The National Science Foundation (NSF) announces a second year of a program on collaborative research and education in the area of scalable nanomanufacturing, including the long-term societal implications of the large-scale implementation of nanomanufacturing innovations.

The mode of support is Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Teams (NIRT). Proposals submitted to this program must address at least one, and preferably more than one, of the following interconnected themes:

• Novel processes and techniques for continuous and scalable nanomanufacturing;
• Directed (e.g. physical/chemical/biological) self-assembly processes leading to heterogeneous nanostructures with the potential for high-rate production;
• Fundamental scientific research in well-defined areas that are compellingly justified as critical roadblocks to scale-up;
• Principles and design methods to produce machines and processes to manufacture nanoscale structures, devices and systems; and/or
• Long-term societal and educational implications of the large-scale production and use of nanomaterials, devices and systems, including the life-cycle analysis of such nanomaterials, devices and systems.

HTML: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12544/nsf12544.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT....

Final proposal deadline June 04, 2012. One per institution as the lead.

Preproposals are due to the Vice President for Research and Economic Development Office (dpimlott@iastate.edu) by April 2. A review committee will choose the project to be forwarded to NSF.

Your pre-proposal should contain the following information:

• Summary of the proposal (no more than 2 pages) highlighting the intellectual merits of the proposal
• Tentative list of participants (internal and external collaborators)
• Explain why your proposal would be competitive (1 page) -- explain the strengths and uniqueness of your proposal, given the review criteria.
• Explain how your proposal would address NSF’s Broader Impacts requirement (half page)
• Draft budget.