Interdisciplinary Research

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2009
(Note: only one deadline for FY 2010)

The Directorate for Engineering (ENG) welcomes and encourages the submission of transformative, interdisciplinary research proposals to its Divisions.

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, National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.

Characteristics of IDR Proposals

• IDR submissions should have a level of interdisciplinary content not covered in the core programs of ENG. To be funded, IDR proposals must ultimately attract funding from at least two programs in at least two divisions of the NSF. The primary funding division must be within ENG.
  
• IDR proposals may be on any topic relevant to engineering and, in particular, should not be constrained by the current program structures. It is hoped that new fields of research will eventually emerge from IDR awards.
  
• While not an absolute requirement, an IDR proposal typically will be submitted by a small team of 2-4 investigators.
  
• The typical anticipated total award size will be $400,000-600,000 (for up to three years), although requests of lesser or greater size, 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 that do not comply with the following requirements will be returned without review:

• The deadline for proposal submissions is not later than 5:00 PM local time on December 7, 2009.
  
• Proposals must be submitted as unsolicited proposals and directed to the IDR program (Program Element 7951) in the CBET, CMMI, or ECCS Divisions.
  
• Proposals must have a proposal title that begins with “IDR:”.
  
• Proposals must explicitly address the interdisciplinary nature of the proposed research in a separate paragraph within the one-page Project Summary.
  
• Proposals must explicitly address both Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts and conform with all other requirements of the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (Document #NSF 09-29).

IDR proposals should be prepared so that reviewers from any of the different fields to which the proposal relates can appreciate the intellectual merit, transformative nature, and broader impact of the interdisciplinary research proposed.