[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 147 (Thursday, July 31, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41094-41097]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-20096]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Environmental Molecular Science Institutes (EMSI): Special 
Research Opportunity (NSF 97-135); Program Announcement

    The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Mathematical 
and Physical Sciences and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of 
Energy Research (ER) announce a one-time opportunity for support of 
Environmental Molecular Science Institutes (EMSI) aimed at increasing 
fundamental understanding of natural and industrial processes and their 
interaction at the molecular level. NSF and DOE encourage cohesive, 
interdisciplinary, university-industry group efforts in basic research 
on fundamental issues that underpin the amelioration of environmental 
problems caused by societal activities such as

[[Page 41095]]

manufacturing and utilization activities that are energy- and 
pollution-intensive.
    This funding opportunity will establish one to three Environmental 
Molecular Science Institutes. Five year requests in the range of $0.5 
million to $2 million per year are appropriate. Up to $2.0 million per 
year from NSF will be made available beginning in FY98, subject to 
availability of funds. In addition, approximately $2.0 million from DOE 
in FY98, subject to availability of funds, will support specific 
activities within Institutes appropriate to DOE interests, such as 
elaborated in the supplementary information section below. This 
announcement is being made jointly by DOE and NSF to ensure that the 
strongest possible programs are supported with the limited funds 
available, to minimize multiple submissions to the two agencies, and to 
concentrate resources to realize measurable progress in focused 
research areas.
    An Institute should serve as a national model and resource for 
excellence in collaborative environmental research and in dissemination 
of results for solution of amelioration of environmental problems. To 
strengthen the probability that the proposed basic research focus will 
contribute in the future to improved technologies and processes, it is 
expected that proposals will include working collaborations with 
appropriate and relevant industries. Understanding the molecular 
behavior of complex, dynamic environmental systems is expected to 
require interdisciplinary approaches involving scientists from multiple 
departments. An Institute must have a focused research theme and 
specific goals. The organization and management structure must be 
designed to enable these goals to be met. An Institute should not be a 
collection of existing projects. Rather proposers are invited to take a 
fresh look at environmental challenges to develop a unified activity.
    Examples of appropriate research areas include, but are not limited 
to: chemical and materials synthesis or processing for pollution 
prevention; integrated understanding of speciation, sorption, 
transport, and bioavailability in a specified environment; response of 
a specific environment to chemical perturbations caused by human 
activities. The proposed activities, as an ancillary benefit, should 
help to integrate research and education and provide broadened 
experience to students. Strong institutional support for programmatic 
reinforcement of the educational activities will be considered 
positively.

Proposal Submission

    Eligibility is limited to colleges, universities, and other not-
for-profit institutions in the U.S. and its territories, as described 
in detail in the Grant Proposal Guide (NSF 95-27). Potential applicants 
are required to submit a brief preliminary proposal. All preliminary 
applications must reference this document (NSF 97-135) and five copies 
must be received by October 15, 1997. The preliminary proposal should 
include a project summary; a three-page project description that 
outlines goals, research plans, and roles of collaborators; 
biographical sketches limited to two pages per investigator; one budget 
page for the total funding requested (institutional signature is not 
required). Other general guidance and forms are provided in the NSF 
Grant Proposal Guide (NSF 9527). Proposals must be sent to: EMSI (NSF 
97-135), NSF--Room P60-PPU, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22230.
    Preliminary proposals will be evaluated by NSF and DOE staff from 
relevant disciplines in order to advise Principal Investigators on 
responsiveness to goals and priorities described above and on the 
likelihood of successful competition with other proposals in the merit 
review process. Those submitting will be informed of the result of this 
review by November 15, 1997.
    Full proposals (15 copies including the original, prepared in 
accordance with the NSF Grant Proposal Guide) must be received by 
February 1, 1998. These will be evaluated by appropriate mechanisms, 
which may include ad hoc mail review, panel review, or site visits. In 
addition to the published new NSF criteria, other factors will be 
considered, such as the potential for significant contributions to 
environmental chemistry, the strength of the collaborations planned, 
the value to education, and the potential for national leadership among 
the constituency interested in the research theme. Proposals involving 
industrial collaboration will receive preference over those of equal 
scientific merit that lack such collaboration. Activities considered 
for funding by DOE will be reviewed for excellence of the science and 
relevance to the mission of the Department and its technology programs. 
Below is Additional Information on scope, format, and review criteria.
    Grants awarded as a result of this announcement will be 
administered in accordance with the terms and conditions of NSF GC-1 
(10/95) or FDP-III (u/1/96), Grant General Conditions. Copies of these 
documents are available on www.nsf.gov under ``Grants and Awards.'' NSF 
encourages, but does not require, organizations responding to this 
announcement to contribute to the costs of the project beyond the 
minimum one-percent statutory cost-sharing requirement. However, any 
additional cost-sharing specified in the proposal will be referenced 
and included as a condition of any award resulting from this 
announcement.

 Janet G. Osteryoung, Director, Division of Chemistry, National Science 
Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22230, [email protected], 
703-306-1845
Robert S. Marianelli, Director, Chemical Sciences Division, Office of 
Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Energy Research, U.S. Department of 
Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290, 
[email protected], (301) 903-5808

Additional Information on Scope of Institutes and Full Proposal 
Format

    This letter broadly describes the nature and scope of an institute 
and is not intended to be unnecessarily prescriptive. There are many 
models and variations that may be considered, including the traditional 
understanding of an institute at a specific location, as well as 
regional or more widely distributed institutes. Proposal should include 
information that defines the institute, describes the planning process, 
defines mission and goals, describes how the desired goals will be 
achieved and how it will be determined that these goals have been 
accomplished. The proposing groups are encouraged to construct the 
appropriate organization and structure that will maximize the 
effectiveness and impact of their strengths and resources.
    The leadership of an institute should be provided by a small group, 
including a director and, as approrpratie for the size of the 
institute, an associate director and an external advisory committee. 
The director of an institute should be a respected scientist with 
demonstrated organizational, managerial, and leadership ability. An 
institute's scientific guidance should be provided by a committee of 
scientists from the participating institutions. Although a multi-
institutional consortium may be involved, a single entity must accept 
overall management responsibility in dealing with NSF.
    The NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG), NSF 95-27, describes the format 
required for proposals. The Project

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Description in the full proposal will be subject to the page 
limitations for each section described below.
    Proposals not adhering to these limits will be returned without 
review.

*Detailed description of the intellectual focus and rationale for the 
institute, its overall goals, and expected impact (3 pages, maximum);
*Planned scientific activities, including a five-year plan for phasing 
activities in or out, and the roles of the various partners (15 pages, 
maximum);
*Plans for human resource development, including involvement of 
undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students and members of under-
represented groups (2 pages, maximum);
*Description of planned outreach activities and dissemination (2 pages, 
maximum);
*Description of goals and outcomes expected and how the impact will be 
demonstrated and evaluated (2 pages, maximum);
*Description of the organizational structure of the institute, clearly 
outlining the proposed management structure, mechanisms for focusing 
institute activities, methods for selecting and integrating research 
emphases, criteria for selection of participants, allocating funds and 
equipment, and managing the involvement of other groups (4 pages, 
maximum).

    Each biographical sketch, limited to two pages, should include a 
brief summary of results of prior NSF support. Please note that letters 
describing collaborative arrangements significant to the proposals 
should be included under ``supplementary documentation.'' Only letters 
of commitment are permitted; ``endorsement'' letters may not be 
included. No appendices are permitted. Additional sources of financial 
support for the institute should be identified.

Merit Review Process

    Proposals submitted in response to this announcement will be 
subject to the NEW merit review criteria approved by the National 
Science Board on March 28, 1997 (NSB9772). Additional information on 
NSF's new merit review criteria is available in the Merit Review Task 
Force Final Report at www.nsf.gov/cgibin/getpub?nsbmr975. The new merit 
review criteria are:
What is the Intellectual Merit and Quality of the Proposed Activity?
    The following are suggested questions that the reviewer will 
consider in assessing how well the proposal meets this criterion. Each 
reviewer will address only those questions which he/she considers 
relevant to the proposal and for which he/she is qualified to make 
judgments.
    How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and 
understanding within its own field and across different fields? How 
well qualified is the proposer (individual or team) to conduct the 
project? (If appropriate, the reviewer will comment on the quality of 
prior work.) To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and 
explore creative and original concepts? How well conceived and 
organized is the proposed activity? Is there sufficient access to 
resources?
Wht Are the Broader Impacts of the Proposed Activity?
    The following are suggested questions that the reviewer will 
consider in assessing how well the proposal meets this criterion. Each 
reviewer will address only those questions which he/she considers 
relevant to the proposal and for which he/she is qualified to make 
judgments.
    How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding 
while promoting teaching, training, and learning? How well does the 
proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups 
(e.g., gender ethnicity, geographic, etc.)? To what extent will it 
enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as 
facilities, instrumentation, networks, and partnerships? Will the 
results be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological 
understanding? What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to 
society?

Additional Criteria Specific to This Activity

    In addition to these generic review criteria, reviewers will be 
asked to use the following additional criteria when reviewing proposals 
that respond to this announcement. These criteria are as follows:

* Quality of the scientific activities and their potential for 
leadership and impact on environmental chemistry and solutions to 
environmental problems;
* Extent of interdisciplinarity and the extent to which communication 
and interaction with other areas of science and engineering are 
fostered by linkages and partnerships among university research groups, 
industry, national laboratories, etc.;
* Capabilities of the institute leadership, including managerial and 
organizational ability of the director and of the proposed leadership 
team;
* Quality and anticipated effectiveness of the management plan, 
including plans for interaction among institute staff and institutional 
partners and for operation of the institute, including selection of 
activities and participants;
* Quality of the institute's education and training components, 
especially plans to attract, involve and mentor students and under-
represented groups;
* Quality and effectiveness of proposed outreach activities and 
dissemination of results;
* Clarity of mission and goals and quality of the evaluation plan;
* Level and quality of the commitment to the institute by the lead 
institution and its partners.

    A summary rating and accompanying narrative will be completed and 
signed by each reviewer. In all cases, reviews are treated as 
confidential documents. Verbatim copies of reviews, excluding the names 
of the reviewers, are mailed to the proposer by the Program Director. 
In addition, the proposer will receive an explanation of the decision 
to award or decline funding.

Supplementary Information on Topical Workshops Sponsored by NSF and 
DOE

    NSF and DOE have co-sponsored two interdisciplinary workshops to 
help define priorities for research in two areas that have been 
identified as activities responsible for complex and intransigent 
environmental problems.
    These are: (1) Vehicular Transportation and (2) Reducing Energy 
Consumption and Pollution from Energy and Pollution Intensive 
Processes.
    A critical issue identified for the 21st Century is the balancing 
of industrial activity and environmental stewardship; more knowledge is 
needed to make choices to achieve that balance. There are seven 
industries that consume 80 percent of the energy and produce over 90 
percent of the wastes in the manufacturing sector. These seven 
industries are chemicals, petroleum refining, forest products, steel, 
aluminum, glass, and metal casting. Those aspects of the workshop 
reports that deal with fundamental molecular science and the 
crosscutting issues identified in the reports are particularly relevant 
to proposals in response to this announcement.
    Copies of the workshop reports entitled ``Basic Research Needs for 
Environmentally Responsive Technologies of the Future'' and ``Basic 
Research Needs for Vehicles of the Future'' can be obtained from 
Princeton

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Materials Institute, Bowen Hall, Princeton University, 70 Prospect 
Avenue, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-522.
    The reports can also be found on the World Wide Webb at http://
pmi.princeton.edu.
    The Foundation provides awards for research and education in the 
sciences and engineering. The awardee is wholly responsible for the 
conduct of such research and preparation of the results for 
publication. The Foundation, therefore, does not assume responsibility 
for the research findings or their interpretation.
    The Foundation welcomes proposals from all qualified scientists and 
engineers and strongly encourages women, minorities, and persons with 
disabilities to compete fully in any of the research and education 
related programs described here. In accordance with federal statutes, 
regulations, and NSF policies, no person on grounds of race, color, 
age, sex, national origin, or disability shall be excluded from 
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to 
discrimination under any program or activity receiving financial 
assistance from the National Science Foundation.
    Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disability 
(FASED) provide funding for special assistance or equipment to enable 
persons with disabilities (investigators and other staff, including 
student research assistants) to work on NSF projects. See the program 
announcement or contact the program coordinator at (703) 306-1636.
    Privacy Act. The information requested on proposal forms in 
solicited under the authority of the National Science Foundation Act of 
1950, as amended. It will be used in connection with the selection of 
qualified proposals and may be disclosed to qualified reviewers and 
staff assistants as part of the review process; to applicant 
institutions/grantees; to provide or obtain data regarding the 
application review process, award decisions, or the administration of 
wards; to government contractors, experts, volunteers, and researchers 
as necessary to complete assigned work; and to other government 
agencies in order to coordinate programs. See Systems of Records, NSF 
50, Principal Investigators/Proposal File and Associated Records, and 
NSF-51, 60 FR 4449 (January 23, 1995). Reviewer/Proposal File and 
Associated Records, 59 FR 8031 (February 17, 1994).
    Public Burden. Submission of the information is voluntary. Failure 
to provide full and complete information, however, may reduce the 
possibility of your receiving an award.
    The public reporting burden for this collection of information is 
estimated to average 120 hours per response, including the time for 
reviewing instructions. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or 
any other aspect of this collection of information, including 
suggestions for reducing this burden, to Gail A. McHenry, Reports 
Clearance Officer, Information Dissemination Branch, National Science 
Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 245, Arlington, VA 22230.
    The National Science Foundation has TDD (Telephonic Device for the 
Deaf) capability, which enables individuals with hearing impairment to 
communicate with the Foundation about NSF programs, employment, or 
general information. To access NSF TDD, dial (703) 306-0090; for FIRS, 
1-800-877-8339.

    Dated: July 25, 1997.
Janet G. Osteryoung,
Director, Chemistry Division.
[FR Doc. 97-20096 Filed 7-30-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-M