NSF Data Infrastructure Building Blocks Grant

This grant offered by the National Science Foundation focuses on developing sustainable cyberinfrastructure to facilitate innovation in science and engineering. The Data Infrastructure Building Blocks grant supports research activities in conceptualization, implementation, and interoperability of data preservation and access technologies. Awards aim to create a sustainable data infrastructure that is discoverable, searchable, accessible, and usable across various scientific disciplines. Partnering with different NSF Directorates, this grant addresses the challenge of managing diverse, complex data sets and streams. Researchers can contribute to cross-community infrastructure development, reducing duplicative efforts and enhancing the interoperability of disparate data sets. Closing date for applications is on Jul 26, 2012.

Opportunity ID: 169375

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General Information

Document Type::	Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number::	12-557
Funding Opportunity Title::	Data Infrastructure Building Blocks
Opportunity Category::	Discretionary
Opportunity Category Explanation::
Funding Instrument Type::
Category of Funding Activity::	Science and Technology and other Research and Development
Category Explanation::
Expected Number of Awards::	19
Assistance Listings Number(s)::	47.080 — Office of Cyberinfrastructure
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement::	No
Version::	Synopsis 1
Posted Date::	May 07, 2012
Last Updated Date::
Original Closing Date for Applications::	Jul 26, 2012
Current Closing Date for Applications::	Jul 26, 2012
Archive Date::	Sep 30, 2012
Estimated Total Program Funding::	$ 41,500,000
Award Ceiling::	$8,000,000
Award Floor::	$100,000

Eligibility

Eligible Applicants::

Others (see text field entitled “Additional Information on Eligibility” for clarification)

Additional Information on Eligibility::

*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.

*PI Limit:PIs and Co-PIs may only apply to one of the three tracks, although they may be senior personnel on more than one.

Additional Information

Agency Name::	National Science Foundation
Description::	Science and engineering research and education are increasingly digital and increasingly data-intensive. Digital data are not only the output of research but their analysis provide input to new hypotheses, enabling new scientific insights, driving innovation and informing education. Therein lies one of the major challenges of this scientific generation: how to develop, implement and support the new methods, management structures and technologies to store and manage the diversity, size, and complexity of current and future data sets and data streams. NSF’s vision for a Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CIF21) considers an integrated, scalable, and sustainable cyberinfrastructure as crucial for innovation in science and engineering (see www.nsf.gov/cif21). Data Infrastructure Building Blocks is an integral part of the CIF21 portfolio and seeks to provide support for the following research activities: Conceptualization: Conceptualization Awards are planning awards aimed at further developing disciplinary and interdisciplinary communities’ understanding of their data storage and management requirements with the goal of developing an initial prototype. Any activity that brings the community together to address common problems, further refine requirements and avoid unnecessary and wasteful duplication of resources and efforts will be eligible for funding. Funded activities could include focused workshops, special sessions at professional meetings, focus groups, etc. Awards will be up to 1 year in duration. The output of a conceptualization award will be design specifications for creating a sustainable data infrastructure that will be discoverable, searchable, accessible, and usable to the entire research and education community. Implementation: Implementation awards will support development and implementation of technologies addressing a subset of elements of the data preservation and access lifecycle, including acquisition; documentation; security and integrity; storage; access, analysis and dissemination; migration; and deaccession. These data preservation and access technologies will enable science and engineering research, such that the scientific and engineering problems serve as use cases for data technology development. Awards will be up to 5 years in duration. Interoperability: Interoperability awards will develop frameworks that provide consistency or commonality of design across communities and implementation for data acquisition, management, preservation, sharing, dissemination, etc. This includes data and metadata format and content conventions, standardized constructs or protocols, taxonomies, or ontologies. The development of interoperability frameworks through community-based mechanisms provides a means for ensuring that existing conventions and practices are appropriately recognized and integrated, that implementation is made realistic and feasible, and, most importantly, that the real needs of the community are identified and met. Awards will be up to 3 years in duration. The Office of CyberInfrastucture (OCI) is partnering with Directorates and Offices across the foundation to support DIBBs, a program to develop data infrastructure usable by multiple scientific disciplines, recognizing these disciplines may vary in their current state of development. The goal of DIBBs is to foster cross-community infrastructure development that solves common problems, while building blocks of data infrastructure that can support and provide data solutions to a broader range of scientific disciplines while reducing duplicative efforts. In particular, the Geosciences Directorate is interested in using DIBBs to support its EarthCube activities, seeking to develop data infrastructure building blocks needed across and beyond the geosciences community. Context and objectives for EarthCube can be found at EarthCube.ning.com. Math and Physical Sciences will use DIBBs in support of existing efforts to ensure disparate data are widely interoperable; will consider proposals for efforts that are complementary to existing infrastructure; and will consider proposals that offer availability, accessibility, and broad usability to heterogeneous data sets. The Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences encourages SBE scientists to utilize DIBBS to follow-up on activities begun by our other CIF21 initiatives: META-SSS (www.nsf.gov/pubs/2011/nsf11583/nsf11583.htm) and, together with the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, BCC-SBE/EHR (www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504747&org=OCI). For information on the priorities of other Offices/Directorates please contact the appropriate CIF21 representative, listed on the CIF21 contact page (www.nsf.gov/cif21).
Link to Additional Information::
Grantor Contact Information::	If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, please contact:

Version History

Version	Modification Description	Updated Date
Synopsis 1

Package Status

Below are CLOSED Opportunity Package(s) no longer available for this Funding Opportunity:

Package No: 1

Assistance Listings:	47.080
Competition ID:
Competition Title:
Opportunity Package ID:	PKG00123771
Opening Date:	May 07, 2012
Closing Date:	Jul 26, 2012
Agency Contact Information::	Robert Chadduck
Who Can Apply::	Organization Applicants
mendatory_forms	SF424 (R & R) [V1.2] Project/Performance Site Location(s) [V1.4] Research And Related Other Project Information [V1.3] Research And Related Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) [V1.2] Research & Related Personal Data [V1.2] Research & Related Budget [V1.1] NSF Cover Page [V1.3]
optional_forms	R & R Subaward Budget Attachment(s) Form [V1.2] NSF Deviation Authorization [V1.1] NSF Suggested Reviewers [V1.1] NSF FastLane System Registration [V1.3]