Opportunity Information: Apply for 10 551
Apply for 10 551
- The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Software Infrastructure for Sustained Innovation" 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 47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences 47.050 Geosciences 47.070 Computer and Information Science and Engineering 47.074 Biological Sciences 47.075 Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences 47.079 Office of International Science and Engineering 47.080 Office of Cyberinfrastructure.
- This funding opportunity was created on Mar 17, 2010 and posted on Mar 17, 2010.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 14, 2010 Letter of Intent Due Date(s) (required) (due by 5 p.m. proposers local time) May 10, 2010 Full Proposal Deadline(s) June 14, 2010. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $11,400,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 22 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
- Organization Limit Proposals may only be submitted by the following Non profit, non academic organizations Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities. Universities and Colleges Universities and two and four year colleges (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Such organizations also are referred to as academic institutions.
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Opportunity Summary:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) grant opportunity titled Software Infrastructure for Sustained Innovation (SI2) is designed to strengthen and sustain the software foundations that modern research increasingly depends on. NSF frames computation as a "third pillar" of scientific and engineering discovery, alongside theory and experiment, and positions software as a central mechanism for achieving its Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CF21) vision. The core purpose of SI2 is to move software beyond one-off research code and toward durable, widely usable, and well-supported software resources that become an integral part of the national cyberinfrastructure used across scientific and engineering fields.
SI2 emphasizes that scientific progress is being accelerated by increasingly sophisticated software, which boosts researcher productivity and enables entirely new kinds of investigations. The program is structured as a long-term investment meant to catalyze new ways of thinking about software: how it is designed, built, validated, shared, maintained, and governed over time. NSF explicitly highlights the goal of enabling research at unprecedented scale, complexity, resolution, and accuracy by integrating computation, data, networking, and experimental workflows in novel combinations. In practice, this means SI2 is not only about writing code; it is about building robust, reliable, usable, and sustainable software infrastructure and the communities and processes needed to support the full software lifecycle.
A defining feature of SI2 is its push for multidisciplinary collaboration and durable stewardship. NSF expects awardees to cultivate sustainable software communities and encourages active partnerships among universities, government laboratories, and industry. The program aims to support a broad software ecosystem spanning the entire software stack and many cyberinfrastructure contexts, ranging from embedded sensor and instrument software, to desktop tools, to high-end computing and data systems, and software tied to major instruments and facilities. The program is designed to scale from efforts led by individual innovators or small teams to larger, community-serving frameworks and, eventually, institute-level hubs of excellence.
SI2 lays out three classes of awards, each corresponding to a different scale and ambition. Scientific Software Elements (SSE) awards are intended for small teams that will create and deploy robust, needed software "elements" that encapsulate innovative research contributions. The solicitation describes SSE as roughly comparable to supporting two investigators (typically summer support), two graduate students, and associated project costs such as materials, supplies, and travel over about three years. Scientific Software Integration (SSI) awards target larger PI teams organized around shared research challenges and shared software infrastructure, with the expectation that the result will be a sustainable community software framework. SSI projects are described as roughly comparable to supporting three to four investigators, three to four graduate students, and one or two senior personnel (for example postdocs, dedicated software developers, or staff), plus associated project expenses, over three to five years. A key requirement in spirit is that the integration achieved by the SSI team should be greater than what would be produced by the individual members working independently.
The third class, Scientific Software Innovation Institutes (S2I2), is envisioned as long-term, community-wide hubs of software excellence. These institutes would provide the expertise, processes, resources, and implementation mechanisms needed to turn computational science and engineering innovations into robust, sustained tools that enable broad scientific and engineering advances. S2I2 proposals are expected to bring together wide-ranging expertise, including domain scientists and engineers, computer scientists and software engineers, technologists, and educators. However, for fiscal year 2010, NSF limited the SI2 competition to only SSE and SSI awards, with S2I2 funding opportunities planned for later solicitations beginning in FY 2011 (subject to available funds).
From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity is a discretionary NSF grant program (Funding Opportunity Number 10-551) with an estimated total funding amount of $11.4 million and an expected 22 awards. It spans multiple NSF directorates and disciplines, reflected in the listed CFDA numbers across engineering, mathematical and physical sciences, geosciences, computer and information science and engineering, biological sciences, and social, behavioral, and economic sciences, along with NSF offices tied to international science and cyberinfrastructure. The solicitation states there is no cost sharing or matching requirement.
Eligibility is oriented toward U.S.-based organizations conducting education or research activities. Eligible applicants include accredited U.S. universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges), as well as non-profit, non-academic organizations such as independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies, and similar entities associated with educational or research efforts. For the 2010 cycle, the required letter of intent deadline was May 10, 2010 (by 5 p.m. local time), and the full proposal deadline was June 14, 2010. The funding announcement was posted on March 17, 2010, and the solicitation references NSF Publication 10-551 for complete details and official requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): NSF Software Infrastructure for Sustained Innovation (SI2)
1) What is the NSF Software Infrastructure for Sustained Innovation (SI2) program?
SI2 is a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant opportunity focused on strengthening and sustaining the software foundations that modern research depends on. The program treats computation as a "third pillar" of discovery (alongside theory and experiment) and aims to advance NSF's Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CF21) vision by supporting durable, widely usable, well-supported software resources.
2) What problem is SI2 trying to solve?
SI2 is designed to move software beyond one-off research code and toward robust, reliable, usable, and sustainable software infrastructure. The intent is to ensure that research software can be maintained, validated, shared, and governed over time, becoming an integral part of national cyberinfrastructure used across science and engineering fields.
3) What types of outcomes does SI2 prioritize?
SI2 prioritizes software outcomes that are durable and broadly usable, supported by sustainable communities and processes that cover the full software lifecycle. The emphasis is not only on writing code, but also on how software is designed, built, validated, shared, maintained, and governed in the long term.
4) Is SI2 only about developing new software?
Based on the solicitation summary provided, SI2 focuses on building software infrastructure and the community and stewardship needed to sustain it. While innovation and new capabilities are part of the motivation, the program explicitly frames success as robust, reliable, usable, and sustainable software resources rather than short-lived project code.
5) How does NSF describe the role of computation and software in SI2?
NSF describes computation as a "third pillar" of scientific and engineering discovery and positions software as a central mechanism to achieve the CF21 vision. SI2 aims to enable research at unprecedented scale, complexity, resolution, and accuracy by combining computation, data, networking, and experimental workflows in new ways.
6) Does SI2 encourage multidisciplinary collaboration?
Yes. A defining feature of SI2 is multidisciplinary collaboration and durable stewardship. NSF expects awardees to cultivate sustainable software communities and encourages partnerships among universities, government laboratories, and industry.
7) What kinds of software are in scope for SI2?
SI2 is intended to support a broad software ecosystem spanning the software stack and many cyberinfrastructure contexts. Examples mentioned include embedded sensor and instrument software, desktop tools, high-end computing and data systems, and software tied to major instruments and facilities.
8) How is SI2 structured in terms of award types?
SI2 describes three classes of awards corresponding to different scales and ambitions: Scientific Software Elements (SSE), Scientific Software Integration (SSI), and Scientific Software Innovation Institutes (S2I2).
9) What is an SSE (Scientific Software Elements) award intended to support?
SSE awards are intended for small teams to create and deploy robust, needed software "elements" that encapsulate innovative research contributions. The solicitation describes SSE support as roughly comparable to two investigators (typically summer support), two graduate students, and associated project costs such as materials, supplies, and travel over about three years.
10) What is an SSI (Scientific Software Integration) award intended to support?
SSI awards target larger PI teams organized around shared research challenges and shared software infrastructure, with the expectation that the outcome will be a sustainable community software framework. The solicitation describes SSI projects as roughly comparable to supporting three to four investigators, three to four graduate students, and one or two senior personnel (for example postdocs, dedicated software developers, or staff), plus associated project expenses, over three to five years.
11) What makes an SSI project different in spirit from multiple separate projects?
A key expectation stated is that the integration achieved by the SSI team should be greater than what would be produced by the individual members working independently. In other words, the combined framework and shared infrastructure should create added value beyond parallel, uncoordinated work.
12) What is an S2I2 (Scientific Software Innovation Institute) in SI2?
S2I2 is envisioned as a long-term, community-wide hub of software excellence. These institutes would provide expertise, processes, resources, and implementation mechanisms to turn computational science and engineering innovations into robust, sustained tools that enable broad scientific and engineering advances.
13) Were S2I2 awards available in the FY 2010 SI2 competition?
No. For fiscal year 2010, NSF limited the SI2 competition to only SSE and SSI awards. S2I2 funding opportunities were planned for later solicitations beginning in FY 2011, subject to available funds.
14) What is the Funding Opportunity Number for this SI2 solicitation?
The Funding Opportunity Number is 10-551.
15) What is the estimated total funding amount and expected number of awards?
The estimated total funding amount is $11.4 million, and NSF expected to make about 22 awards.
16) Is this a mandatory or discretionary grant program?
This is a discretionary NSF grant program.
17) Is cost sharing or matching required?
No. The solicitation states there is no cost sharing or matching requirement.
18) Which NSF areas and disciplines does SI2 span?
SI2 spans multiple NSF directorates and disciplines. The solicitation references CFDA numbers across engineering, mathematical and physical sciences, geosciences, computer and information science and engineering, biological sciences, and social, behavioral, and economic sciences, as well as NSF offices tied to international science and cyberinfrastructure.
19) Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is oriented toward U.S.-based organizations conducting education or research activities. Eligible applicants include accredited U.S. universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges), as well as non-profit, non-academic organizations such as independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies, and similar entities associated with educational or research efforts.
20) Are non-academic organizations eligible?
Yes. The solicitation includes non-profit, non-academic organizations such as independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies, and similar entities connected to educational or research efforts.
21) What were the key deadlines for the 2010 SI2 cycle?
For the 2010 cycle, the required letter of intent deadline was May 10, 2010 (by 5 p.m. local time), and the full proposal deadline was June 14, 2010.
22) When was the funding announcement posted?
The funding announcement was posted on March 17, 2010.
23) Where are the official program details and requirements published?
The solicitation references NSF Publication 10-551 for complete details and official requirements.
24) What is the long-term vision behind SI2 investments?
SI2 is framed as a long-term investment intended to catalyze new ways of thinking about research software so it can be sustained over time. The program aims to make software resources integral parts of national cyberinfrastructure and to support communities and stewardship models that keep these resources robust and usable.
25) Does SI2 focus on individual projects only, or can it scale to larger efforts?
SI2 is designed to scale from efforts led by individual innovators or small teams to larger, community-serving frameworks and, eventually, institute-level hubs of excellence (S2I2, planned for later solicitations beginning in FY 2011 subject to funds).
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