2007 NSF Expeditions Proposal

Program summary

• NSF proposal homepage
• Program goals
  • To catalyze far-reaching research explorations motivated by deep scientific questions or hard problems in the computing and information fields, and/or by compelling applications that promise significant societal benefits;
  • To inspire current and future generations of Americans, especially those from under-represented groups, to pursue rewarding careers in computer and information science and engineering; and
  • To stimulate significant research and education outcomes that, through effective knowledge transfer mechanisms, promise scientific, economic and/or other societal benefits.
• Program characteristics
  • Foster research climates that nurture creativity and informed risk-taking, and value complementary research and education contributions such that the whole Expedition is greater than the sum of its parts;
  • Draw upon well-integrated, diverse teams of investigators from one or more disciplines within computer and information science and engineering, as well as investigators from other fields where necessary;
  • Stimulate effective knowledge transfer; and
  • Demonstrate experimental systems or support shared experimental facilities (including instruments, platforms and/or testbeds), where necessary, to enable discovery and learning.
• 3 awards per year (so very competitive), funded at $2M/year for 5 years
• An individual can participate in at most one pre-proposal or proposal

Deadlines

• 5 Nov 07: letter of intent (required) - title + 60 word summary
• 30 Dec 07: preliminary proposal - 10 page limit
• 1 Apr 08: full proposal - 20 page limit

Summary of first meeting

The program is very broad; we discussed

• Energy - use of networked information, computing, economics and control for significant increases in efficiency of energy usage/carbon footprint (ala the difference between an Acura Integra and a Toyota Prius).
• Interplanetary Internet - teaming up with JPL to think about how to define the architecture for a space-based Internet (network all spacecraft in the soloar system)
• Robotics/autonomy - building the next generation of information-rich, autonomous systems, ala Alice.
• Health systems - thinking through how communications/computing/control can affect health care; probably not as good a match as the other areas.