Title: Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation 2009  (EFRI-2009)
Date: 08/29/08
Replaced: NSF 07-579




EMERGING FRONTIERS IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION 2009 (EFRI-2009)



  1. BioSensing & BioActuation: Interface of Living and Engineered Systems
     (BSBA)

  2. Hydrocarbons from Biomass (HyBi)



Program Solicitation
NSF 08-599

Replaces Document(s):
NSF 07-579



[NSF Logo]  National Science Foundation

            Directorate for Engineering
                 Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation



Letter of Intent Due Date(s) (required) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local
time):

     October 14, 2008

Preliminary Proposal Due Date(s) (required) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local
time):

     December 02, 2008

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

     April 30, 2009

SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

General Information

Program Title:

     Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation  (EFRI)

       1. BioSensing & BioActuation: Interface of Living and
          Engineered Systems (BSBA)
       2. Hydrocarbons from Biomass (HyBi)

Synopsis of Program:

     The Directorate for Engineering at the National Science
     Foundation has established the Office of Emerging Frontiers in
     Research and Innovation (EFRI) to serve a critical role in
     focusing on important emerging areas in a timely manner. The EFRI
     Office is launching a new funding opportunity for
     interdisciplinary teams of researchers to embark on rapidly
     advancing frontiers of fundamental engineering research. For this
     solicitation, we will consider proposals that aim to investigate
     emerging frontiers in the following two specific research areas:
     (1) BioSensing & BioActuation: Interface of Living and Engineered
     Systems (BSBA), and (2) Hydrocarbons from Biomass (HyBi).  EFRI
     seeks proposals with transformative ideas that represent an
     opportunity for a significant shift in fundamental engineering
     knowledge with a strong potential for long term impact on
     national needs or a grand challenge. The proposals must also meet
     the detailed requirements delineated in this solicitation.

     INFORMATION WEBCAST: The EFRI Office plans to hold an information
     workshop on September 10, 2008, to answer any questions about the
     EFRI Office and this solicitation. Details will be posted on the
     EFRI website (www.nsf.gov/eng/efri) as they become available.

Cognizant Program Officer(s):

   * Sohi Rastegar, Director, Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and
     Innovation (EFRI), 505, telephone: (703) 292-8305, email:
     srastega@nsf.gov

   * TOPIC 1 BIOSENSING/BIOACTUATION, telephone: (703) 292-7017, email:
     sliu@nsf.gov

   * Shih C. Liu, Program Director, Sensor Innovation and Systems, Division
     of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI), 545 S,
     telephone: (703) 292-7017, fax: (703) 292-9053, email: sliu@nsf.gov

   * Yogesh B. Gianchandani, Program Director, Integrative, Hybrid &
     Complex Systems, Division of Electrical Communications & Cyber Systems
     (ECCS), 525, telephone: (703) 292-8339, fax: (703) 292-9147, email:
     ygiancha@nsf.gov

   * Leon Esterowitz, Program Director, Biophotonics, Division of Chemical,
     Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET), 565 S,
     telephone: (703) 292-7942, fax: (703) 292-9098, email:
     lesterow@nsf.gov

   * Rajinder Khosla, Program Director, Electronics, Photonics and Device
     Technologies (EPDT), Division of Electrical Communications & Cyber
     Systems (ECCS), 525, telephone: (703) 292-8339, fax: (703) 292- 9146,
     email: rkhosla@nsf.gov

   * Eduardo Misawa, Program Director, Dynamic Systems, Division of Civil,
     Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI), 545 S, telephone:
     (703) 292-5353, fax: (703) 292-9053, email: emisawa@nsf.gov

   * Lynn Preston, Deputy Division Director, Division of Engineering
     Education & Centers (EEC), 585 N, telephone: (703) 292-5358, fax:
     (703) 292-9051, email: lpreston@nsf.gov

   * TOPIC 2 HYDROCARBONS FROM BIOMASS, telephone: (703) 292-7047, email:
     jregalbu@nsf.gov

   * John Regalbuto, Program Director, Catalysis and Biocatalysis, Division
     of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems
     (CBET), 565 S, telephone: (703) 292-7047, fax: (703) 292-9098, email:
     jregalbu@nsf.gov

   * Dagmar Niebur, Program Director, Power, Controls and Adaptive Networks
     (PCAN), Division of Electrical Communications & Cyber Systems (ECCS),
     525, telephone: (703) 292-8339, fax: (703) 292- 9146, email:
     dniebur@nsf.gov

   * Maria K. Burka, Program Director, Process and Reaction Engineering
     (PRE), Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and
     Transport Systems (CBET), 565 S, telephone: (703) 292-7030, fax: (703)
     292-9098, email: mburka@nsf.gov

   * Clark Cooper, Program Director, Material Design and Surface
     Engineering, Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing
     Innovation (CMMI), 545 S, telephone: (703) 292-7899, fax: (703) 292-
     9053, email: ccooper@nsf.gov

   * Bruce Hamilton, Program Director, Environmental Sustainability,
     Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport
     Systems (CBET), 565 S, telephone: (703) 292-8320, fax: (703) 292-
     9098, email: bhamilto@nsf.gov

   * Paul Werbos, Program Director, Power, Controls and Adaptive Networks
     (PCAN), Division of Electrical Communications & Cyber Systems (ECCS),
     525, telephone: (703) 292-8339, fax: (703) 292 - 9146, email:
     pwerbos@nsf.gov

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

   * 47.041 --- Engineering

Award Information

Anticipated Type of Award:  Standard Grant

Estimated Number of Awards:    11   (4-year awards)

Anticipated Funding Amount:   $22,000,000  to $29,000,000  in FY 2009,
pending the availability of funds.

Eligibility Information

Organization Limit:

     Proposals may only be submitted by the following:

        * EFRI proposals may be submitted by a single organization or
          a group of organizations consisting of a lead organization
          in partnership with one or more partner organizations. Only
          U.S. academic institutions with significant research and
          degree-granting education programs in disciplines normally
          supported by NSF are eligible to be the lead organization.
          Principal investigators are encouraged to form synergistic
          collaborations among researchers and with private and public
          sector organizations, government laboratories, and
          scientists and engineers at foreign organizations where
          appropriate, though no NSF funds will be provided to those
          organizations.

PI Limit:

     Principal Investigators (PI) must be at the faculty level and the
     lead PI must have a primary appointment in an engineering
     department. In addition, a minimum of two Co-PIs must
     participate.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:

     None Specified

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI: 1

     The principal investigator and co-principal investigators may
     participate in one proposal submitted to this solicitation. It is
     the responsibility of the submitting institution to insure that
     the PI and all co-PIs are participating only in one proposal
     submitted to this solicitation.

Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions

A. Proposal Preparation Instructions

   * Letters of Intent: Submission of Letters of Intent is required. Please
     see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

   * Preliminary Proposals: Submission of Preliminary Proposals is
     required. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further
     information.

   * 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

   * Letter of Intent Due Date(s) (required) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's
     local time):

          October 14, 2008

   * Preliminary Proposal Due Date(s) (required) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's
     local time):

          December 02, 2008

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

          April 30, 2009

Proposal Review Information Criteria

Merit Review Criteria:   National Science Board approved criteria.
Additional merit review considerations apply. Please see the full text of
this solicitation for further information.

Award Administration Information

Award Conditions:   Additional award conditions apply. Please see the full
text of this solicitation for further information.

Reporting Requirements:   Additional reporting requirements apply. Please
see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

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

BioSensing and BioActuation (BSBA): Interface of Living and Engineered
Systems . Advances in informatics, nanotechnology, and deeper understading
of biological systems has provided new opportunities to make fundamental
advances in sensing and dynamic control of engineered systems.  These
advances could lead to the development of intelligent systems that will
address a number of national needs including protection of critical and
aging infrastructures, early detection and treatment of currently incurable
diseases, counterterrorism, and mitigration of environmental hazards and
pollution.  BSBA provides an opportunity for partnerships among engineers,
biologists, mathematical and physical scientists, and computer scientists
to address the key elements of the fundamental research needed to
understand the sensing, actuation and dynamic control employed by living
things.  It is expected that research proposals submitted to this
solicitation will contribute to the development of a rigorous engineering
framework for the design and realization of topically-relevant engineered
systems and provide an intellectual framework for education in this
emerging area.

Hydrocarbons from Biomass (HyBi)  As world oil reserves diminish and
concern over climate change increases, the ability to domestically produce
renewable energy for transportation fuels and electricity will have great
impact on energy independence, national security, the environment, and jobs
for America.  Potentially affordable, sustainable, non-food sources for
bioenergy include energy crops such as algae, switchgrass and poplar trees,
and forest and agricultural residues; the 2005 "Billion Ton
Study" estimated that over 1.3 billion tons per year of  biomass is
currently available.  The energy contained in this biomass is equivalent to
about 3.8 billion barrels of oil, about one-half of the oil consumed by the
U.S. in 2006.  Interdisciplinary research is needed to understand the most
effective pathways to convert this biomass into biofuel and biopower that
fit into the country's existing energy infrastructure.

II. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

  1. BioSensing and BioActuation (BSBA)

     The EFRI topic on BioSensing and BioActuation (BSBA): Interface
     of Living and Engineered Systems provides an opportunity for
     partnerships among engineers, biologists, mathematical and
     physical scientists, and computer scientists to address the key
     elements of the fundamental research needed to understand the
     sensing, actuation and dynamic control employed by living
     things.  It is expected that research proposals submitted to this
     solicitation will contribute to the development of a rigorous
     engineering framework for the design and realization of
     topically-relevant engineered systems and provide an intellectual
     framework for education in this emerging area.  Proposals to
     develop devices or systems outside the context of such a
     fundamental framework will be considered unresponsive to this
     topic area.

     Current engineering designs of autonomous systems are often
     primitive compared to those of humans and other complex
     biological systems.  All bio-organisms and bio-systems employing
     sensors, actuators and control approaches are essentially
     superior to the best human-engineered systems.  For example, the
     sense of smell of humans and insects is achieved through a
     network of cells that provides an incredible dynamic range;
     muscles are capable of large deformation and power output, with
     very low energy consumption; the dragonfly's muscles move
     its flexible wing with unique and rapid 6-degree-of-freedom
     maneuverability that can not be achieved in human-made systems;
     and the human nervous system performs adaptive and distributed
     situational analysis and prediction by extracting essential
     information from highly stimulus-rich environments.  Clearly, a
     compelling new research frontier exists in revealing the basic
     science and engineering of sensing and actuation in biological
     systems and in applying what is discovered to new bio-derived and
     bio-inspired engineered systems. The proposed research topics in
     BioSensing and BioActuation are expected to revolutionize our
     quality of life, elucidate the nature of biological systems, as
     well as improve U.S. competitiveness in the global economy
     through advanced technology development; the research on these
     topics is also expected to create a new cadre of graduate
     students with true interdisciplinary education, as well as
     innovative businesses and entrepreneurs.

     To develop a useful intellectual structure for exploiting the
     transformative nature of the proposed EFRI topic, researchers
     with expertise in many fields, including biology, advanced
     materials, distributed sensing and actuation, cognitive and
     neuroscience, transducer physics, cyber-enabled algorithms,
     dynamical systems, communications and control, and
     nano-mechatronics, cell-mechanics, tissue engineering, and
     medical technology must work together in integrated
     cross-disciplinary teams. Thus, this initiative requires not only
     the understanding of basic principles behind the operation of
     biological systems in nature, but also demands more integrative
     system thinking and fundamental research among engineers and
     scientists to transform the concepts and operating principles
     that nature has evolved over millions of years into technologies
     and engineered systems.  The focus of this cross-disciplinary
     program is to promote nontraditional research interactions to
     provide the new knowledge, discoveries, and understanding needed
     to accelerate the advancement of bio-inspired engineered systems.

     While bio-inspiration has motivated research in materials,
     actuation and sensing, and dynamic control, it has not yet
     matured to encompass system-level considerations in a broad-based
     way. In this EFRI topic, BioSensing and BioActuation: Interface
     of Living and Engineered Systems, researchers are encouraged to
     engage in compelling and challenging system-level problems,
     arriving at new approaches, frameworks, and enabling technologies
     by learning from biological solutions to related problems and
     then taking a step back to integrate and generalize the knowledge
     gained before assessing and optimizing the path to an engineered
     solution. It is expected that the resulting knowledge will
     provide a viable means for responding to a broad range of
     problems, leading to revolutionary new autonomous engineered
     systems that are self-regulating, self-regenerative,
     self-adaptive, and self-healing. Areas of opportunity crossing
     the spectrum include the following four topical components, and
     proposals targeted at any one or an integration of more than one
     of these components will be accepted and considered:

     Hierarchical Organization of Biological Systems:

     This component of BSBA seeks bio-inspired research to uncover the
     unifying aspects underlying hierarchical bio-structures and
     bio-systems and use them for sensing and actuation.   The nature
     of these hierarchical organizations is likely to be multi-scale
     in time and space and to exploit multi-functional engineered
     materials and systems. The research challenges include, for
     example: characterization of hierarchical structures, principles
     leading to multi-functionalities and design and fabrication of
     hierarchically structured sensors.

     Sensor Informatics Guided by Life:

     This component of BSBA seeks bio-inspired research to create new
     knowledge that will be exploited in novel bio-inspired data
     mining and dynamic control, including capabilities to monitor,
     assess, and control living and engineered systems in sensor-rich
     environments. The research challenges include, for example,
     cellular signal transduction and communication processes among
     organisms, data mining in massively parallel biological systems,
     robust handling of rich, noisy data, anomaly detection, and
     scalable algorithms and protocols for on-line decision making.

     Multi-Functional Materials and Devices for Distributed Actuation
     and Sensing:

     This BSBA component focuses on the understanding of biological
     systems and the mechanisms that lead to their ability to exhibit
     fault-tolerant actuation with a wide dynamic range, the
     production of practical means for producing artificial structures
     that exhibit similar behaviors, and their incorporation into
     useful engineered systems.  The research challenges include, for
     example, digitalization of biochemical signals to interface with
     electronic systems, biological computational processes for
     cooperative and hierarchical communication, computing and
     control, and new models, languages, and verification methods for
     bio-digital computer systems. This research component will
     entertain proposals to develop completely synthetic materials as
     biological materials for distributed actuation and sensing.

     Forward Engineering & Design of Biological and Biomedical
     Components & Systems:

     This BSBA component is focused on the synthesis of hybrid
     synthetic-living systems through systems-level integration of
     biological and engineered components that sense, actuate,
     compute, regenerate and efficiently allocate resources to achieve
     desired responses and functions.  It aims to increase capacity to
     manipulate and program biological systems to address major social
     challenges such as health and medical treatment. Technical
     approaches to meeting these challenges include design and
     synthesis of modular and programmable parts that perform sensing,
     actuation, and computation in biological systems, and physical
     models of cells and systems including regulatory, signaling,
     mechanical and biochemical sensing and actuating properties. Two
     way interfaces of living tissue machine could contribute to a
     superior understanding of cell mechanics and tissue interfaces in
     living systems, and more generally of how living systems adjust
     or reject micro and nano-engineered devices and systems. In the
     long term, a real-time understanding of the progressive response
     of the living host will be necessary for in vivo systems, so that
     one can develop the required abilities to communicate with cells
     around the implant and have the means to alter the conditions in
     a selective, controlled, localized and predictable manner.

     These topical components constitute a framework for a
     transformative research frontier that is seemingly boundless, and
     can provide a firm foundation for rapid technological innovation
     that will impact the nation's economy, quality of life, and
     societal security.  All application areas are of interest,
     including but not limited to critical infrastructure protection,
     disaster mitigation, sustainable environment, manufacturing, and
     human and society protection, safety and security, and smart
     implantable and wearable medical devices.

     Required BSBA Elements:

     To advance the frontier within the proposed EFRI topic, proposals
     must address the following five elements:

        * Define a unifying intellectual focus for synergistic
          innovation involving interdisciplinary research on the EFRI
          BSBA topic, or their integration, at the interface of living
          and engineered systems;
        * Provide a unique framework through which components of
          diverse disciplines can connect and relate to each other;
        * Address the need for interdisciplinary research;
        * Address the anticipated research outcome and questions on
          how the resulting new discoveries will provide answers to
          problems leading to revolutionary autonomous
          self-regulating, self-regenerative, and self-healing
          engineered devices and systems;
        * Identify new motivation, new instruments and tools, and new
          validation vehicles for bio-engineering interfaces
          investigations.

     The BSBA topic also strongly encourages the consideration of two
     or more of the following elements:

        * Proposed breakthroughs in new bio-inspired materials,
          devices and systems, and how engineers will be able to
          achieve quantum leap in their performance;
        * Paradigm shift in practices and applications in engineering,
          health care, medicine, and biological research.  If the
          anticipated outcome is expected to change a particular
          practice or application, identify the current
          state-of-the-art and list benchmarks that will be used to
          illustrate the success of the project;
        * Sensing at the nanoscale, novel photonic techniques for
          detecting, identifying, characterizing, and understanding
          subcellular structures and processes at nanoscale;
        * Use of bio-material, or their synthesis, or use of various
          detection devices (microelectronics, optics, MEMS, NSMES,
          etc.); or use of chemical properties and reactions, and use
          of mathematical or statistical analysis to sense, detect,
          monitor, control and mimic natural phenomena for sensing and
          actuation;
        * Integration of nano and micro scale sensors into existing
          bio-materials for healing surface property control; and
          interfaces for implantable systems that interact with the
          human body and other biological environments; and
        * Computational algorithms, protocols, and tools for data
          mining, storage, compression, fusion, feature extraction
          under uncertainties, diagnosis and prognosis for optimal use
          of sensed information.

     Proposals will be judged on the relevance of the engineering
     disciplines or their interfaces with biological, computer,
     information, mathematical, and physical sciences in the proposed
     research.  A proposed study targeting incremental improvements or
     a proposed study along single disciplinary or traditional lines
     will not make a competitive proposal.  The synthesis of diverse
     disciplinary knowledge, concepts, methodologies, and technologies
     must be clearly described and the quality of overall integration
     will be evaluated.

  2. Hydrocarbons from Biomass (HyBi)

     The synthesis of hydrocarbon biofuels from non-food biomass
     represents a transformational paradigm away from bioethanol and
     biodiesel.  These biofuels have provided a good start to the
     nation's movement away from imported oil but they are now
     faced with issues of sustainability and CO2 emissions.  Green
     gasoline, green diesel, and green jet fuel will fit into the
     existing infrastructure (motors, pipelines, and refineries) and
     will not incur the gas mileage penalty of ethanol-based
     biofuels.  Potentially they are less expensive to manufacture,
     use less process water and have lower greenhouse gas emissions.
     The biomass sources for hydrocarbon biofuels are lignocellulosic
     energy crops such as switchgrass and poplar trees, as well as
     forest waste, agricultural residue and nonfood oils from plants
     such as jatropha and from algae.  Not only can catalytic routes
     typical of petroleum refineries be used for the conversion of
     biomass into hydrocarbons, but also novel microbial routes
     through synthetic biology.

     An additional benefit of the mass production of biofuels stems
     from the distributed nature of their production.  Since biomass
     is not dense and cannot be economically transported over large
     distances, a system of rural biorefineries throughout farmlands
     and forests is envisioned.  One such system might involve
     processing of agricultural or forest residue via pyrolysis and
     upgrading it into biocrude, which can then be transported through
     existing pipelines to existing petroleum refineries.  The
     recovery of heat from such processes, or even from the pyrolysis
     oil itself, may be used for the generation of electricity.  A
     range of fuel and electricity cogeneration may be considered;
     typically, biofuels will be the main product and electricity will
     be generated from heat recovery, but some circumstances may call
     for electricity to be the main product with biofuel produced to
     store energy in off-peak operation.

     Research and development on next generation hydrocarbon
     biorefineries will be inherently interdisciplinary; all of the
     science and engineering disciplines utilized in petroleum
     refineries and the power grids associated with them are needed to
     implement biorefineries.  Engineering of the biomass itself will
     be needed to optimize both its growth and its deconstruction into
     sugars or other intermediates.  Enzymatic and/or inorganic
     catalytic reactions can be used to break down lignocellulose and
     convert them into hydrocarbon fuels.  New types of multiphase
     reactors and other unit operations will have to be developed, and
     new types of energy conversion devices can be designed for heat
     recovery.  The individual distributed biorefinery cogenerators
     need to be integrated into the electric power distribution
     systems  On the systems scale, life cycle analyses of plant
     designs to examine all facets from feedstock logistics to process
     water use and greenhouse gas emissions are needed to determine
     the sustainability of distributed biorefinery systems.

     The HyBi program seeks to elicit the synergies represented in
     these various fields.  Examples of such synergies may be as
     follows:

     Biomass engineering with synthetic biology or chemical catalysis

        * How can biomass be engineered to optimize deconstruction
          into sugars or other intermediates, and which conversion
          pathways will maximize yields of intermediates and
          hydrocarbon products?

     Enzymatic or catalytic chemistry with reactor design

        * How can batch processes be made continuous and scalable?

     Process design with energy conversion

        * What sort of energy conversion system will optimize heat
          recovery for a particular unit operation?

     Distributed cogeneration of hydrocarbon fuels and electric power

        * How can cogeneration in distributed biorefineries be
          optimally designed to contribute to efficient electric power
          generation and distribution?

     Required HyBi Elements:

     To be considered for the HyBi EFRI program, proposals must
     contain at least two distinct synergies, as exemplified above or
     in other facets, and involve at least three disciplines.  As an
     example, researchers in catalytic chemistry and reaction
     engineering may work on a continuous process to produce pyrolysis
     oil suitable for existing pipelines.  In another example,
     researchers on energy conversion, plant design, and electric
     power systems may work on optimal designs for biofuel and
     electric power cogeneration.

     Resources:

     Recent advances in next generation biofuels have been reported in
     key areas:

        * Overcoming the recalcitrance of lignocellulose toward
          deconstruction into sugars is a major theme in the
          "Breaking the Biological Barriers to Cellulosic
          Ethanol" report, see
          http://genomicsgtl.energy.gov/biofuels/b2bworkshop.shtml .
          It is noted that cellulosic ethanol is not within the scope
          of this EFRI topic; however, the breakdown of lignocellulose
          into sugar or sugar-like intermediates for subsequent
          conversion to hydrocarbons is.
        * In a complementary work, gasification, pyrolysis, and liquid
          phase reforming processes for the conversion of biomass into
          hydrocarbons are found in the "Breaking the Chemical
          and Engineering Barriers to Lignocellulosic Biofuels"
          report, see http://www.ecs.umass.edu/biofuels.

III. AWARD INFORMATION

   * Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant
   * Estimated Number of Awards: 11, 4-year awards.
   * Anticipated Funding Amount: A total of $22,000,000 to $29,000,000 in
     FY 2009 pending the availability of funds. Anticipated Funding Level:
     It is anticipated that 11 or more standard grants will be made in FY
     2009. Each project team may receive support of up to a total of
     $500,000 per year for up to four years, pending the availability of
     funds. It is not expected that all awards will receive the maximum
     amount; the size of awards will depend upon the type of research
     program proposed.

IV. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

Organization Limit:

     Proposals may only be submitted by the following:

        * EFRI proposals may be submitted by a single organization or
          a group of organizations consisting of a lead organization
          in partnership with one or more partner organizations. Only
          U.S. academic institutions with significant research and
          degree-granting education programs in disciplines normally
          supported by NSF are eligible to be the lead organization.
          Principal investigators are encouraged to form synergistic
          collaborations among researchers and with private and public
          sector organizations, government laboratories, and
          scientists and engineers at foreign organizations where
          appropriate, though no NSF funds will be provided to those
          organizations.

PI Limit:

     Principal Investigators (PI) must be at the faculty level and the
     lead PI must have a primary appointment in an engineering
     department. In addition, a minimum of two Co-PIs must
     participate.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:

     None Specified

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI: 1

     The principal investigator and co-principal investigators may
     participate in one proposal submitted to this solicitation. It is
     the responsibility of the submitting institution to insure that
     the PI and all co-PIs are participating only in one proposal
     submitted to this solicitation.

V. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

A. Proposal Preparation Instructions

Letters of Intent(required):

A one-page Letter of Intent is required. Letters of Intent are not reviewed
but are used to judge the overall response and requirements for reviewers.
The letter should be submitted via FastLane no later than the date
specified in this solicitation. The subject heading of the letter should
include a brief title of the proposal and the name of the lead institution.
Each letter must include the following:

  1. THE TITLE- Title of the EFRI proposal preceded by the words
     "EFRI-BSBA" or "EFRI-HyBi" as appropriate.

  2. THE TEAM- Names, departmental and university affiliation, and
     disciplinary expertise of the Principal Investigator and at least two
     co-Principal Investigators.  At least three different disciplines need
     to be represented.

  3. THE SYNOPSIS (GOALS)- Brief description of the specific goals of the
     proposal (maximum of 250 words).

These letters of intent help NSF anticipate review requirements for
preliminary proposals. They are not used as pre-approval mechanisms for the
submission of preliminary proposals and no feedback is provided to the
submitters.

Letter of Intent Preparation Instructions:

When submitting a Letter of Intent through FastLane in response to this
Program Solicitation please note the conditions outlined below:

   * Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) Submission is not required when
     submitting Letters of Intent
   * A Minimum of 2 and Maximum of 4 Other Senior Project Personnel are
     allowed
   * A Minimum of 0 and Maximum of 3 Other Participating Organizations are
     allowed
   * Submission of multiple Letters of Intent is not allowed

Preliminary Proposals (required): Preliminary proposals are required and
must be submitted via the NSF FastLane system, even if full proposals will
be submitted via Grants.gov.

Preliminary proposals must be submitted via FastLane in accordance with the
instructions below. Preliminary proposals that are not compliant with this
solicitation will be returned without review. It is the submitting
organization's responsibility to ensure that the proposal is compliant with
all applicable requirements. If there is more than one university involved
in a preliminary proposal, it must be submitted as a single proposal and
not as multiple collaborative proposals.  Preliminary proposals must
contain the items listed below and strictly adhere to the specified page
limitations. No additional information may be provided as an appendix or by
links to web pages. Figures and tables must be included within the
applicable page limit. All elements of the proposal, including legends and
tables, must meet all formatting requirements for font size, characters per
inch as specified in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG).

Preliminary proposals will be reviewed by panels of outside experts. Based
on the reviews, a limited number of PIs will be invited to submit full
proposals. By March 1 of 2009, successful PIs should expect to receive an
invitation from the EFRI Office to submit full proposals.

Preliminary proposals should provide a brief overview of the project and
should include sufficient information to allow assessment of the main ideas
and approaches and how it is appropriate as an EFRI proposal as opposed to
existing programs. Preliminary proposals must include the following items:

Cover Sheet: Select the EFRI program solicitation number from the pull down
list. Check the box indicated for preliminary proposal. Entries on the
Cover Sheet are limited to the principal investigator and a maximum of four
co-principal investigators.  A minimum of two co-principal investigators
must participate.  Additional project leaders or senior personnel should be
listed on the Project Summary page and entered into FastLane as senior
investigators.

Title of Proposed Project: The title for the proposed EFRI project must
begin, as appropriate, with EFRI-BSBA Preliminary Proposal: or EFRI-HyBi
Preliminary Proposal:. The title must state clearly and succinctly the
major emerging frontier in research and innovation that is the focus for
the project.

Project Summary: May not be more than one page in length and must consist
of three parts: (1) At the top of this page include the title of the
project, the name of the PI and the lead institution and a list of co-PIs
and senior personnel along with their institutions; (2) provide a succinct
summary of the intellectual merit of the proposed project. This should
include the transformative nature of the proposed research the significant
leap or a paradigm shift in fundamental engineering knowledge it will
achieve; and (3) describe the broader impacts of the proposed work
including the potential long-term impact on national needs or a grand
challenge. Proposals that do not separately address in the project summary
both intellectual merit and broader impacts will be returned without
review.

Project Description. Project Description of the Preliminary Proposals is
limited to five pages and will include the following three sections:

  1. Vision and Goals- Describe the vision and specific goals of the
     proposed research in approximately one page.

  2. Approach and Methodology- Describe in approximately three pages the
     approach and methodology that will be used to achieve the vision and
     goals.

  3. Impact- Describe in approximately one page how the synergy of experts
     from different disciplines in the proposed research will achieve a
     significant advancement in fundamental engineering knowledge and will
     have a strong potential for long term impact on national needs or a
     grand challenge.

References Cited. Indicate with an asterisk any cited publications that
resulted from prior research funded by NSF for the PI, or co-PI (s).

Biographical sketches. The standard NSF two-page biographical sketches must
be prepared for the PI, co-PIs and other senior personnel listed on the
Project Summary page.

Current and Pending Support for the PI, co-PIs, and senior personnel must
be included.

Budget: The preliminary proposal will include a budget for each of the four
years proposed. FastLane will automatically provide a cumulative budget.
Preliminary proposals should not include any subcontracts; however the
budget justification should include planned levels for subcontracts to any
partner institution. Enter the anticipated total level of subcontract
support on line G5, Subawards.

In the Special Information and Supplementary Documentation section, include
the following:

  1. List of key personnel involved (maximum one page), with a succinct
     description of what each person uniquely brings to the project and how
     they are integrated to produce positive synergies; and

  2. A list, in a single alphabetized table, with the full names and
     institutional affiliations of all people with conflicts of interest
     for all senior personnel (PI and co-PI's) and any named personnel
     whose salary is requested in the project budget. Conflicts to be
     identified are (1) Ph.D thesis advisors or advisees, (2) collaborators
     or co-authors, including postdoctoral researchers, for the past 48
     months, and (3) any other individuals with whom or institutions with
     which the PIs have financial ties (please specify type).

In addition to the FastLane instructions, the proposers must send the
following two documents via email immediately after submission of their
proposal. After receipt of the proposal number from FastLane, send an email
to efri2009@nsf.gov. The subject heading of the email should note the
proposal number and the lead institution. Attach the following documents
prepared on templates that will be available at
http://www.nsf.gov/eng/efri:

  1. An Excel spreadsheet containing two lists: one lists the last names,
     first names and institutional affiliations of all senior personnel (PI
     and co-PI's) and any named personnel whose salary is requested in the
     project budget; the second one lists the full names and institutional
     affiliations of all people having conflicts of interest with any
     senior personnel (PI and co-PI's) or named personnel whose salary is
     requested in the project budget. These lists will be used by NSF to
     check for conflicts of interest in assembling the review community.

  2. A single Power Point slide summarizing the vision of the EFRI
     proposal. This will be used during review panel discussions.

Remember to email these two documents to efri2009@nsf.gov; do not use
FastLane.

Full Proposal 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.

Based on the review of preliminary proposals, a limited number of PIs will
be invited to submit full proposals. If there is more than one university
involved in an invited full proposal, it must be submitted as a single full
proposal not as multiple collaborative proposals.

The review of invited full proposals will include both ad hoc and panel
reviews. The following exceptions and additions to the GPG or the NSF
Grants.gov Application Guide apply to full proposals submitted to this
Program:

Full proposals will be accepted only from PIs who have submitted
preliminary proposals in the current review cycle. Submission of full
proposals by PIs whose preliminary proposals received a review
recommendation of 'Not Invited' will be returned without review.

Cover Sheet:

   * FastLane Users: Select the EFRI program solicitation number from the
     pull down list. Check the box indicated for full proposal. Entries on
     the cover sheet are limited to the principal investigator and a
     maximum of four co-principal investigators. Additional project leaders
     or senior personnel should be listed on the Project Summary page and
     entered into FastLane as senior investigators.
   * Grants.gov Users: The EFRI program solicitation number will be
     pre-populated by Grants.gov on the NSF Grant Application Cover Page.
     NSF allows one principal investigator and a maximum of four
     co-principal investigators to be identified on a proposal.
     Instructions for entering additional senior project participants are
     included in Section V.5. of the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide.

Title of Proposed Project: The title for the proposed EFRI project must
begin, as appropriate, with EFRI-BioSA: or EFRI-HyBi:. The title must state
clearly and succinctly the major emerging frontier in research and
innovation that is the focus for the project.

Project Summary (one-page limit): Provide the following information: (1)
the title of the project, the name of the PI and the lead institution or
organization, and a list of co-PIs and senior personnel along with their
institutions and organization or both; (2) a succinct summary of the
intellectual merit of the proposed project. This should include the
transformative nature of the proposed research, and the significant leap or
a paradigm shift in fundamental engineering knowledge; and (3) the broader
impacts of the proposed work, including the potential long-term impact on
national needs and a grand challenge or both. Proposals that do not
separately address in the project summary both intellectual merit and
broader impacts will be returned without review.

Project Description (maximum 15 pages) must include the following
subsections.

  1. Results from Prior Research: Describe prior research of PI or co-PIs
     funded by NSF that is directly relevant to the proposed project.

  2. Proposed Research: Describe the vision and goals of the proposed
     research, approaches and methodologies to attain the goals, and the
     expected outcomes. Project Description should end with a subsection
     labeled Impact that describes how the proposed project will lead to
     significant shift in fundamental engineering knowledge and have strong
     long term potential for significant impact on a national need or a
     grand challenge. Concisely articulate unifying and integrative aspects
     of the proposed research as well as the innovative ideas of the
     research.

References Cited. Indicate with an asterisk any cited publications that
resulted from prior research funded by NSF for the PI, or co-PI(s).

Biographical sketches for key personnel (PI, co-PIs, and each of the senior
personnel listed on the Project Summary page). Use the standard format.

Current and Pending support information must be provided for the PI and
each of the co-PIs and Senior Personnel listed in the Project Summary page.

Budget. Develop a realistic project budget that is consistent with the
proposed activities. Provide detailed budget justifications separately for
the lead institution's budget (up to 3 pages of budget justification), and
for each subawardee budget (up to 3 pages of budget justification for each
subaward). Proposed budgets must include funds for travel by the PI and one
researcher or a student to attend an annual EFRI grantees' meeting.

Facilities and Equipment: Provide a description of available facilities and
priorities for its use, if applicable. For EFRI projects requiring
additional equipment, justify the need for these resources in the context
of the innovative work proposed.

In the Special Information and Supplementary Documentation section, include
the following:

  1. List of key personnel involved (maximum three pages), with description
     of what each person uniquely brings to the project and how they are
     integrated to produce positive synergies;

  2. Provide a detailed management plan (maximum three pages) including
     means of communication and data tracking or management within the
     group, management of intellectual property resulting from the project,
     and timeline of activities;

  3. Proposals that would generate significant digital data for
     preservation must include a data management plan (maximum one page).
     The contents of the data management plan should include: (1) the types
     of data to be produced, (2) the standards that would be applied for
     data format and metadata content, and (3) access policies and
     provision;

  4. Means of sharing the outcome of the research with the rest of the
     scientific community, e.g. publications, web sites, and significant
     data bases, etc. (maximum two pages). The description should be
     specific and describe what, how, and when the community would have
     access to the outcome of the project. This is particularly important
     for the projects that will produce tangible research tools and
     resources;

  5. A list, in a single alphabetized table, with the full names and
     institutional affiliations of all people with conflicts of interest
     for all senior personnel (PI and co-PI's) and any named personnel
     whose salary is requested in the project budget. Conflicts to be
     identified are (1) Ph.D. thesis advisors or advisees, (2)
     collaborators or co-authors, including postdocs, for the past 48
     months, and (3) any other individuals or institutions with which the
     investigator has financial ties (please specify type).

In addition, the proposers must send the following two documents via email
immediately after submission of their proposal. After receipt of the
proposal number from FastLane or Grants.gov, send an email to
efri2009@nsf.gov. The subject heading of the email should note the proposal
number and the lead institution. Attach the following documents prepared on
templates that will be available at http://www.nsf.gov/eng/efri:

  1. An Excel spreadsheet containing two lists: one lists the last names,
     first names and institutional affiliations of all senior personnel (PI
     and co-PI's) and any named personnel whose salary is requested in the
     project budget; the second one lists the full names and institutional
     affiliations of all people having conflicts of interest with any
     senior personnel (PI and co-PI's) or named personnel whose salary is
     requested in the project budget. These lists will be used by NSF to
     check for conflicts of interest in assembling the review community.

  2. A single Power Point slide summarizing the vision of the EFRI
     proposal. This will be used during review panel discussions.

Remember to email these two documents to efri2009@nsf.gov; do not use
FastLane or Grants.gov. Please submit these documents even if the
information has not changed since submission of the preproposal.

B. Budgetary Information

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

C. Due Dates

   * Letter of Intent Due Date(s) (required) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's
     local time):

          October 14, 2008

   * Preliminary Proposal Due Date(s) (required) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's
     local time):

          December 02, 2008

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

          April 30, 2009

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.

     Additional Review Criteria:

        * In addition to the two NSF review criteria (intellectual merit
          and broader impacts), the following criteria will be used in the
          review of all EFRI proposals:

          TRANSFORMATIVE - Does the proposed research represent an
          opportunity for a significant leap or paradigm shift in
          fundamental engineering knowledge?

          NATIONAL NEED/GRAND CHALLENGE - Is there potential for making
          significant progress on a current national need or grand
          challenge?

          Effectiveness of the proposed plan for management and
          integration.

        * The following additional criteria will be used in the review of
          BSBA proposals:

          - Responsiveness of the proposal to address the "Required BSBA
          Proposal Elements" listed in the program description;
          interdisciplinary synergies in the form of well-integrated
          "systems' approach to research is vital.
          - The potential impact of the proposed work to address major
          societal needs, to revolutionize quality of life, to elucidate
          the nature of biological systems, as well as to improve US
          competitiveness in the global economy through advanced technology
          development.

        * The following additional criteria will be used in the review of
          HyBi proposals:

          - Responsiveness of the proposal to address the "Required HyBi
          Proposal Elements" listed in the program description;
          interdisciplinary synergies are vital.
          - The potential impact of the proposed work to answer the
          national challenge for biofuels, both technical and in terms of
          sustainability, for next-generation, non-alcohol hydrocarbon
          biofuels.

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 date of receipt.  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 developing its recommendations for awards, review panels as well as NSF
staff will consider: the relative merit of the EFRI proposals using the
criteria listed above, the potential national impact of the proposed
activity, the balance of awards among scientific fields, geographical
distribution, and the combined ability of the proposals to meet the
objectives of the EFRI Office. The EFRI Office will not normally award more
than one proposal from any one lead institution in this competition.

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 Research 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/award_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.

Special Award Conditions:  Awardees must include in the proposal budget
funds for travel by PI and one researcher or a student to attend an annual
EFRI grantees' meeting.

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.

Awardees will be required to attend and present their research results and
plans annually at an annual EFRI grantees' conference for the duration for
their award.

VIII. AGENCY CONTACTS

General inquiries regarding this program should be made to:

   * Sohi Rastegar, Director, Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and
     Innovation (EFRI), 505, telephone: (703) 292-8305, email:
     srastega@nsf.gov

   * TOPIC 1 BIOSENSING/BIOACTUATION, telephone: (703) 292-7017, email:
     sliu@nsf.gov

   * Shih C. Liu, Program Director, Sensor Innovation and Systems, Division
     of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI), 545 S,
     telephone: (703) 292-7017, fax: (703) 292-9053, email: sliu@nsf.gov

   * Yogesh B. Gianchandani, Program Director, Integrative, Hybrid &
     Complex Systems, Division of Electrical Communications & Cyber Systems
     (ECCS), 525, telephone: (703) 292-8339, fax: (703) 292-9147, email:
     ygiancha@nsf.gov

   * Leon Esterowitz, Program Director, Biophotonics, Division of Chemical,
     Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET), 565 S,
     telephone: (703) 292-7942, fax: (703) 292-9098, email:
     lesterow@nsf.gov

   * Rajinder Khosla, Program Director, Electronics, Photonics and Device
     Technologies (EPDT), Division of Electrical Communications & Cyber
     Systems (ECCS), 525, telephone: (703) 292-8339, fax: (703) 292- 9146,
     email: rkhosla@nsf.gov

   * Eduardo Misawa, Program Director, Dynamic Systems, Division of Civil,
     Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI), 545 S, telephone:
     (703) 292-5353, fax: (703) 292-9053, email: emisawa@nsf.gov

   * Lynn Preston, Deputy Division Director, Division of Engineering
     Education & Centers (EEC), 585 N, telephone: (703) 292-5358, fax:
     (703) 292-9051, email: lpreston@nsf.gov

   * TOPIC 2 HYDROCARBONS FROM BIOMASS, telephone: (703) 292-7047, email:
     jregalbu@nsf.gov

   * John Regalbuto, Program Director, Catalysis and Biocatalysis, Division
     of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems
     (CBET), 565 S, telephone: (703) 292-7047, fax: (703) 292-9098, email:
     jregalbu@nsf.gov

   * Dagmar Niebur, Program Director, Power, Controls and Adaptive Networks
     (PCAN), Division of Electrical Communications & Cyber Systems (ECCS),
     525, telephone: (703) 292-8339, fax: (703) 292- 9146, email:
     dniebur@nsf.gov

   * Maria K. Burka, Program Director, Process and Reaction Engineering
     (PRE), Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and
     Transport Systems (CBET), 565 S, telephone: (703) 292-7030, fax: (703)
     292-9098, email: mburka@nsf.gov

   * Clark Cooper, Program Director, Material Design and Surface
     Engineering, Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing
     Innovation (CMMI), 545 S, telephone: (703) 292-7899, fax: (703) 292-
     9053, email: ccooper@nsf.gov

   * Bruce Hamilton, Program Director, Environmental Sustainability,
     Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport
     Systems (CBET), 565 S, telephone: (703) 292-8320, fax: (703) 292-
     9098, email: bhamilto@nsf.gov

   * Paul  Werbos, Program Director, Power, Controls and Adaptive Networks
     (PCAN), Division of Electrical Communications & Cyber Systems (ECCS),
     525, telephone: (703) 292-8339, fax: (703) 292 - 9146, email:
     pwerbos@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.

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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