The National Science Foundation (NSF) has published the Smart & Connected Communities (S&CC) program solicitation, spanning the Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE); Education and Human Resources (EHR); Engineering (ENG); Geosciences (GEO); and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE).
The goal of the S&CC program solicitation is to support strongly interdisciplinary, integrative research and research capacity-building activities that will improve understanding of smart and connected communities and lead to discoveries that enable sustainable change to enhance community functioning. The solicitation calls for proposals that include clearly articulated community engagement. For the purposes of this year’s solicitation, communities are considered physical, geographically-defined entities, such as towns, cities, or incorporated rural areas, often consisting of diverse, and varied populations, with a governance structure and the ability to engage in meaningful ways with the proposed research.
This S&CC solicitation will support research projects in four categories: Integrative Research Grants (IRGs) Track 1, IRGs Track 2, S&CC Research Coordination Networks (RCNs), and Planning Grants.
It should be noted that preliminary proposals are required for IRGs Track 1 and Track 2 only and are due November 30, 2016.
For information regarding an upcoming webinar, S&CC activities and additional funding opportunities, please visit www.nsf.gov/scc.