services.

• Category I, Capacity Resources: production computational resources maximizing the capacity provided to support the broad range of computation and data analytics needs in S&E research.

 Limit: 5* // Tickets Available: 4

Q. Hoa ( Aerospace-Mechanical Engineering) -  Topic 2. Smart Manufacturing Platforms for Battery Production.

The goals of this FOA are to advance manufacturing platform technologies in the following specific areas: 1) Platforms for next generation battery manufacturing - focusing on manufacturability and scalability of critical battery components and system architectures 2) Smart manufacturing platforms for battery production - developing innovative ways to revolutionize battery prouction. *An entity may submit only one Concept Paper for each topic area/sub-topic area.
 

Topics include:

1. Platforms for Next Generation Battery Manufacturing

     1.1 Processes and Machines for Sodium-ion Batteries

     1.2 Processes and Design for Manufacturability of Flow Batteries

     1.3 Scalable Manufacturing of Nanolayered Films for Energy Storage

2. Smart Manufacturing Platforms for Battery Production

No Applicants  //  Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

Up to one (1) QSTD Pilot proposal may be submitted per Lead Organization.

NSF support for use-inspired and translational research in Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE), combined with its existing strength in support of the underlying foundational research, is anticipated to accelerate development of a market for quantum technologies.The NQVL aims to develop and utilize use-inspired and application-oriented quantum technologies. In the process, NQVL researchers will explore quantum frontiers, foster QISE workforce education and training, engage in outreach activities at all levels, and promote broadening participation, diversity, equity, and inclusion in QISE, thereby lowering barriers at all entry points of the research enterprise. 

It is required that prospective PIs contact the NQVL Program Officer as soon as possible, but not later than two weeks before submitting a proposal in response to this solicitation, to ascertain that the focus and budget of their proposal is appropriate for this solicitation.

No applicants  //  Limit: 5* // Tickets Available: 5 

*An entity may submit only one Concept Paper and one Full Application for each topic area of this FOA.

The goal of this FOA is to engage industry in the prototyping and validation of technologies and processes proven at the bench scale to accelerate commercial readiness and adoption. Successful projects will: 

• Validate the materials and manufacturing technologies that reduce demand or extend the lifetime of critical materials;
• Enable informed decisions, optimize processes, and build confidence in technology scale up through life-cycle assessment (LCA) and technoeconomic analysis (TEA);
• Address the urgency to meet critical material demand with secure and sustainable critical material manufacturing technologies.

The topics listed in this FOA address specific manufacturing challenges facing critical material supply chains in the U.S.: 

• Topic 1 – Use of Magnets with Reduced Critical Materials Content
• Topic 1a – Critical Material Lean/Free Magnets for Clean Energy Technologies
• Topic 1b – Motors and Drivetrains using Critical Material Lean/Free Magnets
• Topic 2 – Improved Unit Operations of Processing and Manufacturing of Critical Materials
• Topic 3 – Critical Material Recovery from Scrap and Post-Consumer Products
• Topic 4 – Reduced Critical Material Demand for Clean Energy Technologies

No Applicants //  Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 2 

Applicant institutions are limited to no more than two pre-applications and two applications as the lead institution.

The DOE SC program in Biological and Environmental Research (BER), through its Bioimaging Research effort, hereby announces its interest in receiving innovative applications to advance fundamental research or use-inspired technologies of new bioimaging or sensing approaches. Fundamental research to enhance spatial and temporal resolution, measurement speed, long-term sample stability, selectivity, sensitivity, or chemical specificity of bioimaging technologies are desirable. Proposed research should demonstrate a comparative advantage over state-of-the-art techniques or identify biological characteristics that cannot currently be measured. Quantumenabled technologies are allowed but not required in this FOA. Applications can be submitted under one of two subtopics: 1) Novel research concepts proceeding through technical validation that are not required to evaluate new biological hypotheses; 2) Innovative experimental prototype research proceeding through hypothesis-driven biological experimentation; proposals submitted under this subtopic are encouraged to coordinate with biological collaborators if domain expertise is not in-house. All applications are expected to describe how, if realized, they would advance biological knowledge of plant and microbial systems relevant to bioeconomy or environmental research in fields of study supported by BER.

Limit: 2* // Tickets Available: 0

• Science & Engineering Track - P. Carini (Environmental Sciences)
• Medical Research Track - M. Cai (Chemistry & Biochemistry)

Please note the internal deadline has been extended to May 8, 2024. 

*UA may submit one concept paper in Physical Sciences and Engineering and one concept paper in Medical Sciences in this cycle.
The selected projects must participate in the concept counseling session with the W.M. Keck Foundation between July 1 and August 15 to determine if they can proceed to the Phase I submission.

The W.M. Keck Foundation Research Program uses a three-step process for this opportunity. The first step is a Concept paper. The Undergraduate Education program is currently not accepting concept papers. The next steps are by the foundation’s invitation. UArizona review criteria reflect previous interactions with the W.M. Keck Foundation. Proposals should focus on basic, fundamental science with broad applications. Grants range from $1 million to $5 million and are typically $2 million or less.

The proposed work should show a significant leap forward rather than an extension of existing work.  

To be considered by Keck, applicants must have a statement from a federal program officer expressing that the project is not a good fit due to risk (rather than technical or theoretical fit) or a decline from a federal program where the summary statement or individual reviews highlight the incredible novelty, but the high-risk nature that makes it difficult to fund at the federal level.

 

The Science and Engineering Research Program seeks to benefit humanity by supporting high-risk/high-impact projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach to intractable problems, push the edge of their field, or question the prevailing paradigm. Past grants have been awarded to support pioneering science and engineering research and the development of promising new technologies, instrumentation, or methodologies. 

The Medical Research Program seeks to advance the frontiers of medicine to benefit humanity by supporting high-risk/high-impact projects that are distinctive and novel in their approach to intractable problems, push the edge of their field, or question the prevailing paradigm. Past grants have supported pioneering biological research, basic research, and the development of promising new technologies. The Keck Foundation does NOT fund work that is clinical, applied, or translational; treatment trials; or research for the sole purpose of drug development. 

Both senior and early career investigators are encouraged to apply. Team approaches, including interdisciplinary teams, are encouraged.

No Applicants // Limit: 1 // Tickets Available: 1 

Eligible institutions shall submit only ONE lead proposal per UEI number. Eligible institutions that have multiple and/or different UEI numbers shall submit no more than one lead proposal from each different UEI number.

The Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) is administered through NASA's Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM). Through MUREP, NASA provides financial assistance via competitive awards to Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI), Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions (ANNH), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU), Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTI), and other MSIs, as required by MSIfocused Executive Orders. These MSI recipient institutions then provide their students financial assistance to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

MUREP investments enhance the research, academic and technology capabilities of MSIs through multiyear cooperative agreements. Awards assist faculty and students in research and provide authentic STEM engagement related to Agency missions. Additionally, awards provide NASA specific knowledge and skills to MSI students who have historically been underrepresented and underserved in STEM. MUREP investments assist NASA in meeting the goal of a diverse workforce through student participation in internships and fellowships at NASA Centers and the Agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

The NASA OSTEM MUREP Program solicits proposals from four-year colleges/universities designated by the U.S. Department of Education as MSIs. (see the NASA MSI List) for the MUREP Institutional Research Opportunity (MIRO) awards. MIRO develops significant scientific, engineering, and/or technology research centers. The purpose of MIRO is to strengthen and develop the research capacity and infrastructure of MSIs in areas of strategic importance and value to NASA’s mission and priorities. MIRO awards promote STEM literacy and enhance and sustain the capability of institutions to perform NASA-related research and education. Additionally, MIRO strengthens student participation in research at MSIs in order to develop and diversify the next generation of the STEM workforce. MIRO awards directly support research pertinent to NASA’s five Mission Directorates (MDs) – Aeronautics Research, Exploration Systems Development, Space Operations, Science, and Space Technology.

Limit: 2 // Tickets Available: 1 // L. Folks (Semiconductor Strategy)

Applicant institutions are limited to no more than two pre-applications or applications as the lead institution.

The DOE SC program in Basic Energy Sciences (BES) announces a re-competition of the Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) program and encourages both new and renewal applications. Applications from multi-disciplinary teams will be required to propose discovery science and use-inspired basic research that addresses priority research directions and opportunities identified by a series of BES workshop and roundtable reports. The focus of the EFRC program is on fundamental scientific research, therefore applications to this FOA must not propose applied research and technology development activities.

BES is soliciting renewal applications for basic science in three topical areas: 1) Transformative manufacturing, 2) Quantum information science (QIS), and 3) Environmental management. BES is soliciting new applications for basic science in two topical areas: 1) Co-design of materials and processes to revolutionize microelectronics and/or QIS fabrication, and 2) Environmental management.