Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) Proposal
GOALI is a type of proposal that seeks to stimulate collaboration between Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) and industry. Under this proposal type, academic scientists and engineers request funding either in conjunction with a regular proposal submitted to a standing National Science Foundation (NSF) program or as a supplemental funding request to an existing NSF-funded award.
GOALI is not a separate program; GOALI proposals must be submitted to an active NSF funding opportunity and must be submitted in accordance with the deadlines specified therein. A proposer interested in submitting a GOALI proposal or a GOALI supplemental funding request to an existing NSF-funded award must contact the cognizant NSF Program Officer listed in the relevant funding opportunity prior to submission.
Special interest is focused on affording opportunities for:
- Interdisciplinary university-industry teams to conduct collaborative research projects, in which the industry research participant provides critical research expertise, without which the likelihood for success of the project would be diminished;
- Faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students to conduct research and gain experience in an industrial setting; and
- Industrial scientists and engineers to bring industry's perspective and integrative skills to academe.
GOALI proposals should focus on research that addresses shared interests by academic researchers and industrial partners. The research should further scientific and engineering foundations to enable future breakthrough technologies with the potential to address critical industry needs. Industry involvement assures that the research is industrially relevant. Principal Investigators are expected to integrate their research objectives with educational and industrial needs.
Interdisciplinary research and education projects that enable faculty from different academic departments or institutions to interact with one or more industrial partners in industry-university groups or networks are encouraged.
Proposals may include the participation of a "third partner" such as a National Laboratory or a non-profit organization. NSF funding can be used for IHE research/education activities and may support activities of faculty and their students and research associates in the industrial setting. NSF funds are not permitted to be used to support the industrial research partner except as noted for small businesses in the NSF PAPPG linked below.
GOALI proposals and supplemental funding requests are reviewed by the program to which the proposal is submitted. In addition to any program-specific review criteria defined in the solicitation, reviewers may be asked to evaluate the degree and extent to which industry will be involved with the proposed research and the extent to which students and/or post-doctoral researchers will benefit from the interaction. The proposed research should be transformative, beneficial to industry, and further collaboration between the academic and industrial partners.
More information and instructions for GOALI proposals are in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG).
CONTACT: Prakash Balan, pbalan@nsf.gov