CCC Blog

Catalyzing the computing research community and enabling the pursuit of innovative, high-impact research.

Computing Community Consortium Blog

The goal of the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) is to catalyze the computing research community to debate longer range, more audacious research challenges; to build consensus around research visions; to evolve the most promising visions toward clearly defined initiatives; and to work with the funding organizations to move challenges and visions toward funding initiatives. The purpose of this blog is to provide a more immediate, online mechanism for dissemination of visioning concepts and community discussion/debate about them.

NSF Neural and Cognitive Systems Deadline Approaching

January 7th, 2015 / in CCC, NSF, videos / by Helen Wright

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released a new multi-directorate program called Integrative Strategies for Understanding Neural and Cognitive Systems (NSF-NCS), which describes the first phase of NSF’s broader aim to foster innovation in cognitive science and neuroscience as part of the President’s BRAIN Initiative. NSF-NCS will support transformative and integrative research that will accelerate understanding of neural and cognitive systems.

In December, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) held a related workshop titled Research Interfaces between Brain Science and Computer Science. Over 70 computer scientists and neuroscientists from academia, industry, and government were in attendance and between 160-300 participants viewed each panel and plenary on the live-stream. All panels and plenary talks from the workshop were recorded and have been posted on the workshop website.

From the NSF-NCS solicitation:

For FY 2015, this competition is organized around two research themes: Neuroengineering and Brain-Inspired Concepts and Designs and Individuality and Variation. Within each theme, general advances in theory and methods, technological innovations, educational approaches, enabling research infrastructure, and workforce development are all of significant interest. Competitive proposals must be consistent with the missions of the participating directorates. Potentially groundbreaking approaches that entail significant risk are encouraged.

Two classes of proposals will be considered in FY 2015. INTEGRATIVE FOUNDATIONS awards will support projects that develop foundational advances that are deeply connected to a broad scope of important research questions in cognitive and neural systems, and have significant potential for transformative advances in one or more of the FY 2015 thematic areas. CORE+ EXTENSIONS will provide additional support to projects selected for funding by other programs in the participating offices and directorates, to enable additional activities that will connect those projects to significant new integrative opportunities in cognitive and neural systems.

The NSF-NCS program deadline is Monday, January 26.

For more information about NSF-NCS see the program website.