NSF/ONR Partnership in Electric Power Networks Efficiency and Security (EPNES)

 The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) announce an interdisciplinary solicitation aimed at building new partnerships focused on achieving efficient and secure electric power networks under uncertain demands. The NSF organizations participating in this solicitation include: the Division of Electrical and Communication Systems (ECS) and Division of Bioengineering and Environmental Systems (BES) of the Directorate for Engineering (ENG); the Division of Social and Economic Sciences (SES) of the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE); and the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR). The ONR organizations in this solicitation include the Department of Engineering, Materials and Physical Sciences (EMPS), and the Division for Ship Hull, Mechanical and Electrical Systems (SHMES).  NSF and/or ONR will make awards. Electric power systems are prototypical socio-technical systems, meaning that their technical, social, economic, political, and cultural elements are tightly interwoven and impinge directly and forcefully upon each other. The goal of this solicitation is to build interdisciplinary partnerships, which allow more unified, coherent research to ensure reliable, secure, and efficient electric power networks. In addition, this program will address socio-economic issues, environmental issues, new pedagogy and curricula to prepare a future workforce, and development of integrated tools provided by ONR or a credible utility system.