IP: for Academics mainly -- NSF Dear Colleague Letter

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Date: Tue, 8 Oct 1996 15:52:15 -0500
From: Robert Voigt <rvoigt () note1 nsf gov>
Subject: NSF Dear Colleague Letter


Dear Colleague,


The CISE Directorate has a history of supporting collaborative and
experimental research involving teams of researchers.  The support has come
both from specific, directed opportunities such as the Grand Challenge and
Digital Libraries Programs, and from the portfolio of awards in programs
throughout the Directorate.  Because of the growing importance of
experimental and cross-disciplinary research, in FY97 CISE will introduce
three continuing initiatives whose primary implementation will be through
collaborative, team research; these complement the already existing
Experimental Systems Program.  The teams may represent different
sub-activities of computer science and engineering as well as other
scientific or engineering disciplines. CISE will continue to jointly cofund
 multidisciplinary proposals submitted to programs in other Directorates
when these proposals include research in computer science and engineering.
The four initiatives with a broad, primary focus on cross-disciplinary or
experimental research are described briefly below; those interested in
participating or desiring clarification of focus are encouraged to contact
one or more of the individuals listed. As with all CISE programs, further
information, including Program Announcements for these initiatives, will be
available at www.cise.nsf.gov




EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEMS


The Experimental Systems program continues to support research projects
that involve building, evaluating, and experimenting with an
information-processing system.  These are goal-oriented projects undertaken
by teams of designers, builders, and users.  The building of the system
must itself represent a major intellectual effort, and offer advances in
our understanding of information systems architecture.  A system supported
by the Experimental Systems program will usually include both hardware and
software components.  Awards under the program are expected to average
between $500K and $700K  per year for three to four years.
Contact: Dr. Michael Foster, Division of Microelectronic Information
Processing Systems
(703) 306-1936, mfoster () nsf gov




EXPERIMENTAL SOFTWARE SYSTEMS


The Experimental Software Systems (ESS) program will support research
projects with significant experimental content, conducted by small teams of
investigators.  Appropriate subjects for the research may include
experiments in software engineering, prototyping and evaluation of novel
software systems, experiments in distributed and parallel computing, or
other topics.  It is expected that the research sponsored by this program
will overlap that of other programs within CCR and other divisions of NSF.
Most projects funded by the ESS program build upon the maturation of
earlier, successful research that may have been primarily conceptual or
theoretical in nature.  The ESS program will support efforts to evaluate
the most promising such results.  Award sizes in the ESS program will
typically be from $250K to $600K per year, for two to four years.  Smaller,
12-18 month planning grants may also be requested to support detailed
planning and preliminary work.
Contact: Dr. William Agresti, Division of Computer and Computation Research
(703) 306-1911, wagresti () nsf gov
 


SPECIAL PROJECTS IN NETWORKING AND COMMUNICATIONS


Special Projects in Networking and Communications supports basic research
and experimental projects that include a primary focus on networking and
communications systems.  Example topics are wireless access and networks,
collaboration technology, especially that enabled by active networks, and
issues arising from the convergence of computing, communications, and
information. The  projects, typically submitted by small groups, will
include researchers in networking and/or communications and appropriate
researchers from other areas of computer science and engineering, such as
operating systems, databases, software environments, architecture, or from
the social sciences, such as economics, psychology or sociology. Particular
areas of focus may be identified periodically and information concerning
them conveyed to the community through specific announcements of
opportunity.  Award sizes are expected to range from $250K to $500K per
year for two to four years.  In addition, this program will accept
proposals for workshops and small 12-month planning grants in new research
ideas focusing on networking and communications systems.
Contact: Dr. Darleen Fisher, Division of Networking and Communications
Research and Infrastructure
(703) 306-1949, dlfisher () nsf gov




CHALLENGES IN COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING


CISE Challenges in Computer and Information Science and Engineering will
provide support for research that is focused on a single problem, the
solution of which requires scientific advances across two or more
sub-activities of computer science and engineering.  Although successful
proposals submitted directly to this initiative are expected to have a
primary focus on computer science and engineering, interdisciplinary
proposals including participation of disciplines other than computer
science and engineering  are also encouraged.  The program expects to make
awards that involve at least two investigators at levels in the range of
$250K to $600K per year; particular circumstances might justify awards
outside of this range.  It is anticipated that most awards will be for
three years, but longer periods will be considered if they are clearly
required by the research proposed.  This program is intended to complement
rather than replace other CISE programs that encourage cooperation among
researchers.
Contact: Dr. Robert Voigt, (703) 306-1900, rvoigt () nsf gov










Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 47.070
OMB Number 3145-0058
P.T.: 34
K.W.: 1004000, 1004030, 1004023
NSF 96-155 (Electronic Dissemination Only)