INFORMS Open Forum

  • 1.  Message from NSF

    Posted 09-25-2020 08:58
    Good morning, 

    I would like to call your attention to the following message from the National Science Foundation regarding the Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation Program.

    Thank you,
    Jeff Cohen


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    Dear Colleagues,

     

    The NSF Directorate for Engineering is excited to share with you the Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) NSF 20-121 announcing the roll-out of the FY22 Topic Selection process for the Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation Program.

     

    Dear Colleague Letter: Seeking Community Input for Topic Ideas for Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) Program

     

    The Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) Program** in the Directorate for Engineering is initiating the biennial search for emerging topics that will become the focus of research supported by the EFRI Program for FY22. This program undertakes to identify and fund research in emerging topic areas with the following characteristics: (1) Transformative; (2) Addressing a national or societal need, or grand challenge; (3) Multidisciplinary, with a significant leadership role for engineering; and (4) in an area in which the community is poised to respond (i.e., it is emerging not exploratory)

     

    Through this DCL, we invite the research community to submit suggestions for Topic Ideas. Your ideas will serve as an important input to internal deliberations of the NSF Directorate for Engineering on defining and selecting research topics for the FY2022 EFRI Solicitation.

     

    Instructions for Topic Idea submission are provided in the DCL.

     

    If you have questions, please contact us at: efritopicideas2022@nsf.gov.

     

    Yours Sincerely,

    Sohi Rastegar

     

    ______________________________________________

    Sohi Rastegar, PhD

    Head, Office of Emerging Frontiers and

    Multidisciplinary Activities (EFMA)

    National Science Foundation

    Directorate for Engineering

    2415 Eisenhower Avenue

    Alexandria, VA 22314

    srastega@nsf.gov

    www.nsf.gov/eng/efma  

     

     

    **Background

     

    The EFRI Program aims to focus the engineering community on important emerging areas in a timely manner. EFRI evaluates, recommends, and funds interdisciplinary initiatives at the emerging frontiers of engineering research and innovation. These transformative opportunities may lead to: new research directions; new industries or capabilities that result in a leadership position for the country; and/or significant progress on a recognized national or societal need, or grand challenge. The EFRI Program is the signature activity of the Office of Emerging Frontiers and Multidisciplinary Activities (EFMA) in the Directorate for Engineering.

     

    EFRI invests in high-risk multidisciplinary opportunities with high-potential payoff. Its role is to support research areas that would not fit within the scope of an existing program. These frontier ideas cannot be pursued by one researcher or within one field of expertise. They are "frontier" because they not only push the limits of knowledge of one field, but actually are at the intersection of multiple fields. The EFRI program aspires to both inspire and enable a group of researchers with diverse technical expertise to work together on a single frontier idea with substantive potential for societal impact.

     

    The EFRI Program continuously gathers information for use in deciding future research topic areas to support. This rolling process ensures input and feedback from the engineering community on promising upcoming research opportunities. Input comes from diverse sources including workshops, advisory committees, proposals and awards, technical meetings, and professional societies, as well as from individual engineering researchers. From this comprehensive input, the EFRI team identifies, evaluates, and prioritizes those frontier topics that best match EFRI criteria.

     



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    Jeffrey M. Cohen, MBA
    Director, Public Affairs & Marketing
    INFORMS
    jeff.cohen@informs.org
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