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Grants to USA and Israel Scientist Teams for Research Projects Related to Cognitive and Neural Systems

Integrative Strategies for Understanding Neural and Cognitive Systems (NCS)


GrantWatch ID# 193941
Agency: Foundation

Funding Source
United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) and U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)
Array ( )

Geographic Focus
All USA
Israel.

Important Dates
LOI Date: 12/15/22
Deadline: 02/15/23 Deadline for NSF applications; 02/20/23 5:00 PM Israel Time - Deadline for BSF applications Save

Grant Description
Grants to USA and Israel scientist teams associated with nonprofit organizations, including government research institutions and IHEs, for research projects related to cognitive and neural systems. Applicants must submit a letter of intent prior to applying. Funding is intended for high-risk projects that have the potential for high reward.

This program calls for innovative, convergent, boundary-crossing proposals that can best capture those opportunities and map out new research frontiers. NSF seeks proposals that pursue high-value scientific and technical risks by transcending the perspectives and approaches typical of disciplinary research efforts. This cross-directorate program is one element of NSF’s participation in the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. NSF envisions a connected portfolio of transformative, integrative projects that create synergistic links across investigators and communities, yielding novel ways of tackling the challenges of understanding the brain in action and in context.

The program focuses on four aspects of neural and cognitive systems that are current targets of converging interdisciplinary interests. NCS projects must advance the foundations of one or more of these focus areas, as described further within the solicitation:

  1. Neuroengineering and Brain-Inspired Concepts and Designs
  2. Individuality and Variation
  3. Cognitive and Neural Processes in Realistic, Complex Environments
  4. Data-Intensive Neuroscience and Cognitive Science

Proposals must address both risk and reward: high-risk, high-payoff approaches are expected. Proposals must also go beyond the scope of any NSF core program, or they will not be considered responsive to this solicitation.

NCS will consider two classes of proposals:

  • Foundations awards will support high-risk, high-payoff projects that advance the foundations of one or more NCS focus areas.
  • Frontiers awards (FY2021 and FY2023 competitions only) will support ambitious, highly integrative, interdisciplinary projects that advance and connect multiple integrative research threads to tackle challenges that would be intractable without a high level of collaboration and coordination.


Recipient

Eligibility
  • Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)

Additional Eligibility Criteria
Applications must be developed and written jointly by a team of Israeli and U.S. scientists that hold academic appointments in their respective countries and are eligible to apply for external funding at organizations such as NSF and BSF.

Eligibility:

1. For the BSF submission: Israeli principal investigators must have obtained a PhD, MD or an equivalent degree, and must be faculty members or the equivalent of the submitting institutions. Graduate students or postgraduate fellows are not eligible to submit applications.

2. Scientists who wish to apply for grants must submit their applications through a legal entity. The BSF accepts research applications from non-profit organizations only, including institutions of higher learning, government research institutions and hospitals. Although applications cannot be submitted by for-profit or industrial organizations, one of the principal investigators may be affiliated with such an organization. However, the research performed by the investigator affiliated with a for-profit organization will not be funded by the BSF, unless specified differently.

3. In keeping with an amendment, signed on 28 October 2020, to the original agreement between the U.S. and Israeli governments, the Foundation sponsors US-Israel collaborative research with participation of all Israeli academic institutions, including research carried out in geographic areas that came under the administration of the Government of Israel after June 5, 1967.

4. It is noted here that the BSF does not invite applications involving, directly or indirectly, the Arab-Israeli conflict. Any application that is related to any aspect of the Arab-Israeli conflict should be discussed with the BSF staff before submission. The Foundation reserves the right to reject such applications, if in its sole discretion, it deems these not consistent with its mission.

5. The following additional rules apply to this program:
- A U.S. scientist submitting an application with an Israeli colleague to the NSF is only subject to the NSF eligibility rules.
- Each Israeli scientist is allowed to submit one NSF-BSF application each year (1 Oct - 30 Sept).
- An Israeli with an active BSF research grant is allowed to submit an application to any of the NSF-BSF programs.
- An Israeli with an active NSF-BSF grant is not allowed to submit a new application to any NSF-BSF program before the last year of their current grant.
- It is allowed to submit both to an NSF-BSF program and the regular BSF program, including similar applications. In the event that grants are awarded in both programs, both will be funded, unless the research applications are mostly similar, or significantly overlap, in which case only the NSF-BSF program will be funded by the BSF.
- In case of similar NSF-BSF and regular BSF applications, in which the NSF evaluation of the NSF-BSF application was not completed by the time the regular BSF awards are made, the BSF will defer its decision regarding a possible grant to this application, until the NSF-BSF awards are announced.

For additional eligibility information, see page 4 of Call for Proposals in Attached Files below.

Meetings at conferences or other locations outside of the investigators’ institutions, which were allowed in recent years, are no longer supported. In the NSF-BSF program, the BSF grant may be used only by members of the Israeli research team, and it cannot be used to cover any of the travel expenses of the U.S. PI to Israel.

Pre-Application Information
Timetable:
- Letter of intent is required by NSF by Dec. 15, 2022.
- The NSF deadline is February 15, 2023. After successful submission at NSF, proposals need to be submitted to the BSF on February 20, 2023 no later than 5 pm (Israel time).

The full proposals will be submitted to the program twice.
Step 1: The U.S. applicant will submit the NSF-BSF proposal following the NSF regulations and submission procedures.
Step 2: The Israeli applicant will submit the identical proposal as a pdf document to the BSF, including all information regarding the U.S. applicant(s), and adhere to relevant BSF regulations regarding proposal submission.

The NSF accepts applications only from U.S. scientists and submission to the NSF-BSF program should be made only by the U.S. applicant. The proposal is recognized as an NSF-BSF application by adding the prefixed “NSF-BSF:” to the proposal title. The role of the Israeli applicant(s) and the nature of the collaboration must be described in the different sections of the proposal, e.g. sections with details of work plan, time line etc. Furthermore, it should be clearly explained why the contribution of the Israeli PI is critical to the success of the proposed study.

All inquiries regarding the suitability of the research topic must be made by the U.S. applicant(s) to the relevant program directors at NSF. BSF will not respond to any query regarding topic eligibility.

Israeli applicants are advised that they should pay particular attention to the NSF evaluation criteria, http://nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/merit_review/.

NSF information about Integrative Strategies for Understanding Neural Cognitive Systems:
https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/integrative-strategies-understanding-neural-and-cognitive-systems-ncs

Program Solicitation: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2021/nsf21517/nsf21517.htm

FAQ: https://www.bsf.org.il/faq/#section--nsf-bsf-programs

Submission information: https://www.bsf.org.il/funding-opportunities/nsf-bsf-joint-research-grants/submission/

Estimated Size of Grant
The award amount for the Israeli applicant is capped at a maximum of $80,000 per year for experimental programs and up to $55,000 per year for theoretical or computer-based research, subject to the availability of funds. If more than a single Israeli group is involved in the research, then the budget may be increased by up to 50%.

Term of Contract
BSF will adhere to the NSF decision regarding the duration of the project.

Contact Information
Proposal Submission for US Scientists: https://identity.research.gov/sso/UI/Login?submit=Sign+In+to+FastLane%2FResearch.gov

Proposal Submission for Israeli Scientists: https://www.bsf.org.il/login/

Questions regarding the suitability of the proposed research for this program should be directed by the U.S. applicant(s) to program officer in the relevant programs at the NSF.

Other questions regarding this call for proposals can be discussed with the BSF staff by mail or by phone (972-2-5828239): Dr. Rachel (Heni) Haring (heni@bsf.org.il ext. 110) or Ms. Yael Dressler (yael@bsf.org.il ext. 103). Questions regarding the online application system should be directed to Ms. Orli Rozencwajg (orli@bsf.org.il ext. 109).

NCS Program Team:
ncs@nsf.gov
(703) 292-5149


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