<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hi everyone - <div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">NSF recently posted a Dear Colleague Letter that announced funding on the theme of “Strengthening American Infrastructure.” I thought it would be interesting for people here, both in the narrow sense of a funding opportunity as well as a broader indication of NSF’s thinking about infrastructure. (One could comment/speculate on the timing of the announcement, which was published on election day, Tuesday Nov 3 - but I’m not going to do that.) </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Here’s the link: <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2021/nsf21019/nsf21019.jsp" class="">https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2021/nsf21019/nsf21019.jsp</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">And some of their language:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">"The National Science Foundation (NSF) - through its Directorates for
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE), Engineering (ENG),
Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Mathematical
and Physical Sciences (MPS), Geosciences (GEO), Biological Sciences
(BIO), Education and Human Resources (EHR), and the Office of Integrated
Activities (OIA) - seeks to stimulate fundamental exploratory,
potentially transformative research that strengthens America's
infrastructure. Effective infrastructure, whether it be physical, cyber,
or social, provides a strong foundation for socioeconomic vitality and
broad quality of life improvement. Strong, reliable, and effective
infrastructure spurs private-sector innovation, grows the economy,
creates jobs, makes public-sector service provision more efficient,
strengthens communities, promotes equal opportunity, protects the
natural environment, enhances national security, and fuels American
leadership. To achieve these goals requires expertise from across the
science and engineering disciplines. In particular, knowledge of human
reasoning and decision making, governance, and social and cultural
processes are essential to efforts to envision, build, and maintain an
effective infrastructure that improves lives and society and builds on
advances in technology and engineering."</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">"With this DCL, the NSF seeks to build research capacity that can
address these and many other challenging infrastructure contexts that
require a human- and-social-centered approach. NSF anticipates
nurturing and growing a research community in SAI over the longer term.
This DCL constitutes the first step in that direction. We invite
conference and EAGER proposals that will bring together experts across
disciplines to support substantial and potentially pathbreaking,
untested fundamental research grounded in user-centered concepts and
offering the potential to substantially improve or transform the design,
use, development, cost-effectiveness, or maintenance of U.S.
infrastructure. These proposals should include a central focus on at
least one SBE program area with the lead PI being an expert in social,
behavioral, or economic science. Proposals must also demonstrate an
interdisciplinary approach beyond that of any single Program or NSF
Directorate.<p class=""><strong class="">NSF is particularly interested in proposals that integrate a
deep understanding of human cognition, perception, information
processing, decision making, social and cultural behavior, legal
frameworks, governmental structures, and related areas into the design,
development, and sustainability of infrastructure.</strong> Infrastructure may be of any kind, including cyber, economic, educational, physical, and social."</p><div class="">
<div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lato; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class=""></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lato; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;">_____</div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lato; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><br class=""></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lato; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Andrew L. Russell, Ph.D.<br class="">+ Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, SUNY Polytechnic Institute<br class="">+ Co-Director, <a href="https://themaintainers.org/" class="">The Maintainers</a></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Lato; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;">+ Co-Author, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576816/the-innovation-delusion-by-lee-vinsel-and-andrew-l-russell/" class="">The Innovation Delusion: How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most</a></div>
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