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Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC)

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NSF 24-504

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.

Supports research addressing cybersecurity and privacy, drawing on expertise in one or more of these areas: computing, communication and information sciences; engineering; economics; education; mathematics; statistics; and social and behavioral sciences.

Supports research addressing cybersecurity and privacy, drawing on expertise in one or more of these areas: computing, communication and information sciences; engineering; economics; education; mathematics; statistics; and social and behavioral sciences.

Synopsis

In today's increasingly networked, distributed, and asynchronous world, cybersecurity involves hardware, software, networks, data, people, and integration with the physical world. Society's overwhelming reliance on this complex cyberspace, however, has exposed its fragility and vulnerabilities that defy existing cyber-defense measures; corporations, agencies, national infrastructure, and individuals continue to suffer cyber-attacks. Achieving a truly secure cyberspace requires addressing both challenging scientific and engineering problems involving many components of a system, and vulnerabilities that stem from human behaviors and choices. Examining the fundamentals of security and privacy as a multidisciplinary subject can lead to fundamentally new ways to design, build, and operate cyber systems; protect existing infrastructure; and motivate and educate individuals about cybersecurity.

The goals of the SaTC program are aligned with the National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan (RDSP) and National Privacy Research Strategy (NPRS) to protect and preserve the growing social and economic benefits of cyber systems while ensuring security and privacy. The RDSP identified six areas critical to successful cybersecurity research and development: (1) scientific foundations; (2) risk management; (3) human aspects; (4) transitioning successful research into practice; (5) workforce development; and (6) enhancing the research infrastructure. The NPRS, which complements the RDSP, identifies a framework for privacy research, anchored in characterizing privacy expectations, understanding privacy violations, engineering privacy-protecting systems, and recovering from privacy violations. In alignment with the objectives in both strategic plans, the SaTC program takes an multidisciplinary, comprehensive, and holistic approach to cybersecurity research, development, and education, and encourages the transition of promising research ideas into practice.  SaTC goals are also aligned with the Roadmap for Researchers on Priorities Related to Information Integrity Research and Development, the National Strategy to Advance Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing and Analytics, and the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy.

The SaTC program welcomes proposals that address cybersecurity and privacy, drawing on expertise in one or more of these areas: computing, communication, and information sciences; engineering; education; mathematics; statistics; and social, behavioral, and economic sciences. Proposals that advance the field of cybersecurity and privacy within a single discipline or interdisciplinary efforts that span multiple disciplines are both welcome.

The SaTC program spans the interests of NSF's Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Engineering (ENG), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE), and STEM Education (EDU). Proposals must be submitted pursuant to one of the following designations, each of which may have additional restrictions and administrative obligations as specified in this program solicitation.

·       CORE: This designation is the main focus of the multidisciplinary SaTC research program.

·       EDU: The Education (EDU) designation is used to label proposals focusing on cybersecurity and privacy education and training.

·       TTP: The Transition to Practice (TTP) designation will be used to label proposals that are focused exclusively on transitioning existing research results to practice.

CORE and TTP proposals may be submitted in one of the following project size classes:

·       Small projects: up to $600,000 in total budget, with durations of up to three years; and

·       Medium projects: $600,001 to $1,200,000 in total budget, with durations of up to four years.

EDU proposals are limited to $400,000 in total budget, with durations of up to three years. EDU proposals that demonstrate a collaboration, reflected in the PI, co-PI, and/or Senior Personnel composition, between a cybersecurity subject matter expert (researcher or practitioner) and an education researcher may request up to $500,000 for three years.

Program contacts

SaTC Questions:  satc@nsf.gov
Jeremy J. Epstein
Lead Program Director, CISE/CNS
jepstein@nsf.gov (703) 292-8338 CISE/CNS
Cindy Bethel
Program Director, CISE/IIS
cbethel@nsf.gov (703) 292-4420 CISE/IIS
Robert Beverly
Program Director, CISE/OAC
rbeverly@nsf.gov 703-292-7068
Daniel R. Cosley
Program Director, CISE/IIS
dcosley@nsf.gov (703) 292-8832 CISE/IIS
Sol Greenspan
Program Director, CISE/CCF
sgreensp@nsf.gov (703) 292-8910 CISE/CCF
Timothy Hodges
Program Director, MPS/DMS
thodges@nsf.gov (703) 292-5359
Karen Karavanic
Program Director, CISE/CNS
kkaravan@nsf.gov (703) 292-2594 CISE/CNS
Sara Kiesler
Program Director, SBE/SES
skiesler@nsf.gov (703) 292-8643 SBE/SES
Rosa A. Lukaszew
Program Director, ENG/ECCS
rlukasze@nsf.gov (703) 292-8103 ENG/ECCS
Daniela Oliveira
Program Director, CISE/CNS
doliveir@nsf.gov (703) 292-4352
Victor P. Piotrowski
Program Director, EDU/DGE
vpiotrow@nsf.gov (703) 292-5141 EDU/DGE
Andrew D. Pollington
Program Director, MPS/DMS
adpollin@nsf.gov (703) 292-4878 MPS/DMS
Phillip A. Regalia
Program Director, CISE/CCF
pregalia@nsf.gov (703) 292-2981 CISE/CCF
Ambareen Siraj
Program Director, EDU/DGE
asiraj@nsf.gov (703) 292-8182 EDU/DGE
Anna Squicciarini
Program Director, CISE/CNS
asquicci@nsf.gov (703) 292-5177 CISE/CNS
Xiaogang (Cliff) Wang
Program Director, CISE/CNS
xiawang@nsf.gov (703) 292-2812 CISE/CNS
ChunSheng (Sam) Xin
Program Director, EDU/DGE
cxin@nsf.gov (703) 292-7353 EDU/DGE
Li Yang
Program Director, EDU/DGE
liyang@nsf.gov (703) 292-2677 EDU/DGE

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