George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation Operations FY 2015-FY 2019  (NEES2 Ops)

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PROGRAM GUIDELINES

Solicitation  13-537

Important Notice to Proposers

A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 13-1, was issued on October 4, 2012 and is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 14, 2013. Please be advised that, depending on the specified due date, the guidelines contained in NSF 13-1 may apply to proposals submitted in response to this funding opportunity.

Please be aware that significant changes have been made to the PAPPG to implement revised merit review criteria based on the National Science Board (NSB) report, National Science Foundation's Merit Review Criteria: Review and Revisions. While the two merit review criteria remain unchanged (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts), guidance has been provided to clarify and improve the function of the criteria. Changes will affect the project summary and project description sections of proposals. Annual and final reports also will be affected.

A by-chapter summary of this and other significant changes is provided at the beginning of both the Grant Proposal Guide and the Award & Administration Guide.

DUE DATES

Letter of Intent Deadline Date:  March 22, 2013

Full Proposal Deadline Date:  May 24, 2013

SYNOPSIS

The George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) was established by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as a multi-user, research infrastructure for earthquake engineering research, innovation, and education through a facility construction phase during 2000-2004, followed by operations of the infrastructure to support research and education activities from October 2004 through September 2014.  NEES is currently operated under a five-year NSF cooperative agreement award with Purdue University that expires on September 30, 2014.  For more information about NEES, please see http://www.nees.org.

Through this solicitation, NSF provides the opportunity for the earthquake engineering community to recompete to operate the "second generation" of NEES, hereinafter referred to in this solicitation as "NEES2."  Proposals are solicited by NSF's Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation to provide, manage, operate, and maintain NEES2 to support frontier earthquake engineering research, innovation, education, and workforce development for the five-year period from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2019 [i.e., fiscal year (FY) 2015-FY 2019].  Recompeted through this solicitation for NEES2 are the following components:  (a) a network-wide NEES2 management office (NMO) with the Principal Investigator (PI)/Network Director located at the lead institution, (b) four to six experimental facilities that provide the most critical and technically advanced capabilities and data needed by the earthquake engineering research community for transformative research, plus a post-earthquake, rapid response research (PERRR) facility, (c) community-driven, production-quality cyberinfrastructure, and (d) education and community outreach activities.  This solicitation does not separately compete the components. Instead, it requests proposals to integrate all these components into a cohesive earthquake engineering research infrastructure for FY 2015-FY 2019.  NSF intends to award one cooperative agreement to a lead institution for NEES2 operations with a start date of October 1, 2014, and a duration of up to five years. 

REVISIONS AND UPDATES

A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 13-1, was issued on October 4, 2012 and is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 14, 2013. Please be advised that the guidelines contained in NSF 13-1 apply to proposals submitted in response to this funding opportunity. Proposers who opt to submit prior to January 14, 2013, must also follow the guidelines contained in NSF 13-1.

Please be aware that significant changes have been made to the PAPPG to implement revised merit review criteria based on the National Science Board (NSB) report, National Science Foundation's Merit Review Criteria: Review and Revisions. While the two merit review criteria remain unchanged (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts), guidance has been provided to clarify and improve the function of the criteria. Changes will affect the project summary and project description sections of proposals.  Annual and final reports also will be affected.

A by-chapter summary of this and other significant changes is provided at the beginning of both the Grant Proposal Guide and the Award & Administration Guide.

Please note that this program solicitation may contain supplemental proposal preparation guidance and/or guidance that deviates from the guidelines established in the Grant Proposal Guide.

What Has Been Funded (Recent Awards Made Through This Program, with Abstracts)

Map of Recent Awards Made Through This Program

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