NSF Briefing on Sustainability Programs
Krishna KantProgram Director
National Science Foundation (NSF)CISE/CNS/[email protected]
Presentation atINFOCOM 2010
Monday, March 17, 2010
NSB-NSF 2009 Study on Sustainability
• Finding 1: … A comprehensive coordinated Federal strategy is required …
• Finding 2: … Private and Federal support … of R&D is inadequate.
• Finding 3: … The U.S. energy economy … does not adequately value the environment ...
• Finding 4: Human capital development in the sustainable energy sector is vital.
• Finding 5: … Limited international engagement and collaboration inhibits progress …
• Finding 6: … Strong public consensus and support … are needed to achieve a national transformation …
• … & corresponding recommendations
NSF Environment Advisory Committee Report
• Increase support of interdisciplinary environmental research and coupled human and natural systems.
• Lead in developing sensor networks that monitor environmental variables & human activities with environmental consequences.
• Redouble efforts promoting environmental education & public engagement.
• Help policymakers utilize knowledge of environmental/socio-economic systems, complexities & tipping points.
• Encourage a greater role for "citizen scientists.”
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1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
NSF Funding for Sustainability
Year of submission
Total NSF
“Climate Change over the Polar Ocean”,
McGill University, $37,000Award #670A765
2009 is incomplete
Douglas H. Fisher (NSF)
caveats abound; the form of the
function more important than the precise values
Search done by exact match from public NSF Awards DB (DHF, 1/13/10)
Computing and Environment• Growing ecological footprint of IT
– Power/energy consumption & challenges (Moore’s law, cost).– Electronic junk, toxic chemicals, water usage, …
• Direct reduction– Low power design, intelligent energy management, …– Science of power management (energy complexity)– Enhancing life-times, modular design, improved manufacturing,
…
• IT as a helper in reducing footprint– Reduce energy use via smarter control– Remote access (telework, tele-surgery, …)– Instrumentation, monitoring & modeling (climate, species, …)
• Drive policy & actions
Cyber-enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI) – total of $50.0M
Science and Engineering Beyond Moore’s Law (SEBML) 15.0 million).
FY10: Climate Research Initiative (CRI) ($10.0M)
http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2011/index.jsp
CISE Funding for Environment
Computational SustainabilityLead PI: Carla Gomes, Cornell University
Vision: Computer scientists can — and should —play a key role in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the way we manage and allocate our natural resources, while enriching and transforming Computer Science.
Data & Machine
Learning
Balancing Environmental &
Socioeconomic Needs
Conservation and B
iodiversity
Dynamical Models
Constraint Reasoning
& Optimization
Resource Economics,Environmental
Sciences & Engr.
Transformative Synthesis
Ren
ewab
le
Ener
gy
Goal for SustainabilityTo inject computational thinking into Sustainability,
• establishing computational
sustainability as a new field
• bringing new insights to sustainability challenges
• preparing a new generation to grapple with long-term sustainability
Expeditions in
Computing(CISE)
Climate Research Initiative• Starting in FY10• Expected to continue & strengthened• Umbrella program w/ 5 solicitations
– Earth System modeling (EaSM)– Dimensions of Biodiversity– Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC)– Ocean Acidification– Climate Change Education, Phase I
• Direct CISE participation in EaSM, but CISE researchers should consider others as well.
Earth System Modeling• Goals
– Comprehensive, reliable global and regional predictions at decadal scale.
– Quantify impacts of climate change on ecological, agricultural & human systems, and vice-versa.
– Effective up & down-scaling of available observational/model data.
– Translate model results/uncertainties into adaptation actions.
• Solicitation– $45-$50M, LoI: May 24, 2010, Deadline: June 25, 2010– http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10554/nsf10554.htm
• Proposal types– Type 1: Up to $300K/yr for community and capability building.– Type 2: Larger. Intended for Pis already involved in climate research.
CISE Relevant Areas in EaSM• Innovative ways of dealing with complexity and
uncertainty– Instrumentation & networking for data collection.– Uncertainties in understanding, representation and calibration of
various processes– Effective management of massive amounts of data, including
file/storage systems.– Exascale computing architecture, algorithms, middleware, etc.
• Integration of numerous processes operating at different temporal & spatial granularities– Multi-level modeling, abstraction methods, symbolic modeling,
…– Uneven fidelity, granularity and availability of initialization and
validation data over time & space. – Provenance tracking, robustness and repeatability of results
Dimensions of Biodiversity• Topic Areas
– Integrated roles of genetic, taxonomic & functional biodiversity in community/ecosystem resilience, sustainability, or productivity;
– Taxonomic and functional diversity influence ecological response to anthropogenic disturbances, including rapid climate change;
• CISE Relevant Areas– Computational methods or technology (e.g., informatics,
instrumentation, imaging, analysis) specific to integrative biodiversity studies.
• Solicitation– $20M in FY2010, LoI: May 7, Full prop: June 8, 2010– http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10548/nsf10548.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_179
Water Sustainability and Climate• Goals:
– Potential changes in water budgets in response to climate change, and human activity, and its impact.
– Theoretical frameworks/models incorporating linkages/feedbacks among various processes that allow adaptive management of water resources.
– Determining how built water systems can be made reliable, resilient and sustainable.
• CISE Relevant Areas:– Advances in modeling to handle complexity & uncertainty– Tools and infrastructure for informed decisions on adaptation
and mitigation
• Solicitation: $16M in FY2010, Proposals due April 15.– http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503452&org=GEO&from=home
Ocean Acidification• Goals
– Understand chemistry and physical chemistry of ocean acidification.
– Understand how processes at the organismal level impact the structure and function of ecosystems, e.g. through life histories, food webs, biogeochemical cycling, and other interactions;
– Understand how earth system history impacts effects of ocean acidification on present day ocean.
• CISE Relevant areas– Instrumentation & possibly underwater communication– Data collection, fusion and processing.
• Solicitation: – $15M in FY2010, LoI March 29, Full proposal: April 26– http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503477&org=GEO&from=home
Climate Change Education• Goals
– Preparing a new generation of climate scientists, engineers, and technicians to provide innovative and creative approaches to understanding global climate change and to mitigate its impact;
– Preparing today's U.S. citizens to understand global climate change and its implications in ways that can lead to informed, evidence-based responses and solutions.
• Focus– Best theoretical approaches for teaching such a complex topic, and
practical means to reach intended learner audience(s). – Should be organized around either geographic regions w/ similar climate
change impacts, or major themes (e.g., sea-level rise). • Solicitation
– http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10542/nsf10542.htm– Total $20M in FY10&11m LoI due April 23, Full proposals: May 24
Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES)
• Understanding & predicting change in natural, social, and built environment through:– Short/long term observations and observational networks; – Advanced computation, data analysis, modeling, simulation and
intelligent decision-making; – Research at the climate-energy-society nexus; – Innovative strategies for energy production, distribution & use; – Societal factors (e.g., vulnerability, resilience, adaptation, etc.)
• Emphasis Areas– Smart adaptation and mitigation, – Earth-friendly and energy-efficient technologies, – Workforce development for economic, energy & environmental
sustainability.
FY 2011 NSF Budget Request ($M)
Directorate/Office FY2010 FY2011
Biological Sciences 121 126
CISE 17 29.4
Engineering 108 120
Geosciences 196 231
Math & Physical sciences 87 111
Social, beh. & Economic Sciences 20.8 28
OCI 5.5 5.0
OISE 2.5 8.2
OPP 65.3 69.3
OIA 26.5 26.5
EHR 11.5 12
Total 661 766
http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2011/index.jsp
Request to congress: not approved budget
Conclusions• Significant upcoming funding opportunities
related to Climate Change, Energy and other Sustainability issues.
• CISE researchers have a significant role to play.
• Start building inter-disciplinary alliances to contribute to this exciting and crucial area of research
For more info, please contact:
Krishna Kant [email protected] (CNS)John Cozzens [email protected] (CCF)
Doug Fisher [email protected] (IIS)
Computing in the Clouds (CiC)• FY10 program using Microsoft Azure
cluster• Will accept:
– Supplements & EAGERs – due June 15– New submissions: LoI: April 15, Proposals:
June 15• Contact points:
– Chita Das [email protected] (CCF)– Krishna Kant [email protected] (CNS)– Frank Olken [email protected] (IIS)– Manish Parashar [email protected] (OCI)
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