Small Grant Programs

The purpose of this notice is to inform potential applicants that the following programs of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are offering financial assistance as follows: (1) The Precision Measurement Grants Program; (2) the 2001 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) in the areas of Atomic, Molecular and Optical (AMO) and Radiation Physics, in Materials Science and Engineering, in Manufacturing Engineering, in Information Technology, in Building and Fire Research, and in Electronics and Electrical Engineering; (3) the Materials Science and Engineering Grants Program; (4) the Fire Research Grants Program; (5) the Physics Laboratory Grants Program; (6) the Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory Grants Program; (7) the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory (MEL) Grants Program, and (8) the Electronics and Electrical Engineering (EEEL) Grants Program. In order to make any awards this fiscal year, it is necessary to begin the application process now. The issuance of awards is subject to the availability of FY 2001 funds. Further notice will be made in the Federal Register about the final status of funding for these programs at the appropriate time. NIST shall not be liable for any proposal preparation costs. The Precision Measurement Grants Program is seeking proposals for significant, primarily experimental, research in the field of fundamental measurement or the determination of fundamental constants. The programs "SURFing the Physics Laboratory," "SURFing the Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory," "SURFing the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory," "SURFing the Information Technology Laboratory," "SURFing the Building and Fire Research Laboratory," and "SURFing the Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory" will provide an opportunity for the NIST Physics Laboratory (PL), Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory (MSEL), Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory (MEL), Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), Building and Fire Research Laboratory (BFRL), and Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory (EEEL), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to join in a partnership to encourage outstanding undergraduate students to pursue careers in science and engineering. The PL program will involve students in world-class atomic, molecular, optical (AMO) and radiation physics research with internationally known physicists in the NIST Physics Laboratory. The MSEL program will provide research opportunities with internationally known NIST scientists in the fields of ceramics, solid state chemistry, metallurgy, polymers, neutron condensed matter science, and materials reliability. The MEL program will provide research opportunities with internationally known NIST scientists in the fields of intelligent systems, manufacturing metrology, precision engineering, and manufacturing systems integration. The ITL program will provide research opportunities with internationally known NIST scientists in the field of networking, software quality, security, information access, convergent systems, mathematical science, and statistics. The BFRL program will provide research opportunities with internationally known NIST scientists in the fields of building materials (concrete, coating), structure (earthquake), building environment (indoor air quality, thermal machinery), and fire science and engineering. The EEEL program will provide research opportunities with internationally known NIST scientists in the fields of semiconductors (including mainstream silicon, power devices, and compound semiconductors), fundamental electrical measurements, electronic instrumentation, electrical systems, and electronic information. The NIST Program Directors will work with physics, materials science, manufacturing engineering, intelligent systems, automated production, precision engineering, information technology, building materials, constructed structures, and other science-related department chairs and directors of multi- disciplinary academic organizations to identify outstanding undergraduates (including graduating seniors) who would benefit from off-campus summer research in an honors academy environment. The Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory (MSEL) Grants Program is continuing its program for grants and cooperative agreements in the following fields of research: Ceramics, Metallurgy, Polymer Sciences, Neutron Scattering Research and Spectroscopy. The Fire Research Grants Program is limited to innovative ideas in the fire research area generated by the proposal writer, who chooses the topic and approach, consistent with the program description and objectives of this notice. The Physics Laboratory (PL) Grants Program will provide grants and cooperative agreements in the following fields of research: Electron and Optical Physics, Atomic Physics, Optical Technology, Ionizing Radiation, and Time and Frequency. The Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory (CSTL) Grants Program will provide grants and cooperative agreements in the following fields of research: Biotechnology, Process Measurements, Surface and Microanalysis Science, Physical and Chemical Properties, and Analytical Chemistry. The Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory (MEL) Grants Program is initiating a program for grants and cooperative agreements in the following fields of research: Dimensional Metrology for Manufacturing, Mechanical Metrology for Manufacturing, Intelligent Systems, and Information Systems Integration for Application in Manufacturing. The Electronics and Electrical Engineering (EEEL) Grants Program provides grants and cooperative agreements for the development of fundamental electrical metrology and of metrology supporting industry and government agencies in the broad areas of semiconductors, electronic instrumentation, radio-frequency technology, optoelectronics, magnetics, video, electronic commerce as applied to electronic products and devices, the transmission and distribution of electrical power, national electrical standards (fundamental, generally quantum-based physical standards), and law enforcement standards.