NSF

2022 NSF ENG CAREER Workshop open for sign-up!

An NSF ENG CAREER Workshop focused on engineering will be held virtually on May 11 - 13, 2022. The objective of the 2022 NSF ENG Directorate Workshop is to introduce junior faculty who are interested in submitting NSF CAREER proposals to the Directorate for Engineering. The workshop aims to provide individuals with proposal development insights and a forum in which they can interact with NSF program directors and recent NSF CAREER awardees.

Application Opens March 15th

  • Application Deadline March 28th

  • Application Status Notification:

    • Selected to attend the General Session (all participants): 4/8/22

    • General session registration deadline: 4/8/22

    • Selected Mock Panel participants:

    • Mock Panel participants registration deadline: 4/8/22

    • Mock Panel participants provided access to Conflict of Interest (COI) form and mock proposals for review (required): 4/18/22 - 5/4/22

    • Mock Panel Proposal Review submission: 5/4/22

Go here for more details.

NSF ENG Drops Deadlines for Core Proposals

NSF had released a Dear Colleague Letter announcing that, effective August 15th, NSF's Directorate of Engineering (CBET, CMMI, ECCS, and EEC) will no longer have proposal windows or target dates for core (investigator-initiated) proposals to their disciplinary programs. This does not apply to targeted solicitations such as CAREER, MRI, ERC, etc.  As a part of this change, they  will also implement a guideline in which a declined proposal (or substantively similar proposal/topic by the same PI) is ineligible for resubmission until a minimum of one year has passed from the date of its initial submission. 

While NSF states that their main motivation is to improve the quality of the proposals they receive since fewer proposals will be submitted before they're ready, it's also true that when there is no official deadline, NSF programs receive fewer proposals. As NSF has been struggling with high proposal pressure, this effect was likely another important motivation for this change.

As we all know, something that can be done any time is often done at no time. Don't let this happen to you! Set your own deadline for submitting your core proposal, write it in big red letters on your calendar, announce it to the world - whatever it takes to generate the feeling of urgency that you and your co-PIs need to get your proposal done!

(See NSF's FAQs about this policy change here.)

NSF Offering Webinar on Smart & Autonomous Systems Program

NSF is offering a webinar at 12 pm EDT on June 13, 2018 about the Smart and Autonomous Systems program, which is in the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate, Division of Intelligent Instelligent Systems (IIS).  NSF's program synopsis states that, "The Smart and Autonomous Systems (S&AS) program focuses on Intelligent Physical Systems (IPS) that are capable of robust, long-term autonomy requiring minimal or no human operator intervention in the face of uncertain, unanticipated, and dynamically changing situations. IPS are systems that combine perception, cognition, communication, and actuation to operate in the physical world. Examples include, but are not limited to, robotic platforms, self-driving vehicles, underwater exploration vehicles, and smart grids. To foster such intelligent systems, the S&AS program supports research in four main aspects of IPS: cognizant, taskable, adaptive, and ethical"

This description is very broad, so it's important to understand what topics align with the interests of this program. This webinar is a good first step to determining if your project idea might be a good fit.

To sign up for this webinar, go here.

NSF Webinar for EHR Proposers June 19th

NSF will host a webinar for PIs who are interested in applying for NSF CAREER grants through the Directorate for Education and Human Resources. If you are one of those folks, this could be a very worthwhile webinar, as each directorate uses the CAREER program in its own way and has its own expectations.

The webinar is scheduled for June 19, 2018 from 2 - 3 pm Eastern Daylight Time. For more info, go to this EHR CAREER webinar link