Cyberinfrastructure Centers of Excellence | PD 20 139Y

Opportunity Information: Apply for PD 20 139Y

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Cyberinfrastructure Centers of Excellence (CI CoE) opportunity is designed to strengthen the nations advanced research cyberinfrastructure ecosystem, meaning the shared computing, data, software, networking, and related services that power modern science and engineering research and education. NSF is aiming for an ecosystem that is agile, well integrated, robust, trustworthy, and sustainable, because research needs and technologies are changing quickly and becoming more complex. A central motivation behind the program is that researchers should be able to access and use state of the art cyberinfrastructure easily and effectively, without unnecessary barriers, and in a timeframe that matches the pace of research.

At its core, the program funds centers that act as hubs of expertise and innovation focused on specific needs, gaps, or stakeholder communities within the broader cyberinfrastructure landscape. Rather than building a single monolithic national resource, NSF is concentrating support into targeted centers that can improve how cyberinfrastructure is designed, operated, adopted, and used. These centers are expected to be strongly user focused and to promote interoperability, so that tools and services work well together and support end to end research workflows. Another major emphasis is broad dissemination: knowledge, guidance, and best practices should not stay within a small expert circle, but should be shared widely so more of the research community can fully benefit from national cyberinfrastructure investments.

CI CoEs are expected to deliver a mix of practical services and community leadership. Typical activities include scanning the horizon for emerging technologies and disruptions, identifying new opportunities and unmet needs, and developing proactive strategies for design and adoption. They are also expected to convene and nurture communities of stakeholders and experts around their focus area, with the long term aim of creating self sustaining communities of practice that can continue to evolve and share knowledge beyond the award period. In addition, centers commonly provide training, outreach, and hands on support services that help target user communities make effective use of cyberinfrastructure, whether that is through documentation, workshops, consultation, or other forms of technical assistance.

NSF anticipates that specific CI CoE topics will often be shaped by identified gaps in the ecosystem, and the agency may use Dear Colleague Letters to signal particular areas of interest and encourage proposals in those directions. The opportunity also allows for a pathway that starts with pilot efforts: NSF may make initial investments in two year pilot CI CoE projects intended to test concepts, build plans, and demonstrate feasibility through early activities. Successful pilots can then serve as stepping stones toward proposals for full scale centers. Support levels for pilots can vary depending on what is being proposed and the scope of work.

In terms of lifecycle, full CI CoEs are generally expected to operate for five years, with the possibility of renewal. Renewals depend on performance reviews, NSF priorities, whether there is still a demonstrated national need for the center, and the availability of funds, all consistent with NSF merit review principles. The opportunity is a discretionary grant program (CFDA 47.070) with proposals accepted at any time, and it is broadly open in eligibility (unrestricted), unless additional eligibility clarifications are stated elsewhere in the solicitation materials.

A particularly important procedural requirement is that prospective applicants must discuss their project concept with the relevant CI CoE Program Director(s) before submitting a proposal. The proposal must include documentation of that discussion as a supplementary document. Proposals submitted without this documented prior conversation are returned without review, so early engagement with NSF program staff is effectively mandatory.

Key published details include an award ceiling of $3,000,000 and an expectation of about three awards, though actual selections and amounts can vary by topic, scope, and available funding. NSF frames the CI CoE model as a way to concentrate resources where they can most improve national cyberinfrastructure capabilities and performance, and it points to existing examples such as Trusted CI (the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence) to illustrate the kind of community serving, best practice driven role these centers can play.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cyberinfrastructure Centers of Excellence" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.070.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 07, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Proposals accepted anytime. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for PD 20 139Y

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