Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding: "Information and
Intelligent Systems: Advancing Collaborative and Intelligent Systems
and their Societal Implications” (NSF
05-551).
The Division of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS) in the
Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering
(CISE) of the National Science Foundation recently released a new
solicitation: "Information and Intelligent Systems: Advancing
Collaborative and Intelligent Systems and their Societal Implications,” NSF
05-551 (http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13503&org=IIS." A
few questions about this solicitation are answered below.
Q: What happened to the solicitations for Artificial Intelligence & Cognitive
Science, Computer Vision, Digital Government, Digital Libraries,
Digital Society and Technologies, Human-Computer Interaction, Human
Language and Communication, Information and Data Management, Universal
Access, and Robotics?
A: These topics are still supported by IIS and are all included
within the new solicitation NSF
05-551.
In 2005, the deadlines are in the first week of May on the following
dates:
- May 3, 2005 for Collaborative Systems, and Universal Access;
and
- May 5, 2005 for Robust Intelligence, Digital Government,
and Digital Libraries and Archives.
In subsequent years, the deadlines will be in the third week of
April. Please see the solicitation for specific details.
Q: What restrictions are placed on proposals submitted to NSF
05-551?
A: The following restrictions apply to NSF
05-551:
- Organization Limit: Proposals will only
be accepted from 1) US colleges, universities, and organizations
of higher education; 2) US independent nonprofit research organizations;
and 3) US independent research museums.
- Limit on Number of Proposals: In response to this solicitation, an investigator may participate
as PI, Co-PI or senior personnel in no more than TWO proposals
annually. There is no limit on the number of proposals an organization
may submit.
Note that if you currently have funding through other NSF,
CISE, or IIS programs, or have proposals pending to other NSF,
CISE, or IIS competitions this year, an investigator may still
submit two proposals to NSF
05-551.
Q: While making my proposal routing selections in FastLane, I
am asked to select an NSF Unit. What NSF units are applicable to
NSF
05-551?
The primary unit for a proposal submitted
to NSF
05-551 MUST be one of the core research or
application areas.
Core Research Areas
- Collaborative Systems: research fundamental
to designing, extending, or evaluating the use or consequences
of systems that facilitate collaboration between individuals
and other people or machines. Collaborative Systems subsume topics
from the prior IIS program areas of Digital Society and Technologies,
Human Computer Interaction, and Information and Data Management.
- Robust
Intelligence: research fundamental to the development of computer
systems capable of performing intelligent tasks robustly and
flexibly. Robust Intelligence subsumes topics from the prior
IIS program areas of Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science,
Computer Vision, Human Language and Communication, and Robotics.
Application Areas
- Digital Government: research outcomes will
improve access to: information and services provided by government;
and, the workings of government. Research challenges are most
often effectively addressed through interactions between the
computing research community, the social, political, and behavioral
science research community, and government agencies.
- Digital
Libraries and Archives: research outcomes will lead
to advances in both technical and policy issues concerned with
the design and use of curated digital libraries and archives.
- Universal
Access: research will lead to advances in computer systems
technology so that all people can interact effectively with and
leverage the full power of computing.
All proposals focused on making contributions to the application
areas -- Digital Government, Digital Libraries and Archives,
or Universal Access -- MUST select either Collaborative Systems or
Robust Intelligence as a secondary area.
Q: Do I have to make secondary routing choices?
A: If Collaborative Systems or Robust Intelligence is
the primary area selected, you are not required to select
a secondary area. Proposals selecting Universal Access,
Digital Government, or Digital Libraries and Archives
as a primary area must select either Collaborative Systems
or Robust Intelligence as a secondary area.
In special cases, a proposal may select any other NSF unit
as an additional unit. An example is shown below of the selections
one might make to propose research that studies how astronomers
can effectively collaborate via a digital library.
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Program Announcement / Solicitation / Program Description
No.,
or In response to Grant Proposal
Guide (GPG) |
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NSF Unit Consideration
Current List of selected NSF UNITS: |
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- IIS - DIGITAL
LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES
- IIS - COLLABORATIVE SYSTEMS
- AST - STELLAR ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSC
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Q: What is the difference between the new “Information and
Intelligent Systems” solicitation and the prior solicitations?
A: While the same research areas are covered, the new solicitation
has an emphasis on basic research results that will have an impact
outside the immediate research community. In the Robust Intelligence
area, an example might include advances in automated reasoning
that will impact computer vision or speech recognition.
The application research areas, Digital Government, Digital Libraries
and Archives and Universal Access are encouraging innovations within
particular domains of interest to the IIS Division, not simply
the application of existing knowledge to them.
IIS is also encouraging proposals on policy and technical issues,
including security and privacy, that relate to sharing information
across boundaries.
The changes we initiated with this solicitation are intended to
allow the division to operate within a broader funding structure
with more interactions among research areas. Grouping many of the
programs together will give us more flexibility to fund projects
that do not fall entirely within one of the previous programs and
to fund a small number of larger projects involving several principal
investigators.
Q: What’s the difference between Robust Intelligence
and Collaborative Systems?
A: The solicitation gives some general guidance on the relationship
between the prior NSF Units and the ones currently in NSF
05-551.
- Collaborative Systems: research fundamental
to designing, extending, or evaluating the use or consequences
of systems that facilitate collaboration between individuals
and other people or machines. Collaborative Systems subsume topics
from the prior IIS program areas of Digital Society and Technologies,
Human Computer Interaction, and Information and Data Management.
- Robust
Intelligence: research fundamental to the development of computer
systems capable of performing intelligent tasks robustly and
flexibly. Robust Intelligence subsumes topics from the prior
IIS program areas of Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive
Science, Computer Vision, Human Language and Communication, and
Robotics.
The mapping between prior and new units is a guideline, not a
strict rule. For example, work on autonomous robots would most
likely fall under Robust Intelligence, while work on robot - human
interfaces would most likely fall within Collaborative Systems.
As always, IIS Program Officers sort proposals that are most similar
into panels where they can be reviewed together by a panel of experts.
Q: Whom should I contact if I have questions about NSF
05-551?
A: Here are the contacts for administrative questions, questions
concerning FastLane and questions about the types of research supported
by NSF
05-551:
-
Administrative questions concerning the submission of proposals
should be directed to:
Lisa R. Wilson (703) 292-8463 1125 S lwilson@nsf.gov
- Questions concerning FastLane problems should
be directed to:
FastLane Support Center: 1-800-673-6188 (7 AM
to 9 PM Eastern Time • M-F)
Email: fastlane@nf.gov
- Questions about the types of research supported by NSF
05-551 should be directed to the program officer with expertise
in the specific area of the proposal. The program officers
and their general areas of expertise are below:
-
William S. Bainbridge (703) 292-8930 wbainbri@nsf.gov (Digital
Libraries)
-
Lawrence E. Brandt (703) 292-8930 lbrandt@nsf.gov (Digital
Government)
-
Ephraim P. Glinert (703) 292-8930 eglinert@nsf.gov (Universal
Access, HCI, Visualization)
-
Stephen M. Griffin (703)
292-8930 sgriffin@nsf.gov (Digital
Libraries)
-
Mary P. Harper (703) 292-8930 mharper@nsf.gov (Human
Language & Communication)
-
C. Suzanne Iacono (703)
292-8930 siacono@nsf.gov (Social
Informatics)
-
Edwina L. Rissland (703) 292-8930
erisslan@nsf.gov Director
(Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science)
-
Junku
Yuh (703) 292-8930 jyuh@nsf.gov (Computer
Vision, Robotics)
-
Maria Zemankova (703)
292-8930 mzemanko@nsf.gov (Data, Information
and Knowledge Management)
Q: What other solicitations have been issued by the IIS
division?
A: IIS is one of the primary organizations identified in the following
solicitations:
A variety of other solicitations involving IIS or CISE in collaboration
with other NSF divisions and directorates can be found under Funding
Opportunities (see http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_list.jsp?org=CISE&ord=date).
Research topics funded by one solicitation are typically not funded
by other solicitations. For example, proposals that make a contribution
to bioinformatics should be sent to Science and Engineering Information
Integration and Informatics (NSF
04-528) and not to Information
and Intelligent Systems (NSF
05-551).
Q. I am interested in educational applications of information
technology. Should I apply to the NSF
05-551 solicitation or to
Advanced Learning Technologies, NSF
05-561?
A. NSF
05-551 does not have educational technology as an application
area. The focus of the Advanced Learning Technologies program (ALT;
http://www.nsf.gov/alt) is on integrative research built around
well-defined learning and technology goals. Projects should advance
research in both computer science and human learning. Large-scale
studies, infrastructure, large-scale system development, or educational
materials development will not be supported under this program.
Educational foci for ALT projects must include an area of science,
technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM), or general cross-cutting
skills directly relevant to STEM.
Proposers are strongly discouraged from submitting closely related
proposals to the IIS solicitation and to ALT. If learning and educational
goals are a primary motivation of a proposal, it should be submitted
to ALT. The following contacts may answer questions about the ALT
solicitation:
Q: How do I find previous awards made by the IIS division?
A: NSF has a variety of search functions. One way, is to use http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/tab.do?dispatch=4 to search by “Element Code.”
The codes most related to the NSF
05-551 solicitation are shown
below. Note that these element codes are for prior awards and should
not be used for new proposals.
1706 Digital Government
6840 Robotics
6845 Human Computer Interaction
6846 Universal Access
6850 Digital Society & Technologies
6855 Information & Data Management
6856 Artificial Intelligence & Cognitive Science
6857 Digital Libraries And Archives
7274 Human Language & Communication
7339 Computer Vision
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