NSF To Support Transformative Work

A new pilot program at NSF will fund high-risk, high-reward interdisciplinary research. Open to all NSF-supported areas of science, engineering, and education, the Creative Research Awards for Transformative Interdisciplinary Ventures (CREATIV) initiative provides up to $1million in total funding over a maximum of five years to unusually creative interdisciplinary proposals that don’t fit into current NSF funding mechanisms. The goal is to encourage out-of-the-box proposals that don’t have an obvious home at NSF, explained NSF Director Subra Suresh during a webcast last week rolling out the pilot program. Proposals must include buy-ins from at least two intellectually distinct agency divisions or programs and will require only an internal merit review. The rolling submission window starts on Dec. 1 and runs through June 15, 2012, with a decision on proposals expected within three months after submission. CREATIV is the first award mechanism under the Integrated NSF Support Promoting Interdisciplinary Research & Education initiative that was launched in fiscal 2012.