Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2023-40

Good News!

NJIT Technology Innovation Translation and Acceleration (TITA) Seed Grants (Up to $75,000 per project)

Building Translational Research and Innovation Ecosystem at NJIT: Expected Number of FY2024 TITA Grants to be Awarded: 10-12

(Additional Funding Available from NSF ART (Accelerating Research Translation) Program, State of NJ and NJIT Strategic Investment Funds)

FY2024 TITA Seed Grants: Call for Proposals

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yjP8F8vp7qDUXXZQ2eLYO9X9HGk0UrRN?usp=sharing

TITA External Advisory Board (EAB)

TITA Program Proposer Information Session:

Monday, October 2, 2023: 12.00.00 PM – 1.30 PM (light lunch will be served)

TITA Stage-1 2-Page IDEA Concept Paper Submission Due: October 5, 2023

NSF: Ethical and Responsible Research (ER2); NSF Trailblazer Engineering Impact Award Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Faculty Catalyst Awards (MPS-AFCA); Ideas Lab: Personalized Engineering Learning (PEL); Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC); Research on Innovative Technologies for Enhanced Learning (RITEL); Dear Colleagues Letters: Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST Centers) in Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Research; Dear Colleagues Letters: Advice to the Community About Submitting Proposals to the GRANTED Program Description Funding Opportunity PD 23-221Y : Partnerships for Innovation (PFI); Organismal Response to Climate Change (ORCC); Focused Research Groups in the Mathematical Sciences (FRGMS)

NIH: Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Centers (MDSRC) (P50); NIDA REI: Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) Training a Diverse Data Science Workforce for Addiction Research (R15); BRAIN Initiative: New Concepts and Early-Stage Research for Recording and Modulation in the Nervous System (R21)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Defense Sciences Office (DSO) Office-wide BAA; Ultra-Wide BandGap Semiconductors (UWBGS); Intensity-Squeezed Photonic Integration for Revolutionary Detectors (INSPIRED)

Department of Transportation: Research Partnership on Climate Change and Transportation)

EPA: Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Construction Materials and Products; Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Program: Implementation Grants

Department of Energy: Innovative DEsigns for high-performAnce Low-cost HVDC Converters (IDEAL HVDC), Solar-thermal Fuels and Thermal Energy Storage via Concentrated Solar-thermal Energy; Advancing U.S. Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics

NASA: ROSES 2023: E.8 Physical Sciences Informatics

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Launches $4.6 Billion in Competitive Grants to Cut Climate Pollution: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched $4.6 billion in competitive grants to fund state, local, and Tribal programs and policies that cut climate pollution, advance environmental justice, and deploy clean energy solutions across the country. EPA has already made $250 million available to fund the development of climate action plans, and nearly all states, plus major cities opted in to receive these flexible planning resources. 

The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Competitions

EPA is announcing the availability of $4.6 billion across two implementation grant competitions, one general competition and one specifically for Tribes and territories. EPA has published the two official Notice of Funding Opportunities or NOFOs for these grants competitions on  View Opportunity | GRANTS.GOV View Opportunity | GRANTS.GOV

The deadline to apply to the general competition is April 1, 2024. The deadline to apply to the Tribes and territories competition is May 1, 2024. EPA estimates that the implementation grants will be awarded in Fall 2024 for the general competition and in Winter 2024-2025 for the Tribes and territories competition.

Webinars: EPA will hold two informational webinars about the general competition on September 21 at 2:30 pm and October 3 at 3:00 pm (same content for both), and two informational webinars about the Tribes and territories competition on September 27 at 2:00 pm and October 5 at 1:00 pm (same content for both). All times are Eastern Time. These 1-hour webinars will provide more detailed information on the implementation grants competitions. Recordings of the webinars will be posted to the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants webpage.

Register for the September 21st webinar here.

More information on the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants

Sign up for notifications about the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program

For further information: R3press@epa.gov

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NASA probes quantum tech for sensing applications: NASA will be studying ways the agency can inject quantum information sciences into its agency missions with the opening of a new laboratory and research center in Texas that builds upon research priorities in quantum sensing applications. NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy confirmed the launch of a new quantum engineering and sensing technologies laboratory at the agency’s Quantum Pathways for Space for Climate Science Research Initiative at the University of Texas at Austin.  Launching Nov. 23, the  research center will be underpinned by advances in quantum information sciences and work on applying quantum mechanics-based technologies, particularly sensors, in NASA missions. “That integration of those technologies into space systems is what they will be focused on, how to do that effectively and efficiently going forward,” Melroy said at the Quantum World Congress on Wednesday. At UT Austin, NASA’s forthcoming  research facility will emphasize leveraging earth science applications to enhance NASA’s understanding, monitoring and predicting of climate change’s ongoing effects on the planet. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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Department of Energy Announces up to $500 Million for Basic Research to Advance the Frontiers of Science

• The Office of Science today announced up to $500 million in funding for basic research in support of DOE’s clean energy, economic, and national security goals. The funding will advance the priorities of DOE’s Office of Science and its major programs, including Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Isotope R&D and Production, and Accelerator R&D and Production
• The Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), informally known as the “Open Call,” is issued annually at the beginning of each Fiscal Year (FY).  It provides a vehicle for the Office of Science to solicit applications for research support in areas not covered by more specific, topical FOAs that are issued by the office in FY 2024.
• The FOA, titled “FY 2024 Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program,” can be found here: https://science.osti.gov/grants/FOAs/-/media/grants/pdf/foas/2023/DE-FOA-0003177.pdf

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NSF awards for research and education will catalyze new manufacturing capabilities that do not exist today: Manufacturing is a linchpin of the U.S. economy, bolstering national security, economic growth, and American employment. Through the Future Manufacturing program, the U.S. National Science Foundation makes targeted investments in the future of manufacturing research and helps grow the manufacturing workforce.  The 21 NSF Future Manufacturing awards for 2023 invest over $35 million across 40 institutions in 25 states. This is the fourth year of NSF investment in the program, totaling more than $137 million. Read the announcement.

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DOD Names 8 Locations to Serve as New 'Microelectronics Commons' Hubs: Under the CHIPS and Science Act, the Defense Department today announced the award of nearly $240 million dollars to eight regional "innovation hubs" around the United States which will be a part of the Microelectronics Commons, and which will benefit both the department and the United States by spurring development of a domestic microelectronics manufacturing industry. "The Microelectronics Commons is focused on bridging and accelerating the 'lab-to-fab' transition, that infamous valley of death between research and development and production," said Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks during a briefing today at the Pentagon. "While America is a world leader in the innovative research and design of microelectronics, we've lagged in the ability to prototype, manufacture and produce them at scale. That's what the CHIPS Act is meant to supercharge." Read the announcement.

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NSF invests $18.8M in inaugural cohort of projects enabling experiential learning in key technologies: The U.S. National Science Foundation announced the first Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies (ExLENT) investment of $18.8 million to 27 teams at U.S. institutions of higher education, including teams led by minority-serving institutions and historically Black colleges and universities. Each team will receive up to $1 million for up to three years. ExLENT offers pathways for people with varying STEM experience levels. Of the 27 teams receiving ExLENT awards this round, nine received an award in the Pivots track, which provides current professionals in any field an experiential learning opportunity that builds the skills and competencies they need to pivot into careers in key technologies. The remaining 18 teams received awards in the Beginnings track. Teams in this track have some experience in STEM fields and will receive additional experiential learning opportunities to deepen their knowledge and skills in key technologies. ExLENT teams will build partnerships between organizations in key technologies and those with expertise in workforce development. More information is on the NSF ExLENT website.