Illinois Grant News | December 2023

Washington, D.C. | December 29 2023 | Enabling Access to the Semiconductor Chip Ecosystem for Design, Fabrication, and Training (24-522) | In response to the urgent need for chip fabrication support in the academic community, NSF has invested in several new funding opportunities (e.g., Supplements for Access to Semiconductor Fabrication, Partnership for Prototyping of CMOS+X Systems, Advanced Chip Engineering Design and Fabrication). While these investments support chip fabrication by academic researchers, they do not address end-to-end semiconductor chip design. This solicitation fills that gap. The aim of this solicitation is (i) to dramatically lower the barriers to accessing state-of-the-art electronic design automation (EDA) tools,process design kits (PDKs), and design intellectual property (IP) cores for students and academic researchers, and (ii) to enable students at various levels to design IC chips. A key goal is to broaden participation in IC chip design beyond the small number of institutions currently engaged in these activities. This solicitation seeks proposals to establish and manage a community infrastructure that supports the entire IC chip design process beginning from behavior/structural description at the Register Transfer Level (RTL) or above to GDSII fabrication mask file generation. The infrastructure should provide licensing, access, and maintenance of (i) commercial and/or open-source EDA tools necessary for the end-to-end IC chip design and verification process, and (ii) design PDK/IPs at various CMOS technology nodes (potentially including emerging technologies), as well as support for multi-project-chip (MPC) integration. Further, proposals should include efforts to develop, curate, and host educational/tutorial materials on the entire IC chip design flow to help train the next generation of IC designers and researchers. PIs interested in submitting a proposal to this program are strongly encouraged to discuss their plans with cognizant Program Officers. Estimated awards: 2. Total Funding: $10,000,000. Award Ceiling: $5,000,000. Closing Date: April 4, 2024.

Washington, D.C. | December 21 2023 | VA Legal Services for Homeless Veterans and Veterans At-Risk for Homelessness Grant (VA-LSV-H-2024) | The Legal Services for Homeless Veterans and Veterans At-Risk for Homelessness Grant Program’s purpose is to award grants to eligible public or nonprofit private entities who will provide legal services to eligible Veterans who are homeless or at risk for homelessness. The goal of the Grant Program is to assist homeless and at-risk Veterans who have unmet needs for legal services, which may create barriers to housing stability. Estimated awards: 90. Total Funding: $26,000,000. Award Ceiling: $300,000. Closing Date: February 23, 2024.

Washington, D.C. | December 14 2023 | Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) Assistance for the Adoption of the Latest and Zero Building Energy Codes (DE-FOA-0003056) | The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) provides up to $1 billion for States and units of local government with the authority to adopt building energy codes to adopt and implement the latest building energy codes, zero energy building codes, or equivalent codes or standards. An energy code is one of several types of building codes that help contribute to the overall health, safety, efficiency, and long-term resilience of buildings. Energy codes can be adopted directly as a standalone code, such as the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), which is commonly adopted by States and local governments. Moreover, energy codes are also fundamental components of certain more broadly adopted building codes, including the International Building Code (IBC) and International Residential Code (IRC), which are referenced in the United States as “parental” codes. Energy codes are often described as a subset of these broader building codes, representing distinct chapters of the IBC and IRC alongside other commonly recognized provisions, such as those pertaining to structural, plumbing, or electrical requirements, and other basic aspects of building design and construction. Adoption and implementation of such codes supports the decarbonization of new and existing residential and commercial buildings. This opportunity assists eligible entities in further decarbonizing their buildings through the adoption of the latest national model building energy codes, zero energy codes, other codes that deliver equivalent or greater energy savings, including innovative approaches to decarbonize existing buildings through certain measurable and enforceable requirements. Estimated awards: 200. Total Funding: $530,000,000. Award Ceiling: $20,000,000. Closing Date: April 30, 2024.

Washington, D.C. | December 14 2023 | Future of Semiconductors (24-521) | The goal of this Future of Semiconductors (FuSe2) solicitation is to cultivate holistic, co-design approaches to fundamental research and workforce education and training in order to enable rapid progress in new semiconductor technologies. The future of semiconductor manufacturing will require the design and deployment of diverse new technologies in materials, chemical and materials processes, devices, and architectures through the development of application-driven systems. Partnerships between industry and academic institutions are essential to spurring this innovation, enabling technology transfer, informing research infrastructure needs, and training the future workforce. The program seeks to fund research as well as education and workforce development to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at the nation’s institutions of higher education, spanning two-year colleges and four-year universities including the minority-serving institutions with a goal to advance semiconductor design and manufacturing. NSF encourages bold, potentially transformative activities that address future semiconductor design and manufacturing challenges as well as shortages in the skilled scientists, engineers, and technician workforce. This solicitation encourages proposers to take a holistic perspective on workforce development, consideringthe participation of the full spectrum of diverse talent in STEM career paths, advanced technologies, and research capabilities. All proposals must include education and workforce development plans integrated with the proposed research activities. Estimated awards: 20. Total Funding: $40,000,000. Award Ceiling: $2,000,000. Closing Date: March 14, 2024.

Washington, D.C. | December 14 2023 | NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Program (24-511) | The main goal of the S-STEM program is to enable low-income students with academic ability, talent or potential to pursue successful careers in promising STEM fields. Ultimately, the S-STEM program seeks to increase the number of academically promising low-income students who graduate with a S-STEM eligible degree and contribute to the American innovation economy with their STEM knowledge. Recognizing that financial aid alone cannot increase retention and graduation in STEM, the program provides awards to institutions of higher education (IHEs) not only to fund scholarships, but also to adapt, implement, and study evidence-based curricular and co-curricular [1] activities that have been shown to be effective supporting recruitment, retention, transfer (if appropriate), student success, academic/career pathways, and graduation in STEM. Social mobility for low-income students with academic potential is even more crucial than for students that enjoy other economic support structures. Hence, social mobility cannot be guaranteed unless the scholarship funds the pursuit of degrees in areas where rewarding jobs are available after graduation with an undergraduate or graduate degree. The S-STEM program encourages collaborations, including but not limited to partnerships among different types of institutions; collaborations of S-STEM eligible faculty, researchers, and academic administrators focused on investigating the factors that affect low-income student success (e.g., institutional, educational, behavioral and social science researchers); and partnerships among institutions of higher education and business, industry, local community organizations, national labs, or other federal or state government organizations, as appropriate. To be eligible, scholars must be domestic low-income students, with academic ability, talent or potential and with demonstrated unmet financial need who are enrolled in an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree program in an S-STEM eligible discipline. Estimated awards: 90. Total Funding: $120,000,000. Award Ceiling: $5,000,000. Closing Date: March 11, 2024.

Washington, D.C. | December 14 2023 |Strengthening American Infrastructure (24-519) | Strengthening American Infrastructure (SAI) is an NSF program seeking to stimulate human-centered, use-inspired, fundamental and potentially transformative research aimed at strengthening America’s infrastructure. Effective infrastructure provides a strong foundation for socioeconomic vitality and broad improvement in quality of life. Robust, reliable and effective infrastructure spurs private-sector innovation, grows the economy, creates jobs, makes public-sector service provision more efficient, strengthens communities, promotes equal opportunity, protects the natural environment, enhances national security and fuels American leadership. Achieving these objectives requires the integration of expertise from across all science and engineering disciplines. SAI focuses on how fundamental knowledge about human reasoning and decision-making, governance, and social and cultural processes enables the building and maintenance of effective infrastructure that improves lives and society and builds on advances in technology and engineering. Successful projects will represent a convergence of expertise in one or more social, behavioral or economic sciences, deeply integrated with other disciplines to support substantial and potentially pathbreaking fundamental research applied to strengthening a specific focal infrastructure. Estimated awards: Unspecified. Total Funding: $9,600,000. Award Ceiling: $750,000. Closing Date: March 12, 2024.

Washington, D.C. | December 13 2023 | Partnerships for Research and Education in Physics (24-514) | The NSF Division of Physics’ Partnerships for Research and Education in Physics (PREP) program aims to enable and grow partnerships between minority-serving institutions and Division-supported Physics Frontiers Centers or eligible centers and institutes to increase the participation of members of traditionally underserved and underrepresented groups in physics through excellent research and education endeavors that advance physics research goals. Estimated awards: 10. Total Funding: $4,000,000. Award Ceiling: $900,000. Closing Date: March 12, 2024.

Washington, D.C. | December 13 2023 | Emerging Mathematics in Biology (24-513) | The Emerging Mathematics in Biology (eMB) program seeks to stimulate fundamental interdisciplinary and potentially transformative research pertaining to the development of innovative mathematical/statistical/computational theories, tools, and modeling approaches to investigate challenging questions of great interest to biologists and public health policymakers. It supports research projects in mathematical biology that address challenging and significant biological questions through novel applications of traditional, but nontrivial, mathematical tools and methods or the development of new theories particularly from foundational mathematics and/or computational/statistical tools, including Artificial Intelligence/Deep Learning/Machine Learning (AI/DL/ML). The program emphasizes the uses of mathematical methodologies to advance our understanding of complex, dynamic, and heterogenous biological systems at all scales (molecular, cellular, organismal, population, ecosystems, etc.). Estimated awards: 15. Total Funding: $6,000,000. Award Ceiling: Unspecified. Closing Date: March 11, 2024.

Washington, D.C. | December 13 2023 | Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials 24-512 | The Division of Materials Research (DMR) Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials Research (PREM) program aims to enable, build, and grow partnerships between minority-serving institutions and DMR-supported centers and/or facilities to increase recruitment, retention, and degree attainment (which collectively define the PREM pathway) by members of those groups mosthistoricallyunderrepresented in materials research, and at the same time support excellent research and education endeavors that strengthen such partnerships. |Estimated awards: 8. Total Funding: $5,000,000. Award Ceiling: Unspecified. Closing Date: March 12, 2024.

Washington, D.C. | December 9 2023 | Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (24-510) | Through the CRCNS program, the participating funding organizations support collaborative activities that span a broad spectrum of computational neuroscience research, as appropriate to the missions and strategic objectives of each agency. Two classes of proposals will be considered in response to this solicitation: Research Proposals describing collaborative research projects, and Data Sharing Proposals to support sharing of data and other resources. Domestic and international projects will be considered, including proposals seeking parallel international funding. As detailed in the solicitation, opportunities for parallel funding are available for bilateral US-German, US-French, US-Israeli, US-Japanese, and US-Spanish projects, and multilateral projects involving the United States and two or more CRCNS partner countries (see Section VIII of the solicitation for country-specific limitations).  Estimated awards: 30. Total Funding: $30,000,000. Award Ceiling: Unspecified. Closing Date: March 7, 2024.

Springfield, Ill. | December 8 2023 | New statewide program now accepting plans for $2 Million in grants to build local food infrastructure | Millions of new state dollars are now available for Illinoisans interested in building out the state’s network of local food infrastructure – from animal processing to trucking, and food hubs to community kitchens. The Illinois Stewardship Alliance is announcing that between now and Jan. 31, 2024, nearly $2 million in funds are available for applicants who have an idea to get more homegrown foods to market. Grants of up to $150,000 per project will be awarded through the Illinois Local Food Infrastructure Grant, with funds to be distributed after projects are considered in March 2024. Estimated awards: Unspecified. Total Funding: $2,000,000. Award Ceiling: $150,000. Closing Date: January 31, 2024.

Washington, D.C. | December 1 2023 | Training and Technical Assistance to Improve Water Quality and Enable Small Public Water Systems to Provide Safe Drinking Water (EPA-OW-OGWDW-24-01) | The EPA provides technical assistance (TA) to help communities identify water infrastructure needs, plan for capital improvements, maintain regulatory compliance, improve resiliency, build capacity, and apply for the range of eligible projects under various grant programs. TA is provided through direct interactions with water utilities and communities. Through this grant program, the EPA seeks to support communities at the drinking water system level, including operational, environmental, and financial resource challenges they face. The funds included in this opportunity will ensure that vital services are provided and reach the drinking water systems in communities that need them most. Funding will be provided to assist small drinking water systems, small publicly-owned wastewater systems, and onsite/decentralized wastewater systems and private well owners. Estimated awards: 7. Total Funding: $30,700,000. Award Ceiling: $13,000,000. Closing Date: February 2, 2024.

Washington, D.C. | December 1 2023 | Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program (USDA-NIFA-BRAP-010309) | The purpose of the Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program (BRAG) program is to support the generation of new information that will assist Federal regulatory agencies in making science-based decisions about the effects of introducing into the environment genetically engineered organisms (GE), including plants, microorganisms — such as fungi, bacteria, and viruses — arthropods, fish, birds, mammals and other animals excluding humans. Investigations of effects on both managed and natural environments are relevant. The BRAG program accomplishes its purpose by providing federal regulatory agencies with scientific information relevant to regulatory issues. Estimated awards: 10. Total Funding: $5,500,000. Award Ceiling: $650,000. Closing Date: February 29, 2024.

Washington, D.C. | December 1 2023 | Regional Initiative for Technical Assistance Partnerships (RITAP) (DE-FOA-0003014) | Regional Initiative for Technical Assistance Partnerships (RITAP) to Advance Deployment of Basin-Scale Carbon Transport and Storage and Community Engagement, will establish partnerships comprised of stakeholders with extensive technical, managerial, regulatory and business expertise specific to carbon transport and storage that will focus on the unique challenges and opportunities of multiple storage-based carbon management projects within a single geologic basin or sub-basin. Results of their efforts will provide a valuable public information resource for project developers, accelerating the socially equitable and environmentally responsible deployment of storage-based carbon management projects. Estimated awards: 10. Total Funding: $50,000,000. Award Ceiling: $40,000,000. Closing Date: January 30, 2024.

Springfield, Ill. | December 1 2023 | Illinois EPA Releases Funding Opportunity for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program | The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Energy has announced $2,909,890 of grant funding available for the development of local strategic energy plans as well as energy efficiency audits and local government building upgrades. Under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG), grant awards ranging from $200,000 to $249,900 will aim to create long-term sustainability and energy reduction roadmaps and reduce energy usage for Illinois municipalities and counties. Estimated awards: Unspecified. Total Funding: $2,909,980. Award Ceiling: $250,000. Closing Date: January 22, 2024.