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Call for White Papers/Proposals
for
Institute of Soldier Nanotechnologies HBCU-MI Research
Efforts
The Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, an Army funded
interdisciplinary center at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, announces a solicitation for white papers from
research faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
and Minority Institutions (HBCU-MI’s). White
papers should describe basic research projects that explore
new nanotechnologies that protect the soldier and that are
synergistic with the ISN mission and current research efforts. The
principle investigator must be a faculty member at a federally
recognized HBCU-MI, and the work proposed should support
and augment the ISN mission to dramatically advance Soldier
survivability through fundamental research on materials,
devices and systems (http://web.mit.edu/isn). Projects
that are collaborative with ISN faculty are encouraged but
are not a requirement.
Funding for students and postdoctoral research associates will be emphasized
as a part of this basic research program, which will provide opportunities for
training young researchers in the field of nanotechnology. The program
can also provide a unique opportunity for exchange between researchers at HBCU-MI’s
and MIT researchers, and may also provide opportunity for the PI’s to access
unique facilities provided at the ISN for synthesis, processing, modeling or
characterization of nanomaterials and devices.
Funding and Scope
The average award funding level is anticipated to be in the
range of $80K to $100K per one year period for up to a
two year funding cycle, although highly meritorious proposals
with larger budget requests may also be considered.
New ideas and concepts are encouraged for the program, and
may include collaborative interactions with MIT faculty or
ISN research staff, although funding from this award will
not be allocated to MIT faculty. Proposed research
should not be a simple extension of currently funded efforts
at the PI’s home institution. All funding
will be based at the HBCU-MI but may include funds for travel
and experiments at MIT ISN.
Timetable and Submission Requirements
White papers for this Call must be submitted by 5:00 pm EST
on Friday November 30. Based on the evaluation of the
submitted white papers, a select number of submissions
will result in invitations to submit full proposals in
December, 2007. Full proposals will be
due in February 2008 (date to be determined), and final
decisions about funding of proposals will be made by March,
2008. It is anticipated that awards would be in place by
June 1, 2008.
White papers should be no more than four pages, including
graphics and references. A one page CV should
be provided for the PI and other key investigators along
with the white paper, as well as a cover letter that gives
a short summary of the effort, and a one page budget summary.
Submissions should be in the form of a single pdf file containing
1) the cover letter 2) white paper content, 3) single page
CV’s, and 4) the one page budget summary. The
white paper pdf file should be sent by e-mail attachment
to Marco Carega, Headquarters Operations, Institute of Soldier
Nanotechnologies using email address marcoc@mit.edu. Details
on the writing guidelines for the full proposal will be provided
to PI’s at the time of invitation to submit a proposal.
Criteria
Projects will be funded based on intellectual merits of the
proposed work, the potential benefits to the Soldier
and the mission relevance to the overall ISN theme, as
described below. Collaborative endeavors
at ISN, including meaningful use of ISN facilities and/or
synergistic research interactions with the ISN or its Army
partners may also be considered, as well as the potential
for the project to lead to new interactions between ISN
and the PI’s home institution.
ISN Mission
The ISN mission is to dramatically advance Soldier survivability
through basic research and transitioning (technology maturation). Today’s
Soldier may carry from 60 to over 140 pounds of clothing
and related kit and equipment, while facing a broad array
of lethal military threats such as bullets, blast waves and
shrapnel from IEDs (improvised explosive devices), chemical
and biological weapons, and other hazardous materials. Moreover,
our Soldiers must function in climates, terrain and operating
environments that present significant risk of personal injury
or medical problems.
Team ISN’s challenge is to innovate, discover and transition
technologies that furnish the Soldier with durable, comfortable,
lightweight battle dress uniforms (BDUs) that incorporate
diverse survivability capabilities. Operationally, nanotechnology
can be defined as understanding and harnessing the size-dependence
of physical and chemical properties at “tiny” length
scales, i.e., below 1000 nm. This size-related behavior
opens up potentially paradigm-shifting opportunities to create
materials and devices with unique electrical, optical, magnetic,
thermal, and chemical properties for Soldier survivability.
Nano-scale materials and devices, either directly, or as
components of larger products (all the way up to several
meters in length) have the potential to incorporate multiple
capabilities in tiny, lightweight building blocks.
Building on its nanotechnology foundations, Team ISN research
also reaches into these larger dimensions that are essential
to making Soldier protection capabilities work at practical
scale. The ultimate ISN vision is to help the Army create
a multi-functional advanced, and responsive protective suit
for the Soldier, that combines light weight and comfort with
an array of built-in capabilities that defend the Soldier
from military threats and environmental hazards, provide
immediate medical treatment if the Soldier sustains an injury,
and equip the Soldier with advanced communications. Thus,
team ISN is part of the broader Army Science and Technology
community that is providing novel Soldier survivability technologies
for current missions and creating new generations of technologies
to protect the Soldier of the future. ISN innovations benefit
the Joint Team, i.e., the Soldier, other war fighters, and
first responders.
Contacts
Questions regarding this Call for Proposals can be directed
to:
Marco Carega
Assistant for Headquarters Operations
Institute of Soldier Nanotechnologies, MIT
marcoc@mit.edu
617-253-0777
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