Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2024-17

New funding opportunity seeks to invest in additional NSF Regional Innovation Engines

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a funding opportunity to invest in a new set of NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) across the U.S. In January, NSF announced the 10 inaugural NSF Engines, and the latest opportunity looks to build upon that investment, pending congressional appropriations. The initial NSF Engines announcement represented one of the single largest broad investments in place-based research and development in the nation's history — uniquely placing science and technology leadership as the central driver for regional economic competitiveness. This latest funding opportunity advances the bipartisan priorities outlined in the "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022," which authorized the NSF Engines program.

            In this round of funding, the NSF Engines program is only accepting proposals for full NSF Engines, competing for up to $160 million over 10 years. Proposers will be asked to submit a letter of intent in place of a concept outline and a short preliminary proposal. More information is posted on the NSF Regional Innovation Engines website.

NSF: NSF Regional Innovation Engines; IUSE/Professional Formation of Engineers: Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (IUSE/PFE: RED); Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation; Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology - Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering

NIH: Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE) (T34); NIH Director’s Transformative Research Awards (R01)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Funding Opportunity Announcement ONR STEM Program; Office of Naval Research Science and Technology for Advanced Manufacturing Projects (STAMP)

Department of Energy: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) – Joint Office of Energy and Transportation: Communities Taking Charge Accelerator, Fiscal Year 2024 Funding Opportunity Announcement; FY2024 Vehicle Technologies Office Research & Development Funding Opportunity Announcement; FY 2024 Funding for Accelerated, Inclusive Research (FAIR)

NASA: Heliophysics Low Cost Access to Space; MUREP INCLUDES; Early Stage Innovations; ROSES 2024: A.7 Biodiversity and Ecological Conservation

Senate bill aims to bring more private sector participation to federal AI innovation: A cohort of bipartisan senators introduced new artificial intelligence-focused legislation Thursday, which aims to consolidate U.S. leadership in emerging technologies through enhanced private sector collaboration. The Future of AI Innovation Act, cosponsored by Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind, Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., responds to the larger global race to lead in new AI and emerging technologies, like quantum computing systems and applied biosciences.  Key provisions in the text would allocate more federal support to the National Institutes of Standards and Technology for standards development in critical tech fields; launch an AI testbed competition helmed jointly by NIST and the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories; and ask leadership within the Department of Commerce, State Department and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to form more international alliances focused on developing a consensus on AI standards. The bill also asks for participation in AI scientific and technological advancement from the Government Accountability Office and the National Science Foundation to identify hindrances to AI application across the federal government and to further spearhead initiatives for private sector collaboration, respectively. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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Bipartisan bill seeks to expand workers’ access to digital skills training programs: House and Senate lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation on Wednesday that seeks to amend existing law to narrow the nation’s digital skills gap. The bill, sponsored by Reps. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and David Valadao, R-Calif., and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., proposes investing in digital skills training by providing grants and funding to local, state and organizational employment programs and services focused on upskilling workers or providing them with expanded job opportunities. 

The proposal would modify the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, or WIOA, “to establish a digital skills at work grant program” to promote information literacy for current and new workers. The WIOA, according to the Department of Labor, is designed to “help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.” The lawmakers noted in a press release, however, that digital skills training programs are not “an allowable use” under the current law, limiting job seekers’ ability to gain these skills when accessing WIOA career services. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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New bill would create a governing body for water system cyber standards: A measure led by two House Republicans would enable the Environmental Protection Agency to certify a governing body to develop and recommend cybersecurity requirements for water treatment and wastewater systems. Reps. Rick Crawford, R-Ark. and John Duarte, R-Calif. unveiled the Water Risk and Resilience Organization Establishment Act on Thursday, with the aim of creating an entity to work alongside the EPA to develop the enforcement measures. The proposed bill follows a handful of digital security incidents involving the water sector in recent months, such as when the Iran-linked Cyber Av3ngers hacking collective claimed responsibility for breaching industrial water treatment equipment across several states at the end of last year.  The specific cyber requirements for the water sector are left open to the body to develop and enforce. The EPA administrator would have the final say in approving or remanding proposed cyber requirements back to the WRRO, which would then be responsible for conducting periodic assessments of covered water systems. More information is posted on the NextGov website.