NSF Regional Innovation Engines Broad Agency Announcement 2023

To:	Chairs, Directors and Administrators; Departments and Centers in the Physical, Biological and Social Sciences; Associate Deans for Research; College/School Research Administrators
From:	Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Education
Date:	May 11, 2022
Subject:	NSF Regional Innovation Engines Broad Agency Announcement 2023

Deadline

Deadline for Notice of Intent:

June 27, 2022

Project Description

The NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program is a bold new initiative, committed to creating regional-scale, technology-driven innovation ecosystems throughout every region of the United States, accelerating emerging technologies, driving economic growth, addressing key societal challenges, and maintaining national competitiveness.

The NSF Engines program aims to fund regional coalitions of partnering organizations to establish NSF Engines that will catalyze technology and science-based regional innovation ecosystems. Each Engine must focus on addressing specific aspects of a major societal and/or economic challenge that are of significant interest in the Engine’s defined “region of service,” where such a region could range from a metropolitan area (including its adjacent rural regions) to an area spanning parts of several states. The mission of an Engine must be clearly rooted in regional interests and the development of regional talent. The emphasis on “regions” expresses NSF’s aim to stimulate innovation-driven economic growth within a particular region of service. The NSF Engines program is particularly interested in creating new business and economic growth in those regions of America that have not fully participated in the technology boom of the past several decades.

NSF will fund Engines to carry out an integrated and comprehensive set of activities spanning use-inspired research, translation-to-practice, entrepreneurship, and workforce development to nurture and accelerate regional industries. Engines must also work to bring together an inclusive and diverse network of partners and stakeholders who will participate in the regional innovation ecosystem. With the goal of advancing emerging industries and creating societal and economic value, NSF Engines will emphasize research that meaningfully engages the consumers of research outcomes in motivating that research as well as in the subsequent prototyping and piloting of research-based solutions (i.e., co-design and co-creation), the translation of research results to practice, entrepreneurship, and direct economic growth.

Amount per Award:    $1m for Type 1, up to $160m for Type 2
Duration of Award:     2 Years for Type 1, up to 10 years for Type 2
Number of Awards:    Up to 50 Type 1,  up to 5 Type 2

Eligibility

There is no limit to the number of Concept Outlines UW-Madison may submit; however, NSF may approve multiple Concept Outlines to advance to the Letter of Intent and full application stage. UW-Madison is limited to one Letter of Intent followed by one full application. In order to manage a potential internal competition at the Letter of Intent stage or full application stage, investigators are required to submit a notice of intent to submit to OVCRGE at the Concept Outline stage.

NSF Regional Innovation Engines BAA

Website

The following link contains additional information on the program and specific application instructions:
https://sam.gov/opp/67236a938b4f49c5a582e6c57921e3bc/view

Internal Competition Application Instructions

Sponsor Deadlines

Applications are due to National Science Foundation by June 30, 2022.

Questions?

Contact grants@research.wisc.edu.