Application Notes:

Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis and must be received by 5:00 p.m. applicant's local time.

The program officer confirmed proposals are currently accepted on a rolling basis.

Proposals must be submitted online at www.research.gov or www.ecivis.com/grants.gov. All collaborative proposals arranged as separate submissions from multiple organizations must be submitted via www.research.gov.

Proposals submitted via Research.gov must include:

• Single-copy documents
• Cover sheet
• Project summary (1 page max)
• Table of contents
• Project description (15 pages max)
• References cited
• Budget
• Budget justification (5 pages max)
• Subaward budget justification (if applicable; 5 pages max each)
• Facilities, equipment, and other resources
• Senior/key personnel documents
• Special information and supplementary documentation

Proposals submitted via Grants.gov must include:

• SF 424 (R&R)
• Project/performance site location(s)
• Research and related other project information
• Research and related budget
• R&R subaward budget attachment(s) (if applicable)
• NSF cover page
• NSF senior/key person profile (expanded)
• NSF deviation authorization (if applicable)
• NSF list of suggested reviewers or reviewers not to include (if applicable)

Refer to the NSF Proposal Guide or the NSF Grants.gov Guide for additional information on proposal formatting.

In addition to standard research proposals, applicants may submit other types of proposals to this program. Refer to pages 76-93 of the NSF Proposal Guide file for additional information regarding other types of proposals.

The following are required in order to submit an application:

• Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
• SAM (System for Award Management) registration

Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam.

All proposals will be evaluated according to the following merit review criteria:

• Intellectual merit
• Broader impacts

Proposals for multi-investigator medium projects will be evaluated according to the following additional criteria:

• Extent to which the project scope justifies the level of investment requested, and the degree to which the collaboration plan adequately demonstrates that the participating investigators will work synergistically to accomplish the project objectives
• Whether key personnel, and especially lead PIs, have allocated adequate time for both their individual technical contributions and the leadership of collaborative activities necessary to realize the synergistic effects of larger-scale research

Proposals for TTP projects will be evaluated according to the following additional criteria:

• Degree to which the project plan addresses system development milestones and an evaluation plan for the working system
• Degree to which a target user group or organization that will serve as an early adopter of the technology is identified
• Deployment plan for implementing the capability or prototype system into an operational environment
• Novelty of the intended system, software, or architecture
• Composition of the project team, which should demonstrate not only technical expertise but also skills in project management and systems development
• Appropriateness of the budget for the effort
• Extent of collaboration with the university technology transfer office (TTO) or similar organization from the PI's institution

Refer to the NOFA file, the NSF Proposal Guide, and the NSF Grants.gov Guide for additional application information.

Match Notes:

Matching funds are not required for this program. Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing in the proposal budget is prohibited; however, applicants may contribute voluntary uncommitted cost sharing.

Funding Notes:

An estimated total of $69 million is expected to be available per year to support approximately 90 awards through this program, as follows:

• Education (EDU) projects: Approximately 15 awards will be distributed to EDU projects. In general, EDU projects are limited to $400,000 in total budget with a duration of up to three years. Applicants for projects that demonstrate a collaboration between a cybersecurity subject matter expert and an education researcher may request up to $500,000 for three years.
• Small projects: Approximately 35 awards will be distributed to small projects. Small projects are limited to $600,000 in total budget with a duration of up to three years.
• Medium projects: Approximately 25 awards will be distributed to medium projects. Medium projects may range from $600,001 to $1.2 million in total budget with a duration of up to four years.

The program officer confirmed the funding information is up to date for the current fiscal year.

Applicants are discouraged from seeking project start dates between July 2 and September 30 of a given year.

Award recipients may authorize a one-time extension of the award period of up to 12 months if additional time beyond the established end date is required to assure adequate completion of the original scope of work within the funds already made available. If additional time beyond the extension is required and exceptional circumstances warrant, award recipients must submit a formal extension request to the funding agency.

Project budgets must include funding for one or more project representatives to attend the first principal investigator (PI) meeting held after the beginning of the award.

Core research (CORE) projects that meet one or more of the following criteria are discouraged:

• Projects that address a sole vulnerability or device without advancing security science or considering the broader consequences of the proposed remedy
• Projects that simply address quick fixes or ad-hoc solutions without much scientific merit
• Projects that involve research focused primarily on the design and development of offensive techniques for exploiting vulnerabilities of systems that could be harmful to the operation of existing cyberinfrastructure and/or at odds with ethical, legal, and diplomatic concerns and U.S. rules and regulations

In general, funding will not support:

• Technical assistance
• Pilot plant efforts
• Research requiring security classification
• Product development for commercial marketing
• Market research for a particular project or invention
• Biological research on mechanisms of disease in humans, biological research to develop animal models of such conditions, or the development or testing of procedures for their treatment
• Payment of fees

Examples of ineligible costs include:

• Entertainment
• Meals and coffee breaks
• Alcoholic beverages
• Rental of property owned by individuals or entities affiliated with National Science Foundation (NSF) award recipients for use as home office workspace
• Procuring or obtaining the equipment, services, or systems identified in section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)