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Environmental Health and Safety of Nanotechnology (Nano EHS) - FAQs

1) What is the NSF Nano EHS program focused on?

The National Science Foundation's Environmental Health and Safety of Nanotechnology (Nano EHS) program funds research aimed at understanding and reducing environmental and biological risks that can come with nanotechnologies. The emphasis is on fundamental, engineering-driven research that explains how engineered nanomaterials behave in real-world systems and how potential harms can be measured, predicted, prevented, or mitigated across the full life cycle (production, use, and end-of-life).

2) What kinds of projects is NSF looking for under Nano EHS?

The program emphasizes projects that develop or improve ways to understand, measure, and control adverse effects of nanotechnology on the environment and biological systems. Competitive projects typically focus on underlying engineering science rather than treating safety as an add-on.

3) What are the priority research topics mentioned for Nano EHS?

Priority topics include:

• Methods to anticipate how nanoparticles interact with environmental media (water, soil, air, and biological matter) and with the human body.
• Predictive approaches to toxicity that can forecast hazards before they become widespread problems.
• Fate and transport of engineered nanoparticles and their byproducts (how they move, transform, persist, or accumulate once released).
• Risk assessment and risk management for nanomaterials in environmental contexts, including frameworks, models, and tools to evaluate exposure pathways, uncertainty, and potential control strategies.

4) Does the program support work on engineering solutions that reduce risk, not just measuring it?

Yes. In addition to hazard and exposure science, the solicitation signals interest in practical, forward-looking engineering solutions that reduce environmental burdens at the source. Examples include cleaner nanomaterials production processes, waste reduction strategies, recycling approaches, and "industrial ecology" perspectives that consider system-level material flows, resource use, and environmental tradeoffs across supply chains.

5) What does "industrial ecology" mean in the context of this program?

Within Nano EHS, "industrial ecology" refers to system-level thinking about nanotechnology across supply chains, including material flows, resource use, waste generation, and environmental tradeoffs from production through end-of-life. Proposals can be competitive by designing processes that proactively prevent risk and reduce waste, not only by characterizing risks after the fact.

6) Are biomedical clinical trials allowed under this program?

No. Biomedical and nanotoxicology work that involves clinical trials is explicitly excluded from the program's current scope. The program is centered on environmental health and safety questions and engineering principles rather than clinical testing or human subject trial-based biomedical research.

7) If a project is near the boundary between environmental EHS and biomedical research, how should it be positioned?

Applicants working near that boundary are expected to position their work firmly within environmental and engineering EHS objectives. The solicitation draws a clear boundary excluding clinical trials, so proposals should clearly align with environmental health and safety of nanotechnology and engineering-driven research goals.

8) What is the typical project duration for unsolicited awards?

Unsolicited awards typically run one to three years.

9) What is the typical award size, and what happens if the budget is much larger?

The solicitation notes an average annual award size of about $100,000. It also warns that proposals requesting substantially more than this may be returned without review unless the principal investigator consults the Program Director first. This is presented as a procedural risk, not only a budgeting preference.

10) Should applicants contact the NSF Program Director before submitting?

Yes in multiple situations. The solicitation strongly recommends contacting the Program Director to confirm fit, especially for creative projects outside the listed topic areas, because proposals can be returned without review if they do not align with program expectations. Prior discussion is also required for certain proposal mechanisms (see RAPID/EAGER FAQ).

11) Are projects outside the listed topic areas allowed?

Potentially. The solicitation states that creative projects outside the listed topic areas may be considered, but it strongly recommends contacting the Program Director before submission to confirm fit and reduce the risk of an administrative return without review.

12) What does NSF expect regarding novelty or being "transformative"?

Like other NSF CBET programs, proposals are expected to clearly articulate what is novel or potentially transformative compared to prior work, and why the research advances engineering science rather than only producing incremental applied results. The solicitation highlights that the novelty or transformative aspect should appear at minimum in the Project Summary.

13) Does the program expect discussion of broader impacts or downstream impacts?

Yes. Proposals should communicate potential downstream impacts on society and/or industry if the work succeeds, in addition to explaining the engineering-science advances.

14) If a proposal receives strong reviews, is funding guaranteed?

No. The solicitation notes that even strong reviews do not guarantee funding. The Program Director must consider portfolio balance across subfields, available funds, overlaps with other funding sources, prior project performance information, and broader NSF policies and priorities.

15) Can early-career faculty apply through NSF CAREER for Nano EHS-related work?

Yes. The opportunity encourages early-career faculty to consider applying through the NSF CAREER mechanism, which has a five-year duration and an annual July deadline for engineering CAREER proposals.

16) Are conferences, workshops, or supplements supported?

The program can consider proposals for conferences, workshops, and supplements, ideally during the regular proposal window. The solicitation recommends discussing these ideas with the Program Director ahead of time.

17) Are RAPID and EAGER proposals allowed, and what is required?

For special mechanisms like RAPID (rapid response research) and EAGER (early concept exploratory research), prior discussion with the Program Director is required before submission.

18) Is this specific Nano EHS listing still active?

This specific listing (PD 13-1179) is archived and was replaced by PD 14-1179. However, the summary is described as still reflecting the program's intent and typical expectations.

19) What was the estimated total funding and expected number of awards when this listing was active?

When it was active, the estimated total program funding was about $4.9 million with an expected 53 awards.

20) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility was listed as unrestricted (open to any entity type), subject to any additional eligibility notes in the full announcement.

21) Are proposals accepted at any time?

No. Submissions were only accepted during announced proposal windows. Unsolicited proposals submitted outside those windows were returned without review, so timing is a key administrative requirement.

22) What are common reasons a proposal might be returned without review (administrative return)?

Based on the solicitation summary, proposals may be returned without review if they are submitted outside announced proposal windows, if they request substantially more than the typical budget without prior consultation with the Program Director, or if they are not a good fit with program scope (especially without confirming fit in advance for topics outside the listed areas).