This document has been archived and replaced by NSF 09-558 (http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf09558). Title: CISE Cross-Cutting Programs: FY 2009 and FY 2010 Date: 07/01/08 Replaced: NSF 08-521 CISE Cross-Cutting Programs: FY 2009 and FY 2010 Program Solicitation NSF 08-578 Replaces Document(s): NSF 08-521 [NSF Logo] National Science Foundation Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering Division of Computer and Network Systems Division of Computing and Communication Foundations Division of Information & Intelligent Systems Submission Window Date(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time): Medium Projects October 1, 2008 - October 31, 2008 August 1, 2009 - August 30, 2009 Large Projects November 1, 2008 - November 28, 2008 November 1, 2009 - November 28, 2009 Small Projects: December 1, 2008 - December 17, 2008 December 1, 2009 - December 17, 2009 REVISION NOTES * This solicitation covers programs that cut across all three divisions in CISE, seeking proposals that are scientifically timely, and that benefit from the intellectual contributions of researchers with expertise in a number of computing fields and/or sub-fields. * This is a multi-year solicitation, with proposal submission windows identified only for FY 2009 and FY 2010 because CISE plans to evolve, absorb these programs into the core programs, and/or introduce new cross-cutting programs every few years. * The solicitation seeks proposals in three project classes: Small, Medium, and Large. * The simultaneous release of this and the Computer and Network Systems (CNS): Core Programs, the Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF): Core Programs, and the Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS): Core Programs solicitations is intended to simplify the presentation of CISE funding opportunities to the computing community. PIs may also wish to consider other NSF funding opportunities, including those described in Section IX of this solicitation. SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS General Information Program Title: CISE Cross-Cutting Programs: FY 2009 and FY 2010 Synopsis of Program: This solicitation seeks proposals in cross-cutting areas that are scientifically timely, and that benefit from the intellectual contributions of researchers with expertise in a number of computing fields and/or sub-fields. The cross-cutting programs for FY 2009 and 2010 are: * Data-intensive Computing; * Network Science and Engineering; and * Trustworthy Computing. The full descriptions of these programs can be found in the II. Program Description section of this solicitation. CISE expects that over time, these cross-cutting programs will evolve or be absorbed into the core programs, and that new cross-cutting programs will be introduced. The directorate anticipates receiving proposals in the Data-intensive Computing, Network Science and Engineering, and Trustworthy Computing programs at least through the FY 2010 competition (i.e. receiving proposals through December 2009). Proposers are invited to submit proposals in three project classes, which are defined as follows: * Small Projects - up to $500,000 total budget with durations up to three years; * Medium Projects - $500,001 to $1,200,000 total budget with durations up to four years; and * Large Projects - $1,200,001 to $3,000,000 total budget with durations up to five years. A more complete description of the project classes can be found in section II. Program Description, of this document. CISE investments in Small, Medium and Large projects complement the directorate's investments in the Expeditions in Computing program, http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503169&org=CISE&from=home, where projects are funded at levels of up to $10,000,000 total for durations up to 5 years. Cognizant Program Officer(s): * Jim French, Point of Contact, Data-intensive Computing Program, 1125S, telephone: (703) 292-8930, fax: (703) 292-9073, email: jfrench@nsf.gov * Darleen L. Fisher, Point of Contact, Network Science and Engineering Program, telephone: (703) 292-8950, email: dlfisher@nsf.gov * Karl Levitt, Point of Contact, Trustworthy Computing Program, 1175N, telephone: (703) 292-8950, fax: (703) 292-9010, email: klevitt@nsf.gov Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): * 47.070 --- Computer and Information Science and Engineering Award Information Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant or Continuing Grant Estimated Number of Awards: 80 to 110 - It is anticipated that up to 110 awards will be made each year - up to 30 awards in Data-intensive Computing, 30 awards in Network Science and Engineering; and 50 awards in Trustworthy Computing Anticipated Funding Amount: $75,000,000 $75 million in each of FYs 2009 and 2010, dependent upon the availability of funds: - up to $10 million in Data-intensive Computing, $20 million in Network Science and Engineering; and $45 million in Trustworthy Computing Eligibility Information Organization Limit: 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. * Universities and Colleges: Universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) located and accredited in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Such organizations also are referred to as academic institutions. PI Limit: None Specified Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: None Specified Limit on Number of Proposals per PI: 2 An individual may participate as PI, Co-PI or Senior Personnel in no more than two proposals submitted in response to this solicitation in each of the two FY competitions (i.e. no more than two proposals in the FY 2009 competition and no more than two proposals in the FY 2010 competition). For example, for the FY 2009 competition an individual may participate as PI, co-PI or Senior Personnel in one Trustworthy Computing proposal and in a second proposal submitted to the Data intensive Computing program, or an individual may participate as PI, co-PI or Senior Personnel in two proposals submitted to Network Science and Engineering, etc. These eligibility constraints will be strictly enforced in order to treat everyone fairly and consistently. In the event that an individual exceeds this limit, proposals received within the limit will be accepted based on earliest date and time of proposal submission (i.e. the first two proposals received will be accepted, and the remainder will be returned without review). No exceptions will be made. The limit on the number of proposals per PI, Co-PI or Senior Personnel applies only to this solicitation. Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions A. Proposal Preparation Instructions * Letters of Intent: Not Applicable * Preliminary Proposal Submission: Not Applicable * Full Proposals: * Full Proposals submitted via FastLane: NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide, Part I: Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) Guidelines apply. The complete text of the GPG is available electronically on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg. * Full Proposals submitted via Grants.gov: NSF Grants.gov Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants.gov Guidelines apply (Note: The NSF Grants.gov Application Guide is available on the Grants.gov website and on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/docs/grantsgovguide.pdf) B. Budgetary Information * Cost Sharing Requirements: Cost Sharing is not required under this solicitation. * Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: Not Applicable * Other Budgetary Limitations: Not Applicable C. Due Dates * Submission Window Date(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time): Medium Projects October 1, 2008 - October 31, 2008 August 1, 2009 - August 30, 2009 Large Projects November 1, 2008 - November 28, 2008 November 1, 2009 - November 28, 2009 Small Projects: December 1, 2008 - December 17, 2008 December 1, 2009 - December 17, 2009 Proposal Review Information Criteria Merit Review Criteria: National Science Board approved criteria. Additional merit review considerations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. Award Administration Information Award Conditions: Standard NSF award conditions apply. Reporting Requirements: Additional reporting requirements apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary of Program Requirements I. Introduction II. Program Description III. Award Information IV. Eligibility Information V. Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions A. Proposal Preparation Instructions B. Budgetary Information C. Due Dates D. FastLane/Grants.gov Requirements VI. NSF Proposal Processing and Review Procedures A. NSF Merit Review Criteria B. Review and Selection Process VII. Award Administration Information A. Notification of the Award B. Award Conditions C. Reporting Requirements VIII.Agency Contacts IX. Other Information I. INTRODUCTION This solicitation seeks proposals in three programs of interest to all three CISE divisions, and which pose important and timely research and education challenges optimally addressed by researchers from a range of computing fields or sub-fields and beyond. Proposals submitted to each of the cross-cutting programs will be reviewed collaboratively by the three CISE divisions, with the goal of creating a comprehensive portfolio of awards with high-impact potential. CISE expects that, over time, these cross-cutting programs will evolve or be absorbed in our core programs, and that new cross-cutting programs will be introduced. II. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION CROSS-CUTTING PROGRAMS The three cross-cutting programs are defined below. 1. Data-Intensive Computing Enormous digital datasets abound in all facets of our lives - in e-commerce, in World Wide Web information resources, and in many realms of science and engineering. Looking ahead, the pace of data production will only accelerate with increasing digitization of communication and entertainment and the continuing assimilation of computing into everyday life. Data will arise from many sources, will require complex processing, may be highly dynamic, be subject to high demand, and be of importance in a range of end-use tasks. The broad availability of data coupled with increased capabilities and decreased costs of both storage and computing technologies has led to a rethinking of how we solve problems that were previously impractical or, in some cases, even impossible to solve. Further, despite the continuing advances and decreasing costs of computing and storage technologies, data production and collection are outstripping our ability to process and store data. This compels us to rethink how we will manage - store, retrieve, explore, analyze, and communicate - this abundance of data. These technical and social drivers have increased the urgent need to support computation on data of far larger scales than ever previously contemplated. Data-intensive computing is at the forefront of ultra-large-scale commercial data processing, and industry has taken the lead in creating data-centers comprised of myriad servers storing petabytes of data to support their business objectives and to provide services at Internet-scale. Such data centers are instances of data-intensive computing environments, the target of this solicitation. For data-intensive computing, massive data is the dominant issue with emphasis placed on the data-intensive nature of the computation. Data intensive computing demands a fundamentally different set of principles than mainstream computing. Many data-intensive applications admit to large-scale parallelism over the data and are well-suited to specifications via high-level programming primitives in which the run-time system manages parallelism and data access. The increasingly capacious and economical storage technologies greatly change the role that storage plays in such large-scale computing. Many data-intensive applications also require extremely high degrees of fault-tolerance, reliability, and availability. Applications also often face real-time responsiveness requirements and must confront heterogeneous data types and noise and uncertainty in the data. Scale will impact a system's ability to retrieve new and updated data and to provide, whenever appropriate, guarantees of integrity and availability as part of the system's basic functionality in the face of varying levels of uncertainty. The Data-Intensive Computing program seeks to increase our understanding of the capabilities and limitations of data-intensive computing. How can we best program data-intensive computing platforms to exploit massive parallelism and to serve best the varied tasks that may be executed on them? How can we express high-level parallelism at this scale in a natural way for users? What new programming abstractions (including models, languages and algorithms) can accentuate these fundamental capabilities? How can data-intensive computing platforms be designed to support extremely high levels of reliability, efficiency, and availability? How can they be designed in ways that reflect desirable resource sensibilities, such as in power consumption, human maintainability, environmental footprint, and economic feasibility? What (new) applications can best exploit this computing paradigm, and how must this computing paradigm evolve to best support the data-intensive applications we may seek? These are examples of questions that at their core ask how we can support data-intensive computing when the volume of data surpasses the capabilities of the computing and storage technologies that underlie them. The program will fund projects in all areas of computer and information science and engineering that increase our ability to build and use data-intensive computing systems and applications, help us understand their limitations, and create a knowledgeable workforce capable of operating and using these systems as they increasingly become a major force in our economy and society. 2. Network Science and Engineering (NetSE) In the past decade, our network infrastructure has undergone radical changes. It has evolved from a small number of interconnected computer networks to a global socio-technical infrastructure, where people communicate and interact spontaneously in cyber space and with the cyber physical world, create content and share knowledge over a network of heterogeneous networks. In the future, global society will increasingly rely on socio-technical networks designed in harmony with societal values and economic viability, with enhanced security, privacy, resilience, availability and manageability, and the ability to incorporate as yet unforeseen technologies, applications and services. The Network Science and Engineering (NetSE) program encourages members of all network science and engineering communities to engage in integrative thinking to advance, seed and sustain the transformation of networking research to enable the socio-technical networks of the future. The focus is on innovative research efforts that address new or as yet unsolved critical network challenges that by their nature require expertise and synergy from different areas of computing, as well as other relevant fields such as engineering, mathematics, economics, and the social sciences. The NetSE program seeks proposals focused on developing new theoretical foundations, principles and methodologies to understand and reason about the dynamics and behavior of current and future large-scale networks, the interdependence among the physical, informational and social networks they embody, and the tradeoffs among communication, computation and storage. Of interest are also new models that can inform the development of information systems and the networking and communications technologies that underlie them, and give coherence to the highly diverse ways users might access information in the future. NetSE also subsumes the programmatic area known as FIND, which explores radical future innovations in network design to meet the requirements of future socio-technical networks. The focus is on "clean slate", multi-disciplinary approaches, unconstrained by the current Internet. This undertaking requires rethinking network functions and design strategies, in the context of a range of scientific, technical and social challenges and opportunities. The emphasis is on creating theoretically grounded architectures that address fundamental policy and design engineering trade-offs, support healthy economic models and promote social benefits. Network architecture and protocol design challenges also arise when seeking discovery, invocation and composition of globally distributed, highly evolving services and information systems designed for networks of extreme heterogeneity and complexity. Consequently, the program will support the exploration of new frameworks and methodologies that support internet-scale, topologically-aware models of computation and autonomous computational agents, and new approaches for providing timely and coherent access to information when the magnitude and speed of the information flow dwarfs our ability to transport, process, or comprehend it directly. New paradigms and frameworks are also of interest, to enable new applications that provide information based on both content and context and to improve or enable existing or new classes of applications, such gaming, virtual worlds, augmented reality and tele-presence. Imbued with cognitive capabilities and context-awareness, pervasive systems are increasingly and inextricably permeating the fabric of our society with great potential for richer social and economic experiences and an improved quality of life. Many NetSE challenges, however, stand between our current state and a full realization of environment, situation and human aware pervasive networked systems. The NetSE program will support research on new paradigms, guiding principles, innovative models and sound methodologies for acquiring and seamlessly embedding relevant context information into the network architecture, protocols and services to support reliable and predictable pervasive systems and applications with different quality of service requirements or unique characteristics, such as mobility and energy constraints, and in contexts where applications may require proactive and timely action. The NetSE program seeks broad, interdisciplinary advances in network science and engineering, and thus anticipates that successful projects with multiple investigators will typically need to bring together a team of people with different, complementary expertise, and single-investigator proposals will need to show that the investigator has expertise in two or more CISE-related areas, appropriate for the projects proposed. Research in NetSE is expected to have an assessment plan that might include, for example, formal verification, simulation, modeling, proof-of-concept development, prototype testing on a testbed, or, when applicable, usability evaluation involving human subjects. 3. Trustworthy Computing The Trustworthy Computing program envisions a future in which our increasingly ubiquitous and distributed computing and communication systems deliver the quality of service they are designed to achieve, without disruption, while enabling and preserving privacy, security and trust. The program supports research and education activities that explore novel frameworks, theories, and approaches towards realizing a trustworthy computing future, recognizing that a number of intertwined scientific, technological and sociological challenges must be overcome to do so. The program will support projects that strengthen the scientific foundations of trustworthiness, in order to inform the creation of new trustworthy technologies. We especially seek new models, logics, algorithms, and theories for analyzing and reasoning about all aspects of trustworthiness-- reliability, security, privacy, and usability-- about all components and their composition. Building on its predecessor program Cyber Trust, the Trustworthy Computing program will also continue to support projects that explore the fundamentals of cryptography, that examine and strengthen security weaknesses in current algorithms or protocols, and that explore new computing models that promise to improve trustworthiness or our reasoning about it. A trustworthy system depends on its building blocks and their interoperability. These building blocks range from hardware processes, possibly with new features to support trustworthiness, to network protocols and system software, to applications software. While today many researchers focus on one of the many building blocks that comprise our systems, the Trustworthy Computing program encourages investigators to explore research opportunities directed towards integrating these building blocks through new security architectures, with emphasis on those that are generic but also including those that are application-specific. As computing systems have begun to pervade every aspect of daily life, people need to be able to trust them-so much of their lives depend on them. The Trustworthy Computing program seeks proposals to provide scientific and technological perspectives on privacy and usability. Threats to citizens' privacy arise in many sectors of daily life, e.g., health, financial, and e-commerce, and assuring privacy is essential to the foundations of democracy, e.g., voting and the freedom of speech. The program will support the exploration of new scientific methodologies and technologies to state, reason about, and resolve conflicts among privacy policies, and between privacy and security policies. Further, we need new models, methods, algorithms, and tools to safeguard the information of individuals wherever it may digitally reside. The Trustworthy Computing program also seeks proposals focused on usability. Incorporating trustworthiness into a system should not place undue demands on human users or impact human or system performance. People are often the weakest link in security. How can we make it easy and enjoyable for people to use computing systems yet still protect them from unforeseeable attacks on their security and privacy? The needs of users are many, and include being informed of threats and breaches, to managing the appropriate dissemination of personal information on social networks, to controlling access to information that may be harmful to minors. System design for usability in different contexts demands new approaches to integrating and balancing among different functionalities, understanding human perception of trust including privacy, informing users of potential pitfalls, and predicting the potential consequences of user decisions. Understanding the interplay between people and technology is also essential, for trustworthiness cannot be assured through technological innovation alone. Consequently, the Trustworthy Computing program will support multidisciplinary research proposals that consider both the social and technical dimensions of created a trustworthy computing future, recognizing that such research must be undertaken in a context that considers regulatory and legal implications. If we are to make progress toward realizing a trustworthy computing future, we must characterize trustworthiness and the many different classes of threats. While current solutions largely focus on known security threats, the Trustworthy Computing program seeks proposals aimed at characterizing future threats too, where such threats may be driven by adversarial motives that are yet to be identified or understood. Methods must be developed to evaluate systems for trustworthiness, so that they can be confidently used. Evaluation may include a combination of methods that involve analytical reasoning, simulation, experimental deployment and, where possible, deployment on live systems. New technology is required, such as testbeds and methodologies that enable system experimentation at scale without exposing operational systems to threats, such as those that may be unintentionally introduced by trustworthiness enhancements. Metrics must be developed that can confidently predict system trustworthiness based on realistic assumptions of the capabilities of adversaries, and they must be measurable or amenable to reasoning. Requirements for trustworthiness must be defined, so that they inform the effective design of trustworthy computing and communications systems. Information on projects supported by the Cyber Trust program is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 13451&org=CNS&from=home. PROJECTS CLASSES Proposals submitted to this solicitation are divided into three project classes. + Small Projects, with total budgets up to $500,000 for durations of up to three years, are well suited to one or two investigators (PI and one co-PI or other Senior Personnel) and at least one student and/or postdoc. + Medium Projects, with total budgets ranging from $500,001 to $1,200,000 for durations up to four years, are well suited to one or more investigators (PI, co-PI and/or other Senior Personnel) and several students and/or postdocs. Medium project descriptions must be comprehensive and well-integrated, and should make a convincing case that the collaborative contributions of the project team will be greater than the sum of each of their individual contributions. Rationale must be provided to explain why a budget of this size is required to carry out the proposed work. Since the success of collaborative research efforts are known to depend on thoughtful coordination mechanisms that regularly bring together the various participants of the project, a Collaboration Plan is required for all Medium proposals. The length of and level of detail provided in the Collaboration Plan should be commensurate with the complexity of the proposed project. Please see Proposal Preparation Instructions Section V.A for additional submission guidelines. + Large Projects, with total budgets ranging from $1,200,001 to $3,000,000 for durations of up to five years, are well suited to two or more investigators (PI, co-PI(s), or other Senior Personnel), and a team of students and/or postdocs. Large project descriptions must be comprehensive and well-integrated, and should make a convincing case that the collaborative contributions of the project team will be greater than the sum of each of their individual contributions. Rationale must be provided to explain why a budget of this size is required to carry out the proposed work. Since the success of collaborative research efforts are known to depend on thoughtful coordination mechanisms that regularly bring together the various participants of the project, a Collaboration Plan is required for all Large proposals. The length of and degree of detail provided in the Collaboration Plan should be commensurate with the complexity of the proposed project. Please see Proposal Preparation Instructions Section V.A for additional submission guidelines. CISE investments in Small, Medium and Large projects complement the directorate's investments in the Expeditions in Computing program, where projects are funded at levels of up to $10,000,000 total for durations of up to 5 years. The Expeditions solicitation can be accessed at http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 503169&org=CISE&from=home. IMPORTANT PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS In all cross-cutting programs, the submission of far-reaching, creative research and education projects is encouraged. Funds will be used to support potentially transformative research with high-impact potential. In this way, CISE will catalyze exciting new research activities with the potential to make significant advances in the state-of-the-art. Interdisciplinary, international and/or academic-industry collaborations that promise to result in major science or engineering advances are welcome. The directorate hopes to attract proposals from faculty at a broad range of academic institutions, including faculty at minority-serving and predominantly undergraduate institutions. Proposals submitted should demonstrate that enriching learning experiences will be provided for a diverse population of students, and may describe the development of innovative curricula or educational materials that advance literacy about and expertise in areas supported by CISE. III. AWARD INFORMATION It is estimated that approximately $75 million will be available in each of FYs 2009 and 2010, dependent upon the availability of funds: - up to $10 million in Data-intensive Computing, $20 million in Network Science and Engineering; and $45 million in Trustworthy Computing. Up to 90 awards will be supported each year. IV. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION Organization Limit: 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. * Universities and Colleges: Universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) located and accredited in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Such organizations also are referred to as academic institutions. PI Limit: None Specified Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: None Specified Limit on Number of Proposals per PI: 2 An individual may participate as PI, Co-PI or Senior Personnel in no more than two proposals submitted in response to this solicitation in each of the two FY competitions (i.e. no more than two proposals in the FY 2009 competition and no more than two proposals in the FY 2010 competition). For example, for the FY 2009 competition an individual may participate as PI, co-PI or Senior Personnel in one Trustworthy Computing proposal and in a second proposal submitted to the Data intensive Computing program, or an individual may participate as PI, co-PI or Senior Personnel in two proposals submitted to Network Science and Engineering, etc. These eligibility constraints will be strictly enforced in order to treat everyone fairly and consistently. In the event that an individual exceeds this limit, proposals received within the limit will be accepted based on earliest date and time of proposal submission (i.e. the first two proposals received will be accepted, and the remainder will be returned without review). No exceptions will be made. The limit on the number of proposals per PI, Co-PI or Senior Personnel applies only to this solicitation. Additional Eligibility Info: V. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS A. Proposal Preparation Instructions Full Proposal Preparation Instructions: Proposers may opt to submit proposals in response to this Program Solicitation via Grants.gov or via the NSF FastLane system. * Full proposals submitted via FastLane: Proposals submitted in response to this program solicitation should be prepared and submitted in accordance with the general guidelines contained in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG). The complete text of the GPG is available electronically on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg. Paper copies of the GPG may be obtained from the NSF Publications Clearinghouse, telephone (703) 292-7827 or by e-mail from pubs@nsf.gov. Proposers are reminded to identify this program solicitation number in the program solicitation block on the NSF Cover Sheet For Proposal to the National Science Foundation. Compliance with this requirement is critical to determining the relevant proposal processing guidelines. Failure to submit this information may delay processing. * Full proposals submitted via Grants.gov: Proposals submitted in response to this program solicitation via Grants.gov should be prepared and submitted in accordance with the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants.gov. The complete text of the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide is available on the Grants.gov website and on the NSF website at: (http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/docs/grantsgovguide.pdf). To obtain copies of the Application Guide and Application Forms Package, click on the Apply tab on the Grants.gov site, then click on the Apply Step 1: Download a Grant Application Package and Application Instructions link and enter the funding opportunity number, (the program solicitation number without the NSF prefix) and press the Download Package button. Paper copies of the Grants.gov Application Guide also may be obtained from the NSF Publications Clearinghouse, telephone (703) 292-7827 or by e-mail from pubs@nsf.gov. In determining which method to utilize in the electronic preparation and submission of the proposal, please note the following: Collaborative Proposals. All collaborative proposals submitted as separate submissions from multiple organizations must be submitted via the NSF FastLane system. Chapter II, Section D.3 of the Grant Proposal Guide provides additional information on collaborative proposals. The following information SUPPLEMENTS (not replaces) the guidelines provided in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide. Proposal Titles: Proposal titles must begin with an acronym that indicates the most relevant cross-cutting program as described below. Select an acronym for the most relevant cross-cutting program from the following list: * Data-intensive Computing (DC) * Network Science and Engineering (NetSE); and * Trustworthy Computing (TC). The acronym should be followed with a colon, then the project class, followed by a colon and the title of your project. For example, if you are submitting a Medium proposal to Data-intensive Computing, then your title would be DC: Medium:Title. If you submit a proposal as part of a set of collaborative proposals, the title of the proposal should begin with the acronym that indicates the most relevant cross-cutting program followed by a colon, then the project class followed by a colon, then "Collaborative Research" followed by a colon, and the title. For example, if you are submitting a collaborative set of proposals describing a Large project to the Network Science and Engineering program, the title of each would be NetSE: Large:Collaborative Research: Title. Proposals from PIs in institutions that have RUI (Research in Undergraduate Institutions) eligibility should have a proposal title that begins with the acronym that indicates the most relevant crosscutting program, followed by a colon then the project class, followed by a colon then "RUI", followed by a colon and then the title, for example, DC:Small:RUI:Title. Project Summary: All proposals must provide up to 6 sets of key words at the end of the Project Summary. These key words should describe the main scientific/engineering areas explored in the proposal. Key words should be prefaced with "Key Words" followed by a colon and each key word separated by semi-colons. Key words should be of the type used to describe research in a journal submission. They should be put at the end of the project summary and might appear, for example, as Key Words: formal logic; multi-modal interfaces; sensor networks; information visualization; privacy. Project Description: Since the success of collaborative research efforts are known to depend on thoughtful coordination mechanisms that regularly bring together the various participants of the project, all Medium and Large proposals must include a Collaboration Plan. Medium and Large proposals that fail to include a Collaboration Plan will be returned without review. While the length of the Project Description for Small proposals is limited to 15 pages, for Medium and Large proposals up to 3 additional pages are allowed for Collaboration Plans. The length of and degree of detail provided in the Collaboration Plan should be commensurate with the complexity of the proposed project. Where appropriate, the Collaboration Plan might include: 1) the specific roles of the project participants in all organizations involved; 2) information on how the project will be managed across all the investigators, institutions, and/or disciplines; 3) identification of the specific coordination mechanisms that will enable cross-investigator, cross-institution, and/or cross-discipline scientific integration (e.g., yearly workshops, graduate student exchange, project meetings at conferences, use of the grid for videoconferences, software repositories, etc.), and 4) specific references to the budget line items that support collaboration and coordination mechanisms. Proposals that incorporate curriculum development activities should describe the curriculum development activities in a separate section of the Project Description entitled "Curriculum Development Activities." Supplementary Documents: In the Supplementary Documents Section, include a list of all PIs, Co-PIs, Senior Personnel, paid Consultants, Collaborators and Postdocs to be involved in the project. This list should be numbered and include (in this order) Full name, Organization(s), and Role in the project, with each item separated by a semi-colon. Each person listed should start a new numbered line. For example: 1. Mary Smith; XYZ University; PI 2. John Jones; University of PQR; Senior Personnel 3. Jane Brown; XYZ University; Postdoc 4. Bob Adams; ABC Inc.; Paid Consultant PIs from predominantly undergraduate institutions should also include a Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) Impact Statement and Certification of RUI Eligibility in this Section. B. Budgetary Information Cost Sharing: Cost sharing is not required under this solicitation. C. Due Dates * Submission Window Date(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time): Medium Projects October 1, 2008 - October 31, 2008 August 1, 2009 - August 30, 2009 Large Projects November 1, 2008 - November 28, 2008 November 1, 2009 - November 28, 2009 Small Projects: December 1, 2008 - December 17, 2008 December 1, 2009 - December 17, 2009 D. FastLane/Grants.gov Requirements * For Proposals Submitted Via FastLane: Detailed technical instructions regarding the technical aspects of preparation and submission via FastLane are available at: https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a1/newstan.htm. For FastLane user support, call the FastLane Help Desk at 1-800-673-6188 or e-mail fastlane@nsf.gov. The FastLane Help Desk answers general technical questions related to the use of the FastLane system. Specific questions related to this program solicitation should be referred to the NSF program staff contact(s) listed in Section VIII of this funding opportunity. Submission of Electronically Signed Cover Sheets. The Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) must electronically sign the proposal Cover Sheet to submit the required proposal certifications (see Chapter II, Section C of the Grant Proposal Guide for a listing of the certifications). The AOR must provide the required electronic certifications within five working days following the electronic submission of the proposal. Further instructions regarding this process are available on the FastLane Website at: https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/fastlane.jsp. * For Proposals Submitted Via Grants.gov: Before using Grants.gov for the first time, each organization must register to create an institutional profile. Once registered, the applicant's organization can then apply for any federal grant on the Grants.gov website. The Grants.gov's Grant Community User Guide is a comprehensive reference document that provides technical information about Grants.gov. Proposers can download the User Guide as a Microsoft Word document or as a PDF document. The Grants.gov User Guide is available at: http://www.grants.gov/CustomerSupport. In addition, the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide provides additional technical guidance regarding preparation of proposals via Grants.gov. For Grants.gov user support, contact the Grants.gov Contact Center at 1-800-518-4726 or by email: support@grants.gov. The Grants.gov Contact Center answers general technical questions related to the use of Grants.gov. Specific questions related to this program solicitation should be referred to the NSF program staff contact(s) listed in Section VIII of this solicitation. Submitting the Proposal: Once all documents have been completed, the Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) must submit the application to Grants.gov and verify the desired funding opportunity and agency to which the application is submitted. The AOR must then sign and submit the application to Grants.gov. The completed application will be transferred to the NSF FastLane system for further processing. VI. NSF PROPOSAL PROCESSING AND REVIEW PROCEDURES Proposals received by NSF are assigned to the appropriate NSF program where they will be reviewed if they meet NSF proposal preparation requirements. All proposals are carefully reviewed by a scientist, engineer, or educator serving as an NSF Program Officer, and usually by three to ten other persons outside NSF who are experts in the particular fields represented by the proposal. These reviewers are selected by Program Officers charged with the oversight of the review process. Proposers are invited to suggest names of persons they believe are especially well qualified to review the proposal and/or persons they would prefer not review the proposal. These suggestions may serve as one source in the reviewer selection process at the Program Officer's discretion. Submission of such names, however, is optional. Care is taken to ensure that reviewers have no conflicts of interest with the proposal. A. NSF Merit Review Criteria All NSF proposals are evaluated through use of the two National Science Board (NSB)-approved merit review criteria: intellectual merit and the broader impacts of the proposed effort. In some instances, however, NSF will employ additional criteria as required to highlight the specific objectives of certain programs and activities. The two NSB-approved merit review criteria are listed below. The criteria include considerations that help define them. These considerations are suggestions and not all will apply to any given proposal. While proposers must address both merit review criteria, reviewers will be asked to address only those considerations that are relevant to the proposal being considered and for which the reviewer is qualified to make judgements. What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity? How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields? How well qualified is the proposer (individual or team) to conduct the project? (If appropriate, the reviewer will comment on the quality of the prior work.) To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts? How well conceived and organized is the proposed activity? Is there sufficient access to resources? What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity? How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning? How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)? To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks, and partnerships? Will the results be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding? What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society? Examples illustrating activities likely to demonstrate broader impacts are available electronically on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/broaderimpacts.pdf. NSF staff also will give careful consideration to the following in making funding decisions: Integration of Research and Education One of the principal strategies in support of NSF's goals is to foster integration of research and education through the programs, projects, and activities it supports at academic and research institutions. These institutions provide abundant opportunities where individuals may concurrently assume responsibilities as researchers, educators, and students and where all can engage in joint efforts that infuse education with the excitement of discovery and enrich research through the diversity of learning perspectives. Integrating Diversity into NSF Programs, Projects, and Activities Broadening opportunities and enabling the participation of all citizens -- women and men, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities -- is essential to the health and vitality of science and engineering. NSF is committed to this principle of diversity and deems it central to the programs, projects, and activities it considers and supports. Additional Review Criteria: For Medium and Large proposals only, reviewers will be asked to: * Comment on the extent to which the project scope justifies the level of investment requested, and the degree to which the participating investigators will work synergistically to accomplish the project objectives. * Comment on the Collaboration Plan. B. Review and Selection Process Proposals submitted in response to this program solicitation will be reviewed by Ad hoc Review and/or Panel Review. Reviewers will be asked to formulate a recommendation to either support or decline each proposal. The Program Officer assigned to manage the proposal's review will consider the advice of reviewers and will formulate a recommendation. After scientific, technical and programmatic review and consideration of appropriate factors, the NSF Program Officer recommends to the cognizant Division Director whether the proposal should be declined or recommended for award. NSF is striving to be able to tell applicants whether their proposals have been declined or recommended for funding within six months. The time interval begins on the deadline or target date, or receipt date, whichever is later. The interval ends when the Division Director accepts the Program Officer's recommendation. A summary rating and accompanying narrative will be completed and submitted by each reviewer. In all cases, reviews are treated as confidential documents. Verbatim copies of reviews, excluding the names of the reviewers, are sent to the Principal Investigator/Project Director by the Program Officer. In addition, the proposer will receive an explanation of the decision to award or decline funding. In all cases, after programmatic approval has been obtained, the proposals recommended for funding will be forwarded to the Division of Grants and Agreements for review of business, financial, and policy implications and the processing and issuance of a grant or other agreement. Proposers are cautioned that only a Grants and Agreements Officer may make commitments, obligations or awards on behalf of NSF or authorize the expenditure of funds. No commitment on the part of NSF should be inferred from technical or budgetary discussions with a NSF Program Officer. A Principal Investigator or organization that makes financial or personnel commitments in the absence of a grant or cooperative agreement signed by the NSF Grants and Agreements Officer does so at their own risk. VII. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION A. Notification of the Award Notification of the award is made to the submitting organization by a Grants Officer in the Division of Grants and Agreements. Organizations whose proposals are declined will be advised as promptly as possible by the cognizant NSF Program administering the program. Verbatim copies of reviews, not including the identity of the reviewer, will be provided automatically to the Principal Investigator. (See Section VI.B. for additional information on the review process.) B. Award Conditions An NSF award consists of: (1) the award letter, which includes any special provisions applicable to the award and any numbered amendments thereto; (2) the budget, which indicates the amounts, by categories of expense, on which NSF has based its support (or otherwise communicates any specific approvals or disapprovals of proposed expenditures); (3) the proposal referenced in the award letter; (4) the applicable award conditions, such as Grant General Conditions (GC-1); * or Research Terms and Conditions * and (5) any announcement or other NSF issuance that may be incorporated by reference in the award letter. Cooperative agreements also are administered in accordance with NSF Cooperative Agreement Financial and Administrative Terms and Conditions (CA-FATC) and the applicable Programmatic Terms and Conditions. NSF awards are electronically signed by an NSF Grants and Agreements Officer and transmitted electronically to the organization via e-mail. *These documents may be accessed electronically on NSF's Website at http://www.nsf.gov/awards/managing/award_conditions.jsp?org=NSF. Paper copies may be obtained from the NSF Publications Clearinghouse, telephone (703) 292-7827 or by e-mail from pubs@nsf.gov. More comprehensive information on NSF Award Conditions and other important information on the administration of NSF awards is contained in the NSF Award & Administration Guide (AAG) Chapter II, available electronically on the NSF Website at http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=aag. C. Reporting Requirements For all multi-year grants (including both standard and continuing grants), the Principal Investigator must submit an annual project report to the cognizant Program Officer at least 90 days before the end of the current budget period. (Some programs or awards require more frequent project reports). Within 90 days after expiration of a grant, the PI also is required to submit a final project report. Failure to provide the required annual or final project reports will delay NSF review and processing of any future funding increments as well as any pending proposals for that PI. PIs should examine the formats of the required reports in advance to assure availability of required data. PIs are required to use NSF's electronic project-reporting system, available through FastLane, for preparation and submission of annual and final project reports. Such reports provide information on activities and findings, project participants (individual and organizational) publications; and, other specific products and contributions. PIs will not be required to re-enter information previously provided, either with a proposal or in earlier updates using the electronic system. Submission of the report via FastLane constitutes certification by the PI that the contents of the report are accurate and complete. Site visits for Cyber Trust Medium and Large awards may be conducted at NSF's discretion. VIII. AGENCY CONTACTS General inquiries regarding this program should be made to: * Jim French, Point of Contact, Data-intensive Computing Program, 1125S, telephone: (703) 292-8930, fax: (703) 292-9073, email: jfrench@nsf.gov * Darleen L. Fisher, Point of Contact, Network Science and Engineering Program, telephone: (703) 292-8950, email: dlfisher@nsf.gov * Karl Levitt, Point of Contact, Trustworthy Computing Program, 1175N, telephone: (703) 292-8950, fax: (703) 292-9010, email: klevitt@nsf.gov For questions related to the use of FastLane, contact: * FastLane Help Desk, telephone: 1-800-673-6188; e-mail: fastlane@nsf.gov. For questions relating to Grants.gov contact: * Grants.gov Contact Center: If the Authorized Organizational Representatives (AOR) has not received a confirmation message from Grants.gov within 48 hours of submission of application, please contact via telephone: 1-800-518-4726; e-mail: support@grants.gov. IX. OTHER INFORMATION The NSF Website provides the most comprehensive source of information on NSF Directorates (including contact information), programs and funding opportunities. Use of this Website by potential proposers is strongly encouraged. In addition, MyNSF (formerly the Custom News Service) is an information-delivery system designed to keep potential proposers and other interested parties apprised of new NSF funding opportunities and publications, important changes in proposal and award policies and procedures, and upcoming NSF Regional Grants Conferences. Subscribers are informed through e-mail or the user's Web browser each time new publications are issued that match their identified interests. MyNSF also is available on NSF's Website at http://www.nsf.gov/mynsf/. Grants.gov provides an additional electronic capability to search for Federal government-wide grant opportunities. NSF funding opportunities may be accessed via this new mechanism. Further information on Grants.gov may be obtained at http://www.grants.gov. NSF provides funding opportunities for the computing community via the following programs and their solicitations: Discovery Research Programs Advanced Learning Technologies (ALT), http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 12834&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund CAREER: Faculty Early Career Development, http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5262 Cluster Exploratory (CluE), http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 503270&org=IIS&from=home Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS), http://nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5147 Community-Based Data Interoperability Networks (Interop) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 502112&org=CISE&sel_org=CISE&from=fund Computer and Network Systems: Core Programs, http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=12765 Computing and Communication Foundations: Core Programs, http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503220 CreativeIT, http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=501096 Cyber-enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI), http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/cdi/ Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), coming soon, http://www.nsf.gov/attachments/111601/public/cps-summit.ppt Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 5502&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund Expeditions in Computing, http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf07592 Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 13706&org=CISE&sel_org=CISE&from=fund Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers Program (I/UCRC) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 5501&org=CISE&sel_org=CISE&from=fund Information and Intelligent Systems: Core Programs, http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13707 Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 12819&org=CISE&sel_org=CISE&from=fund Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 5518&org=CISE&sel_org=CISE&from=fund Science of Learning Centers (SLCs) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 5567&org=CISE&sel_org=CISE&from=fund Science and Technology Centers (STCs) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 5541&org=CISE&sel_org=CISE&from=fund Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2005/nsf05053/nsf05053.jsp Sustainable Digital Data Preservation and Access Network Partners (DataNet) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 503141&org=CISE&sel_org=CISE&from=fund Education and Workforce Development Programs ADVANCE: Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers, http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5383&from=fund Advanced Technological Education (ATE) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5464 Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC), http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 13510&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund CISE Pathways to Revitalized Education in Computing (CPATH), http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 500025&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund Computational Science Training for Undergraduates in the Mathematical Sciences (CSUMS) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 13655&org=EHR&sel_org=EHR&from=fund Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 5741&org=EHR&sel_org=EHR&from=fund Developing Global Scientists and Engineers [International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) and Doctoral Dissertation Enhancement Projects (DDEP)] http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 12831&org=CISE&sel_org=CISE&from=fund Discovery Research K-12 (DR-K12) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 500047&org=EHR&sel_org=EHR&from=fund Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service (SFS) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5228 Graduate Research Fellowships (GRF), http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 6201&org=DGE&from=home Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT), http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=12759 International Research Fellowship Program (IRFP) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 5179&org=CISE&sel_org=CISE&from=fund Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 5467&org=EHR&sel_org=EHR&from=fund NSF Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12), http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5472&from=fund NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 5257&org=EHR&sel_org=EHR&from=fund Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites and Supplements, http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5517&from=fund Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP) http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 5488&org=EHR&sel_org=EHR&from=fund Research Infrastructure Programs Computing Research Infrastructure (CRI), http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 12810&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Grant Program http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id= 5672&org=CISE&sel_org=CISE&from=fund Major Research Infrastructure (MRI), http://www.nsf.gov/od/oia/programs/mri/ For more information on these programs, please consult the NSF web site. ABOUT THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent Federal agency created by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended (42 USC 1861-75). The Act states the purpose of the NSF is "to promote the progress of science; [and] to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare by supporting research and education in all fields of science and engineering." NSF funds research and education in most fields of science and engineering. It does this through grants and cooperative agreements to more than 2,000 colleges, universities, K-12 school systems, businesses, informal science organizations and other research organizations throughout the US. The Foundation accounts for about one-fourth of Federal support to academic institutions for basic research. NSF receives approximately 40,000 proposals each year for research, education and training projects, of which approximately 11,000 are funded. In addition, the Foundation receives several thousand applications for graduate and postdoctoral fellowships. The agency operates no laboratories itself but does support National Research Centers, user facilities, certain oceanographic vessels and Antarctic research stations. The Foundation also supports cooperative research between universities and industry, US participation in international scientific and engineering efforts, and educational activities at every academic level. Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities provide funding for special assistance or equipment to enable persons with disabilities to work on NSF-supported projects. See Grant Proposal Guide Chapter II, Section D.2 for instructions regarding preparation of these types of proposals. The National Science Foundation has Telephonic Device for the Deaf (TDD) and Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) capabilities that enable individuals with hearing impairments to communicate with the Foundation about NSF programs, employment or general information. TDD may be accessed at (703) 292-5090 and (800) 281-8749, FIRS at (800) 877-8339. The National Science Foundation Information Center may be reached at (703) 292-5111. The National Science Foundation promotes and advances scientific progress in the United States by competitively awarding grants and cooperative agreements for research and education in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering. To get the latest information about program deadlines, to download copies of NSF publications, and to access abstracts of awards, visit the NSF Website at http://www.nsf.gov * Location: 4201 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA 22230 * For General Information (703) 292-5111 (NSF Information Center): * TDD (for the hearing-impaired): (703) 292-5090 * To Order Publications or Forms: Send an e-mail to: pubs@nsf.gov or telephone: (703) 292-7827 * To Locate NSF Employees: (703) 292-5111 PRIVACY ACT AND PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENTS The information requested on proposal forms and project reports is solicited under the authority of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended. The information on proposal forms will be used in connection with the selection of qualified proposals; and project reports submitted by awardees will be used for program evaluation and reporting within the Executive Branch and to Congress. The information requested may be disclosed to qualified reviewers and staff assistants as part of the proposal review process; to proposer institutions/grantees to provide or obtain data regarding the proposal review process, award decisions, or the administration of awards; to government contractors, experts, volunteers and researchers and educators as necessary to complete assigned work; to other government agencies or other entities needing information regarding applicants or nominees as part of a joint application review process, or in order to coordinate programs or policy; and to another Federal agency, court, or party in a court or Federal administrative proceeding if the government is a party. Information about Principal Investigators may be added to the Reviewer file and used to select potential candidates to serve as peer reviewers or advisory committee members. See Systems of Records, NSF-50, "Principal Investigator/Proposal File and Associated Records," 69 Federal Register 26410 (May 12, 2004), and NSF-51, "Reviewer/Proposal File and Associated Records, " 69 Federal Register 26410 (May 12, 2004). Submission of the information is voluntary. Failure to provide full and complete information, however, may reduce the possibility of receiving an award. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OMB control number for this collection is 3145-0058. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 120 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions. Send comments regarding the burden estimate and any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: Suzanne H. Plimpton Reports Clearance Officer Division of Administrative Services National Science Foundation Arlington, VA 22230 Policies and Important Links|Privacy|FOIA|Help|Contact NSF|Contact Web Master|SiteMap [National Science Foundation]The National Science Foundation, 4201 Last Updated: Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 11/07/06 22230, USA Text Only Tel: (703) 292-5111, FIRS: (800) 877-8339 | TDD: (800) 281-8749 [Image]