OPPORTUNITY FUNDING ALERT

Energy
Department of Energy – Wind Energy Challenges
Faculty Development Award
TIAA-CREF Institute -Theodore M. Hesburgh Award
Film
Global Film Initiative – Feature-Film Production Grants
Fire Science
Department of Interior & Partners – Joint Fire Science Program
Major Instrumentation
NSF – Instrumentation for Materials Research
Science & Engineering
U.S. Department of Defense - Faculty Fellowship Program
U.S. Army Research Laboratory: Photovoltaics
Department of Energy - Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program
Scientific Laboratories – Construction Grants
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Writing Competition
Native Insight Organization - Competition - Invites Native Americans to Share Insights on Economy
Of Interest
Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties Forum

Energy

U. S. Department of Energy - Recovery Act: Wind Energy Challenges
This program (Funding Opportunity No. DE-FOA-0000090) will fund consortia between institutions of higher learning and industry that will perform focused research on critical wind energy challenges. These funds will be provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to preserve and create jobs, promote economic recovery, and provide investments needed to increase wind energy Research and Development. The funding will be focused on two complementary areas: 1. Partnerships for Wind Research and Turbine Reliability: Universities in regions of the country in a Power Class 3 at 50 meters or greater wind region with consistent wind resources throughout the year are encouraged to team with industry partners to establish facilities/equipment and a research agenda necessary to study major challenges facing today’s wind industry, and 2: Wind Energy Research Development: University Research and Development to advance material design, performance measurements, analytical models, and leveraging partnerships with industry to improve power systems operations, maintenance or repair operations, wind turbine and/or component manufacturing, and interdisciplinary system integration. Fellowships, internships, etc. may be used to support the research agenda. Universities are encouraged to partner with the wind industry in defining their Research and Development agenda, developing their curriculum, and intern partnerships. CFDA No.: 81.087. Program Funding: $24 million. Deadline: Jul. 29, 2009. Go to: http://www.grants.gov/search/

Faculty Development Award

TIAA-CREF Institute -Theodore M. Hesburgh Award
The annual TIAA-CREF Hesburgh Award recognizes exceptional faculty development programs designed to enhance undergraduate teaching and learning. Named in honor of Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame and former member of the TIAA and CREF Boards of Overseers, this award seeks to strengthen the teaching tradition at America’s undergraduate colleges and universities by acknowledging that an energized faculty is key to educational excellence. The TIAA-CREF Hesburgh Award and $20,000 is presented to the college or university judged to have, among those submitted, the most effective program that enhances undergraduate teaching and student learning. Deadline: Nov. 30, 2009. Go to: http://www.tiaa-crefinstitute.org/pdf/awards/hesburgh/hesburg08application.pdf.

Film

Global Film Initiative – Feature-Film Production Grants
In its continuing effort to promote original filmmaking by individuals from around the world, The Global Film Initiative is pleased to announce the Summer 2009 cycle of its feature–film Production Grants program. Applications will be accepted from April 30, 2009 to July 15, 2009, and decisions will be announced in September 2009.

Global Film Initiative promotes original filmmaking by individuals from around the world and offers production grants twice a year to filmmakers whose work exhibits artistic excellence, authentic self-representation and accomplished storytelling. This year, the Global Film Initiative will award production grants of up to $10,000 each to select applicants during its Summer granting cycle. These funds are made available following the Initiative's evaluation of an applicant's completed screenplay and early film-footage, and may include a pre-sale option for exclusive U.S. distribution of an applicant's film by the Initiative. Individuals may submit more than one film for consideration per granting cycle but please note that only applications from qualifying countries or regions will be considered and that production grants are not available for documentary or short films. Deadline: Jul. 15, 2009. Go to: http://globalfilm.org/granting.htm

Fire Science

Department of Interior & Partners – Joint Fire Science Program
The Joint Fire Science Program is a partnership provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and Dept. of Interior (Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Geological Survey) to provide funding for scientific studies to address problems associated with managing wildland fuels, fires, and fire-impacted ecosystems. The Program (JFSP) is soliciting start-up proposals to support regional consortia of fire science providers and managers to enhance fire science delivery and adoption. The JFSP hopes to develop a national network of regional consortia, each operating as a willing and formal association working together to enhance fire science delivery and adoption within a specified geographic region. The intent of the current solicitation is to support initial planning and an assessment of management needs for selected consortia. Deadline: July 10, 2009. Go to: http://www.firescience.gov/

Major Instrumentation

National Science Foundation – Instrumentation for Materials Research
The Instrumentation for Materials Research - Major Instrumentation Project (IMR-MIP) program (NSF 09-547) in the Directorate For Mathematical & Physical Sciences, Division of Materials Research provides support for the design and construction of major instruments costing more than $4 million but less than $20 million. The program also supports the development of detailed conceptual and engineering design for new tools for materials preparation or characterization at major user facilities. Such instruments may include, for example, neutron beam lines, synchrotron beam lines, and high field magnets, as well as development of detectors and preparation environments necessary to support materials research. The program supports two types of awards: Conceptual and Engineering Design (CED) awards and Construction (CNST) awards. Deadline: June 29, 2009. Go to: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09547/nsf09547.htm

Science & Engineering

U.S. Department of Defense - Faculty Fellowship Program
The Department of Defense (DOD) has posted this year's solicitation for the National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship (NSSEFF) Program. This is a program that awards large (up to $4.25 million over five years) grants to individual faculty members for basic, unclassified research. The goal of the program is to enable academic researchers to become familiar with DOD needs and challenges and to stimulate university faculty to perform research and train students in areas of importance to DOD. There are no limits on the number of applications per university, but the institution must submit a letter of intent listing all applicants by June 23. The faculty members will then have to submit white papers by July 7; each white paper must be accompanied by a nomination letter from the university president or chancellor recommending the faculty applicant. A subset of white paper authors will be invited to submit full applications later in the year. DOD is open to funding faculty fellows in a broad range of scientific fields; listed in the proposal are biology and biomedical sciences, chemistry, computer and information sciences, earth, atmospheric, oceanographic, and space sciences, engineering, materials, mathematics, physics, and social, behavioral, and cognitive sciences. However, it is critical for the proposed research to be relevant to DOD needs. Examples of topics of interest from other DOD documents include but are not limited to, energy and power management, science of autonomy, surveillance, cybersecurity, biosensors and bio-inspired systems, information fusion and decision science, and counter weapons of mass destruction. For reference, the list of current NSSEFF fellows is attached, along with descriptions of their funded areas of research.

(CFDA) Number 12.630. Deadlines: Letter of Intent (required): June 23, 2009. White Paper and Nomination Letter (required) : July 7, 2009 ; Proposal and Confidential Letters of Recommendation (by invitation only): Oct. 16, 2009; Oral Presentation (by invitation only): Dec. 5-6, 2009. Program Web Site: http://www.wpafb.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090522-016.pdf

U.S. Army Research Laboratory: Photovoltaics
For the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Contracting Center, solutions are sought for new semiconductor materials and device architectures for high efficiency (>30%) solar photovoltaic solutions that will: 1. Provide power for charging batteries (during daylight hours) for small autonomous systems. These microsystems will have ambulation as well as avionic capabilities and 2. Enable extended runtimes on unattended ground sensors and surveillance cameras. The photovoltaic solution for these applications will be geared towards Army’s high value systems and high value missions and must address compact, conformable and a light weight substrate with a small volume. The proposed solutions must be able to obtain conversion efficiencies of >30% and these photovoltaic devices may consist of multi-color tandem photovoltaic devices. The Army’s goal is photovoltaic panels that are very light weight and having areas of 2000 cm2. A key requirement for these photovoltaic panels is very high power per unit area and weight. These photovoltaic arrays will be integrated to the skins of small microsystems to produce power and ultimately to provide multifunction “smart skins” for small autonomous systems. At the end of the award(s) the awardee(s) shall be able to deliver a small (~1W under one sun) high efficiency photovoltaic array demonstrating scalability to 100W or higher. Program funding: $3 million.

Offerors are invited to submit a white paper not exceeding five (5) pages under the topic areas referenced above and shall be sent via email to Parvez Uppal (e:mail: Puppal@arl.army.mil) by 01 June 2009. Funding Op. # W911NF-07-R-0001-03-ARRA. CFDA No. 12.431. Deadline: Jun. 30, 2009. Go to: http://www.arl.army.mil/

Department of Energy - Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program
You are cordially invited to use the DOE SBIR Technical Assistance Program Web Portal at http://doecapreg.foresightst.com. The DOE SBIR Office has contracted with Foresight Science & Technology, Inc., a leading firm in commercialization and technology transfer, to provide a Technical Assistance Program (TAP) commercialization web portal which provides prospective SBIR applicants and other energy entrepreneurs with the tools, training, and support to write a successful SBIR proposal.

Scientific Laboratories – Construction Grants

National Institute of Standards and Technology – Construction Grant Program
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has just announced its Recovery Act program of $120 million in competitive grants for the construction of new or expanded scientific research buildings at higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations (Docket No.: 090306286-9288-01). The agency expects to award between eight to12 projects. Possible projects include laboratories, test facilities, measurement facilities, research computing facilities, and observatories.

NIST particularly is seeking projects that are able to start quickly and complement the research programs of three science agencies of its parent agency, the U.S. Commerce Department: NIST, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Grant proposals will be evaluated based on three criteria: scientific and technical merit and the need for federal funding; design quality and suitability for the intended purpose; and management plan quality of the proposed project. Grant evaluations also will be judged on how proposals meet the core objectives of the Recovery Act -- job creation and preservation, and investing in infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits.

Deadlines: Letter of Intent, June 25, 2009; full proposals, Aug. 10, 2009. Letters of Intent must be submitted on paper to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 4701, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-4701. Go to: http://www.nist.gov/recovery/construction_frn.html

In addition to this new construction grant competition, NIST will also issue grant awards totaling approximately $60 million to meritorious proposals submitted under the fiscal year 2008 NIST Construction Grant Program competition, but, because of limited research-and-development funding, were not selected initially. See: “Grant Proposals Sought for Construction of Science Research Buildings http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/techbeat/tb2008_0528.htm#grant ,” and “NIST Awards $24 Million in Grants for New Research Facilities Dedicated to Quantum Measurement, Marine Ecology http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/2008construction_grants.html .” Applicants who did not receive funding in the FY 2008 competition are encouraged to submit a Letter of Intent and full proposal for the FY 2009 competition. Decisions on unfunded FY 2008 proposals will not be made until after Letters of Intent for the new competition are due.

Writing Competition

Native Insight Organization - Writing Competition - Invites Native Americans to Share Insights on Economy

The Alaska Federation of Natives http://www.nativefederation.org/ , in partnership with the National Congress of American Indians http://www.ncai.org/ and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement http://www.hawaiiancouncil.org/ , has launched "Native Insight: Thoughts on Recession, Recovery & Opportunity," a writing competition designed to encourage Native Americans to share their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in the current economic and political landscape. The Native Insight Competition is open to Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and American Indians of all ages. Students are strongly encouraged to participate. Applicants must have a significant and current relationship with a Native tribal community. Essays should be comprised of no less than 500 and no more than 1,600 words.

The national competition will distributed a total of $60,000 among three Alaska Native winners and three Native Hawaiian/Lower 48 American Indian winners ($10,000 each), with opportunities for their winning essays to be published in Native journals and magazines across the United States. The competition is open to Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and American Indians of all ages. Deadline: Sept. 15, 2009. Go to: http://www.nativeinsight.org/

Of Interest

Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties Forum
Meet the Funders II (Palm Beach County) Forum - June 24, 2009, 9:00-11:00 a.m. This forum will provide a unique opportunity to hear from four major foundation leaders: Leslie Lilly, President and CEO, Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, http://www.yourcommunityfoundation.org/ . Charisse Grant, VP for Programs, Dade Community Foundation , Eric Kelly, Regional VP, Allegany Franciscan Ministries http://www.afmfl.org/ , Paul Gionfriddo, President, Quantum Foundation http://www.quantumfnd.org/ , Mary Wong, President, Office Depot Foundation http://www.officedepotfoundation.org/. Each panelist will offer information about their organization and funding priorities. The event will offer ample time for questions and answers, and will provide nonprofit leaders with valuable insight into the foundation giving process on Wed., June 24, 2009 at the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, 700 South Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, FL 33401 This event is free, but registration is required. To register, email prowan@cfpbmc.org Pat Rowan at 561-659-6800. Deadline: July 15, 2009.

Send comments to Camille Coley, Executive Assistant Vice President or Penny Ashwanden, Content Editor.

Prior Opportunity Alerts

June 2009