The National Science Foundation would like to make the geography and spatial science communities aware of the Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) solicitation (NSF 16-610).  The competition expects a significant social and behavioral component to be contained in the proposals and will likely be of interest to many geographers.

There will be a webinar about this new S&CC solicitation on October 20, 2016 from 2:30 to 3:30 pm eastern time.  The direct link to the event page for the S&CC webinar is as follows:  https://www.nsf.gov/events/event_summ.jsp?cntn_id=190025&org=CISE.  It is currently on the CISE homepage under Popular links, Webcasts/Webinars.

Some key components of the solicitation:

Due Dates

  • Preliminary Proposal Due Date(s) (required) (due by 5 p.m. submitter’s local time): November 30, 2016
  • Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. submitter’s local time): February 16, 2017

Proposal Categories

This S&CC solicitation will support research projects in four categories:

  • S&CC Integrative Research Grants (IRGs) Track 1. Awards in this category will support the conduct of fundamental, multidisciplinary, integrative research and the building of research capacity. Track 1 awards will provide three to five years of support for projects at a level not to exceed $5,000,000 for the total budget.
  • S&CC Integrative Research Grants Track 2. Awards in this category will support the conduct of fundamental, multidisciplinary, integrative research and the building of research capacity. Track 2 awards will provide three or four years of support for projects at a level not to exceed $1,000,000 for the total budget. It is anticipated that Track 1 and 2 proposals will be distinguished by the sizes of the teams, as well as, the scope and duration of the proposed activities.
  • S&CC Research Coordination Networks (RCNs). Awards in this category support the establishment of a network of multidisciplinary researchers and others who will collectively and significantly advance S&CC research through active exchange of ideas, development of fundamental research directions, and other approaches. Each of these awards will provide four or five years of support for projects at a level not to exceed $500,000 for the total budget.
  • S&CC Planning Grants. Awards in this category will provide one year of support to stimulate research capacity through multidisciplinary team-building and the development of high-impact, fundamental research concepts. Each of these awards will be at a level not to exceed $100,000 for the total budget.

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI: 4

The limit on number of proposals per PI, Co-PI, or other Senior Personnel is defined by award category as follows:

  • Integrative Research Grants Track 1 or Track 2: 1;
  • Research Coordination Networks: 2; and
  • Planning Grants: 1.

An individual may appear as a PI, Co-PI, or other Senior Personnel on only one proposal submitted to either S&CC IRG Track 1 or Track 2 (not both), only two proposals submitted to the S&CC RCN category, and only one proposal submitted to S&CC Planning Grant category. This limitation includes proposals submitted by a lead organization and any sub-awards included as part of a collaborative proposal involving multiple institutions.

Preliminary proposals are required only for S&CC Integrative Research Grants (IRG) Tracks 1 and 2 and must be submitted in accordance with the instructions below. The NSF decision made on the preliminary proposal is advisory only and may include feedback on proposed activities, including anticipated budgets. Submission of a Preliminary Proposal is required in order to be eligible to submit a Full S&CC IRG Proposal.

Please refer to the solicitation for further details.  For questions about the solicitation please contact Sunil Narumalani, a program director in the Geography & Spatial Sciences Program and also a managing program director for this new opportunity, snarumal [at] nsf [dot] gov.