Opportunity Information: Apply for 14 524
Apply for 14 524
- The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Processes and Systems" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041 Engineering Grants 47.070 Computer and Information Science and Engineering 47.075 Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences.
- This funding opportunity was created on Sep 11, 2014 and posted on Dec 20, 2013.
- Applicants must submit their applications by This opportunity is waiting for new publication.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $15,000,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,500,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
- Who May Serve as PI Because this program is meant to support interdisciplinary research, a minimum of three investigators is required per project, the Principal Investigator (PI) and two or more co Investigators from the lead or participating institutions who are eligible to serve as PI or co PI on NSF proposals submitted through their respective institutions. In order to ensure an interdisciplinary approach to studying ICIs principal investigators should represent three or more distinct disciplinary areas as described in this solicitation (computer science engineering social, economic, and behavioral sciences). Additional PIs or senior personnel may be added to cover other interdisciplinary needs of the project. The appropriateness of the research teams disciplinary composition and expertise will be factors in the merit review of the proposals (see Additional Review Criteria section).
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Opportunity Summary:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Processes and Systems (RIPS) grant opportunity focuses on improving how the United States designs, operates, and protects critical infrastructure when disruptions occur. The program starts from a basic reality: major infrastructure sectors do not function in isolation. Power, fuel, transportation, communications, and other essential services rely on one another in ways that can create cascading failures. A common example is the fuel-electricity-transportation loop: power plants need fuel deliveries that depend on transportation networks, fuel production and distribution often require electricity, and transportation systems themselves need fuel. RIPS is aimed at research that treats these connected systems as interdependent services and processes, not just as standalone engineering assets, and then builds the science needed to keep those services working under stress.
At the center of RIPS are three broad goals. First, NSF wants to build and strengthen an interdisciplinary research community that generates new knowledge about infrastructures viewed as service-delivery systems. Second, the program seeks deeper understanding and better design of interdependent critical infrastructure systems (ICIs) so they can continue providing essential goods and services even when facing disruptions and failures of any kind, whether natural (storms, earthquakes), technological (equipment failures, software faults), or malicious (cyberattacks, sabotage). Third, RIPS is intended to create knowledge that enables innovation in ICIs, not only to reduce risk but also to open the door to new services and societal benefits that come from smarter, more adaptive infrastructure.
The solicitation lays out three core research objectives. One major emphasis is on creating theoretical frameworks and multidisciplinary computational models that can represent interdependent infrastructures, processes, and services and can predict complex system behavior when the system changes or when policies change. This is not limited to simulation for its own sake; the intent is analytical prediction that can help decision makers understand tradeoffs, anticipate unintended consequences, and evaluate interventions. A second objective is to synthesize new approaches that measurably increase resilience and improve interoperation, performance, and readiness across ICIs. In practice, that can include strategies for limiting cascading failures, improving recovery, hardening key dependencies, enhancing adaptability under uncertainty, and designing operational protocols that work across sectors. The third objective explicitly brings in the human and institutional side: understanding organizational, social, psychological, legal, political, and economic barriers that prevent resilience improvements, and identifying practical strategies to overcome those obstacles. That means proposals are expected to confront issues like governance, incentives, regulation, information-sharing constraints, public behavior, organizational decision processes, and the economics of investing in resilience.
RIPS strongly prefers, and effectively requires, proposals that integrate across cyber-physical systems, engineering, and the social, behavioral, and economic (SBE) sciences. The program describes the work it wants as transformative and interdisciplinary, aimed at ensuring infrastructure services are effective, efficient, dependable, adaptable, resilient, safe, and secure. Projects are expected to study multiple infrastructures and to treat them as coupled systems that deliver services. Proposals that do not broadly integrate engineering/computing with SBE perspectives may be returned without review, signaling that a single-discipline approach or a narrow technical-only plan is not aligned with the program. Data is also part of the expectation: projects may collect new data or use curated existing data depending on the award category, but a primary objective is integrative predictive modeling that uses data for validation and can be integrated into real decision-making contexts.
From an administrative and funding standpoint, this is a discretionary NSF research grant opportunity in the science and technology R&D category. The funding opportunity number is NSF 14-524, and it was posted December 20, 2013, with full proposals due March 19, 2014 (Type I and Type II proposals). The opportunity is archived as of September 11, 2014 and noted as waiting for new publication, meaning the specific solicitation described is no longer open under that archived posting. NSF anticipated about 20 awards with an estimated total funding level of $15,000,000. Individual award sizes ranged from a floor of $300,000 to a ceiling of $2,500,000, and there was no cost sharing or matching requirement. The program spans multiple NSF funding tracks as reflected in the CFDA listings: Engineering (47.041), Computer and Information Science and Engineering (47.070), and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (47.075).
Team composition is a defining feature of eligibility and merit. Because the program is designed to support interdisciplinary research, each project must include at least three investigators: a principal investigator (PI) plus two or more co-investigators from the lead or participating institutions. The solicitation also states that, to ensure a truly interdisciplinary approach, the investigators should represent three or more distinct disciplinary areas relevant to the program, explicitly including computer science, engineering, and social/economic/behavioral sciences. Teams can add additional senior personnel as needed, and the appropriateness of the team’s disciplinary coverage and expertise is considered during merit review. In effect, RIPS is structured to fund research that combines robust technical modeling of interconnected infrastructure with realistic treatment of human institutions, policy constraints, and economic incentives, producing validated predictive tools and actionable insights that improve resilience across multiple interdependent sectors.
NSF RIPS (Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Processes and Systems) Grant FAQs
What is the NSF RIPS grant opportunity?
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Processes and Systems (RIPS) program is a research grant opportunity focused on improving how the United States designs, operates, and protects critical infrastructure services when disruptions occur. It emphasizes that major infrastructure sectors are interdependent and can experience cascading failures.
What does RIPS mean by "interdependent" infrastructure?
RIPS treats infrastructure sectors as coupled service-delivery systems rather than isolated engineering assets. The program highlights that power, fuel, transportation, communications, and other essential services rely on one another in ways that can amplify failures across sectors.
Can you give an example of infrastructure interdependence discussed in the opportunity?
Yes. The opportunity describes a common loop involving fuel, electricity, and transportation: power plants need fuel deliveries that rely on transportation networks; fuel production and distribution often require electricity; and transportation systems need fuel. A disruption in one part of the loop can trigger cascading impacts in the others.
What are the main goals of the RIPS program?
RIPS is organized around three broad goals: (1) building and strengthening an interdisciplinary research community focused on infrastructures as service-delivery systems; (2) improving understanding and design of interdependent critical infrastructure systems so essential services continue during disruptions; and (3) generating knowledge that enables innovation in interdependent infrastructures, reducing risk while enabling new services and societal benefits.
What kinds of disruptions does RIPS consider?
The program is concerned with disruptions and failures of many kinds, including natural events (such as storms and earthquakes), technological issues (such as equipment failures and software faults), and malicious actions (such as cyberattacks and sabotage).
What are the core research objectives described in the solicitation?
The solicitation identifies three core objectives: (1) develop theoretical frameworks and multidisciplinary computational models that represent interdependent infrastructures and can predict complex behavior under system or policy changes; (2) synthesize approaches that measurably improve resilience, interoperation, performance, and readiness across interdependent critical infrastructures; and (3) understand and address organizational, social, psychological, legal, political, and economic barriers to implementing resilience improvements.
Is RIPS mainly about simulation, or something more?
RIPS emphasizes analytical prediction, not simulation for its own sake. The intent is predictive modeling that helps decision makers understand tradeoffs, anticipate unintended consequences, and evaluate interventions in interdependent systems.
What types of research activities could support measurable resilience improvements?
The opportunity points to research that can limit cascading failures, improve recovery, harden key dependencies, enhance adaptability under uncertainty, and design operational protocols that work across infrastructure sectors.
How important are human and institutional factors in RIPS proposals?
They are explicitly central. The third objective requires attention to organizational, social, psychological, legal, political, and economic barriers, along with practical strategies to overcome issues such as governance, incentives, regulation, information-sharing constraints, public behavior, organizational decision processes, and the economics of resilience investments.
Does RIPS require interdisciplinary integration across technical and social sciences?
Yes. The solicitation strongly prefers and effectively requires integration across cyber-physical systems, engineering, and social, behavioral, and economic (SBE) sciences. Proposals that do not broadly integrate engineering/computing with SBE perspectives may be returned without review.
Do projects need to cover multiple infrastructure sectors?
Yes. Projects are expected to study multiple infrastructures and treat them as coupled systems that deliver services.
What does the program mean by focusing on services and processes rather than assets?
RIPS prioritizes research that models and improves the delivery of essential goods and services under stress (such as energy supply, mobility, communications availability), rather than focusing only on individual physical components. The goal is to keep services functioning despite disruptions affecting dependent systems.
Is data collection required, or can teams use existing datasets?
Data is an expected part of the work. Projects may collect new data or use curated existing data depending on the award category, but a primary objective is integrative predictive modeling that uses data for validation and can be integrated into real decision-making contexts.
What is the funding opportunity number for this solicitation?
The funding opportunity number is NSF 14-524.
When was this opportunity posted, and when were proposals due?
It was posted on December 20, 2013. Full proposals were due March 19, 2014 for Type I and Type II proposals.
Is this RIPS solicitation currently open?
No. The opportunity is archived as of September 11, 2014 and is noted as waiting for new publication, meaning the specific solicitation described is no longer open under that archived posting.
How many awards did NSF anticipate making under this solicitation?
NSF anticipated about 20 awards.
What was the estimated total funding level?
The estimated total funding level was $15,000,000.
What were the minimum and maximum award sizes?
Individual award sizes ranged from a minimum (floor) of $300,000 to a maximum (ceiling) of $2,500,000.
Was cost sharing or matching required?
No. The solicitation stated there was no cost sharing or matching requirement.
What type of grant program is this from an administrative standpoint?
This is a discretionary NSF research grant opportunity in the science and technology R&D category.
Which NSF/CFDA program areas are associated with RIPS?
The solicitation lists multiple CFDA areas reflecting its cross-disciplinary scope: Engineering (47.041), Computer and Information Science and Engineering (47.070), and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (47.075).
What are the minimum team composition requirements?
Each project must include at least three investigators: one principal investigator (PI) plus two or more co-investigators from the lead or participating institutions.
Does the team need to span specific disciplines?
Yes. The solicitation states investigators should represent three or more distinct disciplinary areas relevant to the program, explicitly including computer science, engineering, and social/economic/behavioral sciences.
Can teams include additional personnel beyond the PI and co-investigators?
Yes. Teams can add additional senior personnel as needed, and the appropriateness of the team disciplinary coverage and expertise is considered during merit review.
How does NSF evaluate whether a team is appropriate for RIPS?
The opportunity indicates that the appropriateness of the team, including disciplinary coverage and expertise, is considered during merit review, reflecting the program emphasis on genuinely interdisciplinary research.
What is the intended impact of RIPS-funded research?
RIPS aims to produce validated predictive tools and actionable insights that help keep interdependent infrastructure services effective, efficient, dependable, adaptable, resilient, safe, and secure, especially under stress and disruption.
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