NSF Briefing on Sustainability Programs

Krishna KantProgram Director

National Science Foundation (NSF)CISE/CNS/CSRkkant@nsf.gov

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 kkant@nsf.gov (CNS)John Cozzens jcozzens@nsf.gov (CCF)

Doug Fisher dhfisher@nsf.gov (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 das@nsf.gov (CCF)– Krishna Kant kkant@nsf.gov (CNS)– Frank Olken folken@nsf.gov (IIS)– Manish Parashar mparashar@nsf.gov (OCI)