NSF Org:	OAC Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC)
Recipient:	GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date:	August 22, 2020
Latest Amendment Date:	September 7, 2022
Award Number:	2029221
Award Instrument:	Continuing Grant
Program Manager:	Kevin Thompson kthompso@nsf.gov  (703)292-4220 OAC  Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) CSE  Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Start Date:	October 1, 2020
End Date:	September 30, 2025 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$2,036,291.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$2,036,291.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2020 = $1,027,729.00 FY 2021 = $422,228.00 FY 2022 = $586,334.00
History of Investigator:	Bijan Jabbari (Principal Investigator) bjabbari@gmu.edu Jerome Sobieski (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	George Mason University 4400 UNIVERSITY DR FAIRFAX VA  US  22030-4422 (703)993-2295
Sponsor Congressional District:	11
Primary Place of Performance:	George Mason University 4400 University Drive Fairfax VA  US  22030-4444
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	11
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	EADLFP7Z72E5
Parent UEI:	H4NRWLFCDF43
NSF Program(s):	CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE, International Res Ret Connect
Primary Program Source:	01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s):	723100, 736900
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.070

ABSTRACT

The BRIDGES project is developing an innovative, dynamic, high-performance trans-Atlantic network testbed that interconnects research communities and their resources in the US with collaborating partners and facilities in Europe. It explores advanced virtualized network architectures enabling rapidly reconfigurable global cyber-infrastructure to address changing research requirements of the collaborators to explore new concepts and to create new project workflows securely and with consistent, predictable performance.

The BRIDGES facility consists of two geographically separate optical links spanning the North Atlantic and terrestrial optical links in US and Europe to form an intercontinental optical network ring topology, capable of carrying up to 200 Gbps of science data between major nodes in Washington, New York, Paris, and Amsterdam. The BRIDGES facility is a binding platform for research projects, providing a flexible research-oriented infrastructure connecting laboratories and universities in the US to their counterparts in Europe. Science applications in high energy physics, deep space communications, and even biomedical programs are collaborating with BRIDGES to leverage them investment in this technology to reach digital resources such as globally distributed or remote sensors and instruments, distributed data storage, analytical processing resources, to create new global applications tailored to the science at hand. BRIDGES is led by George Mason University and East Carolina University and is working with and connecting an initial community of nearly 40 networking and science research projects across the US and Europe. The project is expected to have a far-reaching impact beyond the testbed or interconnect facility and lead to innovative use of cyber-infrastructures.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

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