Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace | Apply Online

NSF Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) (NSF 12-596) - FAQs

What is the NSF Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) opportunity (NSF 12-596)?

NSF 12-596 (SaTC) was a National Science Foundation grant opportunity designed to fund research and education that strengthens the security and resilience of cyberspace. It treated cybersecurity as a broad, interdisciplinary problem and encouraged work spanning technical, mathematical, engineering, and social science approaches.

What goals and strategy did the solicitation emphasize?

The solicitation was grounded in the federal cybersecurity research and development strategy advanced in December 2011 by the National Science and Technology Council. It emphasized "changing the game" against cyber threats, curbing misuse of cyber technologies, improving education and workforce training, building a rigorous science of cybersecurity, and transitioning promising results into real-world use.

What kinds of disciplines and approaches were encouraged?

SaTC explicitly encouraged interdisciplinary approaches combining computer and information science with mathematics and statistics, engineering, and social science perspectives, reflecting the idea that cybersecurity progress often requires both technical and human-centered solutions.

What are the three main SaTC research perspectives?

The solicitation invited proposals under three primary research perspectives: Trustworthy Computing Systems (TWC), Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE), and Transition to Practice (TPP).

What is the Trustworthy Computing Systems (TWC) perspective?

TWC focuses on making computing and networked systems more secure, reliable, and resilient through technical advances. Example topic areas listed included system design, software and hardware security, formal methods, privacy, and robust architectures.

What is the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) perspective?

SBE targets the human and organizational dimensions of cybersecurity. Example topic areas listed included user behavior, incentives, decision-making, policy impacts, usability, risk communication, and the economics of security.

What is the Transition to Practice (TPP) perspective?

TPP is oriented toward moving research outcomes beyond prototypes by maturing, validating, and deploying them in practical environments. This includes organizational settings and real networks and endpoints used by the NSF science and engineering community.

Can proposals combine more than one perspective?

Yes. The program welcomed integrated proposals that deliberately combined two or more perspectives (TWC, SBE, and/or TPP), reflecting the view that meaningful cybersecurity progress often requires integration across technical and human factors.

What project size categories were available for research proposals?

The solicitation offered three research project size categories: Small, Medium, and Frontier. Each category had its own total budget and maximum duration limits.

What are the budget and duration limits for Small research projects?

Small projects could request up to $500,000 total, for up to three years.

What are the budget and duration limits for Medium research projects?

Medium projects ranged from $500,001 to $1,200,000 total, for up to four years.

What are the budget and duration limits for Frontier research projects?

Frontier projects ranged from $1,200,001 to $10,000,000 total, for up to five years.

What is the optional "Transitions" component?

For proposals submitted under the Trustworthy Computing Systems (TWC) and/or Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) perspectives, SaTC included an optional "Transitions" component that supported concrete plans to operationalize successful research results.

Is the optional "Transitions" component available for all perspectives?

Based on the solicitation summary provided, the "Transitions" option applied to proposals under TWC and/or SBE. The information provided did not state that it applied to TPP proposals.

What did applicants have to submit to use the optional "Transitions" component?

Applicants submitted a supplemental document of no more than five pages describing how results would be further developed, matured, and experimentally deployed in organizations or industries, including test and deployment contexts relevant to NSF-supported research communities.

How much additional budget was allowed when using the "Transitions" option?

When included, proposals could exceed the standard maximum budgets by up to $167,000 for Small projects, $400,000 for Medium projects, and $750,000 for Frontier projects.

Why did the "Transitions" option allow budgets to exceed the normal caps?

The solicitation summary attributed the increase to added costs associated with piloting, integration, and experimental deployment.

Were there cybersecurity education-only awards under this solicitation?

Yes. In addition to research proposals, SaTC separately solicited Cybersecurity Education projects intended to focus exclusively on cybersecurity education.

What were the budget and duration limits for Cybersecurity Education projects?

Cybersecurity Education projects were capped at $300,000 with durations up to two years.

Could Cybersecurity Education proposals be submitted under the research perspectives (TWC, SBE, or TPP)?

No. Education proposals were intended to focus exclusively on cybersecurity education and may not be submitted under the three research perspectives.

How did NSF position Cybersecurity Education proposals relative to research proposals?

The structure indicated NSF wanted a clear pathway for education innovations (such as curricula, training models, or other educational interventions) to be reviewed on their own terms rather than as add-ons to research projects.

Was cost sharing or matching required?

No. The opportunity stated there was no cost sharing or matching requirement.

What type of NSF funding opportunity was this administratively?

It was described as a discretionary NSF grant opportunity under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category.

Who was eligible to apply?

The opportunity was broadly open to eligible applicants and described as unrestricted, subject to any additional eligibility details in the full solicitation.

How many awards and how much total funding were anticipated?

NSF anticipated making about 70 awards, with an estimated total funding level of $74.5 million.

What was the maximum award size under this solicitation?

The maximum award ceiling was $10 million, aligned with the Frontier project cap.

When was the solicitation posted and when did it close?

The opportunity was originally posted on August 13, 2012, with an original closing date of November 30, 2012.

Is NSF 12-596 still open?

No. The opportunity is archived and has been replaced by NSF 13-578.

What program areas or CFDA areas were associated with this solicitation?

The solicitation was tied to multiple NSF program areas, reflected in CFDA listings spanning engineering; mathematics and physical sciences; computer and information science and engineering; social and economic sciences; education and human resources; and cyberinfrastructure.

What kinds of work could SaTC support across its research categories?

Across Small, Medium, and Frontier categories, the program supported work ranging from focused investigations to larger, multi-investigator efforts aimed at major advances in cybersecurity.

What does "Transition to Practice" mean in the context provided?

In the provided summary, "Transition to Practice" referred to maturing, validating, and deploying research outcomes in practical environments, including real organizational contexts and real networks/endpoints relevant to the NSF science and engineering community.