NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

4201 Wilson Boulevard

Arlington, VA 22230

Dear Colleague Letter: Proposal Submission Deadlines for the Division of
Information and Intelligent Systems

NSF 01-156

September 6, 2001

Dear Colleague:

This letter calls to your attention the new proposal submission
deadlines in the Information and Intelligent Systems Division (IIS) in
the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate (CISE).

The Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS) supports
research that will improve the ability to generate, organize, locate,
communicate, and store knowledge using new technologies. IIS recognizes
that high-quality content and its accessibility and usability are
important benefits provided by new technologies and are complementary to
bandwidth and disk space. IIS fundamental research foci include
universal access; human language technology; knowledge modeling;
scientific collaboratories; robotics; computer vision; data mining;
database access technology; human-computer interaction; and embedded
intelligent systems. IIS also supports interdisciplinary and interagency
activities such as the Digital Library and STIMULATE (Speech, Text,
Image, and Multimedia Advanced Technology Effort) Initiatives.

The new proposal submission deadline date for 2001 is **December 5,
2001**.

Effective 2002, the new **annual proposal submission deadlines** are:

**March 1** (or the first following working day)

**November 16** (or the first following working day)

NOTE: Proposals must be submitted via Fastlane
\<http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov\> by the established deadline date. **Late
proposals will not be accepted for review by the IIS Division.**

These two annual deadlines are for all IIS programs, including:

**Regular proposals** (i.e., unsolicited proposals)

**Special programs proposals**, including:

GOALI and EPSCoR Co-Funding proposals,

> Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI)

Workshop proposals, Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER)
proposals, Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) -- Supplement
requests and other supplement requests may be submitted during the
years, after consultation with the cognizant program director.

This change from the current annual proposal submission target dates of
September 15 and February 15 to the deadlines of November 16 and March 1
will help the IIS Division to coordinate the review and processing of
interdisciplinary proposals in a timely manner.

Proposals submitted should be prepared and submitted via Fastlane
\<http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov\> in accordance with the general
guidelines contained in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG)
<http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?gpg> and any special program
requirements. Proposers are reminded to identify this Dear Colleague
number (NSF 01-156) for regular proposals or the special program
announcement number and the appropriate deadline in the Proposal
Announcement/Solicitation No./CLOSING DATE block, and the relevant NSF
program(s) in the block FOR CONSIDERATION BY NSF ORGANIZATION UNIT(S) on
the cover sheet for the proposal to NSF, NSF Form 1207.

This letter also takes the opportunity to inform you about the updates
in the IIS programs:

**[Digital Society and
Technologies](http://www.cise.nsf.gov/div/iis/fndg/display.cfm?pgm_pims_id=5208&pgm_supp_id=10080&loc=iis&pub_id=5420)**

(DST)

\* \[Previously, Computing and Social Systems (CSS)\] -- Supports
research fundamental to the development of new knowledge about the
complex processes of adaptation and interchange between society and new
information technologies. New theories, models, and technologies are
encouraged as well as empirical maps of the landscape of social and
economic change. Research topics include universal participation in a
digital society, large-scale social technologies for science, education,
and work collaboration and learning, ethical principles in technical
design, information privacy and intellectual property in a digital age,
and technologies for independence throughout life.

[**Human Computer
Interaction**](http://www.cise.nsf.gov/div/iis/fndg/display.cfm?pgm_pims_id=5209&pgm_supp_id=10078&loc=iis&pub_id=5421)\
(HCI) -- Supports research fundamental to the design of systems that
mediate between computers and humans. Topics include universal access;
visualization; animation and simulation; interactive computing; human
language technology, including speech recognition and natural language
understanding; posture and sound based interfaces; virtual reality; and
multimedia environments.

[Information and Data
Management](http://www.cise.nsf.gov/div/iis/fndg/display.cfm?pgm_pims_id=5210&pgm_supp_id=10105&loc=iis&pub_id=5422)

(IDM) -- Supports research fundamental to the design, implementation,
development, management, and use of database, information retrieval, and
knowledge-based systems. Topics include data, metadata, information,
knowledge and process modeling; information access and interaction;
knowledge discovery, datamining and information visualization; and
system architecture and implementation. Novel research in encouraged in
Web-based systems, multimedia systems, scientific databases, geographic
information systems, digital libraries, and other intelligent
information systems; efficient data gathering and storage/archival;
information organization, information flow management and
security/privacy issues; evolutionary systems, change maintenance, and
information life-cycle management; heterogeneous systems; and highly
scalable, data-intensive, and distributed/mobile information systems.

**[Knowledge and Cognitive
Systems](http://www.cise.nsf.gov/div/iis/fndg/display.cfm?pgm_pims_id=5211&pgm_supp_id=&loc=iis&pub_id=5423)**

(KCS) -- Supports research fundamental to the development of machines
that behave intelligently. This can be in conjunction with humans
(computer-aided machine intelligence) or alone (autonomous intelligent
agents). Some of the research involves knowledge representation in
machines, and studies of cognitive processes, which may be modeled on
what we know of human or animal cognition, or may use approaches
different from those in humans and animals. Cognitive activities studied
include multiple types of machine learning, planning, reasoning,
decision making, sensory cognition, linguistic cognition, and
combinations of these in intelligent agents. Fundamental research in
these areas may have as a goal application in integrated design and
manufacturing, network management, medical diagnosis, data mining,
intelligent tutoring, etc.

**[Robotics and Human
Augmentation](http://www.cise.nsf.gov/div/iis/fndg/display.cfm?pgm_pims_id=5212&pgm_supp_id=&loc=iis&pub_id=5424)**

(RHA) -- Supports research fundamental to (1) design of machines and
systems that are characteristic of a combination of sensing, machine
intelligence, and generation of mechanical motion, and (2) studies in
computer vision. The emphasis in (1) is on systems operating in
unstructured environments with a high level of uncertainty. Research
topics include: theoretical, algorithmic, experimental, and hardware
issues, including those on macro-, micro- and nano-scale; intelligent
sensing; robotics for unstructured environments; personal robots, with
an emphasis on human-centered end use; robotic applications, such as
systems for surgery, undersea, space, agriculture; complex sensing,
perception, and actuation; understanding and processing of visual data;
representation, reasoning, and planning for complex physical tasks
involving temporal and spatial relationships; communication and task
sharing between humans and machines, and among machines; cooperation
among geographically separated robotics resources.

**[Special
Projects](http://www.interact.nsf.gov/cise/descriptions.nsf/30ff6e7ea7d05a0d85256659004c0237/60968e12ff1f03d6852565d90059a9b0?OpenDocument)**

(SP) -- Supports research activities exploring new relationships between
computing, communication and digital content from human centered
perspectives in order to support communities of users in scholarly,
social and work contexts. The program promotes interdisciplinarity and
topical fusion. In particular, it manages the Digital Libraries
Initiative [http://www.dli2.nsf.gov](http://www.dli2.nsf.gov/), a
multi-agency research program to create large knowledge bases, the
technology needed to access them, and the means for improving their
usability in a wide range of contexts.

**[Universal
Access](http://www.cise.nsf.gov/div/iis/fndg/display.cfm?pgm_pims_id=5214&pgm_supp_id=&loc=iis&pub_id=5426)**

\*\* (UA) -- Aims to empower people with disabilities so that they are
able to participate as first class citizens in the emerging information
society. In addition, research in this area benefits the nation as a
whole, by advancing computer technology so that all people can possess
the skills needed to use computing to enrich their lives and become more
productive. Research should aim at new models and architectures which
emphasize interface usability and speed. Semantic structures for
multimedia information to support cross-modal I/O, solutions which
address the special needs of large disabled communities, and
experimental studies to evaluate the success of attempts to provide
access. Topics include: languages for specifying multimedia,
alternatives to the desktop interface leading to new and radically
different designs and systems components, anytime/anywhere access to
auditory information in textual form, new I/O techniques which do not
rely on manual dexterity, large scale tactile access to graphical
information, and a "seeing eye computer" both as an aid to mobility and
for rapid detection and identification of objects and people in the
environment.

You are encouraged to see further details about the IIS Division, the
IIS Programs and the IIS Staff at <http://www.cise.nsf.gov/iis>.

We are looking forward to receiving exciting, innovative proposals and
welcome your comments on the current IIS programs and suggestions for
new research directions.

Michael Lesk, Ph.D.

Division Director, Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS)

National Science Foundation

4201 Wilson Blvd., Room 1115

Arlington, VA 22230

Email : <mlesk@nsf>[.gov]{.underline}

Phone: 703-292-8930 Fax: 703-292-9073

URL: <http://www.cise.nsf.gov/iis>

# ABOUT THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

The National Science Foundation (NSF) funds research and education in
most fields of science and engineering. Grantees are wholly responsible
for conducting their project activities and preparing the results for
publication. Thus, the Foundation does not assume responsibility for
such findings or their interpretation.

NSF welcomes proposals from all qualified scientists, engineers and
educators. The Foundation strongly encourages women, minorities, and
persons with disabilities to compete fully in its programs. In
accordance with federal statutes, regulations, and NSF policies, no
person on grounds of race, color, age, sex, national origin, or
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Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities
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persons with disabilities (investigators and other staff, including
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program announcement or contact the program coordinator at (703)
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The National Science Foundation has Telephonic Device for the Deaf (TDD)
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**PRIVACY ACT AND PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENTS**

The information requested on proposal forms and project reports is
solicited under the authority of the National Science Foundation Act of
1950, as amended. The information on proposal forms will be used in
connection with the selection of qualified proposals; project reports
submitted by awardees will be used for program evaluation and reporting
within the Executive Branch and to Congress. The information requested
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Federal agency, court or party in a court or Federal administrative
proceeding if the government is a party. Information about Principal
Investigators may be added to the Reviewer file and used to select
potential candidates to serve as peer reviewers or advisory committee
members. See Systems of Records, NSF-50, \"Principal
Investigator/Proposal File and Associated Records,\" 63 Federal Register
267 (January 5, 1998), and NSF-51, \"Reviewer/Proposal File and
Associated Records,\" 63 Federal Register 268 (January 5, 1998).
Submission of the information is voluntary. Failure to provide full and
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an award.

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated
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Foundation; Arlington, VA 22230.

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OMB Clearance Number: OMB 3145-0058

NSF 01-156