AGENCY: National Science Foundation (NSF)/Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR)/Division of Undergraduate Education

PROGRAM: Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service (SFS)

OBJECTIVES: This program provides funding to increase the number of qualified students entering the fields of information assurance and computer security and to increase the capacity of the United States higher education enterprise to continue to produce professionals in these fields to meet the needs of our increasingly technological society.

The SFS program consists of two tracks:

(1) Scholarship Track – Scholarship Track awards provide funding for two-year full scholarships plus stipends for students to pursue academic programs in information assurance for the final two years of undergraduate study, or for two years of master's-level study, or for the final two years of Ph.D.-level study. Students receive both scholarship and stipend support. Upon graduation, the recipients of the scholarships will become part of the Federal Cyber Service of information technology specialists whose responsibility is to ensure the protection of the United States Government's information infrastructure. After their two-year scholarships, the recipients will be required to work for two years in the Federal Government.

(2) Capacity Building Track – The intent of the Capacity Building Track is to increase the production of high quality information assurance and computer security professionals by providing support for efforts within the higher education system. These efforts may take many forms, but must be designed to: (a) increase national capability for the high-quality education of information technology professionals in critical information infrastructure protection disciplines; or (b) strengthen partnerships between institutions of higher education, government, and relevant employment sectors leading to improved educational opportunities in information assurance studies. Faculty development projects are of particular interest in this competition.

ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS: An organization may submit no more than one Scholarship Track and one Capacity Building Track proposal for this competition.

To be eligible for consideration for an SFS scholarship, a student must be a United States citizen and a full-time student within two years of graduation in a coherent formal program that is focused on computer security or information assurance at an awardee institution.

DEADLINES:
Internal BU deadline: December 16, 2009
Agency deadline: February 2, 2010  

FUNDING INFORMATION: NSF anticipates providing $11.33 million in FY2009 to support 6-8 Scholarship Track awards and 7-9 Capacity Building Track Awards.

Scholarship Track awards provide academic year stipends of $8,000 per year for undergraduate students and $12,000 per year for graduate students. Scholarship Track proposals may request up to 15 percent of the total budget as partial reimbursement of indirect costs to address the management and administrative costs directly associated with operating the SFS scholarship program and may request up to 5 percent as partial reimbursement of direct or indirect costs of the total budget to address curriculum, laboratory, and faculty development in support of the SFS program. The total award size will depend upon the tuition and room and board costs and on the cost of management and development.

Capacity Building Track awards will provide up to $150,000 per year for up to two years. Full indirect costs may be charged in Capacity Building Track proposals.

AGENCY CONTACT:
Victor P. Piotrowski, Lead Program Director
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Blvd., Rm 835N
Arlington, VA 22230
Telephone: (703) 292-8670
Email: vpiotrow@nsf.gov
Web:http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10505/nsf10505.htm

INTERNAL REVIEW PROCESS: An institution may submit one proposal for the Scholarship Track and one proposal for the Capacity Building track under this program. To screen potential proposals for this competition, an internal deadline has been established. Principal Investigators (PIs) interested in submitting an application should provide the following proposal information to their Associate Dean by Wednesday, December 16, 2009 for internal review purposes:

1.  Project description (maximum length 4 pages) should include items a – d:

(a) describe the objectives of the proposed program;
(b) outline plans for the recruitment, mentoring and support of students;
(c) provide a management plan;
(d) address the intellectual merit and broader impacts of the proposed activity (the NSF
    Merit Review criteria).

2. Budget and budget justification (two pages).

3. Biographical sketches: include 2-page NSF format biographical sketch for PI and Co-PIs involved with the proposed program.

Following the Dean’s assessment of the internal application, it will be forwarded to Associate Provost Joan Kirkendall for review and then to the Office of the VP for Research for final selection.  PIs will be informed if their proposal is selected for submission in time to complete and process their proposal for final review.

REMARKS: Applications must be submitted via FastLane, NSF's web-based system for proposal submission and review. For more information about FastLane, or to register as a FastLane user, please contact Kathleen Foster in the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) at x3-4365 or kfoster@bu.edu.