NSF Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs: Establishing Spokes to Advance Big Data Applications (BD Spokes)
Limited Submission Internal Call for Proposals
Internal Due Date: Friday June 30, 2017
NSF Full Proposal Deadline: September 18, 2017
ORD Internal Proposal Due: Friday June 30, 2017
To Apply:
Due by 5:00 pm, Friday June 30, 2017:
Submit the following in ONE .doc or .pdf file to Denise Lindley, Office of Research Development, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.:
- Biosketch or CV of PI (Please limit to five pages)
- Two page project summary
- List of potential collaborators (internal and external to UNC)
- Names of three internal (to UNC) faculty who could speak knowledgeably about the project, in the event of an internal review. Please do not include the names of faculty named on the project, chairs, deans, directors, direct reports or others who have a conflict of interest.
*You will not need a Letter of Collaboration for the UNC-Chapel Hill internal pre-proposal. This will be provided to the one UNC-Chapel Hill nominee.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND REVISION NOTES
This solicitation expands upon the BD Hubs network established by the solicitations entitled Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs (BD Hubs): Accelerating the Big Data Innovation Ecosystem solicitation (NSF 15-562) and Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs (BD Spokes): Establishing Spokes to Advance Big Data Applications (NSF 16-510).
All (SMALL or MEDIUM) BD Spoke proposals submitted in response to the NSF solicitation must include a Letter of Collaboration* from a regional BD Hub. Any BD Spoke proposal not including a Letter of Collaboration from a BD Hub will be returned without review. No exceptions will be made.
Salient Changes from Previous BD Spokes Solicitation (NSF 16-510):
Restructuring of award types — NSF 16-510 described two award categories to which proposals could be submitted: Planning awards and BD Spoke awards. This solicitation has discontinued Planning awards and instead establishes two categories of BD Spoke awards: SMALL and MEDIUM.
Letters of Intent are no longer required — NSF 16-510 required potential proposers to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) before submitting a full proposal. A LOI is no longer required under this solicitation.
Any proposal submitted in response to this solicitation should be submitted in accordance with the revised NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 17-1), which is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 30, 2017.
Synopsis of NSF BD Spokes Program
NSF's Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) initiated the National Network of Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs (BD Hubs) program in FY 2015. Four BD Hubs — Midwest, Northeast, South, and West — were established to foster multi-sector collaborations among academia, industry, and government, both nationally and internationally. These BD Hubs are serving a convening and coordinating role by bringing together a wide range of Big Data stakeholders in order to connect solution seekers with solution providers.
In FY 2016, the Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs: Establishing Spokes to Advance Big Data Applications (BD Spokes) solicitation began extending the BD Hubs network by establishing multi-institutional and multi-sector collaborations to focus on topics of specific interest to a given region. The first set of BD Spokes was funded in FY 2016. This solicitation calls for new BD Spoke proposals to be awarded in FY 2018. Collaborating with BD Hubs, each BD Spoke will focus on a particular topic that requires Big Data approaches and solutions. The set of activities managed by a BD Spoke will promote progress towards solutions in the chosen topic area. The regional 1 BD Hub Steering Committee will provide general guidance to each BD Spoke and will assist the BD Spoke in coordinating with the national BD Hub network, with other BD Spokes, and with the broader innovation ecosystem.
The Big Data activities of a BD Spoke will be guided by the following broad themes:
- Accelerating progress towards addressing societal grand challenges relevant to the regional and national priority areas defined by the BD Hubs (information on priority areas can be found on each Hub's website listed in the Introduction section below);
- Helping automate the Big Data lifecycle; and
- Enabling access to and spurring the use of important and valuable available data assets, including international data sets where relevant.
NSF's overall Big Data research and development (R&D) portfolio includes fundamental research, infrastructure development and provisioning, education and workforce development, and community engagement. Not all of these aspects of the overall portfolio are covered by this solicitation. In particular, this solicitation is not meant to fund proposals in which fundamental research is the primary activity.
To view the full solicitation please view the pdf at www.nsf.gov.
Number of applications per institution: 1
An organization may participate as submitting organization (or, in the case of collaborative proposals, as the lead organization) for at most one proposal responsive to this solicitation.
Proposal submissions are limited to 1 per organization (except as non-lead in a collaborative proposal) to maintain a balanced geographic representation of the Regional Hubs and Spokes program and to increase diversity of participating institutions.
Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI: 1
These eligibility constraints will be strictly enforced in order to treat everyone fairly and consistently. In the event that an individual exceeds this limit, proposals received within the limit will be accepted based on earliest date and time of proposal submission (i.e., the first proposal received will be accepted and the remainder will be returned without review). No exceptions will be made.
Estimated number of awards: 10 to 20
Anticipated Funding Amount: $10,000,000
Each SMALL project will be funded at $100,000 to $500,000 total for up to three years, subject to the availability of funds.
Each MEDIUM project will be funded at $500,001 to $1,000,000 total for up to three years, subject to the availability of funds.
Contact Denise Lindley with questions at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 919.962.7503
