Funding Opportunities
2023 Inflation Reduction Act Climate Ready Workforce for Coastal States, Tribes, and Territories Competition
Department of Commerce
Deadline: February 13th, 2024
A climate ready nation requires a climate ready workforce. NOAA will assist communities in coastal and Great Lakes states and territories so they may form partnerships that train workers and place them into jobs that enhance climate resilience. This competition is designed to meet the emerging and existing skills needs of employers while helping workers enter good jobs, so that together they may enhance climate resilience. NOAA envisions making between 10-20 awards under this competition, at amounts ranging from $500,000 to $10 million each. NOAA is issuing this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for qualified organizations to form and support partnerships that will work collaboratively to support regional economies and their associated workforces by developing training programs that build in-demand skills, offering wraparound services that allow workers to successfully enroll in and complete training, and helping workers enter or advance into good jobs that enhance climate resilience.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) FY23 BIL Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second Life Applications
Department of Energy
Deadline: February 7th, 2024 (concept papers)
The activities to be funded under this FOA support BIL section 40208, Electric Drive Vehicle Battery Recycling and Second-Life Applications Program, and the broader government-wide approach to strengthen domestic supply chains for critical materials to maximize the benefits of the clean energy transition as the nation works to curb the climate crisis, empower workers, and advance environmental justice. This BIL section is focused on research, development, and demonstration of:
| • | second-life applications for electric drive vehicle batteries that have been used to power electric drive vehicles; and |
| • | technologies and processes for final recycling and disposal of electric drive vehicle batteries. |
Installation Noise Reduction and Reliable Moorings for Offshore Wind and Marine Energy
Department of Energy
Deadline: February 29th, 2024
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) on behalf of the Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO), the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), as well as the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). The goals of this FOA are to:
| • | Improve the reliability of moorings for floating offshore wind energy and marine energy converters; and |
| • | Reduce noise associated with installing fixed-bottom offshore wind energy foundations. |
Environmental Sustainability
National Science Foundation
Deadline: Ongoing
The Environmental Sustainability program is part of the Environmental Engineering and Sustainability cluster together with 1) the Environmental Engineering program and 2) the Nanoscale Interactions program.
The goal of the Environmental Sustainability program is to promote sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being and that are also compatible with sustaining natural (environmental) systems. These systems provide ecological services vital for human survival. Research efforts supported by the program typically consider long time horizons and may incorporate contributions from the social sciences and ethics. The program supports engineering research that seeks to balance society's need to provide ecological protection and maintain stable economic conditions.
There are five principal general research areas that are supported.
| • | Circular Bioeconomy Engineering: This area includes research that enables sustainable societal use of food, energy, water, nitrogen, phosphorus, and materials, with the reduction and eventual elimination of fossil fuel combustion that lacks carbon capture. The program encourages research that helps build the raw material basis for the functioning of society principally on biomass, drawing heavily on sustainable agriculture and forestry. Additionally, material flows must reduce or preferably eliminate waste, with an emphasis on closed-loop or 'circular' processing. |
| • | Industrial ecology: Topics of interest include advancements in modeling such as life cycle assessment, materials flow analysis, net energy analysis, input/output economic models, and novel metrics for measuring sustainable systems. Innovations in industrial ecology are encouraged. |
| • | Green engineering: Research is encouraged to advance the sustainability of manufacturing processes, green buildings, and infrastructure. Many programs in the Engineering Directorate support research in environmentally benign manufacturing or chemical processes. The Environmental Sustainability program supports research that would affect more than one chemical or manufacturing process or that takes a systems or holistic approach to green engineering for infrastructure or green buildings. Improvements in distribution and collection systems that will advance smart growth strategies and ameliorate effects of growth are research areas that are supported by Environmental Sustainability. Innovations in management of storm water, recycling and reuse of drinking water, and other green engineering techniques to support sustainability may also be fruitful areas for research. |
| • | Ecological engineering: Proposals should focus on the engineering aspects of restoring ecological function to natural systems. Engineering research in the enhancement of natural capital to foster sustainable development is encouraged. |
| • | Earth systems engineering: Earth systems engineering considers aspects of large-scale engineering research that involve mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation to climate change, and other global concerns. |
All proposed research should be driven by engineering principles, and be presented explicitly in an environmental sustainability context. Proposals should include involvement in engineering research of at least one graduate student, as well as undergraduates. Incorporation of aspects of social, behavioral, and economic sciences is welcomed.
NOTE: Water treatment, air pollution (both outdoor and indoor), soil remediation, and solid waste treatment proposals are to be submitted to the Environmental Engineering program (CBET 1440).
Innovative proposals outside the scope of the four core areas mentioned above may be considered. However, prior to submission, it is recommended that the Principal Investigator contact the program director to avoid the possibility of the proposal being returned without review. For proposals that call for research to be done on regions that are outside of the United States, an explanation must be presented of the potential benefit of the research for the United States.
Energy, Power, Control, and Networks
National Science Foundation
Deadline: Ongoing
The Energy, Power, Control, and Networks (EPCN) Program supports innovative research in modeling, optimization, learning, adaptation, and control of networked multi-agent systems, higher-level decision making, and dynamic resource allocation, as well as risk management in the presence of uncertainty, sub-system failures, and stochastic disturbances. EPCN also invests in novel machine learning algorithms and analysis, adaptive dynamic programming, brain-like networked architectures performing real-time learning, and neuromorphic engineering. EPCN’s goal is to encourage research on emerging technologies and applications including energy, transportation, robotics, and biomedical devices & systems. EPCN also emphasizes electric power systems, including generation, transmission, storage, and integration of renewable energy sources into the grid; power electronics and drives; battery management systems; hybrid and electric vehicles; and understanding of the interplay of power systems with associated regulatory & economic structures and with consumer behavior.
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Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems
National Science Foundation
Deadline: Ongoing
The Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems (CCSS) Program supports innovative research in circuit and system hardware and signal processing techniques. CCSS also supports system and network architectures for communications and sensing to enable the next-generation cyber-physical systems (CPS) that leverage computation, communication, and sensing integrated with physical domains. CCSS invests in micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), physical, chemical, and biological sensing systems, neurotechnologies, and communication & sensing circuits and systems. The goal is to create new complex and hybrid systems ranging from nano- to macro-scale with innovative engineering principles and solutions for a variety of applications including but not limited to healthcare, medicine, environmental and biological monitoring, communications, disaster mitigation, homeland security, intelligent transportation, manufacturing, energy, and smart buildings. CCSS encourages research proposals based on emerging technologies and applications for communications and sensing such as high-speed communications of terabits per second and beyond, sensing and imaging covering microwave to terahertz frequencies, personalized health monitoring and assistance, secured wireless connectivity and sensing for the Internet of Things, and dynamic-data-enabled autonomous systems through real-time sensing and learning.
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act promises a number of relevant funding opportunities in the coming years. The attached list outlines the federal programs established in or amended by the IIJA that will be soliciting funded partnerships, and researchers with an interest in one or more of these highlighted areas may wish to begin preparing proposal materials. For more information on any of these programs or federal opportunities, please contact the Office of Government Relations.
Foundation Funding Opportunities
Please contact the Office of Foundation Relations. for additional information about these opportunities. Our team is also available to advise and assist with proposal development.
PLEASE NOTE: Many foundations are extending application deadlines due to the COVID-19 situation. Please check the foundation’s website or email foundationrelations@northwestern.edu for more information.
Corporate Funding Opportunities
Collaboration Engagement facilitates any connections between Northwestern faculty, students, and staff seeking support from corporations for the purposes of research, scholarship, and strategic engagement. Contact Jim Bray, Director of Corporate Engagement, for more information.
CONTACT AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Fruma Yehiely, Associate Vice President for Research