The pursuit of scientific goals recognizes no geographic boundaries and as such, international collaborations are today more the norm than the exception. To facilitate the support of collaborative work between US groups and their German counterparts, NSF’s Civil Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation Division (CMMI) and DFG’s Division of Engineering (ING) have recently agreed on a lead-agency activity in Advanced Manufacturing. US researchers are invited to read the Dear Colleague Letter NSF 20-088.
US-German collaborations are invited to submit joint proposals in the areas described in NSF’s Advanced Manufacturing programme and DFG’s review board 401 Production Technology. As the projects must be fully integrated US-German research projects, it is expected that the joint proposals contain detailed information about the mode and essentiality of collaboration between the US and the German side. These proposals will be reviewed in a review panel according to the NSF review guidelines in competition with other proposals received in the same NSF programme. A member of DFG’s review boards will be involved in the review process. It is important to note that there are no separate funds available for these efforts on each side; proposals must compete with all other proposals in this area. The result of the review process will be shared between the agencies to make final decisions on this basis. Support will be granted for those proposals with both DFG and NSF recommendation for funding. If in doubt, researchers are strongly encouraged to contact the corresponding programme officers.
The joint proposal must first be submitted NSF’s Advanced Manufacturing programme via Fastlane. After receiving the proposal number issued by the NSF, the joint proposal has to be submitted to the DFG via elan. Proposals are accepted anytime. No specific deadlines apply.
