NSF Catalyzing New International Collaborations (CNIC)

PROGRAM SOLICITATION
NSF 12-573

REPLACES DOCUMENT(S):
NSF 11-508

National Science Foundation Office of International and Integrative Activities

Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):

     Proposals Accepted Anytime

Applicants are advised to submit proposals at least nine months prior to the expected date of the proposed activity.

 The Catalyzing New International Collaboration (CNIC) program is designed to promote professional development of U.S. STEM researchers and to advance their research through international engagement.

Support of international activities is an integral part of NSF's mission to sustain and strengthen the nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) capabilities. NSF recognizes the importance of enabling U.S. researchers and educators at every career level to advance their work through international collaboration and of helping to ensure that future generations of U.S. scientists and engineers gain professional experience beyond the nation's borders early in their careers.

Grants from the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) contribute to NSF's mission by supporting research and education activities that present unique opportunities and offer potentially high benefits through collaboration with scientists and engineers abroad. NSF will consider proposals from U.S. institutions for collaborative work with any country that is not explicitly proscribed by the Department of State. Activities can be in any field of science and engineering research and education supported by NSF.

This solicitation offers support for the initial phases of an international collaboration with the strong expectation that the next phase will involve submission by U.S. investigators of a follow-on proposal to an NSF Directorate for continued funding of the research initiated with the CNIC grant.

To facilitate this end, prior to submission in response to this solicitation, it is required that PIs establish communication with the cognizant Program Officer in the NSF Division to which the follow-on proposal would be submitted. Alternatively, PIs may contact the CNIC Program Director who will consult with the appropriate program director on behalf of the proposer. In either case, the PI should provide a brief description of proposed activities (one page max). Disciplinary Program Officers or the CNIC Program Director will advise potential proposers if the proposed international collaboration activity should be submitted to CNIC or to other existing programs as a regular proposal, a supplement, or an EAGER. A copy of this message must be included in the CNIC proposal (see Section V.A. 5 below).

It should be noted that encouragement of submission from NSF does not in any way guarantee funding of the CNIC proposal or any subsequent proposals submitted to disciplinary programs to continue research initiated by the support of CNIC. Rather, it helps OISE to know that the proposed international collaborative research is within the scope of a disciplinary research program, and therefore OISE's support for the international collaborative part of the project will add value to the advancement of the field in addition to the inherent value of international collaboration. In addition, PIs are encouraged to contact the cognizant OISE country Program Officer prior to submission to this solicitation to discuss issues that are unique to the country where the proposed research collaboration is to take place. (For a list of OISE Program Officers by country, seehttp://www.nsf.gov/od/oise/country-list.jsp.)