Title: Computer Systems Research (CSR)
Date: 01/23/08
Replaced: NSF 07-504

Computer Systems Research (CSR)

Program Solicitation
NSF 08-538

Replaces Document(s):
NSF 07-504

[NSF Logo]  National Science Foundation

            Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering
                 Division of Computer and Network Systems

Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):

     April 23, 2008

REVISION NOTES

The following revisions have been made to last year's solicitation:

   * Previous CSR solicitations included separate thematic topics in System
     Modeling and Analysis (SMA) and Advanced Execution Systems (AES).
     These research topics remain of interest within each of the three core
     areas highlighted in this solicitation, but they are no longer
     separately identified.
   * No new thematic or "seedling" areas are included in this
     announcement.
   * The Cyber Physical Systems thematic topic from the previous
     solicitation is continued and expanded as a major component of the
     Embedded, Hybrid, and Critical Systems (EHCS) core area, preparing for
     possible future expansion.
   * The Virtualization for Configuration Management (VCM) thematic area is
     not continued as a separate thematic topic, although it remains a very
     suitable subject for research proposals submitted to the CSR program.
     Leveraging virtualization and understanding its impact on  systems'
     attributes and aspects are broad objectives that cut across all areas
     of CSR.
   * The Cross-System Integration theme is not continued.  However, issues
     of system integration are included implicitly in each of the three CSR
     core areas described in this solicitation.

SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

General Information

Program Title:

     Computer Systems Research  (CSR)

Synopsis of Program:

     Computer systems are being applied to increasingly demanding
     applications. The environments in which they function and the
     resources they manage are increasingly diverse, distributed and
     dynamic. While the time scales for control decisions are
     shrinking, the scale and complexity of the systems are
     increasing.  Further, many of the assumptions behind
     today's most common computer systems no longer hold. As a
     result, these systems often fail in unpredictable ways, become
     compromised or perform poorly.  Accordingly, the frontiers of
     computer systems research must be moved forward, and new bold
     research directions must be established to draw upon
     interdisciplinary research capabilities across science and
     engineering.

     The Computer Systems Research (CSR) Program supports innovative
     research and education projects that:

        + increase our understanding of large-scale and increasingly
          data-intensive computer systems and applications, through
          the creation of new knowledge needed to improve their
          design, use, behavior, and stability;

        + capitalize on research opportunities provided by new
          technologies and new classes of systems;

        + expand the capabilities of computer systems by developing
          highly innovative new ways to exploit existing technologies;

        + lead to systems software that is quantifiably more reliable,
          easier to use, and/or more efficient; and

        + produce innovative curricula or educational materials that
          better prepare future generations of computing
          professionals.

     CSR-funded projects will enable significant progress on
     challenging high-impact problems, as opposed to incremental
     progress on familiar problems.  Collaborative CSR projects that
     actively involve industry or other academic communities are
     particularly welcome.  For example, to stimulate breakthroughs in
     human-aware computer and software systems and applications,
     multi-investigator, multidisciplinary proposals are encouraged.
     Further, CSR PIs should describe credible plans for demonstrating
     the utility and potential impact of their proposed work, for
     example, through empirical prototypes disseminated to and
     evaluated by the community.

     The FY 2008 competition invites innovative, forward-looking
     research projects in the following three areas:

        + Distributed and Mobile Systems and Services (DMSS);
        + Parallel Systems, Computing and Execution (PSCE); and
        + Embedded, Hybrid, and Critical Systems (EHCS).

     Proposals may be submitted in one of the following three
     categories:

        + Small - projects with total budgets up to $450K and
          durations of up to 3 years (with maximum annual budgets of
          $150K).
        + Team - projects with total budgets up to $2.0M, and
          durations of up to 4 years (with maximum annual budgets of
          $500K).
        + Other- including planning grants, workshops, Small Grants
          for Exploratory Research (SGER), and other community
          building activities. Planning grants and SGER proposals will
          be funded at levels up to $100K/year for up to two years.
          Workshops in new or emerging areas in computer and software
          systems research and education will be funded at levels up
          to $50K for one year.  Prior to submission of any proposal
          in the "Other" category, PIs must get permission to submit
          their proposals from a CSR Program Officer.

Cognizant Program Officer(s):

   * David Du, Program Director, DMSS and PSCE, telephone: (703) 292-8950,
     email: ddu@nsf.gov

   * Helen Gill, Program Director, EHCS, telephone: (703) 292-8950, email:
     hgill@nsf.gov

   * Anita J. LaSalle, Program Director, PSCE and DMSS, telephone: (703)
     292-8950, email: alasalle@nsf.gov

Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s):

   * 47.070 --- Computer and Information Science and Engineering

Award Information

Anticipated Type of Award:  Standard Grant or Continuing Grant

Estimated Number of Awards:

50 to  60   total. The CSR Program expects to make the following three
types of awards:

Small - projects with total budgets up to $450K and durations of up to 3
years (with maximum annual budgets of $150K).

Team - projects with total budgets up to $2.0M, and durations of up to 4
years (with maximum annual budgets of $500K).

Other - including planning grants, workshops, Small Grants for Exploratory
Research (SGER), and other community building activities. Planning grants
and SGER proposals will be funded at levels up to $100K/year for up to two
years. Workshops in new or emerging areas in computer and software systems
research and education will be funded at levels up to $50K for one year.
Prior to submission of any proposal in the "Other" category, PIs must get
permission to submit their proposals from a CSR Program Officer.

Anticipated Funding Amount:   $37,000,000  in FY 2008. Approximately
$18,000,000 expected for Small Projects, $16,000,000 for Team Projects, and
the remainder for awards in the "Other" category. These estimates are
subject to the availability of funds and the quality of proposals
submitted.

Eligibility Information

Organization Limit:

     Proposals may only be submitted by the following:

        * Universities and Colleges: Universities and two- and
          four-year colleges (including community colleges) located
          and accredited in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty
          members. Such organizations also are referred to as academic
          institutions.

PI Limit:

     CSR encourages university-industry collaboration.  Accordingly,
     researchers from for-profit organizations are eligible to
     participate in proposals submitted by academic institutions,
     where they may participate as PIs, co-PIs, Senior Personnel, or
     sub-contractors.  However, the CSR program will not provide
     salary or related financial support for the individuals from
     for-profit organizations.

     PIs submitting proposals to the Cyber-Physical Systems area are
     encouraged to consider developing collaborative projects with
     researchers in foreign organizations; however, CSR will not
     provide support for the foreign participants.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:

     None Specified

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI: 2

     An individual may appear as PI, co-PI, Senior Personnel, or
     Consultant on no more than two proposals submitted to the
     Computer Systems Research (CSR) program. Further, an individual
     may appear as PI, co-PI, Senior Personnel or Consultant on no
     more than three proposals submitted in total to the following NSF
     programs in each fiscal year:  Computer Systems Research (CSR),
     Cyber Trust (CT) and Networking Technology and Systems (NeTS).
     CSR, CT and NeTS proposals that include one or more individuals
     who exceed this limit will be collectively returned without
     review. This limitation applies only to these three NSF programs
     and has no impact on other NSF programs.

Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions

A. Proposal Preparation Instructions

   * Letters of Intent: Not Applicable

   * Preliminary Proposal Submission: Not Applicable

   * Full Proposals:

        * Full Proposals submitted via FastLane: NSF Proposal and Award
          Policies and Procedures Guide, Part I: Grant Proposal Guide (GPG)
          Guidelines apply. The complete text of the GPG is available
          electronically on the NSF website at:
          http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg.

        * Full Proposals submitted via Grants.gov: NSF Grants.gov
          Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of
          NSF Applications via Grants.gov Guidelines apply (Note: The NSF
          Grants.gov Application Guide is available on the Grants.gov
          website and on the NSF website at:
          http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/docs/grantsgovguide.pdf)

B. Budgetary Information

   * Cost Sharing Requirements: Cost Sharing is not required under this
     solicitation.

   * Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations:  Not Applicable

   * Other Budgetary Limitations: Not Applicable

C. Due Dates

   * Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):

          April 23, 2008

Proposal Review Information Criteria

Merit Review Criteria:   National Science Board approved criteria apply.

Award Administration Information

Award Conditions:   Standard NSF award conditions apply.

Reporting Requirements:   Standard NSF reporting requirements apply.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

     Summary of Program Requirements

  I. Introduction

 II. Program Description

III. Award Information

 IV. Eligibility Information

  V. Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions
       A. Proposal Preparation Instructions
       B. Budgetary Information
       C. Due Dates
       D. FastLane/Grants.gov Requirements

 VI. NSF Proposal Processing and Review Procedures
       A. NSF Merit Review Criteria
       B. Review and Selection Process

VII. Award Administration Information
       A. Notification of the Award
       B. Award Conditions
       C. Reporting Requirements

VIII.Agency Contacts

 IX. Other Information

I. INTRODUCTION

Revolutionary advances in computer and software systems have created
unprecedented opportunities for social innovations and economic prosperity.
These systems represent the engine that powers the connected world in which
we now live. They cover a wide range of technologies and capabilities,
including large-scale, globally distributed heterogeneous systems,
LAN-based enterprise systems, workstation clusters, shared-memory
multiprocessors, pervasive and ubiquitous systems, special-purpose embedded
and real-time systems, processes and supervisory controls, and assemblies
of embedded sensor systems. They also support increasingly complex and more
dynamic applications and services.

The need to meet the requirements of present and future applications calls
for radically new and innovative approaches to the design, implementation,
operation and management of next generation computer and software systems.
Also needed are new paradigms, frameworks, methods and tools that ensure
these complex systems  operate effectively, reliably, and securely.

The Computer Systems Research (CSR) Program supports innovative research
and education projects that have the potential to:

   * increase our understanding of large-scale and increasingly
     data-intensive computer systems and applications through the creation
     of new knowledge needed to improve their design, use, behavior, and
     stability;
   * capitalize on research opportunities provided by new technologies and
     new classes of systems;
   * expand the capabilities of computer systems by developing highly
     innovative new ways to exploit existing technologies;
   * lead to systems software that is quantifiably more reliable, easier to
     use, and/or more efficient; and
   * produce innovative curricula or educational materials that better
     prepare future generations of computing professionals.

CSR-funded projects will enable significant progress on challenging
high-impact problems, as opposed to incremental progress on familiar
problems.  Collaborative CSR projects that actively involve industry or
other academic communities are particularly welcome.  For example, to
stimulate breakthroughs in human-aware computer and software systems and
applications, multi-investigator, multidisciplinary proposals are
encouraged.  Further, CSR PIs should describe credible plans for
demonstrating the utility and potential impact of their proposed work, for
example, through empirical prototypes disseminated to and evaluated by the
community.

II. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

In FY 2008, the CSR Program seeks innovative, forward-looking research and
education projects within and across three core areas that pose unique
research challenges reflecting the scope, complexity and dynamics of
computer and software systems. The three core areas are:

   + Distributed and Mobile Systems and Services (DMSS);
   + Parallel Systems, Computing and Execution (PSCE); and
   + Embedded, Hybrid, and Critical Systems (EHCS)

Research and education opportunities in these core areas are ripe with
interdisciplinary potential and promise significant breakthroughs both in
the way future computer and software systems are designed, implemented,
operated and managed, and in the way humans interact with these systems.
The core areas are elaborated below.

  A. Distributed and Mobile Systems and Services (DMSS)

     Traditionally, distributed systems were built under conditions of
     gradual, regulated growth, stable ownership, full control of
     underpinning technology platforms, connected operation, and
     centralized organizations.  However, the environment in which
     computer and software systems are created and operated today has
     changed radically. The success of the Internet has impacted the
     use and scale of distributed systems, ushering in an entirely new
     class of large-scale, distributed applications. Further, advances
     in technology for capturing and storing data, coupled with the
     Internet's capability to retrieve data on a global scale, are
     giving rise to a number of new data-intensive applications, where
     very large data sets are stored and retrieved on a regular basis,
     and where new data, derived from computation over raw
     information, are frequently updated and saved.

     The proliferation of networked and embedded devices is also
     revolutionizing the field of distributed computing.   Advances in
     wireless networking, mobile computing and sensor technology are
     creating increasingly powerful but highly variable distributed
     computing and communications substrates.  Digital devices, such
     as mobile phones for example, are becoming powerful distributed
     computing platforms. These devices must support both connected
     and disconnected usage, with each other and with the global
     Internet, and tolerate mixed modalities and highly variable
     conditions of the networking environments in which they are
     expected to operate.  As such, they reflect the rapidly changing
     modalities of information access and sharing and the constantly
     changing value propositions and markets for components,
     technology and service provisioning.

     The focus of the DMSS area is to support bold research and
     education projects that advance the state-of-the-art in
     distributed and mobile systems and applications and further our
     understanding of the knowledge needed to address the challenges
     posed by these systems and deliver the functions required by
     these applications. DMSS encourages research  that reexamines the
     suitability of current operating systems and middleware for
     emerging computing systems and applications, and  focuses on
     highly original ideas, new approaches and ground-breaking
     methodologies.   Research outcomes will promise transformative
     impact within the area and on distributed computing practice.

     Broad categories of research of interest within DMSS include, but
     are not restricted to:

        * Resource management: scheduling, virtual memory management
          and protection; management of multiple levels of memory
          hierarchy and file systems; new approaches to the design and
          management of file systems architectures for very
          large-scale, distributed environments; content management
          and archive strategies for large-scale distributed systems;
          scalable and robust methods for communication and
          synchronization; process and data migration and data
          replication; virtualization of resources and efficient
          resource utilization; scalable and adaptive approaches for
          resource management in very large-scale, failure prone
          computing environments; and resource management across
          heterogeneous platforms with distinct administrative
          boundaries.
        * System storage: new directions and innovative approaches for
          the design, implementation, evaluation and analysis of
          modern computer storage systems; storage virtualization;
          energy efficient, self-managing storage; novel
          technology-driven storage systems; scalable, secure,
          reliable, and easy-manageable storage systems; mobile,
          access-anywhere and personal storage; and innovative
          approaches to data and metadata caching, replication and
          consistency.
        * System services: membership, naming, and authorization
          services; local and remote resource discovery and resource
          requests services; support for debugging large, widely
          dispersed distributed systems; checkpoint and recovery
          services; positioning, tracking, location-aware services in
          mobile computing environments; mechanisms that enable
          dynamic coalitions, such as in peer-to-peer or ad-hoc
          environments; mechanism to support various and mixed
          interaction and invocation modalities; and customizable and
          adaptable systems services.
        * System architecture: software architectures addressing
          changing trends, such as sizes or speeds of processors,
          memory, address spaces, storage and backing store;
          multi-threaded kernel design and kernel-level management
          functions for end-to-end provisioning of services; dynamic,
          customizable kernels; high-level programming abstractions
          and models for data-intensive applications; system software
          architectures that scale to handle thousands of components;
          software architecture to support service composition,
          particularly in wireless environments; new resource-aware
          service architectures and programming abstractions for
          networked embedded computing; context-aware systems
          architectures; and new paradigms and frameworks to organize
          systems, such as peer-to-peer networks.
        * System properties: balancing security, usability and
          flexibility; fault-tolerance and reliability; efficiency;
          scalability; resiliency and adaptability for longevity of
          continuous service; and ability to cope with unexpected
          events.
        * System management, maintenance, and evolution: new paradigms
          and frameworks to improve manageability, configurability and
          accountability while reducing the associated costs and
          overheads; monitoring software and tools to inspect and
          determine the system's state from various levels of
          abstraction, and monitor various hardware configurations for
          reliability, operation sustainability and performance;
          trainable, self-tunable software and tools that learn
          important system configurations, such as topology, status,
          interconnection norms, patterns of behavior and parameters;
          methods to inspect, diagnose and understand problems in the
          system, anomalies, and performance impediments in order to
          improve reliability, reduce vulnerabilities, and ascertain
          connectivity while improving usability.
        * System performance: performance evaluation and predication
          of large scale systems; system measurement and monitoring
          for performance tuning or to provide resilience to faults;
          qualitative and quantitative evaluation of complex systems;
          verification and validation frameworks and tools; methods
          and tools to assess the impact of different system
          components on the overall performance of the system;  and
          advanced simulation tools and techniques.

  B. Parallel Systems, Computing and Execution (PSCE)

     Early high-end parallel computer systems were designed with
     specialized architectural structure, interconnects, and a variety
     of memory hierarchies.  The computational load, largely high-end
     scientific computation and industrial design, was primarily
     supported through reusable libraries of algorithms that had been
     carefully parallelized for target architectures.  The
     mainstreaming of high-speed multiprocessing, presaged by speed
     and scale advances in processing technology, novel graphics and
     other special-purpose computing engines, along with the
     increasing availability of multiprocessing computing platforms,
     provided a viable alternative to increase performance, while
     reducing energy consumption, heat dissipation and design
     complexity.  The trend toward high processing power at a
     reasonable cost continues with the emergence of multi-core
     architectures with extremely large numbers of processors, and the
     growing use of reconfigurable processors such as FPGAs,
     reconfigurable interconnects, and wireless on-chip networks.
     These emerging platforms are no longer targeting only high-end
     computing, but are also aimed for commodity deployment.
     Traditional computing frameworks, methods and languages for
     exploiting such resources do not scale to commodity usage.
     Innovative approaches for the design and implementation of
     high-performance computing systems are needed to extend the
     computing frontiers, realize the potential of emerging technology
     and meet the increasing demands of present and future
     computation-intensive applications.

      The PSCE area seeks innovative and potentially transformative
     concepts in parallel system design, runtime support for general
     purpose parallel programming and coordination languages, and
     middleware and operating systems to manage the requirements of
     applications they must execute.  PSCE supports research  to
     enable coherent provisioning, management, and protection of
     resources and services across heterogeneous platform
     architectures and service modalities.  Research also is
     encouraged towards organization of systems technologies to
     include service architectures and coordination frameworks that
     enable concurrent execution, manage multi-party interaction,
     provide integral security, and support a wide variety of
     distribution patterns running across both computational platforms
     and networks.

     Broad categories of PSCE research include, but are not restricted
     to:

        * Advanced frameworks, programming models and environments for
          large-scale parallel systems, including system software and
          operating environments to support complex, resource and data
          intensive applications; new paradigms for automatic
          parallelization; middleware for parallel systems;
          synchronization and concurrency control in large-scale
          parallel systems; power and energy-aware parallel
          programming models and abstractions;  fault-tolerance and
          recovery paradigms, mechanisms and tools for dynamic runtime
          environments; new programming models, compilers and runtime
          support environments for multi-core systems; multi-core
          virtualization; and functional debugging and performance
          tools for multi-core systems.
        * New compilation and optimization techniques for runtime
          parallel systems, including dynamic and adaptive compilation
          and automatic code generation; computation steering for
          reliability, scalability and improved performance;
          innovative approaches for integration of tools, compilers
          and operating systems; architectural and system support for
          optimization; dynamic, adaptive and continuous optimization
          in parallel systems; profiling and feedback-directed
          optimization methodologies; power and energy aware
          optimization; transactional memory optimizations; and
          program characterization and phase analysis techniques for
          optimized performance.
        * Advanced resource management frameworks, methods and tools,
          including automated resource and application management;
          integrated resource optimization methods and tools; scalable
          scheduling algorithms for resource and data intensive
          large-scale parallel systems; multi-criteria scheduling
          frameworks and algorithms; tools and environments for
          workflow scheduling in parallel systems; adaptive and
          dynamic load balancing algorithms and tools; and application
          and system level methodologies and tools that exploit the
          characteristics of the hardware and execution environment to
          efficiently map parallel computations onto the underlying
          parallel system.
        * Support tools and environments for large-scale parallel
          systems, including intelligent frameworks and tools that
          exploit knowledge about program behavior for debugging,
          monitoring, testing and diagnosis; tools to support system
          analysis at different levels of granularity across different
          software layers and  heterogeneous hardware platforms;
          frameworks and methods for instrumentation, measurement and
          modeling of system behavior; and novel frameworks,
          methodologies and tools for performance prediction and
          evaluation of complex parallel systems and large-scale
          parallel applications.

  C. Embedded, Hybrid, and Critical Systems (EHCS)

     Information technology for embedded and hybrid systems is a key
     accelerator of progress and innovation in modern engineered
     systems. Embedded and hybrid systems control devices and systems
     include cell phones, PDAs, hearing aids, pacemakers, automobiles,
     electrical power grids, chemical processing plants, and global
     aviation infrastructure. In fact, the nation's critical
     infrastructures depend on embedded sensing and hybrid control
     systems.  Many of these are safety- or enterprise-critical
     systems, with growing interconnectivity and interdependency.
     However, systems today are often built on top of decades-old
     technology, as separate, closed, and centralized systems. Future
     real-time, embedded systems and supervisory and real-time process
     control systems must become open and interoperable with other
     systems in widely distributed and highly interactive and
     uncertain environments.

     Research supported under the EHCS area in FY 2008 addresses two
     component themes in computer systems research: Embedded and
     Hybrid Systems (EHS) and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS).

        * EHS supports fundamental research needed to develop a deep
          scientific understanding of real-time embedded computing
          systems.  Research focused on innovative sensing and control
          concepts in computing for physical and engineered systems is
          also of interest.
        * CPS is an aggressive, forward-looking challenge component
          that supports transformative research breakthroughs in
          computational and communication capabilities for future
          generations of physical and engineered systems, with a
          strong emphasis on multidisciplinary system development.
          The CPS challenge is motivated by cyber and physical
          elements that are deeply integrated into their environments
          and networked at all scales, and systems that exploit
          ubiquitous cyber control of physical components. The term
          "cyber" refers to the integration of
          computation, communication, storage, and control.

     A pervasive subtext in both components of the EHCS area is the
     creation of high-confidence systems through technologies that can
     not only support innovative functionality, but also can provide
     timeliness, dependability, safety, and security guarantees for
     critical and highly-autonomous systems. Further description of
     both components of EHCS follows.

       1. Embedded and Hybrid Systems (EHS):

          EHS supports research and education in the core
          scientific foundations and systems technology for
          embedded and hybrid systems. EHS emphasizes hybrid
          (discrete and continuous) control, and computational
          modeling of the temporal and dynamic aspects of this
          class of systems. The goals of this area are to create
          and unify foundations and to supply technologies needed
          for building reliable embedded systems. Achieving these
          goals requires a rethinking of the underpinnings,
          architectures, and system implementation philosophies
          for these kinds of systems. The area draws upon control
          theory, modeling, software generation, real-time and
          resource-aware scheduling, and formal methods.  The
          span of topics falling within this area includes:
          real-time systems, hybrid  control systems, embedded
          systems platforms and reconfigurable computing for
          embedded systems, computational aspects of sensing and
          actuation networks, and concepts and open assurance
          technologies for high confidence embedded systems.

          Specific examples of interest include:

             * Embedded systems software and composition
               technology: innovative concepts and methods for
               middleware, virtualization strategies, virtual
               machines, and system services; concepts and
               methods for high confidence, distributed,
               real-time operating systems; system services and
               composition technology to support required
               properties of complex real-time embedded systems;
               and programming methods for the integration of
               embedded system services.
             * Foundations and technology for distributed sensing
               and control: innovative hybrid control concepts,
               innovations in supervisory control and data
               acquisition (SCADA) systems and process control
               systems (PCS); and scalable support for embedded
               sensors and sensor nets; managing authority in
               autonomous and mixed-initiative systems.
             * Assurance methods for modeling, design,
               development, and certification of high-confidence
               embedded software and systems: foundations,
               design, implementation, synthesis, analysis,
               composition, and certification methods and tools;
               and innovative approaches for failure modes, mixed
               criticality, self-test, and recovery and
               reconstitution.
             * Real-time resource management, partitioning and
               scheduling and optimization; and platforms for
               embedded and reconfigurable computing: methods and
               tools for allocating, scheduling, and managing
               real-time, power-aware distributed embedded
               systems; and static and real-time dynamic
               scheduling technology that addresses and
               integrates multiple concerns such as real-time
               guarantees, power, clock frequency, thermal gain,
               emission and interference in the electromagnetic
               spectrum, network bandwidth, task dependence, and
               criticality level.

       2. Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS):

          This component of EHCS expands on the CPS thematic area
          that was initiated in the FY 2007 CSR program.  It
          seeks to open a new frontier of research to address
          both the growing complexity of physical and engineered
          systems and the immense capacity for innovation and
          invention that embedded computation and networked
          control lend to these systems.  It seeks research ideas
          that organize and simplify this engineering space and
          advance the understanding, design, and construction of
          systems that are becoming fundamentally both cyber and
          physical.  The theme seeks exploratory research in two
          specific focus areas for FY 2008, as described below.

          CPS-T.  This focus area seeks clean-slate exploratory
          research to reinvent the real-time systems software
          technology base. Today's middleware and real-time
          operating systems are monolithic
          ("one-size-fits-all").  The boundary
          between them is a historical technological artifact,
          rather than a well-designed separation of concerns.
          Today's virtualization concerns and kernel design
          strategies generally are focused on single issues
          (e.g., security, resources, or safety) and service
          concepts are offered at a very low level of
          abstraction. They do not scale successfully to very
          large or very small system requirements, or to open and
          complex systems.  Certification and assurance
          activities currently are separated from design.  The
          goal of CPS-T research is to discover appropriate new
          abstractions for open systems and develop open
          composition capabilities for the precise configuration
          of high confidence cyber services for CPS at the
          requisite scale.  This research will establish concepts
          for next-generation systems software architectures and
          services that can support high-confidence,
          semantically-grounded CPS execution platforms.

          CPS-E. This focus area seeks research in transformative
          cyber technology for areas such as engineering,
          materials, transportation, energy, biology, and
          medicine.  Research proposals submitted under this
          focus will be co-reviewed and considered for co-funding
          by the NSF Engineering (ENG) directorate.  The goal is
          to enable future multidisciplinary research.  Research
          supported under this focus includes topics such as are
          listed below.  This list is not exhaustive and is
          intended to illustrate, rather than circumscribe, the
          potential subjects of investigation.  This focus
          remains highly exploratory; only extremely innovative
          and potentially transformative concepts should be
          proposed.

             * New concepts for networked control of complex
               systems, including strategies for coordination and
               control of loosely coupled and reconfigurable
               systems, and for reasoning about, and cooperative
               supervisory control of, composite and
               highly-coupled systems.
             * Novel abstractions and modeling strategies for
               predicting and controlling the actions and the
               dynamically evolving status of the physical,
               mechanical, material, biological, or chemical
               features of physical systems.  The objective is to
               discover computational models that capture both
               "cyber" and "physical"
               aspects of the system and that directly support
               on-line, real-time interaction with, and
               computational control of, these phenomena and
               behaviors under the uncertainties of the natural
               or engineered environment.
             * New systems science concepts for model-based and
               platform-based system design of CPS, aimed to
               successfully characterize and integrate the
               dynamic actions and behavior of cyber elements of
               a system with the dynamics of physical and
               engineered components, as well as with the
               potential cyber and physical actions of the
               computing and networking substrate.  This might
               include, for example, frameworks for mediating the
               real-time interaction and interference of cyber
               and physical elements, and strategies for
               addressing such combined cyber and physical
               concerns as the integrated management of energy,
               power, and thermal effects that may be caused by
               both cyber and physical elements of the system.
             * Transformative computational and physical
               substrates for deeply embedded networking and
               computing.  This might include, for example,
               highly innovative computational elements or
               materials with cyber-mechanical or active
               structural properties that are fundamentally
               enabled by, or contribute to, networked
               computation.

III. AWARD INFORMATION

The estimated program budget in FY 2008 is $37,000,000 and the estimated
number of new awards is 50 to 60. Approximately, the amount of $18,000,000
is expected for Small Projects, $16,000,000 for Team Projects, and the
remainder for the third type of proposals. These estimates are subject to
the availability of funds and the quality of proposals submitted. Awards
will be made as standard or continuing grants. The CSR Program expects to
make the following three types of awards:

Small - projects with total budgets up to $450K and durations of up to 3
years (with maximum annual budgets of $150K).

Team - projects with total budgets up to $2.0M, and durations of up to 4
years (with maximum annual budgets of $500K).

Other- including planning grants, workshops, Small Grants for Exploratory
Research (SGER), and other community building activities. Planning grants
and SGER proposals will be funded at levels up to $100K/year for up to two
years. Workshops in new or emerging areas in computer and software systems
research and education will be funded at levels up to $50K for one year.
Prior to submission of any proposal in the "Other" category, PIs must get
permission to submit their proposals from a CSR Program Officer.

IV. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

Organization Limit:

     Proposals may only be submitted by the following:

        * Universities and Colleges: Universities and two- and
          four-year colleges (including community colleges) located
          and accredited in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty
          members. Such organizations also are referred to as academic
          institutions.

PI Limit:

     CSR encourages university-industry collaboration.  Accordingly,
     researchers from for-profit organizations are eligible to
     participate in proposals submitted by academic institutions,
     where they may participate as PIs, co-PIs, Senior Personnel, or
     sub-contractors.  However, the CSR program will not provide
     salary or related financial support for the individuals from
     for-profit organizations.

     PIs submitting proposals to the Cyber-Physical Systems area are
     encouraged to consider developing collaborative projects with
     researchers in foreign organizations; however, CSR will not
     provide support for the foreign participants.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:

     None Specified

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI: 2

     An individual may appear as PI, co-PI, Senior Personnel, or
     Consultant on no more than two proposals submitted to the
     Computer Systems Research (CSR) program. Further, an individual
     may appear as PI, co-PI, Senior Personnel or Consultant on no
     more than three proposals submitted in total to the following NSF
     programs in each fiscal year:  Computer Systems Research (CSR),
     Cyber Trust (CT) and Networking Technology and Systems (NeTS).
     CSR, CT and NeTS proposals that include one or more individuals
     who exceed this limit will be collectively returned without
     review. This limitation applies only to these three NSF programs
     and has no impact on other NSF programs.

Additional Eligibility Info:

V. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

A. Proposal Preparation Instructions

Full Proposal Preparation Instructions: Proposers may opt to submit
proposals in response to this Program Solicitation via Grants.gov or via
the NSF FastLane system.

   * Full proposals submitted via FastLane: Proposals submitted in response
     to this program solicitation should be prepared and submitted in
     accordance with the general guidelines contained in the NSF Grant
     Proposal Guide (GPG). The complete text of the GPG is available
     electronically on the NSF website at:
     http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg. Paper copies
     of the GPG may be obtained from the NSF Publications Clearinghouse,
     telephone (703) 292-7827 or by e-mail from pubs@nsf.gov. Proposers are
     reminded to identify this program solicitation number in the program
     solicitation block on the NSF Cover Sheet For Proposal to the National
     Science Foundation. Compliance with this requirement is critical to
     determining the relevant proposal processing guidelines. Failure to
     submit this information may delay processing.

   * Full proposals submitted via Grants.gov: Proposals submitted in
     response to this program solicitation via Grants.gov should be
     prepared and submitted in accordance with the NSF Grants.gov
     Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF
     Applications via Grants.gov. The complete text of the NSF Grants.gov
     Application Guide is available on the Grants.gov website and on the
     NSF website at:
     (http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/docs/grantsgovguide.pdf). To
     obtain copies of the Application Guide and Application Forms Package,
     click on the Apply tab on the Grants.gov site, then click on the Apply
     Step 1: Download a Grant Application Package and Application
     Instructions link and enter the funding opportunity number, (the
     program solicitation number without the NSF prefix) and press the
     Download Package button. Paper copies of the Grants.gov Application
     Guide also may be obtained from the NSF Publications Clearinghouse,
     telephone (703) 292-7827 or by e-mail from pubs@nsf.gov.

In determining which method to utilize in the electronic preparation and
submission of the proposal, please note the following:

Collaborative Proposals. All collaborative proposals submitted as separate
submissions from multiple organizations must be submitted via the NSF
FastLane system. Chapter II, Section D.3 of the Grant Proposal Guide
provides additional information on collaborative proposals.

The following information supplements or deviates from the GPG or the NSF
Grants.gov Application Guide

To assist NSF staff in sorting proposals for review, proposal titles should
begin with "CSR-key1, key2: Project Title" where key1 is an
acronym that identifies the core areas, and when relevant the component
theme within the core area, and key2 represents the project category. If a
proposal addresses topics in more than one core area, it should be directed
to whichever one of the areas is most appropriate. Choose from the
following key 1 acronyms to identify the appropriate core area:

   * DMSS - Distributed and Mobile Systems and Services
   * PSCE - Parallel Systems, Computing and Execution.
   * EHCS(EHS) - Embedded and Hybrid Systems
   * EHCS(CPS) - Cyber Physical Systems

Choose from the following key2 acronyms to identify the category of
proposal submitted:

   * SM - Small
   * TM - Team
   * OTH - Other

For example, a proposal might have a title such as "CSR-DMSS, TM:
Resource Management in Peer-to-Peer Systems."

For proposals in the "Other" - OTH category, PIs must contact one of the
CSR Program Officers for permission to submit.

CSR proposals should describe how the project will yield significant
research and education outcomes (e.g., by validating theories on real
systems, by demonstrating the utility of new systems software and making it
available to the community, and/or by disseminating and evaluating new
educational materials or curricula).

Every proposal must include a discussion of Broader Impacts. Broader
Impacts include the integration of education and research, promoting
diversity in the computer systems workforce, developing substantial
experimental research educational experiences, and developing curriculum
and supporting materials in emerging computer systems areas. The following
URL contains several examples of broader impacts activities:
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/broaderimpacts.pdf.

B. Budgetary Information

Cost Sharing:   Cost sharing is not required under this solicitation.

C. Due Dates

   * Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):

          April 23, 2008

D. FastLane/Grants.gov Requirements

   * For Proposals Submitted Via FastLane:

     Detailed technical instructions regarding the technical aspects of
     preparation and submission via FastLane are available at:
     https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a1/newstan.htm. For FastLane user
     support, call the FastLane Help Desk at 1-800-673-6188 or e-mail
     fastlane@nsf.gov. The FastLane Help Desk answers general technical
     questions related to the use of the FastLane system. Specific
     questions related to this program solicitation should be referred to
     the NSF program staff contact(s) listed in Section VIII of this
     funding opportunity.

     Submission of Electronically Signed Cover Sheets. The Authorized
     Organizational Representative (AOR) must electronically sign the
     proposal Cover Sheet to submit the required proposal certifications
     (see Chapter II, Section C of the Grant Proposal Guide for a listing
     of the certifications). The AOR must provide the required electronic
     certifications within five working days following the electronic
     submission of the proposal. Further instructions regarding this
     process are available on the FastLane Website at:
     https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/fastlane.jsp.

   * For Proposals Submitted Via Grants.gov:

     Before using Grants.gov for the first time, each organization must
     register to create an institutional profile. Once registered, the
     applicant's organization can then apply for any federal grant on the
     Grants.gov website. The Grants.gov's Grant Community User Guide is a
     comprehensive reference document that provides technical information
     about Grants.gov. Proposers can download the User Guide as a Microsoft
     Word document or as a PDF document. The Grants.gov User Guide is
     available at: http://www.grants.gov/CustomerSupport. In addition, the
     NSF Grants.gov Application Guide provides additional technical
     guidance regarding preparation of proposals via Grants.gov. For
     Grants.gov user support, contact the Grants.gov Contact Center at
     1-800-518-4726 or by email: support@grants.gov. The Grants.gov Contact
     Center answers general technical questions related to the use of
     Grants.gov. Specific questions related to this program solicitation
     should be referred to the NSF program staff contact(s) listed in
     Section VIII of this solicitation.

     Submitting the Proposal: Once all documents have been completed, the
     Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) must submit the
     application to Grants.gov and verify the desired funding opportunity
     and agency to which the application is submitted. The AOR must then
     sign and submit the application to Grants.gov. The completed
     application will be transferred to the NSF FastLane system for further
     processing.

VI. NSF PROPOSAL PROCESSING AND REVIEW PROCEDURES

Proposals received by NSF are assigned to the appropriate NSF program where
they will be reviewed if they meet NSF proposal preparation requirements.
All proposals are carefully reviewed by a scientist, engineer, or educator
serving as an NSF Program Officer, and usually by three to ten other
persons outside NSF who are experts in the particular fields represented by
the proposal. These reviewers are selected by Program Officers charged with
the oversight of the review process. Proposers are invited to suggest names
of persons they believe are especially well qualified to review the
proposal and/or persons they would prefer not review the proposal. These
suggestions may serve as one source in the reviewer selection process at
the Program Officer's discretion. Submission of such names, however, is
optional. Care is taken to ensure that reviewers have no conflicts of
interest with the proposal.

A. NSF Merit Review Criteria

All NSF proposals are evaluated through use of the two National Science
Board (NSB)-approved merit review criteria: intellectual merit and the
broader impacts of the proposed effort. In some instances, however, NSF
will employ additional criteria as required to highlight the specific
objectives of certain programs and activities.

The two NSB-approved merit review criteria are listed below. The criteria
include considerations that help define them. These considerations are
suggestions and not all will apply to any given proposal. While proposers
must address both merit review criteria, reviewers will be asked to address
only those considerations that are relevant to the proposal being
considered and for which the reviewer is qualified to make judgements.

     What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?
     How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and
     understanding within its own field or 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 the prior work.) To what extent does the
     proposed activity suggest and explore creative, original, or
     potentially transformative concepts? How well conceived and
     organized is the proposed activity? Is there sufficient access to
     resources?

     What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?
     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, disability,
     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?

Examples illustrating activities likely to demonstrate broader impacts are
available electronically on the NSF website at:
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/broaderimpacts.pdf.

NSF staff also will give careful consideration to the following in making
funding decisions:

     Integration of Research and Education
     One of the principal strategies in support of NSF's goals is to
     foster integration of research and education through the
     programs, projects, and activities it supports at academic and
     research institutions. These institutions provide abundant
     opportunities where individuals may concurrently assume
     responsibilities as researchers, educators, and students and
     where all can engage in joint efforts that infuse education with
     the excitement of discovery and enrich research through the
     diversity of learning perspectives.

     Integrating Diversity into NSF Programs, Projects, and Activities
     Broadening opportunities and enabling the participation of all
     citizens -- women and men, underrepresented minorities, and
     persons with disabilities -- is essential to the health and
     vitality of science and engineering. NSF is committed to this
     principle of diversity and deems it central to the programs,
     projects, and activities it considers and supports.

B. Review and Selection Process

Proposals submitted in response to this program solicitation will be
reviewed by Ad hoc Review and/or Panel Review.

Reviewers will be asked to formulate a recommendation to either support or
decline each proposal. The Program Officer assigned to manage the
proposal's review will consider the advice of reviewers and will formulate
a recommendation.

After scientific, technical and programmatic review and consideration of
appropriate factors, the NSF Program Officer recommends to the cognizant
Division Director whether the proposal should be declined or recommended
for award. NSF is striving to be able to tell applicants whether their
proposals have been declined or recommended for funding within six months.
The time interval begins on the deadline or target date, or receipt date,
whichever is later.  The interval ends when the Division Director accepts
the Program Officer's recommendation.

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

In all cases, after programmatic approval has been obtained, the proposals
recommended for funding will be forwarded to the Division of Grants and
Agreements for review of business, financial, and policy implications and
the processing and issuance of a grant or other agreement. Proposers are
cautioned that only a Grants and Agreements Officer may make commitments,
obligations or awards on behalf of NSF or authorize the expenditure of
funds. No commitment on the part of NSF should be inferred from technical
or budgetary discussions with a NSF Program Officer. A Principal
Investigator or organization that makes financial or personnel commitments
in the absence of a grant or cooperative agreement signed by the NSF Grants
and Agreements Officer does so at their own risk.

VII. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. Notification of the Award

Notification of the award is made to the submitting organization by a
Grants Officer in the Division of Grants and Agreements. Organizations
whose proposals are declined will be advised as promptly as possible by the
cognizant NSF Program administering the program. Verbatim copies of
reviews, not including the identity of the reviewer, will be provided
automatically to the Principal Investigator. (See Section VI.B. for
additional information on the review process.)

B. Award Conditions

An NSF award consists of: (1) the award letter, which includes any special
provisions applicable to the award and any numbered amendments thereto; (2)
the budget, which indicates the amounts, by categories of expense, on which
NSF has based its support (or otherwise communicates any specific approvals
or disapprovals of proposed expenditures); (3) the proposal referenced in
the award letter; (4) the applicable award conditions, such as Grant
General Conditions (GC-1); * or Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP)
Terms and Conditions * and (5) any announcement or other NSF issuance that
may be incorporated by reference in the award letter. Cooperative
agreements also are administered in accordance with NSF Cooperative
Agreement Financial and Administrative Terms and Conditions (CA-FATC) and
the applicable Programmatic Terms and Conditions. NSF awards are
electronically signed by an NSF Grants and Agreements Officer and
transmitted electronically to the organization via e-mail.

*These documents may be accessed electronically on NSF's Website at
http://www.nsf.gov/awards/managing/general_conditions.jsp?org=NSF. Paper
copies may be obtained from the NSF Publications Clearinghouse, telephone
(703) 292-7827 or by e-mail from pubs@nsf.gov.

More comprehensive information on NSF Award Conditions and other important
information on the administration of NSF awards is contained in the NSF
Award & Administration Guide (AAG) Chapter II, available electronically on
the NSF Website at
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=aag.

C. Reporting Requirements

For all multi-year grants (including both standard and continuing grants),
the Principal Investigator must submit an annual project report to the
cognizant Program Officer at least 90 days before the end of the current
budget period. (Some programs or awards require more frequent project
reports). Within 90 days after expiration of a grant, the PI also is
required to submit a final project report.

Failure to provide the required annual or final project reports will delay
NSF review and processing of any future funding increments as well as any
pending proposals for that PI. PIs should examine the formats of the
required reports in advance to assure availability of required data.

PIs are required to use NSF's electronic project-reporting system,
available through FastLane, for preparation and submission of annual and
final project reports.  Such reports provide information on activities and
findings, project participants (individual and organizational)
publications; and, other specific products and contributions.  PIs will not
be required to re-enter information previously provided, either with a
proposal or in earlier updates using the electronic system.  Submission of
the report via FastLane constitutes certification by the PI that the
contents of the report are accurate and complete.

VIII. AGENCY CONTACTS

General inquiries regarding this program should be made to:

   * David Du, Program Director, DMSS and PSCE, telephone: (703) 292-8950,
     email: ddu@nsf.gov

   * Helen Gill, Program Director, EHCS, telephone: (703) 292-8950, email:
     hgill@nsf.gov

   * Anita J. LaSalle, Program Director, PSCE and DMSS, telephone: (703)
     292-8950, email: alasalle@nsf.gov

For questions related to the use of FastLane, contact:

   * FastLane Help Desk, telephone: 1-800-673-6188; e-mail:
     fastlane@nsf.gov.

For questions relating to Grants.gov contact:

   * Grants.gov Contact Center: If the Authorized Organizational
     Representatives (AOR) has not received a confirmation message from
     Grants.gov within 48 hours of submission of application, please
     contact via telephone: 1-800-518-4726; e-mail: support@grants.gov.

IX. OTHER INFORMATION

The NSF Website provides the most comprehensive source of information on
NSF Directorates (including contact information), programs and funding
opportunities. Use of this Website by potential proposers is strongly
encouraged. In addition, MyNSF (formerly the Custom News Service) is an
information-delivery system designed to keep potential proposers and other
interested parties apprised of new NSF funding opportunities and
publications, important changes in proposal and award policies and
procedures, and upcoming NSF Regional Grants Conferences. Subscribers are
informed through e-mail or the user's Web browser each time new
publications are issued that match their identified interests. MyNSF also
is available on NSF's Website at http://www.nsf.gov/mynsf/.

Grants.gov provides an additional electronic capability to search for
Federal government-wide grant opportunities. NSF funding opportunities may
be accessed via this new mechanism. Further information on Grants.gov may
be obtained at http://www.grants.gov.

Related Programs:

     Systems software exists in the context of applications, and it
     interacts with other software systems. Consequently, many
     projects will address topics described in this solicitation as
     well as topics covered in related programs.

      The following NSF programs most closely overlap with the CSR
     program:

        * Networking and Technology (NeTS)
        * Cyber Trust (CT)
        * Expeditions in Computing
        * Cyber-enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI)
        * Software for Real-World Systems (SRS)
        * Computing Processes and Artifacts (CPA)

     If the major emphasis of the proposal is computer networks, then
     it should be submitted to the NeTS program. If the major emphasis
     is to make systems more secure, then the proposal should be
     submitted to the CT program. A proposal that develops or uses
     compiler technology for parallel, distributed and heterogeneous
     systems should be submitted to CSR, but a proposal that addresses
     theoretical compiler technology should be submitted to the CPA
     program. Similarly, a project that develops programming languages
     for programming parallel applications should be submitted to CPA,
     whereas a project that develops systems software to support
     parallel computing should be submitted to CSR. As other programs
     become active, PIs are encouraged to contact the cognizant
     Program Officers for guidance.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent Federal agency
created by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended (42 USC
1861-75). The Act states the purpose of the NSF is "to promote the progress
of science; [and] to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare
by supporting research and education in all fields of science and
engineering."

NSF funds research and education in most fields of science and engineering.
It does this through grants and cooperative agreements to more than 2,000
colleges, universities, K-12 school systems, businesses, informal science
organizations and other research organizations throughout the US. The
Foundation accounts for about one-fourth of Federal support to academic
institutions for basic research.

NSF receives approximately 40,000 proposals each year for research,
education and training projects, of which approximately 11,000 are funded.
In addition, the Foundation receives several thousand applications for
graduate and postdoctoral fellowships. The agency operates no laboratories
itself but does support National Research Centers, user facilities, certain
oceanographic vessels and Antarctic research stations. The Foundation also
supports cooperative research between universities and industry, US
participation in international scientific and engineering efforts, and
educational activities at every academic level.

Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities provide
funding for special assistance or equipment to enable persons with
disabilities to work on NSF-supported projects. See Grant Proposal Guide
Chapter II, Section D.2 for instructions regarding preparation of these
types of proposals.

The National Science Foundation has Telephonic Device for the Deaf (TDD)
and Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) capabilities that enable
individuals with hearing impairments to communicate with the Foundation
about NSF programs, employment or general information. TDD may be accessed
at (703) 292-5090 and (800) 281-8749, FIRS at (800) 877-8339.

The National Science Foundation Information Center may be reached at (703)
292-5111.

 The National Science Foundation promotes and advances scientific
 progress in the United States by competitively awarding grants and
 cooperative agreements for research and education in the sciences,
 mathematics, and engineering.

 To get the latest information about program deadlines, to download
 copies of NSF publications, and to access abstracts of awards, visit the
 NSF Website at http://www.nsf.gov

        * Location:                       4201 Wilson Blvd. Arlington,
                                          VA 22230
        * For General Information         (703) 292-5111
          (NSF Information Center):
        * TDD (for the hearing-impaired): (703) 292-5090

        * To Order Publications or Forms:

              Send an e-mail to:          pubs@nsf.gov

                 or telephone:            (703) 292-7827

        * To Locate NSF Employees:        (703) 292-5111

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; and project reports
submitted by awardees will be used for program evaluation and reporting
within the Executive Branch and to Congress. The information requested may
be disclosed to qualified reviewers and staff assistants as part of the
proposal review process; to proposer institutions/grantees to provide or
obtain data regarding the proposal review process, award decisions, or the
administration of awards; to government contractors, experts, volunteers
and researchers and educators as necessary to complete assigned work; to
other government agencies or other entities needing information regarding
applicants or nominees as part of a joint application review process, or in
order to coordinate programs or policy; and to another 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," 69
Federal Register 26410 (May 12, 2004), and NSF-51, "Reviewer/Proposal File
and Associated Records, " 69 Federal Register 26410 (May 12, 2004).
Submission of the information is voluntary. Failure to provide full and
complete information, however, may reduce the possibility of receiving an
award.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, an information collection unless it displays a valid Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OMB control number for this
collection is 3145-0058. 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 the burden
estimate and any other aspect of this collection of information, including
suggestions for reducing this burden, to:

Suzanne H. Plimpton
Reports Clearance Officer
Division of Administrative Services
National Science Foundation
Arlington, VA 22230

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