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Software Infrastructure for Sustained Innovation

U.S. National Science Foundation · Opportunity 15-553

Who can apply

• Others

*Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following: -For-profit organizations: U.S.-based commercial organizations, including small businesses, with strong capabilities in scientific or engineering research or education and a passion for innovation. -Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies and similar organizations located in the U.S. that are directly associated with educational or research activities. -Other Federal Agencies and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs): Prospective proposers from other Federal Agencies and FFRDCs, including NSF sponsored FFRDCs, must follow the guidance in PAPPG Chapter I.E.2 regarding limitations on eligibility. -Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs): Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Special Instructions for International Branch Campuses of US IHEs: If the proposal includes funding to be provided to an international branch campus of a US institution of higher education (including through use of sub-awards and consultant arrangements), the proposer must explain the benefit(s) to the project of performance at the international branch campus, and justify why the project activities cannot be performed at the US campus. - Proposals that capitalize upon productive intellectual partnerships involving investigators from academe, industry and/or other types of organizations, including international entities, are encouraged. While NSF will consider supporting SI<sup>2</sup> activities undertaken by SBIR-eligible organizations through subawards, other for-profit entities and international partners must support their participation in SI<sup>2</sup> projects from other funding sources. For those who plan to submit a proposal with international counterparts, please con

About this opportunity

SoftwareInfrastructure for Sustained Innovation (SI2) is a long-term investment focused on realizing a portion of the Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CIF21, http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504730) vision and catalyzing new thinking, paradigms and practices in science and engineering. CIF21 envisions a linked cyberinfrastructure architecture that integrates large-scale computing, high-speed networks, massive data archives, instruments and major facilities, observatories, experiments, and embedded sensors and actuators, across the nation and the world, and that enables research at unprecedented scales, complexity, resolution, and accuracy by integrating computation, data, and experiments in novel ways. Software is a primary modality through which CIF21 innovation and discovery will be realized. It permeates all aspects and layers of cyberinfrastructure (from application codes and frameworks, programming systems, libraries and system software, to middleware, operating systems, networking and the low-level drivers). The CIF21 software infrastructure must address the complexity of this cyberinfrastructure, accommodating: disruptive hardware trends; ever-increasing data volumes; data integrity, privacy, and confidentiality; security; complex application structures and behaviors; and emerging concerns such as fault-tolerance and energy efficiency. The programs must focus on building robust, reliable and sustainable software that will support and advance sustained scientific innovation and discovery.
 The Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure in the Computer & Information Science & Engineering Directorate (CISE/ACI) is partnering with Directorates and Offices across the NSF to support SI2, a long-term comprehensive program focused on realizing a sustained software infrastructure that is an integral part of CIF21. The goal of this program is to catalyze and nurture the interdisciplinary processes required to support the entire software lifecycle, resulting in sustainable community software elements and reusable components at all levels of the software stack. The program addresses software in all aspects of cyberinfrastructure, from embedded sensor systems and instruments, to desktops and high-end data and computing systems,to major instruments and facilities. The goal of the overall SI2 program is to create a software ecosystem that scales from individual or small groups of software innovators to large hubs of software excellence. It is envisioned that the SI2 program will collectively support vibrant partnerships between academia, government laboratories and industry, including international entities, for the development and stewardship of a sustainable software infrastructure that can enhance productivity and accelerate innovation in science and engineering. The SI2program includes three classes of awards: 1. Scientific Software Elements (SSE): SSE awards target small groups that will create and deploy robust software elements for which there is a demonstrated need that will advance one or more significant areas of science and engineering. 2. Scientific Software Integration (SSI):SSI awards target larger, interdisciplinary teams organized around the development and application of common software infrastructure aimed at solving common research problems faced by NSF researchers in one or more areas of science and engineering. SSI awards will result in a sustainable community software framework serving a diverse community or communities. 3. Scientific Software Innovation Institutes (S2I2): S2I2s are an integral part of the SI2 software ecosystems and focus on the establishment of long-term hubs of excellence in software infrastructure and technologies, which will serve a research community of substantial size and disciplinary breadth. The outcomes of S2I2 go beyond the software itself, including the software development infrastructure and process, successfully responding to science challenges, and enabling transformative new science. These institutes will provide expertise, processes and architectures, resources and implementation mechanisms to transform computational science and engineering innovations and community software into robust and sustained software infrastructure for enabling science and engineering, which in turn will transform research practices and productivity. S2I2 proposals will bring together multidisciplinary teams of domain scientists and engineers, computer scientists and software engineers, technologists and educators. This solicitation is focused on the Scientific Software Innovation Institutes (S2I2) class of awards. S2I2 includes two subclasses of awards: Conceptualization Awards, which are planning awards aimed at organizing an interdisciplinary community and understanding their software requirements and challenges, and Implementation Awards, which will be made to implement community activities that support software infrastructure, for example, such as those developed by the conceptualization awards. Please refer to (i) A Vision and Strategy for Software for Science, Engineering, and Education(NSF 12-113)and (ii) Implementation of NSF Software Vision (http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504817) for further information about NSF's vision for software as part of cyberinfrastructure and the programs that support this vision. Conceptualization Proposals: Successful conceptualization proposals must reflect the quality, commitment, and planning that will be needed to lead to full Implementation awards. Specific NSF unit interests follow, though these are not meant to limit potential proposals: The CISE Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure is particularly interested in proposals that address the set of broad issues related to general SI2software, including sustainability, software lifecycle/ecosystem, governance, verification & validation, reproducibility, etc. The Biological Scien

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