jSponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)

National Science Foundation is an important sponsor for HPC. Among all federal funding sources, NSF is probably the top supporter of research computing, including its investment in national cyberinfrastructure such as TeraGrid. 

I have participated in over a dozen such award hunts in partnership with research universities such as University of Oklahoma (2010) and University of Arkansas (2009).  In the latest tally, I have won six NSF MRI proposals in the past three years.

The following are selected NSF grants that are applicable for research computing, in the various forms ranging from instrumentation to cyberinfrastucture. Related technologies include HPC, Cloud, Big Data, Grid and visualization.

Core Techniques and Technologies for Advancing Big Data Science & Engineering (BIGDATA)

PROGRAM SOLICITATION

NSF 12-499

The Core Techniques and Technologies for Advancing Big Data Science & Engineering (BIGDATA) solicitation aims to advance the core scientific and technological means of managing,  analyzing, visualizing, and extracting useful information from large, diverse, distributed and heterogeneous data sets so as to: accelerate the progress of scientific discovery and innovation; lead to new fields of inquiry that would not otherwise be possible; encourage the development of new data analytic tools and algorithms; facilitate scalable, accessible, and sustainable data infrastructure; increase understanding of human and social processes and interactions; and promote economic growth and improved health and quality of life. The new knowledge, tools, practices, and infrastructures produced will enable breakthrough discoveries and innovation in science, engineering, medicine, commerce, education, and national security -- laying the foundations for US competitiveness for many decades to come.  

The phrase "big data" in this solicitation refers to large, diverse, complex, longitudinal, and/or distributed data sets generated from instruments, sensors, Internet transactions, email, video, click streams, and/or all other digital sources available today and in the future.

This solicitation is one component in a long-term strategy to address national big data challenges, which include advances in core techniques and technologies; big data infrastructure projects in various science, biomedical research, health and engineering communities; education and workforce development; and a comprehensive integrative program to support collaborations of multi-disciplinary teams and communities to make advances in the complex grand challenge science, biomedical research, and engineering problems of a computational- and data-intensive world. 

Major Research Instrumentation  (MRI)
PROGRAM SOLICITATION
NSF 11-503

The Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) serves to increase access to shared scientific and engineering instruments for research and research training in our Nation's institutions of higher education, museums, science centers, and not-for-profit organizations. This program especially seeks to improve the quality and expand the scope of research and research training in science and engineering, by providing shared instrumentation that fosters the integration of research and education in research-intensive learning environments. Development and acquisition of research instrumentation for shared inter- and/or intra-organizational use are encouraged, as are development efforts that leverage the strengths of private sector partners to build instrument development capacity at academic institutions.

To accomplish these goals, the MRI program assists with the acquisition or development of shared research instrumentation that is, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs. Instruments are expected to be operational for regular research use by the end of the award period. For the purposes of the MRI program, proposals must be for either acquisition or development of a single instrument or for equipment that, when combined, serves as an integrated research instrument (physical or virtual).  The MRI program does not support the acquisition or development of a suite of instruments to outfit research laboratories/facilities or to conduct independent research activities simultaneously.  Further guidance on appropriate requests can be found in the MRI Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) at http://www.nsf.gov/od/oia/programs/mri.

Instrument acquisition or development proposals that request funds from NSF in the range $100,000-$4 million will be accepted from all eligible organizations. Proposals that request funds from NSF less than $100,000 will also be accepted from all eligible organizations for the disciplines of mathematics or social, behavioral and economic sciences and from non-Ph.D.-granting institutions of higher education for all NSF-supported disciplines.

Cost-sharing at the level of 30% of the total project cost is required for Ph.D.-granting institutions of higher education and for non-degree-granting organizations.  Non-Ph.D.-granting institutions of higher education are exempt from the cost-sharing requirement.

CISE Computing Research Infrastructure (CRI)
PROGRAM SOLICITATION
NSF 11-536

The CISE Computing Research Infrastructure (CRI) program drives discovery and learning in the computing disciplines by supporting the creation, enhancement and operation of world-class computing research infrastructure. Further, through the CRI program CISE seeks to ensure that individuals from a diverse range of academic institutions, including minority-serving and predominantly undergraduate institutions, have access to such infrastructure.

The CRI program supports two classes of awards:

• Institutional Infrastructure (II) awards support the creation of new computing research infrastructure or the enhancement of existing computing research infrastructure to enable world-class research and education opportunities at the awardee and collaborating institutions.
• Community Infrastructure (CI) awards support the planning for computing research infrastructure, the creation of new computing infrastructure, or the enhancement of existing computing research infrastructure to enable world-class research and education opportunities for broadly-based communities of researchers and educators that extend well beyond the awardee institutions.

Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF): Core Programs
PROGRAM SOLICITATION
NSF 11-557

CISE's Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF) supports research and education projects that develop new knowledge in three core programs:

• The Algorithmic Foundations program;
• The Communications and Information Foundations program; and
• The Software and Hardware Foundations program.

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

• Small Projects - up to $500,000 total budget with durations up to three years;
• Medium Projects - $500,001 to $1,200,000 total budget with durations up to four years; and
• Large Projects - $1,200,001 to $3,000,000 total budget with durations up to five years.

Computer and Network Systems (CNS): Core Programs
PROGRAM SOLICITATION
NSF 11-555

CISE’s Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS) supports research and education projects that develop new knowledge in two core programs:

• Computer Systems Research (CSR) program; and
• Networking Technology and Systems (NeTS) program.

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

• Small Projects - up to $500,000 total budget with durations up to three years;
• Medium Projects - $500,001 to $1,200,000 total budget with durations up to four years; and
• Large Projects - $1,200,001 to $3,000,000 total budget with durations up to five years.

Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers Program (I/UCRC)
PROGRAM SOLICITATION
NSF 10-595

The Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) program develops long-term partnerships among industry, academe, and government. The centers are catalyzed by a small investment from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and are primarily supported by industry center members, with NSF taking a supporting role in the development and evolution of the center. Each center is established to conduct research that is of interest to both the industry members and the center faculty. An I/UCRC contributes to the Nation's research infrastructure base and enhances the intellectual capacity of the engineering and science workforce through the integration of research and education. As appropriate, an I/UCRC uses international collaborations to advance these goals within the global context.

Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS): Core Programs
PROGRAM SOLICITATION
NSF 11-556

The Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS) studies the inter-related roles of people, computers, and information. IIS supports research and education activities that 1) develop new knowledge about the role of people in the design and use of information technology; 2) increase our capability to create, manage, and understand data and information in circumstances ranging from personal computers to globally-distributed systems; and 3) advance our understanding of how computational systems can exhibit the hallmarks of intelligence.

Updated 2012.04.02