Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2022-35

Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Fund

Sec. 102—Creating helpful incentives to produce semiconductors (CHIPS) for America fund. In order to support the rapid implementation of the semiconductor provisions included in the Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”), this division would provide $52.7 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations. The language would also re-affirm that the purchase of stocks and dividends are not an eligible use of CHIPS funds as determined by the eligible use of funds already required under the FY21 NDAA.

Full details on the legislation – including the text and various summaries – can be found here. There are various components of note, specifically of interest to NJIT and other institutions of higher education (IHEs), including:.

• NSF Authorization: $81 billion over five years, which is $36 billion over the baseline:
  • $20 billion for the NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, which will accelerate domestic development of national and economic-security critical technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, 6G communications, energy, and material science.
  • “Grow Basic Workforce.” According to the Senate Commerce Committee, the bill “Supports early-stage research that will create revolutionary new ideas, including in areas such as the food-energy-water system, sustainable chemistry, risk and resilience, clean water systems, technology and behavioral health, critical minerals, precision agriculture, and the impact of satellite constellations on NSF-funded science.”
  • Build the STEM Workforce. Authorizes funding for STEM education, including scholarships, fellowships, and traineeships to create workers in critical fields, including to establishing an artificial intelligence scholarship-for-service program, a national network for microelectronics education, and cybersecurity workforce development programs.  ($13 billion total)
  • Building Broad-based Research Opportunities. Grows funding for NSF research activities for universities across the country, including investment in minority serving institutions and emerging research institutions.
• U.S. Department of Commerce: Will designate at least 20 regional and innovation technology hubs and award a total of $10 billion in grants to consortia composed of one or more IHEs, political subdivisions, state governments, and industry or firms in relevant technology, innovation, or manufacturing sectors.
• NIST ($9 billion total, +$4 billion over baseline)
  • Support Critical Technology Research and Standards.  Advances research and standards development for industries of the future, including quantum information science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, advanced communications technologies, and semiconductors.
  • Grow Manufacturing USA. Supports the creation of new competitively-awarded manufacturing research institutes with expanded capacity for education and workforce development ($829 million total)
• CHIPS for America Workforce and Education Fund: $200 million to kick-start the domestic semiconductor workforce by leveraging the NSF.
• CHIPS for America Defense Fund: $2 billion for DOD to implement the Microelectronics Commons, a national network for onshore, university-based prototyping, lab-to-fab transition of semiconductor technologies—including DoD-unique applications—and semiconductor workforce training.
• The Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s section looks at several components – including R&D in the Basic Energy Sciences Program, Biological and Environmental Research, Advanced Scientific Computing, Science Laboratories Infrastructure, High Intensity Lasers, and funding for national laboratories.

NSF: Research Coordination Networks for Semiconductors (RCN-SC); Science and Technology Studies (STS); Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation for the Astronomical Sciences (ATI); Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL)

NIH: BRAIN Initiative: Engineering and optimization of molecular technologies for functional dissection of neural circuits (UM1 Clinical Trial Not Allowed); NIA Research and Entrepreneurial Development Immersion (REDI): Entrepreneurship Enhancement Award (R25)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Defense Sciences Office (DSO) Office-wide BAA

Department of Commerce/EDA:  Climate Program Office Research; Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2023 Funding Opportunity; FY2021 to FY2023 NOAA Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

Department of Energy: BIL Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP); Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Bil) - Request for Information (RFI): BAT Deterrent Technology Solutions; Research, Development, and Demonstration Funding Opportunity Announcement (FY 2022); Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Solar and Wind Grid Services and Reliability Demonstration

NASA: Weather and Atmospheric Dynamics

National Endowment of Humanities: Digital Humanities Advancement Grants

Private Foundations: Global Partnerships and Grand Challenges

Microsoft Challenges Intelligence Agency's $1B Task Order to Amazon: The fierce cloud computing rivalry between Microsoft and Amazon Web Services has a new battleground with a $1 billion task order at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency now in dispute.

NGA chose AWS for the five-year order awarded as part of the intelligence community’s Commercial Cloud Enterprise contract known as C2E. First awarded in 2020, C2E has five cloud hosting providers including Microsoft and AWS compete for task orders over its full duration. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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Department of Energy Awards Over $540 Million for Green Tech Research: The Department of Energy announced a new influx of funding Thursday for clean energy technology research at universities and National Laboratories to pursue low-carbon energy solutions. “Meeting the Biden-Harris administration’s ambitious climate and clean energy goals will require a game-changing commitment to clean energy—and that begins with researchers across the country,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. “The research projects announced today will strengthen the scientific foundations needed for the United States to maintain world leadership in clean energy innovation, from renewable power to carbon management.” Some of the institutions that received funding include Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, and the Ames National Laboratory. Over $400 million of this money is slated to go toward the department’s existing Energy Frontier Research Centers which work to innovate new energy tools and technologies, as well as work to advance a new collaborative scientific workforce. Another $140 million will be allocated to the 53 projects within the Chemical and Materials Sciences to Advance Clean Energy Technologies and Low-Carbon Manufacturing funding program. This initiative focuses on producing carbon-capture technologies to halt greenhouse gasses from entering the atmosphere. 

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Advisory Board Sends Critical Infrastructure Cyber Recommendations to the White House: Members on the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee voted on Tuesday to send a new information technology impact report to President Joe Biden and reiterated its mission commitments to security compliance and fortified critical infrastructure. The report, which focuses on the security risks involved in the convergence of operational technology and information technology across digital systems, was ultimately approved unanimously to head to the executive branch. “As information and communications technologies become ever more critical to our daily lives, how we set security requirements, through compliance with those requirements, and communicate that proof to users and regulators, is of great concern,” NSTAC Vice Chair Scott Charney said during a press call on Tuesday. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

Question:       Can I generate budgets for multiple years from the Year-1 budget in Streamlyne?

Answer:         Yes! You only need to input the Year-1 budget and then click on the “generate all periods” button. Stremalyne will create budget sheets for the remaining periods. You can then go to “summary” under the budget tab to review budget sheets for all periods. You can also change specific budget items that you allocated in Year-1 but you do not want to continue them in the following periods.

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