Funding-NSF - Dear
Colleague Letter - United States and United Kingdom Clean Water Collaboration;
May 1, 2013
Agency
Name
National
Science Foundation
Synopsis
The Global
Grand Challenges Summit initiative between the national academies of
engineering in the UK, US, and China brings together leading international
engineers, future engineers, innovators, and policy makers to share their ideas
on solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. This event is based on
the firmly held belief that future solutions to these global challenges will
rely on cooperation, both interdisciplinary and international. In the context
of the Grand Challenges Summit, the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) and NSF announce a joint, parallel activity to
encourage collaborative research between leading researchers and students from
the UK and US. The basis of the activity will be to add value to the existing
engineering portfolios in both nations through the supplementation of existing
grants to enable collaboration, for example through travel and people
exchanges.
The provision of
clean water is a global issue with societal, health, and economic implications.
It has been identified by the international research community, including the US
National Academy of Engineering, as a grand challenge for engineering in
the area of sustainability. In the global context, particularly when addressing
clean water issues, researchers and educators must be able to operate effectively
in teams with partners from different nations and cultural backgrounds.
The NSF Directorate
for Engineering (ENG) announces a special opportunity for collaborative
research with UK-based research groups in the area of clean water. This NSF/ENG
activity complements the recently begun NSF Graduate
Research Opportunities Worldwide effort, and it parallels a
call from the EPSRC. This cooperative effort promotes excellence in
engineering research through international collaboration and facilitates
development of a diverse, globally-engaged, US engineering workforce.
ENG will consider
supplement funding requests for collaborative research with UK-based research
groups in the area of clean water. Within clean water research, areas of
particular interest include water treatment and purification, water reuse,
storm water use, the water-energy nexus, urban water sustainability, and the
resilience of water infrastructures. The supplement funding requests must be
for existing active NSF awards that are managed by any ENG program officer.
Supplement funding requests must be within the scope of the existing NSF active
parent award.
The supplement budget
request must not to exceed $50,000,and the duration of
the proposed activities must not exceed one year. The funds are to be used
either to support the students of US-based researchers (and the researchers, if
appropriate) as guest collaborative researchers in appropriate UK research
settings, or for supporting students of UK-based researchers (and researchers)
in appropriate US-based research settings. (However, funds may not be requested
to cover transportation costs for UK-based researchers and/or their students to
and from the US; such costs will have to be covered by non-NSF sources.)
Prior to submitting a
supplement funding request as described in this Dear Colleague Letter, an email
request for authorization to submit such a supplement request must be sent
simultaneously to the following NSF/ENG program officers:
The email request for
authorization to submit the supplement funding request must provide:
Email requests for
authorization to submit a supplement request must be received by May 1, 2013,
and authorized supplement requests must be received by May 30, 2013. ENG
intends to award up to 20 supplements by September 30, 2013, for UK
collaborative research on clean water, subject to availability of funds.
Authorized supplement
requests must be submitted through FastLane and must
address NSF merit review criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts,
and include a concise, substantive summary of the proposed plan for research
and general interaction between the student(s)/researcher and the proposed UK
research partners (including justification for the length of time proposed for
the international research benefits to be derived from the project). The email
authorization received from the Program Director must also be included as a
supplemental document. Finally, the request must describe how the
student(s)/researcher will:
Sincerely,
Pramod P. Khargonekar
Assistant Director
Directorate for Engineering
Announcement
Number:
NSF 13-082
Link
to Full Announcement
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13082/nsf13082.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click