June 23, 2021
Dear Colleagues:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) supports fundamental research that is collaborative between the computer and information science and engineering (CISE) and the social, behavioral, and economic sciences (SBE) fields. This research empowers our Nation to address great challenges and seize transformative opportunities. Through scientific advances and subsequent applications of these advances, research jointly supported by NSF's CISE and SBE Directorates spurs innovation, creates jobs, strengthens security and preparedness, and improves quality of life for people across the country and around the world.
The CISE and SBE Advisory Committees recently held joint meetings to discuss research areas of mutual interest, resulting in a joint working group that engaged members of the research communities in exploring critical societal problems at the intersection of the sciences funded by the two directorates. The discussion added to the CISE and SBE directorates' ongoing recognition of possibilities for transformative research from collaboration between CISE and SBE researchers. The purpose of this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) is to acquaint the CISE and SBE communities, whose members may be unaware of these funding opportunities, with recent programs either dedicated to such collaborations or welcoming of them. These programs are in addition to the many Foundation-wide programs at NSF that are encouraging of cross-disciplinary and cross-directorate projects more generally and that also would support CISE-SBE collaborations. The cross-directorate programs are included in the DCL for completeness. This DCL is a reminder of the opportunities available to researchers and of our directorates' interest in furthering these collaborations.
To inform and assist interested researchers, this DCL lists recent NSF programs that are especially suitable for CISE-SBE researcher collaboration. Each program is hyperlinked to the corresponding NSF webpage. To show the scope of recent offerings, the list includes both current programs with future deadlines, as well as some programs with only past deadlines. Programs may or may not be updated and reissued. Please keep in mind that deadlines and target dates vary in when they fall and in the frequency with which they recur.
All programs list a contact email and usually directorate-specific cognizant program directors. We urge researchers to contact those program directors with any questions they may have. Many program directors welcome brief inquiry letters well in advance of deadlines. Concerning the categories below, please note that the research infrastructure programs (including Major Research Instrumentation and Mid-scale Research Infrastructure) only support efforts that develop resources for the research community; they do not fund research utilizing those resources.
CISE Programs
SBE Program
Sincerely,
Margaret Martonosi
Assistant Director, Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Arthur Lupia
Assistant Director, Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences