Past Opportunites

I-GUIDE Virtual Poster Competition

Data-Intensive Convergence Science: FAIR Geospatial Data for Sustainability Research — April 29-30, 2024 · Virtual · 

USGIF Scholarships

USGIF offers scholarships to students ranging from graduating high school seniors to those pursuing a PhD. The application period for USGIF scholarships runs from January 22, 2024 – May 31, 2024.

Provide Input – International Research

The National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland (NFLC-UMD) is working on a project to document the ways in which US university researchers incorporate research from other countries into their work. Do they only draw on work published in English in the top journals, or do they leverage international press releases, news reports, industry bulletins, or other sources to stay abreast of advances in other countries? University of Illinois faculty are invited to take a 3-minute survey that addresses these questions. Faculty can to complete the survey even if they don’t access research in other languages.
The link to the survey for University of Illinois faculty members is here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JYVJRXK

ARLIS – Summer Internship for Hard Security Problems

The Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS) at the University of Maryland, College Park, is seeking undergraduate and graduate students to participate in the Research for Intelligence & Security Challenges (RISC) Initiative internship program. This 10-week paid program pairs students with faculty mentors from INSURE consortium member institutions and the Department of Defense (DOD) and Intelligence Community (IC) and offers the opportunity to be sponsored for a security clearance and to be considered for future employment with the U.S. government.

 

 

2022 NFI Sponsored Intensive Summer Research – Call for Proposals

The New Frontiers Initiative (NFI) at the University of Illinois is now accepting proposals from UIUC faculty for 2022 summer appointments. Up to one month of summer salary will be provided to selected faculty to support a concentrated research effort that further builds on research that utilized or benefited from Blue Waters and will help expand Illinois’ activities and contributions to national security and safety while supporting the NSF’s goals to “promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity and welfare; to secure the national defense…” Proposed research that relates to national security is encouraged, including efforts aligned with the intelligence and defense communities.

A range of research topics will be considered, as there have been many fields of science advanced through the use of Blue Waters. Although not required, preference may go to proposed research in core areas that align with national security and/or geo-intelligence. Some examples of this research include advanced analytics and modeling, data management, modern software engineering, and artificial intelligence. Other areas of interest include geospatial cyber intelligence (intelligence from the association of geospatial information with data in cyberspace), predictive analytics, radar technologies, space technologies, spectral sciences, geology, epidemiology, gravity, earth magnetics and geophysics, bathymetry (particularly satellite based), computer vision and object detection, change detection, sensemaking, digital elevation models, natural language processing and other areas.

The hope is this investment will better position your research to enhance potential contributions to national security and preparedness.  We encourage you to visit the NFI web site and review some recent documents and strategies that have been released by the federal government.

Proposal Guidelines: — Submissions Due 11:59 p.m. April 22, 2022 —

Submissions should include:

  • Proposer’s name, title, department, contact information
  • If you used Blue Waters include the PI, Project Title, Year(s) of use
  • The proposal should be 2-3 pages in overall length and include:
    • Executive summary (to be shared with the public if awarded)
    • Research description and goals
    • Relationship to Blue Waters’ Research
    • Proposed measures of success or progress if awarded

To submit proposals, go to: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/796172573

Review Criteria

  • the clarity and potential benefits of the research goals
  • perceived potential to help the University of Illinois and NFI engage in new research opportunities such as Broad Agency Announcements and planned opportunity announcements in the national security and preparedness
  • likelihood to lead to further collaborations and new relationships with other funding organizations
  • the degree the proposed research is related to Blue Waters research and builds upon previous science results
  • how well this research relates to national security and national intelligence topics and needs

The New Frontiers Initiative (NFI) is an activity of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation (OVCRI) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that partners with federal agencies on research, development and educational projects to bring Illinois’ expertise to bear.  At the end of the research period recipients will provide a report (up to 5 pages) and a presentation of the research and findings achieved. Also, recipients may be asked to participate in follow-up meetings and opportunities.

This opportunity is for up to a month of summer salary for Illinois faculty to fund projects conducted between May 16 and August 15, 2022.  Up to a second month of support for an individual faculty member will be considered if a second, independent proposal is submitted and it describes how it would build on the progress from the first proposal.  Academic Professionals may be considered if they are approved to serve as a PI on behalf of UIUC and if they do not already receive 12 months of funding.

Proposals are due at 11:59 pm on April 22, 2022. Successful recipients will be notified in early May.

Submit Proposal

Contact: newfrontiers@illinois.edu

FY2022-2026 Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) S&T Investment Landscape RFI 

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) announced renewed plans to engage with the U.S. academic, research, and science and technology (S&T) community.  ODNI’s Intelligence S&T Partnership (In-STeP) will act as the primary interface for participants to propose solutions to Intelligence Community (IC) technology domains and mission requirements.  Interested organizations are directed to this Request for Information (RFI) on SAM.gov, which contains instructions for submitting proposals and participating in FY 2022 funding opportunities. The RFI closes on May 28, 2022, at 4pm ET.  Proposers are encouraged to read the FY 2022-2026 ODNI S&T Investment Landscape to determine how their research may complement an IC focus area.

The Research for Intelligence & Security Challenges (RISC) Initiative – Faculty Mentor Program

RISC is seeking faculty mentors for its summer internship program.  Summer funding is available.

New Frontiers Initiative Sponsored Intensive Summer Research

The New Frontiers Initiative (NFI) at the University of Illinois is now accepting proposals from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty for 2021 summer funding. Up to one month of summer funding will be provided to selected faculty to support a concentrated research effort that aligns with the mission and needs of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. NFI is also seeking to work with researchers to integrate the proposed research into responses to NGA’s Broad Agency Announcements (BAA). Details on the current Research BAA can be found at https://beta.sam.gov/ (solicitation number HM0476-20-BAA-0001). A range of research topics will be considered. Some core areas that align with geo-intellience (GEOINT) and geospatial research includes advanced analytics and modeling, data management, modern software engineering, and artificial intelligence. Other areas of interest include geospatial cyber intelligence (intelligence from the association of geospatial information with data in cyberspace), predictive analytics, radar, space, spectral sciences, geology, epidemiology, gravity, earth magnetics and geophysics, bathymetry (particularly satellite based), computer vision and object detection, change detection, digital elevation models and other areas. Proposal Guidelines: – Submissions Due April 23rd, 2021 –

To submit proposals, go to: Submit NFI Summer Research Proposal Review Criteria Review criteria include:

  • how well the proposed research will help the University of Illinois and NFI engage in new research opportunities
  • likelihood to lead to further collaborations and new relationships with NGA and/or related organizations.

The New Frontiers Initiative (NFI) is an activity of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation (OVCRI) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that partners with federal agencies on research, development and educational projects to bring Illinois’ expertise to bear. NFI has an existing partnership with the NGA. The NGA includes academia in its Innovation Ecosystem and seeks partnerships and collaboration to address difficult geospatial-intelligence problems and advance NGA’s mission. More information about NGA and its mission is available at https://www.nga.mil/ and details about NGA’s technology focus areas are available at https://www.nga.mil/cto/technology-focus-areas.html. At the end of the research period recipients will need to provide a report (up to 5 pages) and a presentation of the research and findings achieved. Also, recipients may be asked to participate in follow-up meetings and opportunities and eventually may be required to obtain a US security clearance. This opportunity is for up to one summer month funding for faculty on the Urbana-Champaign campus; support for graduate students will not be available in summer 2021 but may be available for the fall 2021 semester. Proposals are due at 11:59 pm on April 23, 2021. Successful recipients will be notified in early May. Submit Proposal Contact: newfrontiers@illinois.edu   

 

New Frontiers Initiative Graduate Fellowships

The New Frontiers Initiative Graduate Fellowships provide PhD students with a year of full-time research support. Applications for 2021/2021 Academic year closed April 5, 2021.