Funding Opportunities

• Funding Opportunity: ARO

Funding Opportunity: ARO Announces New Army Center for Synthetic Biology

The Army Research Office (ARO) released a two-step broad agency announcement (BAA) inviting basic research proposals for its newly created program, the Army Center for Synthetic Biology.  The Army Center for Synthetic Biology aims to increase the Army’s intellectual capacity in synthetic biology and improve the relationship between the Army Science and Technology (S&T) enterprise and the broader synthetic biology research community.  The Army Center for Synthetic Biology will also promote scientific collaboration by funding multidisciplinary, cross-institutional research at universities, research institutions, and companies in certain priority areas, with the goal of filling crucial knowledge gaps in synthetic biology and improve the Army’s ability to address future challenges.

Basic research supported by the Army Center for Synthetic Biology will focus on two major technical thrust areas below, each spanning the fields of biology, chemistry, biochemistry, machine learning/artificial intelligence, materials science, and engineering:

1. Predictive Design of Engineered Biological Materials, the objective of which is to “develop experimental and computational tools enabling the scalable synthesis, assembly and characterization of rationally designed biological materials with control over final material properties.”  Sub-areas of this thrust include but are not limited to:
2. Comprehensive sampling of the biological material property landscape;
3. Material analytical characterization tools; and
4. Predictive design tools.
5. Predictive Design of Engineered Cellular Systems in Defined Environments, the objective of which is to “develop experimental and computational tools that support the predictive design of engineered cellular consortia in a defined environment.”  Sub-areas of this thrust include but are not limited to:
6. Genetic modification of consortia;
7. Stability of engineered genetic modifications; and
8. Control of engineered function.

Researchers can apply for funding from the Army Center for Synthetic Biology through two mechanisms, designated Teams and Seedlings:

• Teams: There will be a total of two awards to large, team-oriented efforts, with one Team award for each of the two major technical thrust areas.  Each Team is expected to include several sub-awards to multiple organizations and institutions to help address topics within its respective sub-areas.  Each Team should name one Principal Investigator and one institution to serve as the primary recipient for the award.
• Seedlings: There will be a total of five to ten Seedling awards for individual investigators. Following submissions in February 2021, ARO plans to accept whitepapers for additional Seedling awards in February 2022, February 2023, and February 2024, pending availability of funding.

Awards: ARO anticipates approximately $4 million per year in total funding for the center.  For each Team award, ARO anticipates approximately $1.5 million in annual funding (for a 36-month base period followed by a single option period of twenty-four months).  For each Seedling awardee, ARO anticipates funding of approximately $60,000-$250,000 each per year for a twelve-month period. 

Eligibility: This BAA is open to institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, and for-profit organizations in the United States or its territories.  More than one whitepaper and/or proposal is allowable from any single institution or organization. Proposals may only apply to one funding area.  Proposers may submit to both areas but not with the same proposal.

Submission Information: A Proposers’ Day for this opportunity will be held on December 14, 2020 from 1:00-5:00 PM ET (information forthcoming).  Team and Seedling applicants are required to submit whitepapers by February 1, 2021 at 4:00 PM ET.   If invited, full proposals are due by May 24, 2021 at 4:00 PM ET.  All whitepapers should be submitted to usarmy.rtp.rdecomaro.mbx.baa2@mail.mil.  

Sources and additional information:

The full BAA for the Army Center for Synthetic Biology is available here or at https://www.grants.gov/ under solicitation number “W911NF-21-S-0002”.

Information will be added soon.

Funding Opportunity: NSF and NIST Release Disaster Resilience Research Grants Opportunity

Lewis-Burke Associates LLC – June 19, 2020

The National Science Foundation (NSF) released a new solicitation for a joint program with the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) to advance research on resilience to natural disasters. This Disaster Resilience Research Grants (DRRG) program looks to support “research to advance fundamental understanding of disaster resilience in support of improved, science-based planning, policy, decisions, design, codes, and standards.” Of note, this competition solicits research that spans the spectrum from fundamental to applied. Given the joint nature of this program, some awards will be funded by NSF while others will be funded by NIST. Participation from NSF is from the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation in the Engineering Directorate.

This solicitation aims to address NSF and NIST’s responsibility to “promote the nation’s resilience to earthquake and windstorm hazards” from the congressionally mandated National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and National Windstorm Impacts Reduction Program (NWIRP) respectively. This program is designed to advance the agencies’ missions as well as the federal research and development priority on enhancing the nation’s resilience to natural hazards, especially as related to critical infrastructure. This topic has been included in the annual Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) - Office of Management and Budget (OMB) R&D budget priorities memo in recent years1, which provides guidance to federal agencies on R&D priorities for the following fiscal year. The previous iteration of this competition in 2018 was led solely by NIST. This new joint solicitation follows both legislation and the OSTP-OMB memo strongly urging interagency coordination and partnerships.

With this program, NSF and NIST are looking to advance fundamental knowledge as well as “scientific and engineering methods and tools relevant to resilience.” The solicitation lists the following natural hazards as of interest, but states that the solicitation is not limited to these hazards:

• “Windstorm events, including hurricanes and tornadoes;
• Water events, including hurricanes, sustained rain, both coastal and inland flood, and tsunamis;
• Wildland-urban interface fires;
• Earthquakes.”

NSF and NIST state that this opportunity does not cover “terrorism, industrial accidents, and pandemics.” Further information is available in the solicitation on the processes, entities, as well as policies and practices related to disaster resilience that are of interest for this competition. Awardees will be required to attend an annual PI meeting. This meeting is intended not only to foster collaborations, but also to “ensure that findings are shared with Federal scientists and engineers with responsibility to improve resilience policies and standards,” and “encourage discussion of potential new collaborations, including translational opportunities.”

Fiscal Year 2021 Administration Research and Development Budget Priorities memo: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/FY-21-RD-Budget-Priorities.pdf

Funding: NSF and NIST anticipate awarding eight to twelve awards between $200,000 and $400,000. The total amount of funding anticipated for the program is $3.1 million.

Important Dates:

• Letters of Intent are required and due August 14, 2020 by 5 p.m. submitter’s local time.
• Full proposals are due September 15, 2020 by 5 p.m. submitter’s local time.
• NSF and NIST will hold a webcast on the program August 3, 2020 that will be archived and available afterwards.

Sources and Additional Information:

• The Disaster Resilience Research Grants solicitation can be found at https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20581/nsf20581.htm.
• Information on the webcast will be posted at https://www.nist.gov/el/disaster-resilience/disaster-resilience-federal-funding-opportunity-ffo.
• Information on the 2018 NIST Notice of Funding Opportunity: Disaster Resilience Research Grants Program is archived at https://www.nist.gov/el/disaster-resilience/disaster-resilience-federal-funding-opportunity-ffo/2018-nofo-archive.

• 2021 Service-Learning Fellows Program Opportunity

• 2021 WOLF PRIZE

• Funding Opportunity: DARPA

• Funding Opportunity: NAWCAD

• Congressional and Federal Updates

• Agency Updates

• Funding Opportunity: Naval STEM Education and Workforce Program

The Office of Engagement invites applications for the semester-long Spring 2021 Service-Learning Fellows Program

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted courses and service opportunities to online platforms, and systemic racial injustice is gaining ever more nation-wide attention. In the Spring 2021 semester, instructors in partnership with service-learning staff and community partners, will explore where service-learning fits into this new narrative collaboratively developing the skills and tools needed to deliver effective, mutually beneficial service-learning courses.

Faculty and graduate student instructors are encouraged to apply. Up to $3,000 is available per project ($2,000 instructor discretionary funds and $1,000 community partner project). Applicants without community partners will be matched with one upon acceptance into the program.

Application due October 23, 2020. To apply, click  HERE.

2021 WOLF PRIZE

We are pleased to invite you to submit one or more candidates for the 2021 WOLF PRIZE

Candidates can be nominated for the following fields: Physics – Chemistry – Medicine – Music.

Nominations and all additional material should be sent via e-mail to office@wolffund.org.il.

The nomination deadline is September 30, 2020.

Forms and supplementals documents:

Nominations Letter

Science

Music

Instructions

Funding Opportunity:The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) released its office-wide broad agency announcement (BAA) for fiscal year 2020 soliciting innovative basic and applied research proposals in science and engineering supporting DSO's mission to foster innovation and scientific discovery that will address and solve current and future national security challenges.Similar to last year, the FY 2020 BAA seeks cutting-edge basic or applied research proposals in the following technical thrust areas:

• Frontiers in Math, Computation and Design
• Limits of Sensing and Sensors
• Complex Social Systems
• Anticipating Surprise

Proposers are strongly encouraged to submit an executive summary and/or abstract prior to submitting a full proposal.  Executive summaries, abstracts, and proposals may be submitted on a rolling basis until June 11, 2021 at 4:00 PM ET.  DARPA anticipates making multiple awards.  Questions to this BAA should be emailed by June 2, 2021 at 4:00 PM and may be viewed on the DARPA/DSO Opportunities website.  This BAA will also be discussed during DARPA’s Discover DSO Day on June 24-25, 2020, that provides an overview of DSO’s scientific and technical research areas of interest and doing business with DARPA, as previously reported by Lewis-Burke.  The full BAA, which includes additional information on technical thrust areas and eligibility, can be found on www.grants.gov under solicitation number “HR001120S0048.” 

Funding Opportunity: NAWCAD Releases BAA Soliciting Basic and Applied Research Projects for Naval Aviation

Lewis-Burke Associates LLC – June 5, 2020

The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) released a broad agency announcement (BAA) seeking basic and applied science and engineering research projects that address the challenges and future technology needs of naval aviation at the Department of the Navy.  This BAA is specifically seeking the following research opportunity areas of interest:

• Systems Engineering
• Cost Analysis
• Air Vehicle
• Power and Propulsion (P&P)
• Avionics
• Human Systems
• Weapons & Energetics Integration
• Support Equipment
• Warfare Analysis
• Research and Intelligence
• Test and Evaluation Engineering
• Modeling and Simulation
• Logistics
• Data Analysis
• Cyber

NAWCAD may also consider submissions outside these research areas that involve the “development of novel-based capabilities with the potential to enhance naval capabilities.”  Each white paper should only address one research opportunity area of interest. 

Submission Information: White papers are required and must be electronically submitted by June 3, 2021 at 5:00 PM EST.  Full proposals are by invite only.

Total Award Funding: Multiple awards are anticipated, and award amounts depend on the quality of the white paper and funding availability.  Awards may be in the form of contract, grants, cooperative agreements, technology investment agreements, and Other Transaction (OT) agreements.

Eligibility: Members from academia, industry, and the research community are eligible to apply.  Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are also encouraged to apply or join others in submitting proposals.  Federally Funded Research & Development Centers (FFRDCs), Navy laboratories, military universities, and warfare centers are not eligible. 

Sources and Additional Information:

• The BAA can be found on www.grants.gov under solicitation number “N00421-20-S-0001.”
• More information on NAWCAD can be found at https://www.navair.navy.mil/nawcad/.

Congressional and Federal Updates

Congress Continues to Address COVID-19 Concerns; Discussions Shift to Need for Long-Term Changes

Agency Updates

• Department of Education (ED): ED posted its proposed interim final rule outlining which students eligible to receive CARES Act emergency funding, offered under the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF).
• Centers for Disease Control (CDC): CDC posted consolidated and updated guidance on testing for SARS-CoV-2, based on current knowledge of COVID-19. 
• United States Agency for International Development (USAID):

• • USAID’s Bureau for Management Office of Acquisition and Assistance established a webpage with resources for implementation partners to respond to COVID-19. 
  • Frequently asked questions regarding COVID-19 implementing partner guidance are now available.

Research and Funding Opportunities

• National Institutes of Health (NIH): The Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative released the funding opportunity announcements for the RADx – Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) on June 12.
• Economic Development Administration (EDA): EDA announced its intention to launch a new funding opportunity as a part of their response to COVID-19, which is currently called the Coronavirus Entrepreneurship & Innovation Challenge.
• USAID:

• • To date, pledged funding from USAID includes more than $227 million in assistance from USAID’s Global Health Emergency Reserve Fund for Contagious Infectious-Disease Outbreaks (ERF-USAID), approximately $200 million in Global Health Programs (GHP-USAID) funds, nearly $463 million in humanitarian assistance from USAID’s International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account, and more than $208 million from the Economic Support Fund (ESF). 
  • USAID established a COVID-19 Learning Lab for sharing of tools, approaches and lessons for monitoring, evaluation, and learning from implementation of programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

International News

World Bank Group (WGB): The WBG has published its flagship report Global Economic Prospects for June 2020

Funding Opportunity: Naval STEM Education and Workforce Program

Lewis-Burke Associates LLC – May 5, 2020

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) released a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for the Department of the Navy's (DoN) Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Education and Workforce Program seeking a broad range of applications that improve, and tailor STEM education and experiences with Naval Science and Technology (S&T) workforce needs. ONR desires project plans utilizing active learning approaches to both increase capacity and create impactful STEM educational experiences for students and workers.

The FOA seeks proposals directed towards efforts to engage the spectrum of workforce communities consisting of:

• Secondary education;
• Post-secondary;
• Informal science;
• Current Naval STEM workforce

In addition, applicants are encouraged to consider under-represented and under-served populations, including women and minorities in project plans. Special audience priorities can be found in the FOA. Projects that have existing funding or established stakeholder partnerships are especially encouraged to consider specific scope areas, as listed in the FOA.

Submission Information: This FOA contains a two-part process with a mandatory white paper submission. Following evaluation of white papers, invited applicants may submit a full application. All submissions must be submitted through FedConnect (PDF). White paper inquiries must be received by June 10, 2020 and the white paper submission period is from May 4, 2020 to June 12, 2020 at 5:00 PM ET. Full applications, upon invitation, are due August 28, 2020 at 11:59 PM ET. Notification of award will be made on or near November 20, 2020.

Total Award Funding: ONR intends to award a maximum of $250,000 per year for up to 3 years, with each year being funded incrementally dependent on applicant performance. Individual awards will not exceed $750,000 over 3 years. Applications for larger amounts will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, contingent on fund availability.

Eligibility: This opportunity is open to "all responsible sources from academia and non-profit organizations." Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), Navy laboratories, military universities, and foreign entities are not eligible. However, teaming arrangements may be allowed under sponsored agreement.

Sources and Additional Information: The FOA can be found on grants.gov under solicitation number "N00014-20-S-F005."

• Annual Showalter Trust Competition

Annual Showalter Trust Competition

This is a request for submission of pre-proposal applications for the 2021-22 Showalter Trust awards. The proposals are for one year with a default project period of July 1, 2021 through July 31, 2022. Guidelines, templates and instructions are available on the OVPR website at the following URL: https://www.purdue.edu/research/funding-and-grant-writing/funding/showalter.php

The Showalter Trust specifies that the following areas of research have priority for funding. However, keep in mind that preferred topics in Categories 1, 2 and 5 should have relevance to human health and well-being.

1. Environmental research, including air and water pollution research;
2. Research in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology;
3. Research in the area of disease prevention, diagnosis, progression, treatment and control;
4. Research in the area of new technologies for food production, preservation, distribution and safety;
5. Research in medical and biophysical instrumentation, including the analysis of large datasets.

Also specified by the Showalter Trust is a directive that no funds may be used to finance research in psychiatry, sociology or social studies.

Showalter Trust awards are limited to those who hold the rank of assistant professor (tenure-track or research) at the time of application. Priority is given to projects that have a high potential to compete for or leverage federal funding and to create programs with a life span longer than the Showalter award. Interdisciplinary proposals that establish new research directions and/or new research thrusts are welcome, but it is not necessary to submit a collaborative project or involve an established investigator. Use of funds is limited to the West Lafayette campus of Purdue University, but collaborators need not hold a position at Purdue and faculty collaborators can be of any rank. The project budget is limited to $75,000 total costs. Requests to acquire equipment will only be considered if there is substantial (75 percent or more) cost-share provided. Applicants are encouraged to discuss their research project and intent to submit with their Associate Deans for Research.

To meet the CoS and EVPRP deadlines, please submit pre-proposals to:

Kristi Stroud at kstroud@purdue.edu by 5 PM on Monday, November 2, 2020.

Information will be added soon.