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Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)

Solicitation coming soon

Important information about NSF’s implementation of the revised 2 CFR

NSF Financial Assistance awards (grants and cooperative agreements) made on or after October 1, 2024, will be subject to the applicable set of award conditions, dated October 1, 2024, available on the NSF website. These terms and conditions are consistent with the revised guidance specified in the OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance published in the Federal Register on April 22, 2024.

Important information for proposers

All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in this funding opportunity and in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) that is in effect for the relevant due date to which the proposal is being submitted. It is the responsibility of the proposer to ensure that the proposal meets these requirements. Submitting a proposal prior to a specified deadline does not negate this requirement.

Synopsis

DMREF seeks to foster the design, discovery, and development of materials to accelerate their path to deployment by harnessing the power of data and computational tools in concert with experiment and theory. DMREF emphasizes a deep integration of experiments, computation, and theory; the use of accessible digital data across the materials development continuum; and strengthening connections among theorists, computational scientists, data scientists, mathematicians, statisticians, and experimentalists as well as those from academia, industry, and government. DMREF is committed to the education and training of a next-generation materials research and development (R&D) workforce; well-equipped for successful careers as educators and innovators; and able to take full advantage of the materials development continuum and innovation infrastructures that NSF is creating through partnership with other federal and international agencies.

DMREF is the principal NSF program responsive to the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC’s) Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Subcommittee on the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI). Over its inaugural decade, the MGI has driven a transformational paradigm shift in the philosophy of how materials research is performed. DMREF is supportive of the 2021 MGI Strategic Plan and its three primary goals, i.e., unifying the materials innovation infrastructure; harnessing the power of materials data; and educating, training, and connecting a world-class materials R&D workforce. 

DMREF will accordingly support activities that significantly accelerate the materials discovery-to-use timeline by building the fundamental knowledge base needed to advance the design, development, or manufacturability of materials with desirable properties or functionality. The 2021 MGI Strategic Plan re-envisioned the linear Materials Development Continuum described in the original Strategic Plan to promote integration and iteration of knowledge across the entire path to deployment. DMREF will undertake this challenge through building a vibrant research community, forming interdisciplinary teams to conduct research in a “closed-loop” fashion, leveraging data science and machine learning, providing ready access to materials data, and educating the future MGI workforce.

This solicitation is open to all materials research topics and is responsive to the recent National Academies 2023 Report ‘NSF Efforts to Achieve the Nation’s Vision for the Materials Genome Initiative’. DMREF reflects the Administration’s priorities for strengthening American leadership in technologies and industries of the future that are critical to the nation’s health, economic prosperity, national security, and scientific enterprise.

DMREF encourages input and participation from the full spectrum of diverse talent that society has to offer which includes underrepresented and underserved communities. Aligning with Goal 3 of the 2021 MGI Strategic Plan, DMREF promotes education, training, and workforce development that can communicate across all components of the materials development continuum.

Proposals submitted to this solicitation must be directed by a team of at least two Senior/Key Personnel with complementary expertise. The proposed research must involve a collaborative and iterative “closed-loop” process wherein theory guides computational simulation, computational simulation guides experiments, and experimental observation further guides theory.

This solicitation represents a crosscutting activity involving the Directorates for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), Engineering (ENG), Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE), and Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP). Additionally, partnership with other federal agencies may lead to an interagency effort. Submitted proposals may be shared with one or more federal partners in the solicitation: Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Naval Research (ONR), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC), and the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory (ARL). Opportunities are also present for collaboration with the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and Germany’s Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

Awards are expected to range from $1,500,000 – $2,000,000 over a duration of four years.

Subject to the availability of funds, it is anticipated that the DMREF program will continue with competitions biennially in odd-numbered years.

Program contacts

Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Contacts:

AFRL Materials and Manufacturing (AFRL/RX):

Ruth Pachter, Senior Scientist, AFRL/RX, phone: (937)205-5319, email: Ruth.Pachter.1@us.af.mil

AFRL Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFRL/AFOSR):

William Roach, Chief Scientist, AFRL/AFOSR, phone: (703)215-6731, email: William.Roach.4@us.af.mil

DOE EERE Contact:

Eric Miller, Chief Scientist, Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Technologies Office, US Department of Energy – EERE, phone (202)431-3075, email: Eric.Miller@ee.doe.gov

Robert Natelson, Technology Manager, Bioenergy Technologies Office, US Department of Energy – EERE, phone (240)753-4206, email: Robert.Natelson@ee.doe.gov

ONR Contact:

Knox Millsaps, Department Head (Acting), Aviation, Force Projection and Integrated Defense, phone: (703)588-2962, email: knox.t.millsaps.civ@us.navy.mil

NIST Contact:

James A. Warren, Director Materials Genome Program, Materials Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, phone: (301)975-5708, email: james.warren@nist.gov

GVSC Contact:

David Gorsich, Chief Scientist, phone: (586)282-7413, email: david.j.gorsich.civ@army.mil

ARL Contact:

Adam Rawlett, Senior Research Scientist, phone: (410)306-0695, email: adam.m.rawlett.civ@army.mil

BSF Contact:

Rachel (Heni) Haring, Deputy Executive Director, BSF, telephone: 972 2 5828239, email: heni@bsf.org.il

DST Contact:

Mahak Garg, International Cooperation, DST, telephone: 011-26590291, email: mahak.garg@gov.in

NSERC Contact:

Patrick Suter, NSERC, telephone: (613) 898-5738, email: DMREF@NSERC-CRSNG.GC.CA

DFG Contacts:

Georg Bechtold, DFG, telephone: (202) 785-4208, email: Georg.Bechtold@dfg.de

Cosima Schuster, DFG, telephone: +49 (228) 885-2271, email: cosima.schuster@dfg.de

Name Email Phone Organization
John Schlueter, Team Lead
jschluet@nsf.gov (703) 292-7766 MPS/DMR
James Donlon
jdonlon@nsf.gov (703) 292-8074 CISE/IIS
Dmitry Golovaty
dgolovat@nsf.gov (703) 292-2117 MPS/DMS
Yuliya Gorb
ygorb@nsf.gov (703) 292-2113 MPS/DMS
Eugenia Kharlampieva
ekharlam@nsf.gov (703) 292-4520 MPS/DMR
Linda Molnar
lmolnar@nsf.gov (703) 292-8316 TIP/ITE
Siddiq Qidwai
sqidwai@nsf.gov (703) 292-2211 ENG/CMMI
Shahab Shojaei-Zadeh
sshojaei@nsf.gov (703) 292-8045 ENG/CBET
Pranav Soman
psoman@nsf.gov (703) 292-4322 ENG/CMMI
Suk-Wah Tam-Chang
stamchan@nsf.gov (703) 292-8684 MPS/CHE
Ralph Wachter
rwachter@nsf.gov (703) 292-8950 CISE/CNS
Rachel (Heni) Haring
Deputy Executive Director
heni@nsf.org.il 972 2 5828239 BSF
Mahak Garg
International Cooperation
mahak.garg@gov.in 011-26590291 DST
Patrick Suter
DMREF@NSERC-CRSNG.GC.CA (613)898-5738 NSERC
Georg Bechtold
Georg.Bechtold@dfg.de (202)785-4208 DFG
Cosima Schuster
Cosima.Schuster@dfg.de +49 (228)885-2271 DFG

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