The deadline for preliminary proposals to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) next Expeditions in Computing competition is just around the corner. As a reminder: The far-reaching impact and rate of innovation in the computing and information disciplines has been remarkable, generating economic prosperity and enhancing the quality of life for people throughout the world.  But the best is yet to come!   The Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) has created the Expeditions in Computing (Expeditions) program to provide the CISE research and education community with the opportunity to pursue ambitious, fundamental research agendas that promise to define the future of computing and information. In planning Expeditions, investigators are […]

(This post has been updated; please scroll below for the latest!) Since the dawn of the digital age, fundamental research sponsored by the Federal government has supported U.S. leadership in information technology — from the first supercomputers, to the foundations of high-speed networking, to global positioning systems and wireless technologies. Much of the progress in the last 20 years has been enabled by the Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program, the oldest and largest of a small number of formal Federal programs that engage multiple agencies. This Thursday, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC), working with the National Coordination Office (NCO) for NITRD, will mark two decades of the NITRD Program at a daylong Symposium to […]

As part of the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) announced last summer, the Department of Energy (DoE), through its Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program, this week unveiled a new Predictive Theory and Modeling program, seeking “research [that] could lead to a theory/modeling design paradigm, validated through experiment, [that] could enhance the rate of discovery of new or vastly improved materials, material systems, and chemical processes.” What’s interesting is that this solicitation contains opportunities for computing researchers. According to the announcement: We envision the BES activities will include the development of new software tools and data standards that catalyze a fully integrated approach from material discovery to applications. BES also expects to support research to advance ab-initio methods […]

Just a week after announcing a Proposers Day for its new Power Efficiency Revolution for Embedded Computing Technologies (PERFECT) program, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) has issued the official Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), soliciting proposals for innovative R&D in the area of embedded power efficient computing. As we’ve previously noted in this space, the goal for PERFECT is “to provide more effective embedded computing per watt of electrical power.” According to the DARPA BAA: The goal of the Power Efficiency Revolution For Embedded Computing Technologies (PERFECT) program is to provide a power efficiency of 75 GFLOPS/w for embedded computing systems [more following the link].  

Microsoft’s Technology Policy Group (TPG) has announced a new internship program that will offer “a limited number of internships to exceptional candidates interested in helping characterize the long-term policy implications of disruptive technologies.” The program — which entails a separate application and selection process from the long-running Microsoft Research Internship Program — aims to place policy-minded graduate students in computing or related fields in paid internships at Microsoft’s Redmond, WA, campus for 12 weeks this summer. According to the announcement: TPG is charged with exploring how disruptive technologies affect Microsoft’s business outlook and policy landscape in key areas such as Internet Governance, Wireless Spectrum Management, Next Generation Networks, 21st Century Research Universities, […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced last week a new competition to fund pilot projects that accelerate progress toward “improved systems for interoperable, trusted online credentials that go beyond simple user IDs and passwords.” NIST expects to make available about $10 million for the first year of the new multi-year awards, anticipating funding five to 8 projects for up to two years at a rate of $1.25 million to $2 million per project per year. NIST will hold a proposers’ conference on February 15, and initial (“abbreviated”) proposals must be submitted by 5pm EST on March 7. According to the press release: