Federal Limited Opportunities

Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program: 

NSF

The Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program (MRI Program Website) 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 of a multi-user research instrument that is commercially available through direct purchase from a vendor, or for the personnel costs and equipment that are required for the development of an instrument with new capabilities, thereby advancing instrumentation capabilities and enhancing expertise for instrument design and fabrication at academic institutions. 

Tracks Still Available

Track 1: Track 1 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than $100,0001 and less than $1,400,000.

Track 3: Track 3 MRI proposals are those that request funds from NSF greater than or equal to $100,0001 and less than or equal to $4,000,000 that include the purchase, installation, operation, and maintenance of equipment and instrumentation to conserve or reduce the consumption of helium. 

Two submissions allowed in Track 1.

One submission allowed for Track 3.

To apply for this opportunity, email the following to limitedfunding@dartmouth.edu:

Overview/abstract of proposal (one page maximum)
Total request amount
Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Internal Deadline: June 10, 2023
Full Proposal Submission Deadline Window : October 16, 2023 - November 15, 2023 

Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) NSF 23-538

NSF

The Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) Program within the Division of Translational Impacts (TI) offers researchers from all disciplines of science and engineering funded by NSF the opportunity to perform translational research and technology development, catalyze partnerships and accelerate the transition of discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace for societal benefit.

PFI has five broad goals, as set forth by the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act of 2017 (“the Act”, S.3084 — 114th Congress; Sec. 602. Translational Research Grants): (1) identifying and supporting NSF-sponsored research and technologies that have the potential for accelerated commercialization; (2) supporting prior or current NSF-sponsored investigators, institutions of higher education, and non-profit organizations that partner with an institution of higher education in undertaking proof-of-concept work, including the development of technology prototypes that are derived from NSF-sponsored research and have potential market value; (3) promoting sustainable partnerships between NSF-funded institutions, industry, and other organizations within academia and the private sector with the purpose of accelerating the transfer of technology; (4) developing multi-disciplinary innovation ecosystems which involve and are responsive to the specific needs of academia and industry; (5) providing professional development, mentoring, and advice in entrepreneurship, project management, and technology and business development to innovators.

In addition, PFI responds to the mandate set by Congress in Section 601(c)(3) of the Act (Follow-on Grants), to support prototype or proof-of-concept development work by participants with innovations that because of the early stage of development are not eligible to participate in a Small Business Innovation Research Program or a Small Business Technology Transfer Program.

Finally, PFI seeks to implement the mandate set by Congress in Section 102(c)(a) of the Act (Broader Impacts Review Criterion Update) by enhancing partnerships between academia and industry in the United States, and expanding the participation of women and individuals from underrepresented groups in innovation, technology translation, and entrepreneurship. 

This solicitation offers two broad tracks for proposals in pursuit of the aforementioned goals:

The Technology Translation (PFI-TT) track offers the opportunity to translate prior NSF-funded research results in any field of science or engineering into technological innovations with promising commercial potential and societal impact. PFI-TT supports commercial potential demonstration projects for academic research outputs in any NSF-funded science and engineering discipline. This demonstration is achieved through proof-of-concept, prototyping, technology development and/or scale-up work. Concurrently, students and postdoctoral researchers who participate in PFI-TT projects receive education and leadership training in innovation and entrepreneurship. Successful PFI-TT projects generate technology-driven commercialization outcomes that address societal needs.

The Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) track seeks to achieve the same goals as the PFI-TT track by supporting instead complex, multi-faceted technology development projects that are typically beyond the scope of a single researcher or institution and require a multi-organizational, interdisciplinary, synergistic collaboration. A PFI-RP project requires the creation of partnerships between academic researchers and third-party organizations such as industry, non-academic research organizations, federal laboratories, public or non-profit technology transfer organizations or other universities. Such partnerships are needed to conduct use-inspired research on a stand-alone larger project toward commercialization and societal impact. In the absence of such synergistic partnership, the project’s likelihood for success would be minimal.

The intended outcomes of both PFI-TT and PFI-RP tracks are: a) the commercialization of new intellectual property derived from NSF-funded research outputs; b) the creation of new or broader collaborations with industry (including increased corporate sponsored research); c) the licensing of NSF-funded research outputs to third party corporations or to start-up companies funded by a PFI team; and d) the training of future innovation and entrepreneurship leaders.

WEBINARS: Webinars will be held to answer questions about the solicitation. Registration will be available on the NSF Partnerships for Innovation website (https://www.nsf.gov/PFI). Potential proposers and their partners are encouraged to attend.

Dartmouth is limited to one application for PFI-RP track. To apply for this opportunity, email the following to limitedfunding@dartmouth.edu:

Overview/abstract of proposal (one page maximum)
Total request amount
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Use "PFI-RP" as the email subject line.

Internal Deadline: September 08, 2023
Full Proposal Submission Deadline: January 02,2024
 
 

National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Institutes
Accelerating Research, Transforming Society, and Growing the American Workforce

NSF NSF 23-610

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has advanced tremendously and today promises personalized healthcare; enhanced national security; improved transportation; and more effective education, to name just a few benefits. Increased computing power, the availability of large datasets and streaming data, and algorithmic advances in machine learning (ML) have made it possible for AI research and development to create new sectors of the economy and revitalize industries. Continued advancement, enabled by sustained federal investment and channeled toward issues of national importance, holds the potential for further economic impact and quality-of-life improvements.

The 2023 update to the National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan, informed by visioning activities in the scientific community as well as interaction with the public, identifies as its first strategic objective the need to make long-term investments in AI research in areas with the potential for long-term payoffs in AI. AI Institutes represent a cornerstone Federal Government commitment to fostering long-term, fundamental research in AI while also delivering significantly on each of the other eight objectives in that strategy. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) identifies AI Institutes as a key component of a bold, sustained federal push to scale and coordinate federal AI R&D funding and to reinforce the foundation of technical leadership in AI.

This program is a multisector effort led by the National Science Foundation (NSF), in partnership with the Simons Foundation (SF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Department of Defense (DOD) Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD (R&E)), Capital One Financial Corporation (Capital One), and Intel Corporation (Intel).

This program solicitation expands the nationwide network of AI Research Institutes with new funding opportunities over the next two years. In this round, the program invites proposals for institutes that have a principal focus in one of the following themes aimed at transformational advances in a range of economic sectors, and science and engineering fields:

Group 1 - Awards anticipated in FY 2024 (preliminary proposal due to sponsor October 31, 2023)

• Theme 1: AI for Astronomical Sciences

Group 2 - Awards anticipated in FY 2025 (preliminary proposal due to sponsor January, 2024)

• Theme 2: AI for Discovery in Materials Research
• Theme 3: Strengthening AI

For the institute themes listed in Group 1, NSF anticipates awards to start in FY 2024; and for themes listed in Group 2, NSF anticipates awards to start in FY 2025. Each group has a specific set of due dates and review timeline pertaining only to that group. More detail is found under Due Dates and in the timeline provided in the Program Description.

Dartmouth may submit no more than two preliminary proposals to this solicitation as lead institution. This limit applies across the groups and themes.

Dartmouth Internal Deadline for all group and themes: September 08, 2023.

*One slot still open*

To apply for this opportunity, email the following to limitedfunding@dartmouth.edu:

Overview/abstract of proposal (one page maximum)
Total request amount
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Use "Group 1 or Group 2" as the email subject line.

------------

NSF Preliminary Proposal Due Date(s) (required) January 12, 2024 for Themes listed under Group 2.

Full Proposal deadlines: May 17, 2024 for Themes listed under Group 2 

Collaborative Program Grant for Multidisciplinary Teams (RM1 - Clinical Trial Optional)

NIH/NIGMS PAR-23-077

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed to support highly integrated research teams of three to six Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs) to address ambitious and challenging research questions that are within the mission of NIGMS. Project goals should not be achievable with a collection of individual efforts or projects. Collaborative program teams are expected to accomplish goals that require considerable synergy and managed team interactions. Teams are encouraged to consider far-reaching objectives that will produce major advances in their fields.

This FOA is not intended for applications that are mainly focused on the creation, expansion, and/or maintenance of community resources, creation of new technologies, or infrastructure development.

Two applications per institution (with a Unique Entity Identifier ) and a unique NIH eRA Institutional Profile File (IPF) number) are allowed per review round. The same or a similar topic may be submitted for subsequent review rounds involving the same or a similar team, but must be presented as a New application, not a Resubmission.

To apply for this opportunity, email the following to limitedfunding@dartmouth.edu:

Overview/abstract of proposal (one page maximum)
Total request amount
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Use "RM1" as the email subject line.

Internal Deadline: September 22, 2023

Sponsor Application Deadline:  January 26, 2024

EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: Track-2 Focused EPSCoR Collaborations

NSF

Through this program, NSF establishes partnerships with government, higher education, and industry that are designed to affect sustainable improvements in a jurisdiction's research infrastructure, Research and Development (R&D) capacity, and hence, its R&D competitiveness.

RII Track-2 FEC builds interjurisdictional collaborative teams of EPSCoR investigators in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) focus areas consistent with the National Science Foundation 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. Projects are investigator-driven and must include researchers from at least two EPSCoR eligible jurisdictions with complementary expertise and resources necessary to address challenges, which neither party could address as well or rapidly independently. RII Track-2 FEC projects have a comprehensive and integrated vision to drive discovery and build sustainable STEM capacity that exemplifies individual, institutional, geographic, and disciplinary diversity. Additionally, the projects' STEM research and education activities seek to broaden participation through the strategic inclusion and integration of diverse individuals, institutions, and sectors. In addition, NSF EPSCoR recognizes that the development of early-career faculty from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields is critical to sustaining and advancing research capacity. The integration and inclusion of Minority-serving Institutions (MSIs), women's colleges, Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs), and two-year colleges is a critical component of this sustainable STEM capacity.

Dartmouth may serve as lead on one proposal, either as the lead on a single proposal with subawards, or as the lead on a set of separately submitted collaborative proposals. An organization may serve as a non-lead on any number of additional proposals.

To apply for this opportunity, email the following to limitedfunding@dartmouth.edu:

Overview/abstract of proposal (one page maximum)
Total request amount
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Use "RII Track-2 FEC)" as the email subject line.

Internal Deadline: September 22, 2023

Required Letter of Intent Due Date  December 19, 2023

Sponsor Application Deadline:  January 23, 2024

Atmospheric System Research (ASR)

DE-FOA-0003194, posted October 19, 2023

Department of Energy - Office of Science
Office of Science

The DOE SC program in Biological and Environmental Research (BER) hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for Atmospheric System Research (ASR) within BER's Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences Division (EESSD). ASR supports research on key cloud, aerosol, precipitation, and radiative transfer processes that affect the Earth s radiative balance and hydrological cycle, especially processes that limit the predictive ability of regional and global models. This FOA solicits research grant applications for observational, data analysis, and/or modeling studies that use observations supported by BER, including the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, to improve understanding and model representation of: 1) Aerosol processes at ARM sites; 2) Convective cloud processes; 3) Aerosol and cloud processes from ARM s Eastern Pacific Cloud Aerosol Precipitation Experiment (EPCAPE); and
4) Mixed-phase cloud and ice cloud processes. All research supported by awards under this FOA is intended to benefit the public through increasing our understanding of the Earth system.

*Dartmouth College is limited to no more than three applications as the lead institution. There is no limitation to the number of applications on which an institution appears as a subrecipient.

Limitation on Number of Applications per Researcher

The PI on a letter of intent, pre-application, or application may be listed as a senior or key personnel on no more than one other submission. All senior or key personnel (identified by name in a pre-application or application) may only be named in two separate submissions.

To apply for this opportunity, email the following to limitedfunding@dartmouth.edu:

Overview/abstract of proposal (one page maximum)
Total request amount
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Use "ASR" as the email subject line.

Internal Deadline: November 10th

Required Pre-Application Due Date:  December 21, 2023

Sponsor Application Deadline:  February 13, 2024

Strengthening the Cyberinfrastructure Professionals Ecosystem (SCIPE)

NSF 23-521

The overarching goal of this solicitation is to democratize access to NSF’s advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI) ecosystem and ensure fair and equitable access to resources, services, and expertise by strengthening how Cyberinfrastructure Professionals (CIP) function in this ecosystem. It aims to achieve this by (1) deepening the integration of CIPs into the research enterprise, and (2) fostering innovative and scalable education, training, and development of instructional materials, to address emerging needs and unresolved bottlenecks in CIP workforce development. Specifically, this solicitation seeks to nurture, grow and recognize the national CIP [1] workforce that is essential for creating, utilizing and supporting advanced CI to enable and potentially transform fundamental science and engineering (S&E) research and education and contribute to the Nation's overall economic competitiveness and security. Together, the principal investigators (PIs), technology platforms, tools, and expert CIP workforce supported by this solicitation operate as an interdependent ecosystem wherein S&E research and education thrive. This solicitation will support NSF’s advanced CI ecosystem with a scalable, agile, diverse, and sustainable network of CIPs that can ensure broad adoption of advanced CI resources and expert services including platforms, tools, methods, software, data, and networks for research communities, to catalyze major research advances, and to enhance researchers' abilities to lead the development of new CI.

The SCIPE program is led by the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and has participation from other NSF directorates/divisions, as described in Section II. Program Description, Programmatic Areas of Interest. Not all directorates/divisions are participating at the same level, and some have specific research and education priorities. The appropriate contact for the SCIPE program in any directorate/division is the Cognizant Program Officer (PO) for the respective directorate/division/office/program listed below.

All projects are expected to clearly articulate how they address essential community needs, will provide resources that will be widely available to and usable by the research community, and will broaden participation from underrepresented groups. Prospective PIs are strongly encouraged to contact the Cognizant Program Officers in CISE/OAC and in the participating directorate/division relevant to the proposal to ascertain whether the focus and budget of their proposed activities are appropriate for this solicitation. Such consultations should be completed at least one month before the submission deadline. PIs should include the names of the Cognizant Program Officers consulted in a Single Copy Document as described in Section V.A. Proposal Preparation Instructions. The intent of the SCIPE program is to encourage collaboration between CI and S&E domain disciplines. (For this purpose, units of CISE other than OAC are considered domain disciplines.) To ensure relevance to community needs and to facilitate adoption, those proposals of interest to one or more domain divisions must include at least one PI/co-PI with expertise relevant to the targeted research discipline. All proposals shall include at least one PI/co-PI with expertise pertinent to OAC.

Dartmouth is limited to one SCIPE proposal per competition. An individual may serve as PI, co-PI, or other senior personnel on only one SCIPE proposal per competition.

To apply for this opportunity, email the following to limitedfunding@dartmouth.edu:

Overview/abstract of proposal (one page maximum)
Total request amount
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Use "SCIPE" as the email subject line.

Internal Deadline: October 20, 2023

Sponsor Application Deadline:  January 18, 2024

Advancing Research Careers (ARC) Institutionally-Focused Research Education Award to Promote Diversity (UE5 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

PAR-23-221 posted by NIH October 03, 2023

The NIH Research Education Program supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The overarching goal of this ARC UE5 program is to support educational activities that encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, for example those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences (see Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity ), to pursue further studies or careers in research.

To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this NOFO will support educational activities with a primary focus on:

Courses for Skills Development
Mentoring Activities

Applications are encouraged from organizations that have:

Experience enhancing scientific communication and networking among early-career biomedical researchers;
An established record of providing professional development and networking activities for future  biomedical researchers; and
A demonstrated commitment to enhancing the diversity of the biomedical research workforce.
The program provides support for well-designed courses for skills development and mentoring activities to prepare cohorts of ARC predoctoral F99 fellows and K00 postdoctoral scholars to transition into and succeed in mentored postdoctoral research, positioning them to advance in impactful careers in the biomedical research workforce that typically require postdoctoral training (e.g., academic research and teaching at a range of institution types, industry or government research).  

Recipient organizations must provide career development and mentoring activities aligned with and appropriate for the disciplinary backgrounds and career goals of scholars supported through the ARC F99/K00 program (PAR-23-222)

NIH will be hosting webinar Monday, October 23, 2023 Click here for details.

Only one application per institution is allowed.

To apply for this opportunity, email the following to limitedfunding@dartmouth.edu:

Overview/abstract of proposal (one page maximum)
Total request amount
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Use "ARC" as the email subject line.

Internal Deadline: October 27, 2023

Sponsor Due Dates: Jan. 29, 2024; Jan. 29, 2025; Jan. 29, 2026

Biomedical Research Facilities (C06 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

NIH PAR-23-306

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) invites applications from eligible academic and research institutions to apply for funding to modernize existing or construct new biomedical research facilities. Applications will be accepted from public and private nonprofit institutions of higher education as well as from non-profit research organizations. Applications from both research-intensive institutions and Institutions of Emerging Excellence (IEE) in biomedical research, both highly resourced and low-resourced institutions, from all geographic regions in the nation are strongly encouraged.

NIH recognizes the importance of all institutions of higher learning in contributing to the nation's research capacity. The goal of this NOFO is to modernize biomedical research infrastructure to strengthen biomedical research programs. Each project is expected to provide long-term improvements to the institutional research infrastructure. Intended projects are the construction or modernization of core facilities and the development of other shared research infrastructure serving an institution-wide research community with broad impact on biomedical research.

Only one application per institution is allowed.

To apply for this opportunity, email the following to limitedfunding@dartmouth.edu:

Overview/abstract of proposal (one page maximum)
Total request amount
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Use "C06" as the email subject line.

Internal Deadline: November 13, 2023

Sponsor Application Deadline:  January 25, 2024