Recently, NSF has released the program solicitation for planning grants to develop the next generation Engineering Research Centers. These planning grants are for up to $100k and are due June 6, 2018 for this 7-page proposal. The URL is: is: https://nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18549/nsf18549.htm
In general, an ERC should be designed to lay the foundation for a new industry while alternate programs for an STC (Science Technology Center) are aimed to develop a new discipline for scientific investigation. These Generation 4 ERC’s are not intended to be the same as previous ERC’s in a several important ways.
The new call has an emphasis on what is termed Convergence which is the integration of life science, physical science and engineering along with demonstrating societal impact. Convergence has many similarities to what we consider interdisciplinary research, however, the integration of knowledge from disparate fields is integrated at a foundational level along with demonstrating and assessing the degree of societal impact. That is, in 10 years, how will the public recognize the value of the ERC to themselves individually.
The complexity of convergent approaches necessitates purposeful team formation, including effective leadership, and the development and nurturing of stakeholder communities. Here are links to references by NSF on this new vision of ERC’s (http://nap.edu/24767) and on the meaning of Convergence (http://nap.edu/18722).
I have talked with several NSF program managers about these Gen4 ERC’s and they recommend that beyond the traditional planning considerations that we should focus on the impacts of the ERC in the field beyond what can be accomplished with small team-based projects. That is, instead of focusing on development of products or technology, that an ERC should facilitate the diffusion of advances into common and broad acceptance in the public marketplace and on training of graduate students into leadership roles in the industry that develops. The problems to be addressed should be Grand Challenge-oriented – wicked problems that bring together multiple disciplines, to impact problems of national and international scale in new and innovative ways. The team should be constructed not only based on having team members having worked together but that their expertise be complementary and include researchers with experience on social dynamics and diffusion of technology.
NSF aims to use ERCs to develop engineered systems for high societal impact. The approach to the engineered systems challenges resonates with NSF's emphasis on convergent research, one of the “10 Big Ideas for NSF Future Investments” (https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/big_ideas/. ) announced in May 2016.
The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine expressed that investments in center programs need to demonstrate leadership and capacity for enhancing TEAM SCIENCE which incorporates the large body of knowledge in how to collect expertise of professionals to generate impact. In many ways, the private sector and industry is far ahead of academic researchers in how to manage teams in ways that are flexible and respond to the market. A successful ERC will adopt practices for integrating interactive and integrative team science.
NSF surveyed individual industrial members who participate in ERC activities and reports the greatest value to industry as:
• Follow developments in the field and support technology development,
• gain access to faculty expertise,
• network with other ERC members, and
• evaluate students as potential employees.
Also referenced, but at a substantially lower level of support were:
* access to ERC developed intellectual property and
* access to ERC facilities.
Nebraska has a great opportunity to build a strong ERC program in a variety of areas, building on our strengths. There have been few ERC’s funded in this part of the country and in areas for which we have outstanding researchers and competitive advantages. It may seem that there is never enough time to develop such a program; however, I remind that the composer Leonard Bernstein once said. "To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time."
This article contains links (above) to articles that provide background on what NSF is seeking along with a planning checklist - https://engineering.unl.edu/downloads/research/ERC-Planning-Grant-2018.pdf - from ORED for developing a planning grant.
I am happy to discuss and assist if you have interest in developing an idea and in thinking big.
Best regards,
Mark Riley, Ph.D.
COE Associate Dean for Research
mriley3@unl.edu