Title: Cyber Trust   (CT)
Date: 12/20/07
Replaced: NSF 07-500





Cyber Trust   (CT)

Program Solicitation
NSF 08-521

Replaces Document(s):
NSF 07-500



[NSF Logo]  National Science Foundation

            Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering
                 Division of Computer and Network Systems
                 Division of Computing and Communication Foundations
                 Division of Information & Intelligent Systems



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

     March 24, 2008

     December 09, 2009

     Second Wednesday in December, Annually Thereafter

REVISION NOTES

In furtherance of the President's Management Agenda, NSF has identified
programs that will offer proposers the option to utilize Grants.gov to
prepare and submit proposals, or will require that proposers utilize
Grants.gov to prepare and submit proposals. Grants.gov provides a single
Government-wide portal for finding and applying for Federal grants online.

In response to this program solicitation, proposers may opt to submit
proposals via Grants.gov or via the NSF FastLane system. 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.

SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

General Information

Program Title:

     Cyber Trust  (CT)

Synopsis of Program:

     People depend on computers and communication, ranging from the
     networks for electronic mail, to systems that monitor the
     nation's critical infrastructure, to embedded RFID devices
     for tracking in transportation systems. These systems are
     expected to work and work as intended without placing people at
     needless risks.  Unfortunately, vulnerabilities still exist that
     allow attackers to corrupt or commandeer systems, including those
     that provide support for critical societal infrastructure.
     Moreover, many systems are vulnerable to actions that can inhibit
     operation, corrupt valuable data or expose private information.
     In fact, the news is replete with stories of vulnerabilities that
     were exploited for ill.  Future advances in computing promise
     substantial benefits for society and individuals; yet, unless
     trust in computing and communications can be assured, these
     benefits are at risk.

     The NSF Cyber Trust (CT) program promotes a vision of a society
     where trust enables technologies to support individual and
     societal needs without violating confidences and exacerbating
     public risks.  It is a vision of cyber space that is supportive
     of our basic principles of fairness and safe information access.
     The goal of the NSF CT program is to develop new insights and
     fundamental scientific principles that lead to software and
     hardware technologies on which people can justifiably rely.

     To achieve the CT vision and simultaneously improve the
     Nation's cybersecurity posture, CT will support a portfolio
     of projects that:

        * Contribute to the cybersecurity knowledge base, strengthen
          the foundations of cyber trust, and advance cybersecurity
          technologies;
        * Define cyber trust broadly to include security, privacy,
          dependability, reliability, and usability;
        * Address trustworthiness at all levels of system design,
          implementation, and use;
        * Begin to integrate the technology produced by the research
          community, for example through novel security architectures;
        * Consider social, economic, organizational and legal factors
          influencing cybersecurity;
        * Validate theory through analysis, formal verification,
          experimentation and rigorous measurement;
        * Explore innovative new concepts anticipating advances in
          technology and society;
        * Encourage international collaborations; and,
        * Educate and train a diverse workforce in cybersecurity and
          software technologies.

     Proposals funded will cover a broad range of disciplines
     contributing to the CT vision.  Four types of CT projects will be
     supported, as defined below.

        * Exploratory Research projects typically explore new and
          untested ideas, have budgets of up to $200,000 total, and
          have durations of up to 2 years;
        * Single Investigator and Small Group projects typically
          involve 1-2 PIs and their students, have budgets of up to
          $500,000 total, and have durations of up to 3 years;
        * Medium projects demonstrate an active collaboration that
          brings together 2 or more PIs with complementary expertise
          to explore a common research problem, have budgets of up to
          $1,500,000 total, and have durations of up to 3 years; and,
        * Large projects must focus on achieving a common goal or set
          of goals, articulate an effective collaboration and
          management plan, have budgets of up to $3,000,000 total, and
          have durations of up to 3 years.

Cognizant Program Officer(s):

   * Karl Levitt, Program Director, Division of Computer and Network
     Systems, 1175N, telephone: (703) 292-8950, fax: (703) 292-9010, email:
     klevitt@nsf.gov

   * David Du, Program Director, Division of Computer and Network Systems,
     1175N, telephone: (703) 292-8950, fax: (703) 292-9010, email:
     ddu@nsf.gov

   * Jim French, Program Director, Division of Information and Intelligent
     Systems, 1125S, telephone: (703) 292-8930, fax: (703) 292-9073, email:
     jfrench@nsf.gov

   * Richard Beigel, Program Director, Division of Computing and
     Communication Foundations, 1115N, telephone: 703-292-8910, fax: (703)
     292-9010, email: rbeigel@nsf.gov

   * Kevin Thompson, Program Director, Office of Cyberinfrastructure,
     1160N, telephone: 703-292-8962, fax: (703) 292-9010, email:
     kthompso@nsf.gov

   * Ralph Wachter, Program Director, Division of Computer and Network
     Systems, 1175N, telephone: (703) 292-8950, fax: (703) 292-9010, email:
     rwachter@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:    87   total. Up to 2 Large awards, up to 15
Medium awards, up to 60 Single Investigator and Small Group awards, and up
to 10 Exploratory Research awards will be made, dependent on availability
of funds.

Anticipated Funding Amount:   $34,000,000  in FY 2008 pending availability
of funds.

Eligibility Information

Organization Limit:

     None Specified

PI Limit:

     None Specified

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 each Cyber
     Trust competition. 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:
     Cyber Trust (CT), Computer Systems Research (CSR), and Networking
     Technology and Systems (NeTS).

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):

          March 24, 2008

          December 09, 2009

          Second Wednesday in December, Annually Thereafter

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:   Standard NSF award conditions apply

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

Computers permeate our world, ranging from networks for all forms of
communication to systems designed for monitoring the nation's critical
infrastructure to devices for tracking transportation systems, such as
airplanes, trains, buses and even private cars.  While some systems have
been hardened against attack, in many areas, especially systems that
control critical infrastructures,  the potential remains for attackers to
corrupt or commandeer such systems.  The systemic vulnerabilities are due
to many factors, including: errors in software or in configuration,
 ill-informed policies that do not account for all hazards, economic
restrictions that inhibit the development of appropriate defenses against
attacks and misuse, and sheer technical problems that have so far resisted
resolution.

Many problems stem from factors of software engineering and attempts to
retrofit security measures onto systems.  In the extreme, legacy systems
must be re-engineered to protect them against security attacks that were
not envisaged when those systems were initially designed.   Even in modern
development regimens, the time and cost required for security certification
and performance evaluations is prohibitively high. In the realm of security
policies, many issues at the enterprise-wide level are not well understood.
The fact that security components are notoriously non-compositional means
that policies must be crafted at the overall system level, rather than
built up or reasoned about incrementally.  Hence, in a complicated,
multi-tiered system, security policies must be devised for each level, and
the overall system then checked to ensure that lower level policies
integrate properly with those at higher levels.

Privacy, anonymity, and accountability in cyberspace are often debated on
both technical and policy grounds.  The objectives of privacy, anonymity
and accountability often conflict with each other and need to be adapted in
changing environments. Information has tangible value and real costs.  That
value depends in part upon the exercise of control and ownership over
information and the perceived importance of that information.  Its costs
depend at least upon storage, bandwidth and processing.  Information can
also be erroneous, hidden, misused, misrepresented, partial, unverified,
conflicting, and certainly personal.  Many problems arise from differences
in assumptions, expectations, feasibility, and actual use by different
stakeholders.  Whatever policies on information in cyberspace prevail will
have significant impact upon society, commerce, defense, and the
individual.

Over the next few decades, computing will be dramatically reshaped. Early
trends suggest a greater convergence of software-enabled technologies with
a wider diversity and presence of applications that build upon a large
number of sensors, embedded devices and physical systems integrated through
the Internet.  In addition to advances in classical computing, functioning
quantum devices capable of algorithm processing are expected to be common.
Service-oriented architectures may gain a prominent place in the delivery
and distribution of differentiated, yet composable, software services.
Social networks and information content will be more important to the
public and the research community. Critical infrastructures will be bound
more closely via our information infrastructure. Unfortunately, convergence
and closer integration often introduce new security vulnerabilities.
Furthermore, security needs will be different and solutions will have to
keep pace with technological advances, mitigating vulnerabilities and
weaknesses before they manifest.

The challenges alluded to above promote a need for innovative research
ideas driven by newly emerging technologies, new applications that impose
new security and privacy requirements, and the ever increasing demand for
more people knowledgeable about security.

Cyber Trust Program Vision

NSF's Cyber Trust (CT) program supports research and education
activities that will lead to trustworthy computing systems.  The CT vision
is of a society in which people can justifiably rely on:

   * Computer and communication systems to perform all functions but
     especially critical functions correctly, safely, and securely despite
     disruptions of any types;
   * Information that is secure, protected, and properly managed everywhere
     at all times; and
   * A diverse, well-trained workforce in cybersecurity and a general
     public educated in the ethical and secure use of computer technology.

II. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Trustworthiness is a system property. Many factors influence how
trustworthy systems are designed, implemented, and used. Accordingly, CT
covers all aspects of trust in computing and communication, including the
social, legal, organizational, and economic factors. To make progress
towards the CT vision requires:

   * New fundamental advances in knowledge and technology. Of particular
     interest are projects that seek to explore new and innovative
     approaches, beyond existing ones, to address the growing complexity of
     security challenges.  Focus on security evaluation and privacy is
     encouraged.
   * Trustworthiness at all levels of system design, implementation, and
     use. Of particular interest are projects which take a holistic
     approach to security, focusing on new and innovative activities that
     provide for analysis, attribution, measurement and assurance at scale.
   * Security shaped by economic, ethical, legal, organizational, social,
     technical and usability factors. Of particular interest are projects
     that address security and its usability within a technical, economic,
     ethical and legal framework.  Projects which consider legacy systems
     in the approach to the solution are encouraged.
   * A well-trained and educated workforce and an informed public on
     information security. Of particular interest are projects that
     capitalize upon the unique interests of academia, industry, and
     government - including accreditation and certificate granting
     institutions, community libraries, and the media - in the development
     of an informed, trained and educated cybersecurity workforce and
     citizenry.   Activities that reach a broad community are encouraged.

Research Areas

Research supported will address: all security-related aspects of computer
and network systems, including system evolution over time; development of
security and privacy policies; definition of requirements; methodologies,
models, and architectures that support security and privacy; construction,
evaluation and verification of components and systems; operation,
monitoring, maintenance, and recovery and reconstitution after failures or
incidents; survivability and early discovery of large scale attacks; and
forensics, sanitization, and disposal in the aftermath of an incident.
Research that spans technical areas promoting effective integration of
information technologies is strongly encouraged since many technologies are
hampered by being "stand-alone".  Accordingly, research focused on the
integration of promising technologies into one or more evaluatable
architectures is encouraged.  CT is also interested in projects that
advance or apply combinations of technologies to solve particularly
challenging problems, to understand engineering tradeoffs among competing
or complementary technical approaches, and to explore synergies among
technologies.

Multi-disciplinary research that includes experts from the behavioral and
social science disciplines is strongly encouraged since system engineering
tradeoffs are rarely based solely on technical issues. Social,
organizational, economic, regulatory, and legal factors often play a major
role in determining which technologies are developed, which ones are
applied, and how they are used. These choices can have a major influence on
overall system trustworthiness. Many technologies that hold great potential
for increasing system trustworthiness have seen little use in practice
because, for example, they are seen as too time-consuming or as imposing
too great a performance penalty.  Through multi-disciplinary CT projects,
NSF seeks to increase understanding of the technical implications as well
as the role of social, economic and other factors in developing trustworthy
computer systems.

The following paragraphs elaborate upon some research challenges in CT
areas of interest. They should be considered representative, not
exhaustive. Research that is highly innovative and promises to set new
directions for the security field, particularly reflecting future and
skilled adversaries, is strongly encouraged.

Security for Software- and Data-Intensive Applications

Software-intensive applications are pervasive.  Furthermore, recent
developments in multi-core technology, coupled with the proliferation of
web services, are ushering in new data-intensive services and
applications.  Increasingly society depends on these applications to
interoperate correctly  and securely in increasingly hostile environments.
The desired level of security and trustworthiness must be weighed against
the risks and costs of compromise, disruption, and performance impact.  The
CT program seeks new insights and understandings that ensure applications
are trustworthy and that they interoperate in cyberspace. Research areas of
interest include, but are not limited to:

   * Security, trust and privacy in high interest applications (e.g.,
     critical national infrastructures, healthcare, databases, mobile and
     sensor applications, data mining, web services, digital libraries,
     finance and banking, transportation, e-government, and e-commerce);
   * Security and privacy for data-intensive applications, such as
     geospatial systems, and others, where the data itself impose unique
     security requirements and introduce trade-offs between security and
     performance;
   * Security across federated or distributed systems;
   * Knowledge integration and management within applications, especially
     for security;
   * Authentication, access control, privacy control, and information flow
     management;
   * Security policy specification, discovery, and implementation;
   * Reasoning about and automatic abstraction and explanation of security
     policies;
   * Transparency of trust, security, and privacy in and across
     applications;
   * Cyber forensics for auditability, recovery and accountability in
     critical applications;
   * Autonomous adaptation of applications to changes in threats and
     environments; and
   * Survivability against massive attacks and wide spread disruptions.

Security for Computer Systems

Computer systems are controlled by (operating) systems software that
governs behavior and provides basic services to computer resources on which
applications are built. Large high performance servers and sensor networks
alike are vulnerable to disruption and compromise. Many factors, including
cost, time to market, complexity, power, and response-time often inhibit
the development of controls that might prevent system misuse and abuse. The
purpose and use of a system, whether it is large or small, affects the type
and extent of its security controls. New fundamental insights and
approaches to trust and security are required for future generations of
hardware processors, systems software and overall architectures. Research
areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

   * Trustworthy operating system architectures, including re-visiting
     separation kernels, hypervisors, and other operating structures that
     localize security-critical functionality;
   * Trade-offs between generic systems that address many applications and
     systems specialized for an application (the concept of a family of
     secure operating systems that is subsettable to address particular
     needs can be considered);
   * Virtualization mechanisms to support separation of processes with an
     emphasis on the evaluation of such mechanisms;
   * Middleware for trustworthy systems in support of transaction
     processing, wireless and sensor systems, fault-tolerant systems,
     real-time systems and others;
   * Access control for specialized operating systems such as those that
     support real-time and sensor -based systems;
   * Special-purpose hardware modules for trustworthiness, accountability,
     and attestation (e.g., TPM security devices);
   * Devices for authentication (e.g., biometric systems);
   * Security co-processors to support critical security functions such as
     anti-tamper, tamper-resistance, intrusion detection, and the
     encryption of data;
   * Security solutions that do not impact performance;
   * Storage devices to support forensics and recoverability from attacks;
   * Secure hierarchical control and trustworthy transaction processing for
     infrastructure systems; and
   * Secure long-lived data archiving mechanisms.

Security for Networks

Research is needed to improve not only  the security of the current
Internet, but also to inform the design of future networks, including the
future Internet, in which security and robustness are embedded from the
ground up. Of particular interest are new protocols and network
architectures that promise substantial security improvements. Research
areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

   * Building secure networks from insecure components (including novel
     designs for usable Byzantine security);
   * Developing network security mechanisms to lead to networks (of all
     kinds, including infrastructure, wireless and sensor) that are
     resilient to denial of service attacks;
   * Ensuring anonymity and accountability in networks, e.g., balancing
     attribute key-based pseudonymity with social requirements (revocable
     anonymity can be considered);
   * Improving deployability and usability of network-based and
     network-disseminated security solutions;
   * Enhancing network support for end-system security;
   * Preserving security in federated systems especially after compromise
     and during recovery and repair;
   * Developing new approaches to existing technologies that are secure
     (e.g. secure tunneling, secure plug-ins);
   * Advancing the design of secure services and protocols involving middle
     boxes and proxies;
   * Creating secure approaches to network functions such as addressing,
     routing, forwarding, naming, etc.;
   * Evaluating the security of those networks which are too large to be
     faithfully represented on currently available, size-constrained
     testbeds (e.g. DETER/EMIST, WAIL, ORBIT);
   * Designing mechanisms that enable trade-offs in security, privacy,
     need-to-know and need-to-share;
   * Ensuring robust and secure network management and network substrates;
     and
   * Development of security mechanisms for the security management of all
     network layers.

Security Foundations, Including Cryptography, Metrics and New Models

The CT program also supports research whose goal is to establish a sound
scientific foundation and technological basis for reasoning about computing
and communications in a world that includes malicious actors. Research
results can be expected to have broad application, and are not limited to a
particular platform or operating system. Research areas of interest
include, but are not limited to:

   * Cryptography, especially (1) cryptographic systems that are designed
     to be usable, (2) investigations towards stronger cryptographic
     systems, (3) proofs of cryptographic systems, including distributed
     protocols and of techniques that combine provable security with
     standard verification methods;
   * Methods for specifying, reasoning about, and developing trustworthy
     components and systems, including novel hardware and firmware designs
     (of particular interest are lightweight methods to verification - such
     as static analysis - of program code and configuration files);
   * Formal verification where different approaches (e.g., lightweight and
     theorem proving-based) operate synergistically;
   * Maintaining trustworthiness as systems change and adapt;
   * New mechanisms that provide quantifiable guarantees of trust (it might
     be necessary to initially address small and stand-alone components and
     protocols, building larger quantifiable systems from these);
   * Metrics to enable the quantification of the security of a system or
     of  trade-offs in trustworthy systems for example between security and
     performance;
   * Measuring, modeling, analyzing, and validating system trust
     properties, for example the determination of the effort required by an
     attacker to defeat security features;
   * Methods to assure the trustworthiness of security features themselves;
   * Methods to achieve trustworthiness in the presence of attacks more
     complex and disruptive than those currently observed;
   * Synergistic combinations of static and dynamic evaluation methods;
   * Use of static and dynamic evaluation methods to identify security
     flaws in the stages of the life cycle;
   * Methods that effectively and efficiently address such problems as the
     identification of life-cycle vulnerabilities in a system;
   * Compositional security methods;
   * Automatic generation of security configurations from policy
     specifications;
   * Methods to assure that information flow in complex systems comply with
     security and privacy policies; and
   * New models for security, such as control theory or models of social
     networks that offer the potential of providing new research
     directions.

Security for Complex Systems, Including New Security Architectures and
Achieving Usable Security

For complex systems, attention must be given to all components that are
subject to attack or that provide defenses and allow the management of
attacks. Efficient security solutions for complex systems may require
humans-in-the-loop. It is not possible to attain security by focusing
attention, for example, on a single layer in a complex system
organization.  Research areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

   * Aggregation of alerts across layers to enable accurate discrimination
     of attacks versus anomalous but not malicious activity, and also to
     enable effective cross-layer responses to attacks;
   * Design principles for secure complex systems with human-in-the-loop,
     including providing humans with automatically derived explanations of
     security events and addressing other approaches towards security
     measures that are human-friendly;
   * Prediction of the possible paths of a complex attack in progress and
     determination of possible remediation actions against such attacks;
   * Efficient management of security mechanisms across a complex system,
     for example to derive configurations from a security policy;
   * Security mechanisms that promote usability appropriate to the needs
     and skill level of each class of user, e.g., operator, administrator,
     forensic expert, "home" user;
   * Dynamic dispatching of security-enhancement actions; and
   * Security architectures that integrate security technologies that are
     currently largely stand-alone.

Privacy, Confidentiality, and Identity in Cyber Trust

Communication in cyberspace requires that some degree of identity be
established, possibly revealing personal information. As sensor networks
and web services become more pervasive, collection and inference of
personal information becomes easier, bringing about new challenges to
privacy preservation.  The challenge then becomes to  balance security
issues against privacy concerns.  Research areas of interest include, but
are not limited to:

   * Naming schemes;
   * Information hiding, anonymity and accountability;
   * Trust-modulated transparency;
   * Group identity and individual identity;
   * Privacy-enabling/disabling technologies;
   * Privacy policy monitoring;
   * Privacy and privacy-related metrics;
   * Integrated flexible security solutions combining both trust and
     privacy;
   * Formal logics languages, models and methods for specifying and
     reasoning about privacy; and
   * Transformation of sensitive data, for example to prevent its
     association with particular individuals, without loss of the utility
     of the data for research purposes. Transformation methods that are
     generic but also application-dependent are of interest, as are methods
     to reason about the ability of the transformation methods to preserve
     utility but prevent the disclosure of sensitive data.

Long-Range Research in Cyber Trust Driven by Newly Emerging Technology and
New Environments

Over the next 20 years computing will change dramatically. New technology
that will support - or thwart -- security and privacy must be
anticipated.  New applications which will impose new and more challenging
security requirements must be envisioned.

Pervasive computing will be the norm. Views of privacy, anonymity,
accountability, and personal data will change as society and the individual
adapt to life in cyberspace. Mobility, location-aware, RFID, and ad hoc
networking will change how people respond to and recover from natural
disasters. The Internet itself may fragment into a collection of distinct
Internets with different protocols and constituencies. Software-enabled
technologies will continue to make inroads into the medical device field,
which will change medical practices. Increased trust in computing,
communications, and security will be essential for the success and adoption
of pervasive computing.

All of these point to a need for reinventing the foundations of security
and trustworthiness to accommodate the expected changes over the next 20
years. In the case of quantum information sciences, a new theory of
computing that combines classical and quantum computing in a new paradigm
would enable reasoning about each in a common framework and about
interoperations between classical and quantum computing systems. For the
Internet, a new theory of the "Internet as a computational device" could be
advanced that allows reasoning about how computations on the Internet
evolve. The mathematics and logics that have served well as models of
sequential and concurrent computation will have to be augmented with new
theories that support reasoning about computations where threads
spontaneously evolve in response to other, spontaneous computations, and in
which control is diffuse. These few examples among many raise challenging
issues about security, trustworthy computing, and about the most basic
notion of "What is a computation?"

   * A common framework for reasoning about security in quantum and
     classical computing
   * Control of computational interactions in dynamically evolving networks
   * Extension of sequential and concurrent computational models to new
     computing paradigms
   * Scalable provable security of cooperating systems
   * Trust implications of convergence of information technology with
     biological systems

Research Prototyping, Experimental Deployment, and Measurement

Research proposals enhancing the usability of testbeds for cybersecurity
experimentation and measurement are encouraged. Topics include, but are not
limited to:

   * Data set acquisition, collection, anonymization and associated tools;
   * Parameterized data sets enabling dynamic and adaptive use and replay;
   * Testing methodologies;
   * The synergism among simulation, emulation and analytical methods,
     particularly as related to the accurate analysis of complex systems in
     a resource-limited testbed; and
   * Experimentation and measurement tools and techniques

Proposals in all topic areas may choose to address prototype development or
experimental deployment phases in their research agenda. In addressing a
prototype phase, proposals should describe development plans, anticipated
capabilities, and schedule. Software prototypes are encouraged to be open
source. Developers should use the open source definition by the Open Source
Initiative.

In addressing experimental deployment, proposals are expected to target
either a testbed or a production environment whose capabilities and
characteristics are relevant and appropriate. A test and evaluation plan
must be provided. Production networking environments with the potential to
support an experimental deployment include Internet2 and the National
LambdaRail (NLR), as well as international network connections and
facilities supported in NSF's International Research Network
Connections (IRNC) program.

Information on Current Research Infrastructure - Testbeds and
Repositories

Proposals in all research areas may leverage existing cybersecurity and
network research infrastructures as part of their proposed activities. This
partial list of testbeds below as well as others may be considered for use
in experimentation:

   * DETER, the cyber defense technology experimental research network,
     testbed facility. See http://www.isi.deterlab.net/ for more
     information.
   * Emulab, a network testbed, providing a wide range of environments in
     which to develop, debug, and evaluate systems. See
     http://www.emulab.net/ for more information.
   * ORBIT, a research testbed for wireless networks, providing emulation
     and field trial capabilities. See http://www.orbit-lab.org/ for more
     information.
   * PlanetLab, a global research network supporting the development of new
     network services with 817 nodes at close to 405 sites. See
     http://www.planet-lab.org/ for more information.
   * WAIL, a network testbed at the University of Wisconsin, supporting
     in-situ and laboratory based network research and testing on a
     collection of commercial systems. See http://wail.cs.wisc.edu/ for
     more information.
   * PREDICT, a protected data repository to assist in research for cyber
     defense technologies, products, models and strategies, which is to
     open soon. See https://www.predict.org/ for more information.
   * HPWREN, a wireless research and education network.  See
     http://hpwren.ucsd.edu for more information.

There are also numerous testbeds in industry today, supporting
cybersecurity research. Industry partners, in some circumstances, may make
such resources available to researchers.

International Collaborations

Proposals are welcome that request supplemental funding to support
collaboration with principal investigators affiliated with foreign research
universities or research institutions and funded by foreign government
research organizations.  Such proposals should request only funds to
support travel of U.S. affiliated personnel to work with their foreign
collaborators.

Additional Considerations for Proposers

   * Building Workforce Capacity

     All CT projects must include educational components that develop,
     maintain, and enhance the cybersecurity educational
     infrastructure. These components should be natural extensions of
     the research activity, and fully engage CT investigators.
     Collaboration between researchers and educators is strongly
     encouraged. Educational innovation with a clear vision and
     linkage to the current state of CT research are essential.
     Particularly encouraged are innovative classes or activities that
     transition research into educational material that is made
     available to a broad education community and which has the
     potential to interest new students in security and privacy.

   * Proposal Preparation Guidance

     Proposal preparation guidance for projects in each of these
     categories is elaborated in Section V. Proposal Preparation and
     Submission Instructions of this solicitation.

III. AWARD INFORMATION

Four types of awards will be supported:

   * Exploratory Research awards will last up to 2 years, with budgets not
     to exceed $200,000 total. In FY 2008, CISE expects to select for award
     up to 10 proposals in this category.
   * Single Investigator and Small Group awards will last up to 3 years,
     with budgets not to exceed $500,000 total. In FY 2008, CISE expects to
     select for award up to 60 projects in this category.
   * Medium awards may last up to 3 years, with budgets not to exceed
     $1,500,000 total. In FY 2008, CISE expects to select for award up to
     15 projects in this category.
   * Large awards will last up to 3 years, with budgets not to exceed
     $3,000,000. In FY2008, CISE expects to select for award up to 2
     projects in this category.

Estimated program budget, number of awards, and award sizes are subject to
the availability of funds.

IV. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

Organization Limit:

     None Specified

PI Limit:

     None Specified

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 each Cyber
     Trust competition. 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:
     Cyber Trust (CT), Computer Systems Research (CSR), and Networking
     Technology and Systems (NeTS).

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 instructions deviate from the GPG guidelines and the NSF
Grants.gov Application Guide.

To assist NSF staff in sorting proposals for review, proposal titles MUST
begin with an acronym that identifies the type of proposal being submitted.
Use the following acronyms:

   * Cyber Trust Exploratory Research proposal = CT-ER

   * Cyber Trust Individual or Small Group proposal = CT-ISG

   * Cyber Trust Medium proposal = CT-M

   * Cyber Trust Large proposal = CT-L

For example, a Cyber Trust Medium proposal might have a title such as
"CT-M: New Methods for Assuring Privacy-Compliant Information Flow."
Proposals without such acronyms may be returned without review.

Exploratory Research Proposals

Proposals in this category must specifically describe the innovative nature
of the exploratory research ideas to be pursued, and the education and
workforce development advances that will be undertaken as an integral part
of the project. The planned benefits and impact of the proposed activities,
even if long range, should be described.

Individual Investigator and Small Group Proposals

Proposals in this size class must specifically describe ambitious research
goals and plans, and the anticipated workforce development contributions
incorporated as an integral part of the proposed project.

Medium Proposals

Proposals in this size class must describe substantial and ambitious
research and education projects to focus a team of researchers and
educators on either a particularly challenging technical area or to address
important multidisciplinary challenges that contribute to realization of
the CT vision.

Medium proposals should describe plans for disseminating research results
that go beyond traditional academic publications. Proposals should also
describe education and workforce development contributions, including the
anticipated benefits and impact of the activities described.

The project description should explain why a budget of the requested size
is required to carry out the proposed activities and why a Medium-scale
effort is required.

Large Proposals

Large projects promote synergy among academic, industrial and other
partners.  Proposals must address the combined needs for in-depth or
multidisciplinary research investigations, education and workforce
development, and incorporation of research results into deployed products
and systems that lead to the realization of the Cyber Trust vision.
Project descriptions for Large projects are limited to 18 pages, including:
up to 15 pages total for the Research Plan, Education and Outreach Plan,
and the Effective Partnership and Technology Transfer elements; and up to
three pages total for the Management and Evaluation Plan elements.

The project description for a Large proposal must incorporate five main
elements:

   * Research Plan: Describe the research objectives of the project,
     objectives that bring diverse scientific, engineering, and other
     disciplines together to address fundamental research issues crucial to
     achieving the Cyber Trust vision.  Provide a detailed research plan
     with a timeline for the activities proposed.
   * Education and Outreach: Describe activities designed to (1) create a
     culture in which graduate and undergraduate students of diverse
     backgrounds work in cross-disciplinary teams, in close collaboration
     with external partners; (2) integrate education and research and
     expose students to the integrative aspects of Cyber Trust-related
     systems and industrial practice to build competence for their future
     careers; (3) develop curriculum innovations derived from the
     activity's goals; and/or (4) produce graduates with the depth
     and breadth of education needed to sustain leadership throughout their
     careers.  Large projects will include one or more community-extending
     concepts such as creative undergraduate education activities; programs
     to address the under-representation of women and minorities in the
     Cyber Trust workforce; links to institutions with strong traditions of
     teaching, mentoring, and workforce development; or participation by
     institutions in EPSCoR states.
   * Effective Partnership and Technology Transfer: Describe activities
     designed to develop and sustain strong partnerships between academic
     and other partners. Activities may involve collaboration with partners
     in industry, including service industries, public agencies, or
     government laboratories. Partners may be involved through integral
     activities such as participation in strategic planning, joint
     research, mentoring students, and supporting proof-of-concept
     testbeds-all modes that strengthen the partnership and speed
     technology transfer. Describe the intellectual foundation for partners
     to collaborate with faculty and students to address both long-range
     and shorter-term challenges, producing the knowledge needed to ensure
     steady advances in technology and to speed their transition to the
     marketplace, while training graduates who are more effective in their
     subsequent careers.
   * Management Plan: Describe the management and coordination of the
     proposed activities.  The plan must identify the Project Director
     responsible for leading the activity and administering the award in
     accordance with the terms and conditions of the Award Letter issued by
     the NSF in the event of an award.  In addition, it should address the
     following needs:
        o A central point of communication with NSF,
        o  Management of project activities,
        o Coordination of technology transfer activities,
        o Fulfillment of educational and workforce development
          responsibilities, and
        o An Advisory Board of outside experts to advise the Director.
   * Evaluation Plan: Specify evaluation methods that will support
     assessment of both research results and the effectiveness of education
     and workforce development activities.

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):

          March 24, 2008

          December 09, 2009

          Second Wednesday in December, Annually Thereafter

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 and,
if they meet NSF proposal preparation requirements, for review. 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 with the
proposer.

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 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:

     For Cyber Trust Large proposals only, reviewers will be asked to
     provide specific comments on the following areas:

        * Research: Comment on the extent to which the project brings
          diverse scientific, engineering, and other disciplines together
          to address fundamental research issues crucial to achieving the
          Cyber Trust vision;
        * Education and Outreach: Comment on the degree to which the
          proposed education and outreach activities meet the objectives
          described in the solicitation;
        * Partnership and Technology Transfer: Comment on the quality and
          potential impact of the partnership and technology transfer
          activities;
        * Management and Evaluation Plans: Comment on the quality and
          likely effectiveness of the proposed Management and Evaluation
          Plans.

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 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.

Site visits for Cyber Trust Medium and Large awards may be conducted at
NSF's discretion.

VIII. AGENCY CONTACTS

General inquiries regarding this program should be made to:

   * Karl Levitt, Program Director, Division of Computer and Network
     Systems, 1175N, telephone: (703) 292-8950, fax: (703) 292-9010, email:
     klevitt@nsf.gov

   * David Du, Program Director, Division of Computer and Network Systems,
     1175N, telephone: (703) 292-8950, fax: (703) 292-9010, email:
     ddu@nsf.gov

   * Jim French, Program Director, Division of Information and Intelligent
     Systems, 1125S, telephone: (703) 292-8930, fax: (703) 292-9073, email:
     jfrench@nsf.gov

   * Richard Beigel, Program Director, Division of Computing and
     Communication Foundations, 1115N, telephone: 703-292-8910, fax: (703)
     292-9010, email: rbeigel@nsf.gov

   * Kevin Thompson, Program Director, Office of Cyberinfrastructure,
     1160N, telephone: 703-292-8962, fax: (703) 292-9010, email:
     kthompso@nsf.gov

   * Ralph Wachter, Program Director, Division of Computer and Network
     Systems, 1175N, telephone: (703) 292-8950, fax: (703) 292-9010, email:
     rwachter@nsf.gov

For questions related to the use of FastLane, contact:

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

   * Termia M. Millard, telephone: (703) 292-8950, email: tmillard@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.

     Investigators interested in the Cyber Trust program may also have
     interest in the following related NSF programs.  Please note
     however that the NSF Grant Proposal Guide forbids the submission
     of duplicate proposals.  Duplicate proposals will be returned
     without review.

        * Networking Technology and Systems (NeTS)
        * Computer Systems Research (CSR)
        * Federal Cyber Service: Scholarships for Service
        * Division of Information and Intelligent Systems: Advancing
          Human-Centered Computing, Information Integration and
          Informatics, and Robust Intelligence (Proposals that address
          these issues towards advancing security  and privacy should
          be submitted to Cyber Trust.)
        * Division of Computing and Communication Foundations:
          fundamental research in algorithms, computer architecture,
          programming languages and software engineering (Proposals
          that address security issues related to these areas can be
          submitted to Cyber Trust.)

     A PI preparing a security-related proposal but unsure of what
     program to submit to should contact a program manager affiliated
     with Cyber Trust and/or a program manager affiliated with other
     CISE or NSF programs with interest in computer security and
     privacy.

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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