Past Opportunites – New Frontiers Initiative

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

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 –

Proposer’s name, title, department, contact information
2-3 pages in overall length
Executive summary (to be shared with the public if awarded)
Research description and goals
Description of how this research aligns with NGA mission and technology focus areas. See the below sites for more information about:
- NGA’s mission: https://www.nga.mil/about/1596052185524_Mission.html
- NGA’s strategy: https://www.nga.mil/about/1599073030478_Strategy.html
- NGA’s technology focus: https://www.nga.mil/cto/technology-focus-areas.html
- NGA’s description: https://www.nga.mil/about/1595956020452_About_Us.html
Resource requirements (if any)
- Please indicate if time and/or storage on Blue Waters will be needed.
- Other resource requirements

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.

Full Fellowship Description

The New Frontiers Initiative Graduate Fellowships provide PhD students with a year of full-time research support, including:

$38,000 stipend
up to $12,000 in tuition allowance
an allocation of up to 100,000 node-hours on the powerful Blue Waters petascale computing system

Applications are being accepted through April 5 for the 2021-2022 fellowships; recipients will be notified at the end of May. Women, minorities, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Applicants must be:

enrolled in a full-time PhD program at an accredited U.S. educational institution
a U.S. citizen or permanent resident by April 5,
in the second or later year of their graduate program with a well-developed research proposal.

Preference will be given to applicants engaged in geospatial and geointelligence research projects at scale that combine disciplines such as computer science, applied mathematics, and computational science applications. Find complete information on the fellowships, including a list of preferred disciplines and links to application and reference forms, at https://bluewaters.ncsa.illinois.edu/nfi/fellowships.