Nanoscale Interactions | PD 23 1179

Opportunity Information: Apply for PD 23 1179

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Nanoscale Interactions program (Funding Opportunity Number PD 23 1179) is a grant opportunity within the Environmental Engineering and Sustainability cluster in the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) area. Alongside the Environmental Engineering and Environmental Sustainability programs, it supports research that builds a fundamental, quantitative understanding of how nanomaterials and nanosystems behave when they come into contact with biological and environmental media. The program is focused on the underlying science and engineering principles that govern nanoscale behavior, especially where that behavior differs from bulk materials in ways that matter for environmental fate, biological interactions, and sustainable engineering design.

The program is interested in a wide range of nanomaterial types and architectures, including one- to three-dimensional nanostructures, quantum dots, dendritic and micelle structures, heterogeneous nanoparticles, and complex nano-bio hybrid assemblies. A central theme is that nanoscale materials often exhibit unusual or amplified properties (chemical, electronic, photonic, mechanical, and biological) compared to the same material at larger scales, and these differences can strongly influence transport, transformation, toxicity, performance, and lifecycle impacts. Because these problems typically cut across chemistry, materials science, biology, environmental science, and engineering, collaborative and interdisciplinary proposals are explicitly encouraged.

NSF highlights several core research directions. One major area is characterizing nanoscale interactions at interfaces, including how simple nanoparticles and more complex or heterogeneous composites interact with surrounding biological or environmental media (for example, proteins, cells, natural organic matter, minerals, or aqueous matrices). Another area is the development of predictive tools grounded in fundamental nanostructure behavior, with the intent of enabling cost-effective and environmentally benign processing and engineering decisions across full material life cycles, not just at the point of use. The program also supports work on transport, interaction, and impacts of nanostructured materials in biological systems and in the environment, which can include understanding how particles move through water, soil, air, or organisms, and what transformations they undergo along the way.

A further emphasis is on simulations and theory that explain nanoparticle behavior at interfaces and in different media, ideally coupled with experimental comparisons. This includes new modeling approaches for predicting transport and transformation pathways, such as aggregation, dissolution, surface modification, redox reactions, adsorption of biomolecules, or other interfacial processes that determine real-world behavior. In addition, the program calls out investigations of quantum vibronic and spin phenomena that correlate with nanoscale phenomena. It is specifically open to exploratory projects that link quantum-scale effects (such as electron spin and vibrational dynamics) to macroscopic changes and even physiological or metabolic processes, with an expectation of producing quantitative evidence that clarifies when and how these quantum effects are driving observable outcomes.

The practical motivation behind this fundamental research is to enable better design and control of nanostructured materials and heterogeneous nanosystems so they can be handled, manufactured, and used more sustainably. In other words, the program is not only interested in observing nanoscale interactions, but in building the kind of mechanistic, quantitative understanding that supports predictive design of materials with targeted properties and minimized environmental or biological risk across their lifecycle.

NSF also provides guidance on program fit. Projects that are primarily about atomic- and molecular-scale interfacial phenomena and the engineering of interfaces for industrial chemical or biochemical processing may be better aligned with the Interfacial Engineering program (CBET 1417). Because proposals that do not fit can be returned without review, investigators are encouraged to contact the program director before submission, especially if the topic sits near the boundary of these programs or falls outside the listed areas (even though innovative topics beyond the enumerated interests may still be considered).

Like most CBET programs, proposals are expected to clearly explain what is novel or potentially transformative compared with existing work, why the research matters for engineering science, and what societal and/or industrial impacts could result if the work succeeds. NSF expects that the novelty or transformative angle is stated at minimum in the Project Summary, not buried only in the technical narrative.

In terms of logistics, proposals are accepted at any time (no single annual deadline for standard submissions). Awards for unsolicited proposals are typically up to three years. Typical single-investigator budgets often support roughly one graduate student (or equivalent) plus up to one month of PI salary support per year, while multi-investigator projects are commonly larger. If a budget is substantially above what is typical, NSF recommends discussing it with the program director ahead of time. The opportunity also encourages CAREER proposals (with a standard five-year duration and the Engineering CAREER deadline usually in July), and it may support other NSF proposal mechanisms such as RAPID and EAGER (both of which require prior discussion with the program director), as well as GOALI proposals that connect fundamental research with translational outcomes and industry collaboration (submittable any time). Finally, compliance with the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) is mandatory, and noncompliant submissions will be returned without review.

Key source details include: Agency is the National Science Foundation; instrument is a grant; activity category is science and technology and other research and development; CFDA number is 47.041; eligibility is broadly unrestricted subject to any specific clarifications in the solicitation; the posted award ceiling is not specified; and NSF anticipates making a substantial number of awards (listed as 100).

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Nanoscale Interactions" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 05, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Proposals accepted anytime. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 100 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for PD 23 1179

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