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Cyber Enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI) - FAQs

1) What is the Cyber Enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI) program?

Cyber Enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) initiative intended to accelerate advances in science and engineering by making computational thinking a core driver of research discovery. CDI treats computational thinking broadly, including computational concepts, models, algorithms, methods, and enabling tools that can change how researchers frame questions and generate knowledge.

2) What kind of research is CDI trying to support?

CDI is positioned as intentionally bold and high risk, with an emphasis on transformative results. The program aims for outcomes that can be paradigm-shifting across disciplines and that may, over time, contribute to economic growth and improved quality of life.

3) How does CDI define "computational thinking"?

In CDI, computational thinking is not limited to programming. It includes the broader toolbox of computational ideas and capabilities such as modeling, algorithms, abstraction, simulation, prediction, and other cyber-enabled methods and tools used to drive discovery.

4) What are the main thematic areas CDI proposals should fit within?

CDI invites multidisciplinary proposals that fit within or span three thematic areas: (1) From Data to Knowledge, (2) Understanding Complexity in Natural, Built, and Social Systems, and (3) Building Virtual Organizations.

5) What does "From Data to Knowledge" focus on?

This theme focuses on converting massive and diverse digital data into usable knowledge. It includes efforts that support new ways of extracting insight from heterogeneous datasets and work that enhances human cognition in the process of turning data into understanding.

6) What does "Understanding Complexity in Natural, Built, and Social Systems" focus on?

This theme targets fundamental advances in analyzing systems with many interacting parts, including systems exhibiting stochastic, nonlinear, and chaotic behavior. Example domains mentioned include engineered infrastructure, ecological systems, and social dynamics.

7) What does "Building Virtual Organizations" focus on?

This theme emphasizes collaboration and organizational models for cyber-enabled research. It supports approaches that connect people, expertise, and resources across institutions, geography, and cultures to expand the scale and speed of discovery.

8) What kinds of project directions and impacts does NSF expect under CDI?

NSF highlights directions such as identifying patterns and structure in very large datasets, using computation to deepen understanding in science and engineering, and developing new approaches to abstraction, modeling, simulation, and prediction for complex systems.

9) How broad is the intended scientific scope of CDI?

The scope is intentionally expansive, spanning scales from subatomic to galactic, subcellular to biosphere, and individual to societal. The program is designed to support computationally enabled advances across a wide range of disciplines.

10) Are education and workforce development part of CDI expectations?

Yes. Proposals are encouraged to train future scientists and engineers to create and use advanced cyber resources. The program also emphasizes strengthening broad participation in STEM as part of its education and workforce development goals.

11) Does CDI encourage collaboration across disciplines and organizations?

Yes. Boundary-crossing collaboration is a recurring emphasis. The solicitation encourages multidisciplinary efforts and also notes that partnerships may involve industry and international entities when such involvement advances CDI goals.

12) What is the Funding Opportunity Number for this CDI solicitation?

The Funding Opportunity Number is 08-604.

13) What type of federal funding mechanism is this opportunity?

This was offered as a discretionary NSF grant program within the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category.

14) Which NSF areas or directorates does CDI relate to?

CDI cut across many NSF directorates and programs, reflected in the solicitation's wide range of CFDA numbers. Areas listed include Engineering; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Geosciences; Computer and Information Science and Engineering; Biological Sciences; Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences; Education and Human Resources; Polar Programs; International Science and Engineering; and the Office of Cyberinfrastructure.

15) How many awards and how much total funding did NSF anticipate?

NSF anticipated around 30 awards with an estimated total funding level of $26,000,000.

16) Was cost sharing or matching required?

No. The solicitation stated that cost sharing or matching was not required.

17) What award types were supported in the FY2009 CDI competition?

For the FY2009 competition, NSF supported Type I and Type II awards.

18) What is a Type I CDI award (team size and duration)?

Type I projects were intended for a relatively small team and described as roughly comparable to summer support for two investigators with complementary expertise, support for two graduate students, and associated research costs (materials, supplies, travel) over a three-year period.

19) What is a Type II CDI award (team size and duration)?

Type II awards were designed for larger efforts and described as roughly comparable to summer support for three investigators, three graduate students, and one or two additional senior personnel (which could include postdoctoral researchers or staff), plus research costs, over four years.

20) What special integration expectation applied to Type II awards?

A key requirement for Type II was genuine integration. NSF expected the combined effort to produce outcomes that were clearly greater than what each team member could achieve independently.

21) Was a Type III award category part of this solicitation?

NSF described a possible future expansion, subject to available funds, to include a Type III category. Type III awards were envisioned for even larger multidisciplinary teams for up to five years, but they were described as a future expansion rather than part of the FY2009 Type I and Type II competition.

22) What would Type III awards have looked like (as envisioned by NSF)?

Type III awards were envisioned to support larger multidisciplinary teams with multiple senior investigators, multiple graduate students, several senior personnel, and supporting research needs, for up to five years. NSF emphasized that the integrative contribution should exceed simple additive collaboration, meaning the synthesis of expertise should be essential to achieving the goals.

23) Who was eligible to apply?

Eligibility was primarily oriented toward U.S.-based institutions engaged in education or research. Eligible applicants included accredited U.S. universities and colleges (two-year and four-year, including community colleges) applying on behalf of faculty, and non-profit, non-academic organizations such as independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, and professional societies associated with educational or research activities.

24) Can non-academic organizations participate?

Yes. The solicitation explicitly included non-profit, non-academic organizations (for example, independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, and professional societies) associated with educational or research activities as eligible applicants.

25) Are industry and international partners allowed?

The solicitation encouraged productive partnerships that can involve academia, industry, and other organizations, including international participants, when such partnerships align with CDI objectives.

26) Did CDI require preliminary proposals before full proposals?

Yes. The competition schedule required preliminary proposals prior to full proposals.

27) When were full proposals accepted for Type I and Type II?

Full proposals for Type I and Type II were accepted during a submission window from April 20, 2009 through May 20, 2009, by 5 PM local time of the proposer.

28) When was the opportunity posted and when was it archived?

The opportunity was originally posted on September 9, 2008, and it was later archived on March 5, 2010.

29) Where are additional official details referenced?

Additional details were referenced under NSF Publication 08-604.

30) Is CDI limited to a single discipline?

No. CDI is explicitly multidisciplinary and spans many NSF directorates and research communities, with themes and expected impacts that cut across scientific, engineering, and social science domains.