Deadline: 26 September 2018
Applications are now open for the Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems which seeks to support research that conceptualizes FEW systems broadly and inclusively.
It incorporates social and behavioral processes (such as decision making and governance), physical processes (such as built infrastructure and new technologies for more efficient resource utilization), natural processes (such as biogeochemical and hydrologic cycles), biological processes (such as agroecosystem structure and productivity), and cyber-components (such as sensing, networking, computation and visualization for decision-making and assessment).
This initiative enables interagency cooperation on one of the most pressing problems of the millennium – understanding interactions across the FEW nexus – how dynamics of the FEW Nexus are likely to affect the world, and how we can proactively plan for consequences.
This solicitation allows the partner agencies – National Science Foundation (NSF) and the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA/NIFA) – to combine resources to identify and fund the most meritorious and highest-impact projects that support their respective missions, while eliminating duplication of effort and fostering collaboration between agencies and the investigators they support.
In addition, NSF and USDA/NIFA promote international cooperation that links scientists and engineers from a range of disciplines and organizations to solve the significant global challenges at the nexus of FEW systems. Proposals including international collaboration are encouraged when those efforts enhance the merit of the proposed work by incorporating unique resources, expertise, facilities or sites of international partners.
Goals
The overarching goal of the INFEWS program is to catalyze well-integrated, convergent research to transform understanding of the FEW Nexus as integrated social, engineering, physical, and natural systems in order to improve system function and management, address system stress, increase resilience, and ensure sustainability.
The NSF INFEWS activity is designed specifically to attain the following goals:
- Significantly advance the understanding of the food-energy-water system of systems through quantitative, predictive and computational modeling, including support for relevant cyber infrastructure;
- Develop real-time, cyber-enabled interfaces that improve understanding of the behavior of FEW systems and increase decision support capability;
- Enable research that will lead to innovative and integrated social, engineering, physical, and natural systems solutions to critical FEW systems problems;
- Grow the scientific workforce capable of studying and managing the FEW system of systems, through education and other professional development opportunities.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $34,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $2,500,000
Eligibility Criteria
- Proposals may only be submitted by the following:
- Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities.
- Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) – Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members.Special Instructions for International Branch Campuses of US IHEs:
- If the proposal includes funding to be provided to an international branch campus of a US institution of higher education (including through use of subawards and consultant arrangements), the proposer must explain the benefit(s) to the project of performance at the international branch campus, and justify why the project activities cannot be performed at the US campus.
- For proposals to be considered for funding under USDA/NIFA:
- State agricultural experiment stations
- colleges and universities (including junior colleges offering associate degrees or higher); (3) university research foundations
- other research organizations
- Federal agencies
- national laboratories
- private organizations or corporations
- individuals who are U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents
- any group consisting of 2 or more entities identified in (1) through
- Eligible organizations do not include foreign and international organizations.
- Award recipients may subcontract to organizations not eligible to apply provided such organizations are necessary for the conduct of the project.
- *Who May Serve as PI:
- There are no restrictions or limits for the allowable organizations listed above. To be considered as an NSF proposal, federal agencies and federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) can participate only as subawardees or unpaid collaborators.
- FFRDC and federal agency scientists cannot serve as lead PI to be eligible for NSF funding. Non-NSF sponsored FFRDCs are required to provide a letter of support from their agency.
How to Apply
Applicants can submit the applications via given website
Eligible Country: U.S
For further information, please visit grants.gov.