Interdisciplinary Research

Interdisciplinary Research (IDR) Proposals

The Directorate for Engineering (ENG) encourages the submission of transformative, interdisciplinary research proposals to its programs and will be piloting a new review procedure designed to ensure that such proposals are properly evaluated.

Definition of Interdisciplinary Research

“Interdisciplinary research (IDR) is a mode of research by teams or individuals that integrates information, data, techniques, tools, perspectives, concepts, and/or theories from two or more disciplines or bodies of specialized knowledge to advance fundamental understanding or to solve problems whose solutions are beyond the scope of a single discipline or area of research practice.” Reference: Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research, Committee on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research, Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING, AND INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES, THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS WASHINGTON, DC

Characteristics of IDR Proposals

• To be funded, IDR proposals must ultimately attract funding from at least two divisions of the NSF. The primary funding division must be within the Directorate for Engineering.
• While not an absolute requirement, an IDR proposal will typically be submitted by a small team of 2-4 investigators.
• The typical anticipated award size will be $300-500,000 (for up to three years), although awards up to a total of $1,000,000 will be considered, consistent with the scope of the proposed work.

Submission of IDR Proposals

• IDR proposals must be submitted to an ENG Program and be clearly designated in the proposal title as IDR proposals (example title: “IDR – Mechanisms of Cognitive Modeling in Concrete-Based Catalysts”).
• IDR proposals must be submitted under the unsolicited proposal submission window for the relevant programs.
• The NSF programs from which co-funding is sought must be designated as collaborating programs in FastLane.
• IDR proposals must include a clear, concise and separate paragraph in the Project Summary explaining the interdisciplinary nature of the proposal with explicit reference to the backgrounds of the investigators in relation to the scientific thrust of the proposed work. Proposals not containing such an explanation will be returned without review.
• IDR proposals must be prepared in a manner such that reviewers from different fields (which relate to the proposal) can appreciate the intellectual merit, transformative nature, and broader impact of the interdisciplinary research proposed.
• IDR proposals must explicitly address both Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts and conform with all other requirements of the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (Document #NSF 09-1)
• Proposals may be submitted to either of the three following Divisions within ENG: 1) Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET), 2) Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI), and 3) Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS).