Improving Research Competitiveness for NSF Funding
Opportunities: Computer & Information Science
Engineering (CISE) and Related Areas
City University of New York (CUNY)
February 1, 2007
Dr. Melvyn Ciment
CS Cubed Group, LLC
Computer - Computational - Communications
Science - Strategy - Success
www.cscubed.com
Founder, Managing Member
mel@ciment.com
Tel: 301-622-5984
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
My Background
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Courant Institute, NYU, PhD, Applied Mathematics
Taught, conducted research at NYU, University of Michigan
Government research scientist Navy, NBS/NIST
Senate Commerce Science & Transportation Committee, Fellow
NSF Program Director: Applied/Computational Mathematics
NSF Senior Management: Advanced Scientific Computing
NSF High Performance Computing Coordinator
Deputy Assistant Director, CISE
Early retirement  second career
PI/ASCEND, NSF Project to Improve Research Competitiveness in
the EPSCoR states
• Consultant: The Implementation Group, Inc.
• Consultant: CS Cubed Group, LLC
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Outline of Talk
• Improving Research Competitiveness
• Overview of Specific NSF Funding Opportunities
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Computer & Information Science Engineering (CISE)
Office of Cyberinfrastructure (OCI)
CISE Cross-Cutting Programs
Select NSF-wide Programs: Cross-cutting with CISE
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Improving Research Competitiveness
• Read NSF Program Announcements Very Carefully for Content
– Throw away “fluff” that justifies the program - concentrate on deliverables
– Try to talk and meet with Program Directors to better understand program
priorities and community/reviewer biases
• Don’t be ashamed to ask for help!
– Approach colleagues, well-known researchers, writers, editors ...
• Involve consultants/ disciplinary experts early to help inform and focus
process
• NSF has actually funded “Technical Assistance” (consulting) to
Institutions and PIs competing for “Large-Scale” funding
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– EPSCoR Foundation: ASCEND/CDI www.epscorfoundation.org/ascend
Read Paul G. Chapin’s book
– Research projects and Research Proposals: A Guide for Scientists Seeking Funding,
Cambridge University Press, 2004
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Technical Assistance Writing Proposals
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Getting Started
• Develop White Paper and circulate
• Draft Proposal and circulate
• Bear in Mind: Implications of NSF Panel Review
– Lots of smart people trying to show how much they know about a subject
that is mostly foreign to them.
– Make Summary and Introduction generally understandable
– Don’t give them any excuse to decline your proposal!
• Writing Actual Proposal -- Spend lots of time on:
– Technical content – write for an expert, but remember panelists may not
really qualify so don’t over do it!
– Follow structure and layout guidelines from NSF program announcement
• If they ask for a major component on “education and outreach” then title a
section “Education and Outreach”
– Clarity, conciseness and grammar
– Title appropriately, Executive Summary
– Project Schematic; GANTT chart, Figures, Tables, Font size, …
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Overview of Specific NSF Funding
Opportunities
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Computer & Information Science
Engineering (CISE)
• CISE is organized into three divisions
– Each organized into a small number of clusters.
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_list.jsp?org=CISE
• Divisions:
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– Computing & Communication Foundations (CCF)
– Computer & Network Systems (CNS)
– Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS)
CISE Cross-Cutting Programs (Examples)
– Advanced Learning Technologies (ALT)
– Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) Program
– CISE Pathways to Revitalized Undergraduate Computing Education
(CPATH)
– CISE Computing Research Infrastructure (CRI)
Select NSF-wide Programs: Cross-Cutting with CISE (Examples)
• http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_list.jsp?org=CISE
– CAREER
– MRI
– PIRE
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Div. Computing & Communication
Foundations (CCF)
• Each Cluster has its own solicitation
– Theoretical Foundations Cluster
• Theoretical Foundations 2007
• (TF07) Program Solicitation NSF 07-525
– Foundations of Computing Processes & Artifacts Cluster
• Foundations of Computing Processes and Artifacts
• Program Solicitation: NSF 06-585
– Emerging Models & Technologies for Computation Cluster
• Emerging Models and Technologies for Computation (EMT) Program
Solicitation NSF 07-523
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Div. Computer & Network Systems (CNS)
• Each Cluster has its own solicitation
– Computer Systems Cluster
• Computer Systems Research
– Computing Research Infrastructure Cluster
• CISE Computing Research Infrastructure
– Network Systems Cluster
• Networking Technology and Systems
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Div. Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS)
• Each Cluster has its own solicitation
– Human-Centered Computing Cluster
– Information Integration and Informatics Cluster
– Robust Intelligence Cluster
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CISE Cross-Cutting Programs: Selected
• Advanced Learning Technologies (ALT)
• Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC)
Program
• CISE Pathways to Revitalized Undergraduate
Computing Education (CPATH)
• CISE Computing Research Infrastructure (CRI)
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Advanced Learning Technologies (ALT)
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Program Solicitation NSF 06-535: Deadline(s) April 25, 2007; April 25, 2008
Synopsis: .. CISE and EHR Directorates of NSF support research that (1)
enables radical improvements in learning through innovative computer and
information technologies, and (2) advances research in computer science,
information technology, learning, and cognitive science through the unique
challenges posed by learning environments and learning technology
platforms. Integrative research approaches that build across disciplines and
establish tight linkages among theory, experiment, and design are strongly
encouraged. Technology goals may include systems for tutoring or assessment,
modeling and sensing of cognitive or emotional states, context awareness,
natural language interfaces, collaboration, knowledge management, and nontraditional goals that redefine the roles of technology in learning. Educational
foci for ALT projects must include an area of science, technology, engineering,
or mathematics (STEM), or general cross-cutting skills directly relevant to
STEM.
Budgets: … most projects ~$100K- $200K/yr over 3 years.
– Estimated number of awards 6 to 10 standard or continuing grants.
– Anticipated funding $2,800,000
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC)
Program
• Solicitation NSF 06-540; Full Proposal Deadline:May 16, 2007
• Estimated Number of Awards: 10 to 20
• Anticipated Funding Amount: $14,000,000 in FY2007.
• Synopsis: : … aims to significantly increase the number of U.S. citizens and permanent
Initially, its emphasis
will be on students from communities with longstanding underrepresentation in
computing: women, persons with disabilities, and minorities…. The BPC
program seeks to engage the computing community in developing and
implementing innovative methods to improve recruitment and retention of
these students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Because the lack of
role models in the professoriate can be a barrier to participation, the BPC
program also aims to develop effective strategies for identifying and supporting
members of the targeted groups who want to pursue academic careers in
computing. … it is expected that the resulting types of interventions will
improve research and education opportunities for all students in computing.
residents receiving post secondary degrees in the computing disciplines.
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Three Components of BPC program:
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Alliances. Broad Alliances of institutions and organizations … in the
computing disciplines … will join academic institutions of higher learning
with secondary (and possibly middle) schools, government, industry,
professional societies, and other not-for-profit organizations. In most cases,
Alliances will involve multiple academic institutions of higher learning. Together,
the participants will (1) develop and implement interventions that support
students, (2) create sustainable changes in culture and practices at the
institutional, departmental, and organizational levels, and (3) serve as models
and repositories for effective practices to broaden participation. The emphasis
will be on activities that have significant impact both in the quality of opportunities
afforded to students and in the number of students potentially served. While the
focus is on implementations, an Alliance may include complementary research that
informs the design of its activities. The leveraging of existing efforts both across
and within the targeted communities is strongly encouraged.
Demonstration Projects (DPs) …are smaller in scope and narrower in focus than
Alliance projects. Typically DPs will be pilots of innovative programs that, once
fully developed, could be incorporated into the activities of an Alliance. Projects
might, for example, be proposed by a single institution or might focus on a
specific underrepresented community, a specific point in the academic
pipeline, or on a specific impediment to full participation in computing. ….
Supplements. … to existing CISE grants … to engage more members of the
computing research community ….
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
CISE Pathways to Revitalized Undergraduate
Computing Education (CPATH)
• Program Solicitation NSF 06-608; Deadline; January 23, 2007
• Synopsis: .. . to transform undergraduate computing education on a
national scale, .. The CPATH vision is of a U.S. workforce with the computing competencies and
skills imperative to the Nation’s health, security and prosperity in the 21st century. …. leadership in
computing in a wide range of application domains and career fields, and a broader professional workforce
with knowledge and understanding of critical computing concepts, methodologies and techniques.
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colleges and universities to work
together, and with other stakeholders in undergraduate computing
education including industry, professional societies and other types of
organizations, to formulate and implement plans to revitalize undergraduate
To achieve this vision, CISE is calling for
computing education in the United States. The full engagement of faculty and other
individuals in CISE disciplines will be critical to success. Common challenges - such as
fluctuating enrollments in traditional computer science programs, changes and trends in
workforce demographics, the imperative to integrate fast-paced computing
innovations into the curriculum, and the need to integrate computing
concepts and methodologies into the undergraduate curriculum at large
– must be identified, and goals and strategies developed to address them.
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Successful CPATH Projects
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… will be systemic in nature, address a broad range of issues, and
have significant potential to contribute to the transformation and
revitalization of undergraduate computing education on a national
scale.
• CPATH will support four types of projects:
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Community Building (CB) Grants;
Evaluation, Adoption, and Extension (EAE) Grants;
Transformation (T) Grants; and
CISE Distinguished Education Fellow (CDEF) Grants.
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
CISE Computing Research Infrastructure (CRI) - Not MRI
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Program Solicitation NSF 06-597; Proposal Deadline 1st Tuesday August, Annually
Synopsis: supports the acquisition, development, enhancement, and operation of
research infrastructure that enables discovery, learning, and innovation in all computing
fields supported by CISE. Supported infrastructure includes instrumentation needed by
research or research and education projects, major experimental facilities for an entire
department or for multi-institutional projects, and testbeds or data archives for an entire
subfield of CISE researchers.
The CRI program aims at providing infrastructure that enables high-quality computing
research and education and extending the set of individuals and departments that are
able to conduct such activities. The CRI program is committed to maintaining a broad
portfolio that supports research and education across a diverse population and lessens
the digital divide. The program encourages proposals that are from or that include
minority-serving institutions.
The CRI program is designed to complement the funding available in CISE research
programs: Infrastructure Acquisition/Development awards support infrastructure that is
used for the proposing team's research; and, Community Resource Development awards
support the development of resources that serve broad research communities.
The CRI program will support a variety of infrastructure needs, such as general or
specialized research equipment, technical support, and/or software. CRI will also support
the development of infrastructure that can be used by others, such as data archives or
libraries of software tools. The infrastructure must facilitate high-quality research and
related education, and cannot be acquired or developed without funding resources
beyond those available from individual research and education grants and the host
institution.
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
CISE Computing Research Infrastructure (CRI)Three Kinds of Awards.
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Infrastructure Acquisition/Development. $50,000 and up to $2,000,000.
Community Resource Development. $300,000 to $2,000,000. … create a
resource for an entire CISE research community, such as a testbed for evaluating
research results or a large data resource for use by a research community
Planning. These awards facilitate the preparation of a proposal for a medium or
large Infrastructure Acquisition/Development or Community Resource
Development grant. They have budgets up to $50,000 for one institution or up to
$100,000 if more than one institution is involved.
The program supports projects in four size categories:
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large projects have budget requests from $800,000 and up to $2,000,000;
medium projects have budget requests from $300,000 and up to $799,999;
small projects have budgets from $50,000 and up to $299,999;
Planning proposals may request budgets up to $50,000 for one institution or $100,000
for two or more institutions. Project sizes affect page limits, review processes, and
eligibility.
The CRI program replaces and expands upon three previous CISE programs:
Minority Institutional Infrastructure (MII), Research Infrastructure (RI), and
Research Resources (RR). The most significant changes from the former programs
are that CRI will support Community Resource Development grants in addition to
Infrastructure Acquisition/Development grants.
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
NSF: Office of Cyberinfrastructure
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Software Development for Cyberinfrastructure (SDCI) NSF 07-503
– http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/nsf07503/nsf07503.htm
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Full Proposal Deadline (s) January 22, 2007
Synopsis of Program:
– The purpose of the Software Development for Cyberinfrastructure (SDCI) program is
to develop, deploy, and sustain a set of reusable and expandable software components
and systems that benefit a broad set of science and engineering applications. SDCI is a
continuation of the NSF Middleware Initiative (NMI) in an expanded context
appropriate to the current expanded vision of cyberinfrastructure.
– This program supports software development across three major sectors: system
software and tools for High Performance Computing (HPC) environments; software
promoting NSF's strategic vision for digital data; and software in the form of
middleware capabilities and services to support distributed resource sharing and virtual
organizations. SDCI funds software activities for enhancing scientific productivity and
for facilitating research and education collaborations through sharing of data,
instruments, and computing and storage resources. The program requires open source
software development.
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Estimated Number of Awards: 10 to 20
Anticipated Funding Amount: $14,000,000 in FY 2007
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Select NSF-wide Programs:
Cross-cutting with CISE
• Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER)
Program
• Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI)
• Partnerships for International Research and
Education (PIRE)
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
NSF-wide: Faculty Early Career Development
(CAREER) Program
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Program Solicitation NSF 05-579
– Full Proposal Deadlines: 2007 ; July 17: BIO, CISE, HER; July 18: ENG; July 19:
GEO, MPS, SBE, OPP
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Synopsis of Program:
NSF’s most prestigious awards in support of the early career-
effectively integrate research
and education within the context of the mission of their organization. Such
activities should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of integrated
contributions to research and education. … from junior faculty members at
all CAREER-eligible organizations and especially encourages women,
members of underrepresented minority groups, and persons with disabilities
to apply.
development activities of those teacher-scholars who most
• Award Information:
– Duration. 5 years.
– Amount: The minimum CAREER award, including indirect costs, will
total $400,000 for the 5-year duration with the following exception.
Proposers to the Biological Sciences Directorate (BIO) must submit
budget requests for a minimum of $500,000 for the 5-year duration.
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI)
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Program Solicitation NSF 07-510
Full Proposal Deadline 4th Thursday in January, annually
Synopsis of Program: MRI is designed to increase access to scientific and
engineering equipment for research and research training in our Nation's organizations
of higher education, research museums and non-profit research organizations.
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This program seeks to improve the quality and expand the scope of research
and research training in science and engineering, and to foster the integration
of research and education by providing instrumentation for research-intensive
learning environments. The MRI program encourages the development and
acquisition of research instrumentation for shared inter- and/or intraorganizational use and in concert with private sector partners.
The MRI program assists in the acquisition or development of major research
instrumentation by organizations that is, in general, too costly for support
through other NSF programs. Proposals may be for a single instrument, a
large system of instruments, or multiple instruments that share a common or
specific research focus.
Awards: .. will range from $100,000 to $2 million.
– Proposals requesting less than $100,000 will be considered only from non-Ph.D.
granting organizations or from the disciplines of mathematical science or social,
behavioral, and economic science at any eligible organization.
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Partnerships for International Research
and Education (PIRE)
• Program Solicitation: NSF 06-589
– Preliminary Proposal Due Date(s) (required): October 30, 2006; Full Proposal
Deadline(s) February 28, 2007 BY INVITATION ONLY
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Synopsis of Program: .. establishing innovative models for international
collaborative research and education. … The program supports forwardlooking research whose successful outcome results from all partners – U.S.
and foreign – providing unique contributions to the research endeavor. It is
also intended to facilitate greater student preparation for and participation in
international research collaboration, and to contribute to the development of
a diverse, globally-engaged, U.S. science and engineering workforce.
• Estimated Number of Awards: 14 to 17
– Anticipated Funding Amount: $7,000,000 per year for five years
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Backup Slides: “Technical Assistance”
Otherwise called “consulting”
• An NSF Model for providing technical assistance to
PIs and organizations competing for large-scale
support from NSF.
• Created to serve the EPSCoR states
• Proof of concept that consulting assistance improves
research competitiveness
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
EPSCoR Centers Development Initiative (CDI)
• CDI, funded by NSF, initiative aimed at increasing the participation of
EPSCoR researchers in NSF’s centers and other large-scale programs.
• CDI provided direct technical assistance to university research teams
competing for NSF centers and other large-scale NSF projects.
• Results:
– In 4½ years, CDI helped university research teams from EPSCoR states
compete successfully for 20 NSF centers or large-scale projects, representing
over $140 million in NSF funding.
• In addition, CDI organized 15 centers development workshops, hosted
an informative website, and conducted outreach activities.
• Results:
– Workshops attracted over 500 participants from over 60 universities across
all EPSCoR jurisdictions and included participation from approximately 50
NSF program managers and 60 outside experts.
• A network of over 100 nationally-recognized science, engineering, and
education discipline experts was developed and provided assistance to
EPSCoR researchers.
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Selected NSF Centers and Large-Scale Programs
• Science and Technology Centers (STC)
• Engineering Research Centers (ERC)
• Materials Research Science & Engineering
Centers (MRSEC)
• Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers
(NSEC)
• Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Teams
(NIRT)
• Integrated Graduate Education & Research
Traineeships (IGERT)
• Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers
(I/UCRC)
• Centers of Research Excellence in Science and
Technology (CREST)
• Partnerships for Innovation (PFI)
• Information Technology Research (ITR)
• Cyber Trust
• Research in Networking Technology & Systems
(NeTS)
• Computer Systems Research (CSR)
• Computing Research Infrastructure (CRI)
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Plant Genome Research (PGR)
Biological Databases & Informatics (BDI)
Frontiers in Integrative Biology (FIBR)
Assembling the Tree of Life (ATOL)
Biocomplexity in the Environment (BE)
2010 Project: Arabidopsis thaliana
Microbial Genome Sequencing Program
Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER)
Collaborative Large-Scale Engineering Analysis
Network for Environmental Research
(CLEANER)
Center for Synthesis in Biological Evolution
(CSBE)
Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence
(COSEE)
Math & Science Partnership (MSP)
Science of Learning Centers (SLC)
Centers for Learning &Teaching (CLT)
ADVANCE
Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education
(GK-12)
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
Introducing ASCEND
• ASCEND: Assistance Strategies for Centers Development
www.epscorfoundation.org/ascend
• Two-year, NSF-funded project
• Builds off the success of the EPSCoR Centers
Development Initiative (CDI)
– 2001-2006; NSF-funded project
– Worked with researchers and research teams from EPSCoR
universities to help them better compete for NSF centers and other
large-scale research and education projects
– Maintained a portfolio of consulting and direct technical
assistance and centers development workshops
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07
ASCEND Team
EPSCoR/IDeA Foundation
(Executive Director: Joseph Danek)
PI: Melvyn Ciment (ASCEND PI & Senior Associate)
Co-PI: Randall Haley (ASCEND Co-PI & Director)
Melvyn Ciment (EIF)
CISE/CI
Edwin Abbott (MSU)
PHYS
ASCENDSenior
Senior Associates
Associates
ASCEND
Philip Harriman
BIO/GEO
Dan Edie (CU)
ENG
Edwin Abbot (MSU) MPS
Mel Ciment (EIF) CISE/CI
Dan Edie (CU) ENG
Phillip Harriman BIO/GEO
ASCEND
ASCEND Advisory
Advisory
Committee
Committee
Abbreviations:
MSU: Montana State
University
EIF: EPSCoR/IDeA
Foundation
CU: Clemson University
Network
Network of
of External
External Science
Science &
& Engineering
Engineering Experts
Experts
CUNY: CS Cubed Group: 2/10/07