NSF Funding Opportunity: Campus Cyberinfrastructure

Anticipated Funding Amount: $13,000,000 to $15,000,000 pending availability of funds and quality of proposals received.

Introduction:

The Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CC*) program invests in coordinated campus-level networking and cyberinfrastructure improvements, innovation, integration, and engineering for science applications and distributed research projects. Learning and workforce development (LWD) in cyberinfrastructure is explicitly addressed in the program. Science-driven requirements are the primary motivation for any proposed activity.

Campuses today face challenges across multiple levels of Cyberinfrastructure (CI), where meeting the needs of scientific research and education goes far beyond the networking layer in capacity and services, and extends to computing, data services, secure and trustworthy systems, and especially human expertise, collaboration and knowledge sharing. Recognition of the “data driven” nature of scientific advancement and discovery has led to an increased focus in addressing the data challenges posed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) research and education community.

CC* awards will be supported in five program areas:

1. Data-Driven Networking Infrastructure for the Campus and Researcher awards will be supported at up to $500,000 total for up to 2 years;
2. Regional Connectivity for Small Institutions of Higher Education awards will be supported at up to $1,000,000 total for up to 2 years;
3. Network Integration and Applied Innovation awards will be supported at up to $1,000,000 total for up to 2 years [in some cases, these awards are limited to $500,000 total—see program area (3) in Section II. Program Description];
4. Campus Computing and the Computing Continuum awards will be supported at up to $400,000 total for up to 2 years; and
5. Planning Grants and CI-Research Alignment awards will be supported at up to $200,000 total for up to 2 years [in some cases these awards are limited to $100,000 total—see program area (5) in Section II. Program Description].

Estimated Number of Awards: 24 to 46

The estimated number of awards per program area is as follows: 4-8 Data-Driven Networking Infrastructure awards; 3-8 Regional Connectivity for Small Institutions awards; 5-8 Network Integration and Applied Innovation awards; 8-14 Campus Computing and the Computing Continuum awards; and 4-8 Planning Grants and CI-Research Alignment awards.

Who May Submit Proposals:

Proposals may only be submitted by the following:

• Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) – Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Special Instructions for International Branch Campuses of US IHEs: If the proposal includes funding to be provided to an international branch campus of a US institution of higher education (including through use of subawards and consultant arrangements), the proposer must explain the benefit(s) to the project of performance at the international branch campus, and justify why the project activities cannot be performed at the US campus.
• 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.

Submission:

• Full Proposals submitted via FastLane: NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) guidelines apply. The complete text of the PAPPG is available electronically on the NSF website at: https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=pappg.
• Full Proposals submitted via Research.gov: NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) guidelines apply. The complete text of the PAPPG is available electronically on the NSF website at: https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=pappg.
• Full Proposals submitted via Grants.gov: NSF Grants.gov Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants.gov guidelines apply (Note: The NSF Grants.gov Application Guide is available on the Grants.gov website and on the NSF website at: https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=grantsgovguide).

Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter’s local time):

     March 01, 2021

     October 11, 2021

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