Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Engineering, through its Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI), is offering a discretionary grant program designed to move quickly on high-potential, fast-emerging areas of fundamental engineering research. The purpose of EFRI is to concentrate attention and resources on topics that are just coming into focus but are likely to reshape the engineering landscape, especially when progress depends on interdisciplinary collaboration. This particular solicitation (NSF 10-596) emphasizes transformative, high-risk/high-reward ideas that could produce a meaningful shift in underlying engineering knowledge and position the nation to address major long-term needs or grand challenges.

For this funding cycle, EFRI is specifically inviting proposals in two targeted frontier areas. The first area is Engineering New Technologies Based on Multicellular and Interkingdom Signaling (MIKS), which centers on how signaling and communication occur across cells, multicellular systems, and even across kingdoms (for example, interactions involving bacteria, plants, animals, fungi, or other biological domains). The intent is to use deeper understanding of these signaling mechanisms as an engineering foundation for entirely new technologies, not simply incremental biological studies. The second area is Mind, Machines, and Motor Control (M3C), which focuses on the relationships between cognition, intelligent machines, and the control of movement. This topic sits at the intersection of engineering, computation, neuroscience, and control, aiming to advance fundamental principles that could influence how machines interact with humans, how motor behavior is understood and modeled, and how control systems are designed for complex, adaptive tasks.

The opportunity is structured around interdisciplinary team research. Proposals are expected to bring together expertise that would not typically be found within a single discipline, reflecting EFRI's broader goal of accelerating progress at the boundaries between fields. The solicitation is coordinated with multiple NSF directorates (including Engineering, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, and Biological Sciences), which signals that competitive projects will often span traditional program lines and must be framed in a way that speaks to core engineering advances while leveraging relevant biology and computing where appropriate.

Funding is substantial and intended to support ambitious projects. NSF anticipates making about 14 awards, with an estimated total program budget of $31 million. Individual awards are expected to fall between $1 million (award floor) and $2 million (award ceiling). There is no cost sharing or matching requirement, which reduces administrative burden for applicants and reinforces that proposal merit and alignment with EFRI goals are the primary determinants of funding.

Eligibility is centered on U.S. academia. The lead organization must be a U.S. academic institution that conducts research and offers degree-granting programs in fields typically supported by NSF. Eligible institutions include accredited two-year and four-year colleges and universities (including community colleges) with a campus located in the United States, submitting on behalf of their faculty. Proposals may be submitted by a single eligible institution or by a group of organizations led by an eligible academic institution partnering with one or more additional organizations. Team composition requirements are explicit: the project must include at least one Principal Investigator and at least two co-Principal Investigators, and the PI(s) must be at the faculty level as defined by the submitting institution.

While funding is routed through the academic lead, the program encourages broader collaboration when it strengthens the research. Investigators are encouraged to build synergistic relationships with government laboratories, industry, and international organizations as appropriate for the research goals. However, NSF funds from this solicitation will not be provided directly to government labs, industry, or foreign organizations. For projects where industry engagement is important, the solicitation points to NSF's GOALI mechanism (Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry) as an established pathway to structure certain university-industry interactions.

The submission process includes multiple required steps and specific deadlines, reflecting the program's competitive and carefully staged review pipeline. A required Letter of Intent was due October 4, 2010 (by 5 p.m. local time of the proposer). A required preliminary proposal was due November 8, 2010 (also by 5 p.m. local time). Full proposals were due April 1, 2011. The solicitation was posted August 13, 2010, and the original and current closing dates both reflect the April 1, 2011 deadline for full proposal submission.

EFRI also planned proactive outreach to help applicants understand the program goals and requirements. An information workshop/webcast was scheduled for September 16, 2010, with details to be posted on the EFRI website. For applicants needing assistance accessing the announcement or navigating submission logistics, NSF provided a grants.gov support contact (grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov). Overall, this opportunity is best understood as NSF Engineering's mechanism for catalyzing large, interdisciplinary teams to pursue frontier foundational research in two sharply defined areas, with the expectation that successful projects will create new engineering directions rather than incremental advances.

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