The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is soliciting proposals for multiyear financial assistance awards to support research and development at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR). The awards of up to $3 million per year for up to 5 years are intended to assist visiting researchers at the NCNR, support the development of new instrumentation for neutron research, support collaborative research with NIST scientists, and to conduct other outreach and educational activities that advance the use of neutrons by U.S. academic and industrial scientists.

One of the leading neutron research centers in the world, the NCNR is a national user facility serving scientists and engineers from industry, universities and government agencies. The facility supports a wide range of neutron-based research tools, from activation analysis used for detecting trace levels of chemicals in the environment to low-energy "cold" neutron scattering used to study the structures of advanced materials from proteins to superconductors.

NIST expects to have up to $3 million available this fiscal year for first-year funding for the NCNR Comprehensive Grant Program. Funding for additional years of multiyear projects is contingent on project performance and the availability of funds. NIST anticipates funding from one to three awards this year.

Proposals will be evaluated on the qualifications and experience of the principal investigator and staff; the quality of the proposed research and development plan and its potential impact on neutron scattering science, particularly in the areas of macromolecular science, condensed matter physics and chemistry; the quality of the plan with respect to providing research assistance to U.S. neutron researchers using the NCNR facilities; and the quality of the plan with respect to integrating the proposer's staff effectively into the activities of the NCNR facility.

All proposals to the NCNR Comprehensive Grant Program must be received by NIST no later than 3 p.m. Eastern Time, on Thursday, March 15, 2012.

Proposals may be submitted either online at Grants.gov (www.grants.gov) or on paper. To submit through Grants.gov, search by either Funding Opportunity Number 2012-NIST-NCNR-01 or under Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.609 (Measurement and Engineering Research and Standards). For further information or questions regarding online proposal submissions, contact Christopher Hunton by phone at (301) 975-5718 or by e-mail at christopher.hunton@nist.gov.

To submit on paper, request an application package from Tanya Burke, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NCNR Comprehensive Grant Program, 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 6100, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-6100, or phone (301) 975-4711.

For important details of the NCNR Comprehensive Grant Program, including eligibility, required documentation, the proposal process and other matters, please consult NIST’s Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) for the NCNR Comprehensive Grant Program, available at Grants.gov or www.ncnr.nist.gov/news/2012_NCNR_FFO-FINAL.pdf.

For more information on the NIST Center for Neutron Research, go to www.nist.gov/ncnr/.