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NSF BIGDATA (16-512) Grant Opportunity FAQs

1) What is the NSF BIGDATA program (Funding Opportunity Number 16-512)?

NSF BIGDATA is a National Science Foundation research program formally titled "Critical Techniques, Technologies and Methodologies for Advancing Foundations and Applications of Big Data Sciences and Engineering." It supports research that advances the interdisciplinary field of data science by developing new ideas and methods and/or applying them in demanding real-world settings in ways that still produce genuine methodological innovation.

2) What kinds of work is NSF trying to fund through this solicitation?

The program is aimed at meaningful advances in how large, complex data are collected, managed, analyzed, interpreted, and ultimately used to drive discovery and decision-making. It emphasizes core methodological progress in areas such as computer science, statistics, computational science, and mathematics, paired with (or motivated by) challenging problems across science and engineering domains.

3) What are the two main proposal tracks under this solicitation?

The solicitation is organized into two proposal tracks:

• Foundations (F): projects developing or studying fundamental theory, methods, and technologies that are broadly applicable to big data challenges across domains.
• Innovative Applications (IA): projects addressing a specific high-impact big data problem in at least one domain, while also delivering clear methodological innovation (not simply applying existing tools).

4) How do I decide between a Foundations (F) proposal and an Innovative Applications (IA) proposal?

A Foundations proposal fits when the main expected contribution is generalizable: new algorithms, mathematical frameworks, statistical approaches, computational methods, or system-level techniques intended to transfer across many datasets and scientific problems. An Innovative Applications proposal fits when the work is driven by a specific domain problem, but still includes a strong innovation component in data science methods or techniques, ideally with relevance beyond the single use case.

5) What does NSF mean by "Foundations" in this program?

"Foundations" refers to research that advances fundamental theory, methods, and technologies for big data in ways that are broadly useful regardless of scientific domain. The expectation is that the outcomes are generalizable and applicable across many kinds of big data challenges.

6) What does NSF mean by "Innovative Applications" in this program?

"Innovative Applications" refers to research that tackles an important big data problem in a particular domain while also contributing real innovation in methods. IA proposals are not intended to be routine or straightforward uses of established tools; NSF expects a clear explanation of what is novel and how it advances data science as well as the application area.

7) Is cross-disciplinary collaboration required?

Cross-disciplinary collaboration is explicitly required for the Innovative Applications (IA) track. IA projects must include domain researchers (for example, in education, biology, geosciences, or social science) working closely with one or more methodological researchers (for example, in computer science, statistics, mathematics, simulation, or modeling).

8) What does NSF expect from collaboration in an IA proposal?

The solicitation frames the hardest big data problems as sitting at the intersection of domain needs and methodological limitations. For IA proposals, teams are expected to connect theory, computation, and practical constraints, showing how the collaboration enables advances that would be difficult to achieve within a single discipline.

9) Can an IA project focus more on theory, more on experiments, or both?

Yes. The solicitation indicates IA projects may emphasize new theoretical analysis, careful experimental evaluation in realistic settings, or a combination. Regardless of emphasis, the proposal should clearly demonstrate novelty and explain how it advances data science, not only the application domain.

10) What scientific or engineering domains are considered relevant?

The opportunity is open to a wide range of scientific and engineering domains, including (but not limited to) social and behavioral sciences, geosciences, education, biology, physical sciences, and engineering. NSF notes broad openness across participating NSF directorates, as long as the work clearly advances big data foundations or innovative, methodologically meaningful applications.

11) Is this program only about the "3 Vs" of big data (volume, velocity, variety)?

No. While volume, velocity, and variety are commonly cited, NSF highlights additional issues that are central to credible and usable results, especially data quality and provenance, and the role of visualization throughout the big data lifecycle.

12) Why does the solicitation emphasize data quality and provenance?

The program emphasizes that data-driven outputs should communicate how trustworthy the results are and where the data came from in ways users can understand and act on. Proposals are implicitly encouraged to address uncertainty, bias, missingness, data lineage, and how these factors propagate through analyses and conclusions.

13) How does NSF describe "data quality" in this context?

The solicitation notes that "quality" can mean different things in different fields. It gives an example from education research where quality may involve measurement validity and instrument quality, and where variables may be combined to represent underlying constructs. This signals that strong proposals should define quality in a domain-appropriate way and show how it is handled through the analytic pipeline.

14) What role does visualization play in this BIGDATA solicitation?

Visualization is treated as a critical tool across the big data lifecycle, not a final add-on. NSF is interested in visualization techniques and models that support initial data assessment, exploration, interpretation, and scientific discovery, including in scalable and robust ways.

15) Who are the intended users for visualization-related advances mentioned in the solicitation?

The solicitation points to multiple audiences, including expert data producers, data users, and "cross-over" scientists who may be new to big data analytics. It also mentions instructors and students using data in undergraduate and graduate education.

16) Does the program care about how people interpret and use analytic results?

Yes. The solicitation highlights visualization and communication of trustworthiness and provenance, which ties directly to how real users make sense of complex results and act on them. It also signals interest in how visual interfaces support reasoning and decision-making and how visualization integrates with search, query processing, and analytics.

17) Is BIGDATA a good fit for any data-related or computational project?

No. NSF explicitly signals that BIGDATA is not a catch-all for anything involving data or computation. The focus is specifically on research advances that address big data challenges with clear methodological contributions and/or transformative application-driven innovation.

18) What other NSF programs are suggested if a project does not align with BIGDATA?

The solicitation advises applicants to check related NSF programs before applying when the main goal is not aligned with BIGDATA's emphasis, including:

• CCDNI (Campus Cyberinfrastructure - Data, Networking, and Innovation): for deployable campus cyberinfrastructure pilots intended to serve a broad community.
• CDS&E (Computational and Data Enabled Science and Engineering): for work that is computational and data-enabled but not specifically centered on big data issues.
• XPS (Exploiting Parallelism and Scalability): for projects mainly focused on software scaling and parallel performance.

19) What is the maximum award amount (award ceiling) for this opportunity?

The award ceiling listed is $2,000,000.

20) How many awards does NSF expect to make under this cycle?

The opportunity description states an expected 35 awards for the cycle described.

21) What are the key dates listed for this solicitation?

The posting and creation date is November 10, 2015, and the closing date listed is February 9, 2016.

22) What type of grant opportunity is this?

It is described as an NSF discretionary grant opportunity.

23) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning it is broadly open to different types of applicant organizations, subject to any additional eligibility clarifications contained in the full solicitation.

24) What CFDA numbers are associated with this opportunity?

The opportunity is categorized under NSF research and development CFDA numbers: 47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, and 47.076. These reflect the multi-directorate, cross-cutting nature of the program across NSF-supported disciplines.