Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2022-41

National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Program: (MRI)

NSF 18-513: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18513/nsf18513.htm

Limited Institutional Submission: Internal Competition for Institutional Selection

Pre-Proposal White Paper to Dean’s Office Due: November 7, 2022

The Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program serves to increase access to multi-user scientific and engineering instrumentation for research and research training in our Nation's institutions of higher education and not-for-profit scientific/engineering research organizations. An MRI award supports the acquisition or development of a multi-user research instrument that is, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs. MRI provides support to acquire critical research instrumentation without which advances in fundamental science and engineering research may not otherwise occur. MRI also provides support to develop next-generation research instruments that open new opportunities to advance the frontiers in science and engineering research. Additionally, an MRI award is expected to enhance research training of students who will become the next generation of instrument users, designers and builders.

An MRI proposal may request up to $4 million for either acquisition or development of a research instrument. Beginning with the FY 2018 competition, each performing organization may submit in revised “Tracks” as defined below, with no more than two submissions in Track 1 and no more than one submission in Track 2.

• Track 1: Track 1 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $100,0001 and less than $1,000,000.

• Track 2: Track 2 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $1,000,000 up to and including $4,000,000.

Full Proposal Submission Deadline: January 01, 2023 - January 19, 2023

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: Three (3) as described below. Potential PIs are advised to contact their institutional office of research regarding processes used to select proposals for submission. Each performing organization is now limited to a maximum of three proposals in revised “Tracks” as defined below, with no more than two submissions in Track 1 and no more than one submission in Track 2. Any MRI proposal may request support for either the acquisition or development of a research instrument. Within their submission limit, NSF strongly encourages organizations to submit proposals for innovative development projects.

Internal Competition Deadline to College Dean’s Office: November 7, 2022:  Please submit up to 5 pages pre-proposal white paper to your respective Dean by November 7, 2022 in the following format. College level reviews will be conducted by Deans to forward recommendations for up to 2 proposals to the Office of Research and Development by November 14, 2022. The final selection will be announced by November 16, 2022.  For information about the format of pre-proposal white paper to be submitted to deans for internal competition, please see the details in the Research Newsletter ORN-2022-41 below or on research website (https://research.njit.edu/funding-opportunities).

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NIST Kicks Off CHIPS Act Programs With Requests for Public Input

The National Institute of Standards and Technology seeks public input on two programs—authorized under the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors, or CHIPS, for America Act—designed to restore American leadership in semiconductor manufacturing as part of the Department of Commerce’s CHIPS for America initiative.  The initiative includes two components: a financial incentive to encourage investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and the creation of collaborative networks for research and innovation. The requests for information were filed on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Chips and semiconductors are important elements for advanced and emerging technology like artificial intelligence and quantum computing, in addition to being components in everyday products like smartphones. 

The first request for information about the financial incentives program seeks public comment about the design and implementation of the program. This includes input on grants, loans and loan guarantees to help encourage investment in U.S. manufacturing and decrease the nation’s reliance on foreign suppliers. It also seeks information on identifying significant supply chain bottlenecks for fabrication facilities; measuring the effectiveness of efforts to fight cloning, counterfeiting and relabeling of semiconductors; establishing taxpayer protections; and identifying investments that would be effective to promote inclusive growth. Responses are due by Nov. 14.

This RFI comes after a January request on incentives for the program. NIST stated that it will use both requests to inform its decisions. 

The second request seeks public input on the development of up to three Manufacturing USA institutes—a network of entities addressing manufacturing challenges—to improve American leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, via research, education and workforce development. This program will be a public-private partnership examining technology, supply chain, education and workforce development. NIST asked for comment on potential research focus areas like “artificial intelligence for chip design”; the structure and governance of the institutes; plans to drive investment from businesses, academic institutions and other non-federal entities; and how to integrate research and development activities into educational programs to help develop the current and future workforce. Responses are due by Nov. 28. 

Breakfast with Interim Provost Atam Dhawan

https://www.njit.edu/provost/breakfast-interim-provost

Informal breakfast sessions with small groups from the NJIT community is hosted by the Interim Provost each Tuesday from 8.30 AM to 10.00 AM at the University Club, Eberhardt Building. These breakfast meetings provide NJIT faculty, staff and students the opportunity to ask questions, give feedback, and engage with the Interim Provost on their experiences, concerns, expectations and needs. While it is open to all members of the community, seats are limited each week. If you are interested in participating in this informal discussion, please submit this form. The Office of the Provost will follow up with you to confirm the date of your breakfast session.

NSF: NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program: (MRI); Arecibo Center for STEM Education and Research (ACSER); Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1 (Mid-scale RI-1); Building Investigators' Capacity to Leverage Emerging Technologies to Improve STEM Education Research; Advanced Chip Engineering Design and Fabrication (ACED Fab)

NIH: BRAIN Initiative: Theories, Models and Methods for Analysis of Complex Data from the Brain (R01)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Science of Artificial Intelligence – Basic and Applied Research for the Naval Domain; NRL Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Basic and Applied Research; Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology

Department of Energy: Notice of Intent to issue FY22 Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies—Building Technologies Office Multi-topic Funding Opportunity Announcement; Fiscal Year 2023 Distinguished Early Career Program; Cooling Operations Optimized for Leaps in Energy, Reliability and Carbon Hyperefficiency for Information Processing Systems (COOLERCHIPS)

NASA: ROSES 2022: Multidomain Reusable Artificial Intelligence Tools

National Endowment of Humanities: Dangers and Opportunities of Technology: Perspectives from the Humanities; Digital Humanities Advancement Grants

NIST, Google Announce Chip R&D Partnership: The National Institute of Standards and Technology entered into a new agreement with search engine behemoth Google to help manufacture more chip technology that researchers can use as input ingredients for future nanotechnologies and semiconductors. 

In a partnership with Minnesota-based SkyWater Technology, Google will fund the initial production costs for chip manufacturing, and NIST will design circuitry for chips alongside university affiliates.

The circuit designs will be available on open source platforms to democratize their proliferation across academic and commercial research.  “By creating a new and affordable domestic supply of chips for research and development, this collaboration aims to unleash the innovative potential of researchers and startups across the nation,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie Locascio. “This is a great example of how government, industry and academic researchers can work together to enhance U.S. leadership in this critically important industry.” More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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Nobel-winning Quantum Weirdness Undergirds an Emerging High-tech Industry, Promising Better Ways of Encrypting Communications and Imaging Your Body: Unhackable communications devices, high-precision GPS and high-resolution medical imaging all have something in common. These technologies – some under development and some already on the market all rely on the non-intuitive quantum phenomenon of entanglement. Two quantum particles, like pairs of atoms or photons, can become entangled. That means a property of one particle is linked to a property of the other, and a change to one particle instantly affects the other particle, regardless of how far apart they are. This correlation is a key resource in quantum information technologies. For the most part, quantum entanglement is still a subject of physics research, but it’s also a component of commercially available technologies, and it plays a starring role in the emerging quantum information processing industry. The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics recognized the profound legacy of Alain Aspect of France, John F. Clauser of the U.S. and Austrian Anton Zeilinger’s experimental work with quantum entanglement, which has personally touched me since the start of my graduate school career as a physicist. Anton Zeilinger was a mentor of my Ph.D. mentor, Paul Kwiat, which heavily influenced my dissertation on experimentally understanding decoherence in photonic entanglement. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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Genetically Engineered Bacteria Make Living Materials for Self-repairing Walls and Cleaning up Pollution: With just an incubator and some broth, researchers can grow reusable filters made of bacteria to clean up polluted water, detect chemicals in the environment and protect surfaces from rust and mold.

I am a synthetic biologist who studies engineered living materials – substances made from living cells that have a variety of functions. In my recently published research, I programmed bacteria to form living materials that can not only be modified for different applications, but are also quick and easy to produce. Like human cells, bacteria contain DNA that provides the instructions to build proteins. Bacterial DNA can be modified to instruct the cell to build new proteins, including ones that don’t exist in nature. Researchers can even control exactly where these proteins will be located within the cell. Because engineered living materials are made of living cells, they can be genetically engineered to perform a broad variety of functions, almost like programming a cellphone with different apps. For example, researchers can turn bacteria into sensors for environmental pollutants by modifying them to change color in the presence of certain molecules. Researchers have also used bacteria to create limestone particles, the chemical used to make Styrofoam and living photovoltaics, among others. 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.

More FAQs on Streamlyne: Please visit http://www.njit.edu/research/streamlyne/