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Below is a summary assembled by the Research & Innovation Office (RIO). Please see the full solicitation for complete information about the funding opportunity.

Program Summary

Materials Innovation Platforms (MIP) is a mid-scale infrastructure program in the Division of Materials Research (DMR) designed to accelerate advances in materials research. MIPs respond to the increasing complexity of materials research that requires close collaboration of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary teams and access to cutting edge tools. These tools in a user facility benefit both a user program and in-house research, which focus on addressing grand challenges of fundamental science and meet national needs. MIPs embrace the paradigm set forth by the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), which strives to "discover, manufacture, and deploy advanced materials twice as fast, at a fraction of the cost," and conduct research through iterative "closed-loop" efforts among the areas of materials synthesis/processing, materials characterization, and theory/modeling/simulation. In addition, they are expected to engage the emerging field of data science in materials research. Each MIP is a scientific ecosystem, which includes in-house research scientists, external users and other scientists who, collectively, form a community of practitioners and share tools, codes, samples, data and know-how. The knowledge sharing is designed to strengthen collaborations among scientists and enable them to work in new ways, fostering new modalities of research and training, for the purpose of accelerating discovery and development of new materials and novel materials phenomena/properties, as well as fostering their eventual deployment.

The scientific focus of the MIP program is subject to change from competition to competition. Information about the existing MIPs, from two previous competitions in 2015 and 2019, can be found at . The third MIP competition, in 2025, will accept proposals on alloys, amorphous, and composite materials. Given that the second MIP competition included an emphasis on biomaterials and polymer research, proposals mainly on these topics will not be considered in the third MIP competition.

See the solicitation for complete details.

Deadlines

• CU InternalÌýDeadline: 11:59pm MST March 3, 2025
• Sponsor Deadline: 5:00pm MST May 15, 2025

Internal Application Requirements (all in PDF format)

• Project Summary (3 pages maximum): Please include details on the following: 1) Senior/Key Participant List; 2) Results from Prior NSF Support; 3) Vision, Goals, and Rationale; 4) Knowledge Sharing; 5) In-House Research: Scope and targeted outcomes of in-house research activities; 6) Tools required and existing infrastructure; 7) User Facility Operation; 8) Broader Impacts: 9) Training; 10) Broadening Participation plan; 11) Collaboration with Industry, National Laboratories, and Others; and 12) Management Plan.
• Curriculum Vitae of the 3 Lead PIs
• Budget Overview (1 page maximum): A basic budget outlining project costs is sufficient; detailed OCG budgets are not required.

To access the online application, visit:

Eligibility

Each proposed project must be directed by a team of at least three Senior/Key Personnel with complementary expertise on materials synthesis/processing, characterization, theory/modeling/simulation, etc.

Limited Submission Guidelines

One submission is allowed per organization as lead institution.

Award Information and Duration

The proposed budget should be between $18,000,000 to $30,000,000 over a six-year period, must be commensurate with the project's scope, and thoroughly justified in the proposal.

Review Criteria

In addition to the standard NSF Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts Criteria, reviewers will be asked to consider the following:

• Vision/Motivation: How well is the proposal motivated by addressing a grand challenge or challenges of fundamental science aligned with national priorities? To what extent will the vision, if realized, have a transformative impact?
• Knowledge Sharing: To what extent will the proposed MIP substantially accelerate materials discovery and development beyond current approaches, through sharing of knowledge (tools, codes, samples, data and know-how)? How effective will the knowledge sharing mechanisms likely be? Does the MIP have a sound plan to take advantage of opportunities that the emerging data science provides?
• In-House Research: How well is the proposed in-house research focused and targeted to addressing a critical scientific challenge? How well does the proposed research use a tightly closed collaborative loop process with accelerated, iterative feedback among materials synthesis/processing, materials characterization, and theory/modeling/simulation?
• Infrastructure: To what extent does the proposed MIP meet a critical infrastructure need for the materials community? What is the degree of uniqueness of the proposed key instruments for materials synthesis/processing and materials characterization in the national context? Do the proposed instruments enable new ways of synthesis/processing of complex materials? Are the plans and timelines for equipment acquisition, development, and commissioning well thought out? For tool development, does the proposal have a comprehensive and realistic analysis of risks and a sound mechanism to address the risks?
• User Facility Operation: How well-conceived are the plans for the user facility operation (e.g., access modes, user proposal review and selection process, staffing, instrument time/resource allocation, user training, and safety)?
• Training: To what extent will the proposed platform serve as an educational focal point for training the next generation of instrument developers and users?
• Broadening Participation: To what extent is the plan strategic and likely to meet the stated goals for participation by a diverse group of users and from a broad range of academic institutions in the United States?
• Knowledge Transfer: To what extent does the proposal include industrial involvement through, for example, sharing instruments, samples and expertise, for commercialization of new instruments; preparation of future innovation and entrepreneurship leaders; and deployment of novel materials?
• (Evaluate during the reverse site visit) Management: Are the proposed roles of key leadership positions and major committees? Are the proposed MIP operation procedures appropriate?

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