Department of
Science & Technology (DST), Government of India and National Science
Foundation (NSF) of U.S have signed an Implementation Agreement (IA) on research
Cooperation. This DST – NSF collaborative
research opportunity focuses specifically upon discoveries and innovations in
areas of mutual interest that develop new knowledge in all aspects of computing, communications, and
information science and engineering, advanced cyber infrastructure, secure and
trustworthy computing, and cyber physical systems. NSF intends to make
awards to the U.S. investigators participating in the recommended collaborative
proposals, and DST intends to make awards to the Indian investigators
participating in the recommended collaborative proposals.
Potential
Areas of Research
DST and NSF invite active Indian and US
scientists / researchers to submit proposals for Joint Research Project in the
following broad areas:
I.
Computer and Information Science and
Engineering
o
Algorithmic Foundations; Communications and
Information Foundations; Foundations of Emerging Technologies; Software and
Hardware Foundations
o
Computer Systems Research; Networking
Technology and Systems
o
Human-Centered Computing; Information
Integration and Informatics; Robust Intelligence
o
Advanced Cyberinfrastructure
II.
Cyber-Physical Systems
o
Engineered systems with a seamless integration
of cyber and physical components, such as computation, control, networking, learning,
autonomy, security, privacy and verification, for a range of application
domains.
III.
Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace
o
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.
Proposals
submitted in other research areas will not be considered.
Eligibility
for Indian Applicants
o
The Principal
Investigator (PI) and other investigators in India should be scientists/
faculty members working in regular capacity in Universities/ Deemed
Universities/ Academic Institutes and National Research & Development
Laboratories/ Institutes as well as working in private non-profit institutions
that carry R&D activities. The Indian Principal Investigator (PI) should
not be retiring or leaving the parent institute during the proposed duration of
the project.
o
Number of
proposal submission for Indian investigators as PI is limited to one per call
while they can involve as Co-PIs in maximum of two proposals.
o
The Indian
scientists who are in any way involved in the implementation of two or more
projects that were previously supported by the DST (International Group) and
that are not expected to be completed by 31 December 2023 are also not eligible
to be a member of the research team.
Guidelines
(i)
DST and NSF will allow investigators from both
countries to collaborate to write a single proposal that will undergo a single
review process at NSF, the Coordinating Agency.
(ii)
Proposals must represent an integrated
collaborative effort between the India and US investigators. Proposals are
expected to adhere to the research areas, funding limits, and grant durations
for the participating NSF programs and for the DST programs from which funding
is sought. Investigators are advised that all documents submitted to DST or NSF
may be shared with the other agency in order to implement the two-way agency
activities.
(iii)
The proposal should describe the full proposed
research program, including the total Indian and U.S. resources that will be
part of the project. NSF investigators should
indicate only the NSF expenses in the NSF budget. DST investigators should indicate only the
DST research expenses on the DST budget form.
The DST budget and budget justification must be included in the NSF
proposal as a Supplementary Document. The
Budget section of the DST proposal should clearly indicate the DST budget with
full justification. Proposals that request duplicative funding may be returned
without review.
(iv)
Indian and US Investigators should submit
identical Summary, Description and References in their proposals, using the
respective forms prescribed by DST and NSF. Applications submitted by one side
only; not on prescribed format and received after due date will not be
accepted. Indian/US Investigators should, therefore, ensure that their
counterpart submits an application with identical components as described
above, on prescribed format as per guidelines of nodal agencies by due date.
(v)
Title of the project submitted on both systems
should be identical.
(vi)
All proposals should be supported with brief
bio-data of entire project team members indicating their affiliation, date of
birth, highlights of academic and research activities / awards. For US
investigators, date of birth is not required and their bio-sketches may be as
per NSF guidelines.
(vii)
Through this partnership, India researchers
may receive funding from DST and U.S. researchers may receive funding from NSF
respectively.
(viii)
Selected Projects of Indian PIs will be
supported up-to 20 million Indian rupees by DST and up-to $600,000 to US PIs by
NSF for duration up-to three years.
(ix)
The support to Indian PIs are primarily for
exchange visits, consumables, contingency and minor equipment/accessories (not
costing more than 20% of project cost). It may be noted that both sides may not
get equal grant (USD to INR). Budget requirement would be assessed as per
current norms of human resources or international visit rate. Travel entitlement
will be by economy class.
(x)
The proposals will be reviewed by experts
contacted by NSF, the Coordinating Agency, in competition with other proposals
received for the same funding round of the program to which the proposal is
submitted, using NSF's merit review process. DST will check that the Indian
investigator has an active and appropriate role and confirm their eligibility
at the onset of the process.
(xi)
The Data Management Plan must include
mechanisms for sharing and archiving data including, experimental data,
results, and software developed and their associated privacy and security aspects.
(xii)
For projects involving human
subjects/participants or vertebrate animals, investigators should follow both DST
and NSF policies, submitting documentation to each as appropriate.