07/19/2024 Edition 134

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NSF Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), NSF 24-581. CFDA #s 10.310, 20.200, 47.041, 47.070, 93.286, 93.350, 93.396 and 97.108. Estimated Number of Awards: 20 to 31; Approximately 15 Small projects, 15 Medium projects, and 1 Frontier project subject to receipt of sufficient meritorious proposals and pending availability of funds. Proposals Due: 09/03/2024, 5/31/2025, 08/28/2025.

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are engineered systems that are built from, and depend upon, the seamless integration of computation and physical components. Advances in CPS will enable capability, adaptability, scalability, resiliency, safety, security, and usability that will expand the horizons of these critical systems. CPS technologies are transforming the way people interact with engineered systems, just as the Internet has transformed the way people interact with information. New, smart CPS drive innovation and competition in a range of application domains including agriculture, aeronautics, building design, civil infrastructure, energy, environmental quality, healthcare and personalized medicine, manufacturing, and transportation. CPS are becoming data-rich enabling new and higher degrees of automation and autonomy. Traditional ideas in CPS research are being challenged by new concepts emerging from artificial intelligence and machine learning. The integration of artificial intelligence with CPS, especially for real-time operation, creates new research opportunities with major societal implications.

The CPS program aims to develop the core research needed to engineer these complex CPS, some of which may also require dependable, high-confidence, or provable behaviors. Core research areas of the program include control, data analytics, and machine learning including real-time learning for control, autonomy, design, Internet of Things (IoT), mixed initiatives including human-in- or human-on-the-loop, networking, privacy, real-time systems, safety, security, and verification. By abstracting from the particulars of specific systems and application domains, the CPS program seeks to reveal cross-cutting, fundamental scientific and engineering principles that underpin the integration of cyber and physical elements across all application domains. The program additionally supports the development of methods, tools, and hardware and software components based upon these cross-cutting principles, along with validation of the principles via prototypes and testbeds. This program also fosters a research community that is committed to advancing education and outreach in CPS and accelerating the transition of CPS research into the real world.

NSF Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing in Practice, NSF 24-585. CFDA #s 20.200, 47.070 and 47.084. $500,000 to $1,500,000. Proposals Due: 09/27/2024.

Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI EO), which emphasizes the role for privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) in a responsible and safe AI future. The EO directs NSF to, “where feasible and appropriate, prioritize research — including efforts to translate research discoveries into practical applications — that encourage the adoption of leading-edge PETs solutions for agencies’ use.” It also tasks NSF with “developing and helping to ensure the availability of testing environments, such as testbeds, to support the development of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI technologies, as well as to support the design, development, and deployment of associated PETs.” In addition to meeting these directives in the AI EO, the PDaSP program strives to address key recommendations made in the National Strategy to Advance Privacy Preserving Data Sharing and Analytics (PPDSA). In particular, the program strives to advance the strategy’s priority to “Accelerate Transition to Practice,” which includes efforts to “promote applied and translational research and systems development,” develop “tool repositories, measurement methods, benchmarking, and testbeds,” and “improve usability and inclusiveness of PPDSA solutions.”

The PDaSP program welcomes proposals from qualified researchers and multidisciplinary teams in the following tracks with expected funding ranges for proposals as shown below.

• Track 1: Advancing key technologies to enable practical PPDSA solutions
• Track 2: Integrated and comprehensive solutions for trustworthy data sharing in application settings
• Track 3: Usable tools, and testbeds for trustworthy sharing of private or otherwise confidential data

NSF Computer Science for All, NSF 24-555. CFDA # 47.070 and 47.076. Estimated Number of Awards: 27; Approximately 12-13 small Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs), 6 medium RPPs, 3 large RPPs, and 4-5 Research strand awards. Anticipated Funding Amount: $20,000,000 Proposals Due: 02/12/2025.

This program aims to provide all U.S. students with the opportunity to participate in computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) education in their schools at the preK-12 levels. With this solicitation, the National Science Foundation (NSF) focuses on both research and research-practice partnerships (RPPs) that foster the research and development needed to bring CS and CT to all schools. Specifically, this solicitation aims to provide (1) high school teachers with the preparation, professional development (PD) and ongoing support they need to teach rigorous computer science courses; (2) preK-8 teachers with the instructional materials and preparation they need to integrate CS and CT into their teaching; and (3) schools and districts with the resources needed to define and evaluate multi-grade pathways in CS and CT.