Dear Colleagues,

It is with pleasure that I share with you the new U.S. National Science Foundation Division of Chemistry (NSF CHE) website, launched as part of the overall effort to revamp the entire NSF website. On the new website, you can quickly find information about upcoming NSF CHE events, research highlights and new funding opportunities. We hope the new site is easier to navigate and locate the information you are looking for. Let us know what you think. 

This month’s edition of the CHE-Comm includes reminders of upcoming funding deadlines for several cross-divisional and cross-directorate programs on RNA tools/biotechnology and the design, discovery, and development of materials, as well as a program supporting the research of pre-tenure faculty at institutions that traditionally do not receive significant NSF funding.

ChemMatCARS, an NSF-supported user facility, recently received a $17.35 million grant co-funded by CHE, the NSF Division of Material Research and the NSF Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems to continue providing state-of-the-art capabilities to the research community with access to a new beamline for crystallography and liquid interface scattering at Argonne National Laboratory. Check out the "News from our awardees" section for more information.

As the year ends, we wish you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday season.

Best, 

Lin He
Acting Division Director
NSF Division of Chemistry

💬Visit CHE at our new website

The webpage for CHE has recently been updated. You will be able to find a variety of information about CHE, including programs, upcoming events and staff. There are also pages about the centers, institutes and facilities that are supported. If you have any feedback about the webpage, please click on the feedback tab on the right side of your screen. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

📢 Announcements and funding opportunities

Molecular Foundations for Biotechnology (MFB): Partnerships to Transform Emerging Industries - RNA Tools/Biotechnology

This MFB solicitation calls for creative, cross-disciplinary research and technology development proposals to accelerate the understanding of RNA function in complex biological systems and to harness RNA research to advance biotechnology.

The funding opportunity will be coordinated by NSF and the National Institutes of Health National Human Genome Research Institute.

Proposal deadline: Dec. 16, 2024, by 5 p.m. submitting organization's local time.

Dear Colleague Letter: Request for Information on the CHIPS and Science Act Section 10343. Research Ethics

NSF seeks input on ways to incorporate ethical, social, safety and security considerations into the agency's merit review process and to develop strategies for mitigating the potential harms of scientific research and amplifying societal benefits from such research. To respond to this request for information, please use the official submission form.

Response deadline: 11:59 p.m. EST, Dec. 13, 2024.

Dear Colleague Letter: National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot seeks datasets to facilitate AI education and researcher skill development

The NAIRR pilot, led by NSF in collaboration with 12 other agencies, seeks datasets that will enable a broader set of researchers and educators, particularly newcomers to artificial intelligence, to join the AI research and education community. This DCL seeks to identify datasets that could be used by researchers and educators to facilitate the development of AI skills in the classroom, at a workshop or in other educational environments to further develop the nation's AI workforce. Please see DCL for more information.

Submission deadline: Feb. 7, 2025.

Launching Early-Career Academic Pathways in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (LEAPS-MPS)

LEAPS-MPS supports the research of pre-tenure faculty in mathematical and physical sciences, emphasizing those at institutions that traditionally do not receive significant NSF funding, such as minority-serving, predominantly undergraduate or high-research activity institutions.

Proposal deadline: Jan. 23, 2025, by 5 p.m. submitting organization's local time.

Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)

DMREF supports materials design and development by integrating experiments, computation and data-driven methods while fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and training the next generation of the materials research and development workforce.

Proposal submission window: Jan. 21, 2025, to Feb. 4, 2025. Due by 5 p.m. submitting organization's local time.

📅 Upcoming events

Fall 2024 NSF Virtual Grants Conference The NSF Grants Conference is designed to give new faculty, researchers, and administrators key insights into a wide range of current issues at NSF. NSF staff will provide up-to-date information about policies and procedures, specific funding opportunities, and answer attendee questions.  Attendees will:     Learn about new NSF programs and initiatives.   Understand how to write a successful proposal.     Learn about NSF’s merit review process and conflict of interest policies.   Participate in NSF directorate sessions.    Understand award management policies and procedures.   When: Dec. 9-13, 2024.

📰 News from our awardees

ChemMatCARS beamline scientists are ensuring the cleanliness of the liquid interface for user runs. The precise and flexible design of the liquid interface instrument offers world-leading capabilities for studying liquid interfaces with sub-nanometer resolution. Image credit: Binhua Lin, PME, The University of Chicago; Wei Bu, PME, The University of Chicago

$17.35M NSF grant will expand ChemMatCARS

For more than 20 years, ChemMatCARS — an NSF program located at Argonne National Laboratory — has provided state-of-the-art synchrotron X-ray facilities for molecular science and engineering researchers worldwide.

A new $17.35 million grant from NSF will allow ChemMatCARS to expand its offerings and double the amount of beam time available at Sector 15 of Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source. Sector 15 is one of three sectors managed by The University of Chicago's Center for Advanced Radiation Sources that lets scientists who would not otherwise have access apply for beam time to advance their research.

For more information, please see The University of Chicago's press release.

Opinions, findings or recommendations of NSF awardees or their institutions do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.

CHE People

Broadening Participation in Chemistry

• Anne-Marie Schmoltner
• Samy El-Shall
• Pumtiwitt McCarthy

Centers for Chemical Innovation 

• Katharine Covert
• Greg Collins
• Colby Foss

Chemical Catalysis

• Kenneth Moloy
• Gregory Dudley
• Tong Ren

Chemical Measurement and Imaging

• Kelsey Cook
• José Almirall
• Greg Collins

Chemical Mechanisms, Function and Properties

• Tingyu Li
• Gregory Dudley
• Richard Johnson

Chemical Structure and Dynamics 

• John Papanikolas
• Samy El-Shall
• Ryan Jorn

Chemical Synthesis 

• Sarah Wengryniuk
• Laura Anderson
• George Richter-Addo

Chemical Theory, Models, and Computational Methods 

• Richard Dawes
• Ryan Jorn

Chemistry of Life Processes

• Pumtiwitt McCarthy
• P. Shing Ho
• John Jewett

Chemistry Research Experiences for Undergraduates Sites 

• Tomislav Pintauer
• Margaret Capooci

Environmental Chemical Sciences 

• Anne-Marie Schmoltner
• Margaret Capooci
• Tingyu Li

Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry 

• Suk-Wah Tam-Chang
• Stephen Boyes
• Colby Foss
• Tomislav Pintauer

Major Research Instrumentation 

• Tanya Whitmer
• Michael Greenlief

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