TITLE:  Dear Colleague Letter: Future Directions for NSF Advanced
        Computing Infrastructure (ACI) (nsf15053)
DATE:   3/18/2015


   NSF 15-053

Dear Colleague Letter: Future Directions for NSF Advanced Computing
Infrastructure (ACI)

   March 18, 2015

   Dear Colleague:

   This Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) invites proposals to fund conferences
   that identify needs for advanced computing infrastructure in support of
   future computational research as well as the role the National Science
   Foundation (NSF) should play in providing such support in the time
   frame 2017-2020 as well as longer term.

   Example conference topics include: current and emerging scientific
   frontiers that are limited by capabilities of today's large-scale
   computational ecosystem; use of cloud computing systems for advancing
   science and education at all scales; common hardware or software
   platforms that address large and small-scale modeling and data
   analytics; roles of campus, regional, and national resources and
   services in the overall computational ecosystem; scalable operating
   models for effective dynamic delivery of computational resources and
   services to geographically distributed researchers; collaboration
   models that reduce barriers across different environments while
   preserving efficiency and innovation; effective learning and workforce
   development to ensure next generation capability in the most advanced
   computational science for all disciplines; work-flow and data-flow
   requirements not currently met in today's computational ecosystem;
   economic and incentive models for optimizing scarce resources within a
   diverse landscape; and metrics for advanced computing infrastructure
   and science impact. Other topics should be considered as they represent
   important elements of future computing infrastructure in support of
   advanced computational research.

   The findings of these conferences will complement the National Academy
   of Sciences (NAS) Study on Future Directions for NSF Advanced Computing
   Infrastructure to support US Science in 2017-2020. NAS is currently
   soliciting feedback on an interim report at
   [1]http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18972.

   Topics of concern to the community that this interim report is not
   addressing sufficiently may also be considered.

   The conference discussions should cover diverse aspects of the above
   topics, from the needs that arise in computational applications across
   fields of science, to hardware and software systems that may form the
   basic infrastructure, to shared services that enhance productivity and
   broaden participation, to virtual and distributed organizations
   providing these services. The conferences should raise important
   questions, collect available answers, and describe paths for finding
   answers to questions that remain open. If possible, conferences should
   distinguish between infrastructure in support of classical
   computational methods that enable scientific progress today and needs
   for novel infrastructure that may enable scientific progress in the
   future.

   Both interdisciplinary conferences and events within science domains
   are of interest. Organizers may choose broad and/or focused issues for
   discussion, as most suitable for best conference outcomes. Organizers
   are encouraged to also invite graduate students experienced in using
   computational research infrastructure as well as participants that can
   articulate the needs of non-traditional and underrepresented groups.

   While there is no prescribed size of the conferences, organizers should
   carefully consider tradeoffs between audiences that can represent
   diverse viewpoints and small gatherings that may produce focused and
   timely outcomes.

   Conference reports and other outcomes should be made available publicly
   by Fall 2015.

   NSF is looking to fund five to ten conferences in response to this Dear
   Colleague Letter.

   Guidance on submitting a conference proposal may be found in NSF's
   Grant Proposal Guide at
   [2]http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf15001/
   gpg_2.jsp#IID9.

   Note that guidance in the GPG for conference proposals also applies to
   proposals for symposia and workshops.

   For proposal submission, select [3]NSF 15-001 Grant Proposal Guide as
   the Program Announcement, CISE/ACI as the Division and ETF as the
   Program.

   Questions about this Dear Colleague Letter should be addressed to:
   Rudolf Eigenmann, [4]reigenma@nsf.gov.

   Sincerely,

   Irene Qualters
   Division Director
   Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (ACI)

References

   1. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18972
   2. http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf15001/gpg_2.jsp#IID9
   3. http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf15001
   4. mailto:reigenma@nsf.gov