Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2022-19

NSF Technology, Innovation and Partnerships

New Funding Opportunities

The Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, or TIP, is pleased to announce the launch of a bold, new initiative called the NSF Regional Innovation Engines, or NSF Engines, program and funding opportunity. NSF Engines is committed to creating technology-driven innovation ecosystems throughout every region of the U.S., driving economic growth, addressing key societal challenges, and advancing national competitiveness.

Collectively, NSF Engines has three core functions:

• Use-inspired research and development
• Translation of innovation results to society
• Workforce development to grow and sustain regional innovation

The NSF Engines program provides up to $160 million in funding for up to 10+ years to establish each Engine. This funding opportunity is a unique way to drive economic growth in regions that have not fully participated in the technology boom of the past few decades. NSF Engines embed a culture of innovation, form coalitions comprising a diverse set of sectors and organizational types—such as small businesses, two-year colleges, and minority-serving institutions—as well as demonstrate a strong commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

MORE INFORMATION

The NSF Engines program resides in the TIP directorate within its three focus areas: fostering innovation and technology ecosystems, establishing translation pathways, and partnering across sectors to engage the nation's diverse talent.

TIP builds on an organizational culture of innovation and an extensive portfolio of programs that foster public and private partnerships to advance technological innovation and translation.

Programs under the TIP directorate also include America’s Seed Fund (SBIR/STTR), Convergence Accelerator, NSF Innovation Corps, or I-Corps™, and Partnerships for Innovation, or PFI program.

LEARN MORE AND STAY INFORMED

Launched by TIP, the NSF Engines program envisions fostering multiple flourishing regional innovation ecosystems across the country, providing a unique opportunity to spur economic growth in regions that have not fully participated in the technology boom of the past few decades. For the latest NSF Engines information, bookmark their website, subscribe to their email list, learn about their funding opportunity and participate in their outreach events.

To stay informed about what’s happening in TIP, visit their website and learn about current funding opportunities, and upcoming events.

To access the BAA, visit the BAA website. Additionally, visit the NSF Engines program website for information about webinars, frequently asked questions, program announcements, and other program content. For any additional questions about this DCL or to submit your own questions about the NSF Engines BAA, contact the NSF Engines program team at: engines@nsf.gov.

Please see various NSF Webinars and Q&A session announcements in the Webinar and Events section below.

NSF: Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure Incubators and Conferences for STEM Education Research with a Focus on Education Equity; Disaster Resilience Research Grants (DRRG); NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) Program; Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC); Partnership for Prototyping of CMOS+X Systems; Quantum Manufacturing; Opportunities for Promoting Understanding through Synthesis (OPUS); Resilient & Intelligent NextG Systems (RINGS) - Virtual Organization (RINGS-VO); Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER)

NIH: NIH Director’s Transformative Research Awards (R01); NIH Director’s Early Independence Awards (DP5 Clinical Trial Optional); NIH Director’s Pioneer Award Program (DP1); NIH Director’s New Innovator Award Program (DP2); Laboratories to Optimize Digital Health (R01)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: DoD Vision, Investigator- Initiated Research Award; FY22 DEFENSE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (DEPSCoR) – RESEARCH COLLABORATION (RC); DoD Multiple Sclerosis, Investigator-Initiated Research Award; Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Young Investigator Program; DoD Peer Reviewed Alzheimer’s Research Program, Investigator- Initiated Research Award; Biological Technologies

Department of Transportation: Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) and MEGA Grants

Department of Agriculture: Higher Education Challenge Grants Program; FY 2022 Scientific Cooperation Research Program; Conservation Innovation Grants New Jersey State Program

Department of Labor: Growth Opportunities

Department of Commerce/EDA:  2022 Build to Scale Program; Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2023 Funding Opportunity; FY2021 to FY2023 NOAA Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

EPA: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM

Department of Energy: Carbon Management

NASA: ROSES 2022: Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics Networks; Early Stage Innovations (ESI22); ROSES 2022: Advanced Component Technology

National Endowment of Humanities: Public Humanities Projects; Summer Stipends

Private Foundations: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Grant Challenges Partnership Network

NIST Report Documents Success In Commerce’s Technology Transfer Initiative: 2021 saw a large volume of technology transfer initiatives between federal agencies thanks to increased efforts by the Department of Commerce to better disseminate viable technological products from federal laboratories and control for gaps in the research and development space. Outlined in a new report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, technology transfer operations were present across at least three studied agencies: NIST, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences. This ultimately yielded thousands of peer-reviewed publications and hundreds of new patent filings and applications. “Technology transfer is a critical component of the DOC mission to create conditions for economic growth and opportunities for all communities,” said Mojdeh Bahar, the associate director of innovation and industry services at NIST. “By transferring technologies to the commercial market, the DOC laboratories help drive U.S. economic competitiveness, strengthen domestic industry and spur job creation.”More information is posted on the NextGov website. 

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Pentagon’s Five-Year Strategy: For those who are unfamiliar with Pentagon jargon and timelines: from January to July, the services build their five-year budget proposals, called “the Program.” Since the 2023 budget now lies with Congress, the armed services are currently building the 2024-29 Program, which will be submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense in July. The services build their program based upon the Defense Planning Guidance, detailed instructions and resource levels given to them by OSD. From August to November, the services defend these programs to the OSD staff, much in the same way a doctoral candidate defends their thesis. In December, the President’s Office of Management and Budget provides final topline financial guidance and in January, the budget goes to the printer to be submitted to Congress in February. (Of course, this schedule is in an ideal world.)  The services are making their final programming decisions, such as which weapons are terminated, which force structure gets cut, and what levels of readiness they will maintain. Given what we are learning with the war in Ukraine, there are four crucial lessons to learn that would, if accepted, upend the current strategy that is underpinning the building of the defense budget. Pentagon has “next war-itis.” In the case of the current 2024 program-build, the strategy is to be prepared for war with China in 2030s by taking risk in the 2020s. This is seen, for example, in the proposal to spend nearly as much on research and development  ($130 billion) as on procurement ($145 billion). But Russia has shown us that a declining power will strike sooner rather than later. Many believe that China’s growth is no longer assured, and this may make Beijing much more dangerous in 2027 than in 2037. The Pentagon’s current emphasis on future weapons over current weapons must be switched; that is, we should see much more money spent on current weapons at the expense of future weapon development. Importantly, if you spend more on procuring fieldable weapons now, many of the supply-chain issues experienced today will improve. Conversely, if DoD remains focused on future development, the supply chain will only get weaker as actual production lines wither in an effort to research and prototype rather than manufacture and produce. More information is posted on the NextGov website. 

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Bill Wants More Federal R&D In Blockchain Ledger Technology: Two Republican lawmakers introduced new legislation that would allocate more federal funding to the research and development of distributed ledger technologies. The most common distributed ledger technology is blockchain, a key software that enables Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency mining and transactions. U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., introduced the bill, called the National R&D Strategy for Distributed Ledger Technology Act, on Tuesday. “It is imperative that we maintain global leadership in the development of emerging technologies, including distributed ledger technology,” Wicker said. “This bill would launch pivotal exploration into this promising and novel architecture for computing and data storage. I am optimistic that our legislation will spur practical innovations that go far beyond financial applications.”  The bill would specifically prompt more developments in how DLT can be applied to sectors like supply chain management and shipping, information security and digital identity management. More information is posted on the NextGov website. 

Question:       How can I add another investigator or my research ambassador to my proposal in order to help on budget preparation and edit proposal details?

Answer:         Select the “Permissions” link from the left hand side of the main proposal screen in any proposal development document. From the Permissions screen you will be able to search for the person you wish to add and grant them a specific level of permission (aggregator, budget creator, viewer). After you select the appropriate person, click “Add” and they will be added to your proposal.

More FAQs on Streamlyne: Please visit https://research.njit.edu/streamlyn