Program Details

Registration
Pick up name tags and check appointmens for 1-on-1 meetings with PDs.

Introduction
Overview of program and logistics, including how lunch and one-one meetings will be handled, and brief welcoming remarks by NSF administrators.

Keynote: the CPS Solicitation
The goal is to explain what the NSF is looking for in proposals targeting the CPS solicitation. What are the goals and objectives of the CPS program? What kind of research is in scope and what is not? What is the NSF looking for in CPS, as compared to other programs? What distinguishes a well-targeted CPS proposal from proposals that would be suitable for other NSF programs? What does the solicitation mean by the three target areas? Besides size of budget, what are differentiating criteria for small, medium, and large projects? e.g., what is intended by "emerging new and innovative ideas that will have high impact on the field of cyber-physical systems" for Smalls. How is the TTP more than a supplement? Can the inclusion of a TTP option strengthen a proposal? What is different about a CPS CAREER or CRII proposal? What are likely changes between 2017 and 2018 solicitations?

Overview of NSF Proposal Review & Funding Process
The goal is to provide a high-level view of the steps proposals go through, from compliance checking through division director sign-off, as context for the rest of the workshop discussions.

Panel: Developing a Successful CPS Proposal
The goal is to share lessons learned by PI's who may have initially failed in their attempt at CPS funding, but then zeroed in on what it takes for a successful CPS proposal. The panel will focus mostly on specifics for this program, may also provide some general advice on how to write a good NSF proposal. Example topics include: I was told my last proposal was out-of-scope for CPS. What should I do? How can I make a case for a general contribution to CPS science, as compared to a single CPS application domain? How can I make the case that my project is integrated cross-disciplinary CPS research, rather than partitioned complementary discipline-specific research?

Lunch Panel: Agency Mission-Specific Research
The goal is to provide guidance for proposals targeting a specific agency or NSF program. Are there differences in objectives and proposal attributes between proposals seeking mission-specific agency funding, versus proposals submitted directly to the other agencies, and versus proposals seeking only NSF funding? How important is it to consult with an agency representative before submitting? How is cross-agency review conducted? How are funding decisions involving other agencies made? Should a proposal be tailored to a specific agency? If so, how? Can such tailoring decrease the proposal's chances for NSF funding? Agencies include: US Dept. of Agriculture-National Institute of Food & Agriculture (USDA-NIFA); NASA Aeronautics Research Missions Directorate (ARMD); US Dept. of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); Dept. of Homeland Security, Science & Technology Directorate; National Institutes of Health: National Institute of Biomedical Imaging & Bioengineering; National Cancer Institute; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

Panel: Relationships to other NSF Program
The goal is to help PIs identify the best program for their CPS research ideas. Program officers from CPS and other NSF programs explain how those programs relate to and differ from CPS. How should PI decide which to submit to? What are the differentiators? In cases of overlap, what is likely to make a proposal a better fit for CPS, versus these other NSF programs? What happens if a proposal submitted to CPS is a better fit for one of these other programs? Examples of programs include S&CC, S&AS, SCH, SaTC, NRI, CyberSEES, CM, EPCN, INFEWS, SDC. The panel will also discuss CAREER grant options for CPS researchers.

Panel: A Closer Look at the CPS Review Process
The goal is to help PIs understand the CPS review process, with a view to writing more effective proposals. Presentations will include a mock CPS panel briefing. Other topics will include: How to help the NSF "bin" your proposal accurately, so that it goes to a panel that is most likely to understand and appreciate it, and the importance of writing for reviewers from mixed disciplines.

Panel: CPS CAREER Grants, Testbeds, and Other Special Grants
The goal is to explain funding opportunities for CPS outside of the CPS solicitation, including CAREER, CRII, CRI, MRI, EAGER, STTR, SBIR, and to inform them of shared-access tested resources for CPS including those the NSF has funded under CRI and MRI.

Panel: Frequent Mistakes in CPS Proposals, Do's and Don't'se
The goal of this final panel is to prevent "killer" mistakes of the kinds that program officers often see, including, for example, proposals that are not appropriate for the program, are missing some required component, or fail to address one of NSF equivalents of the Heilmeier questions.

Panel: CPS and Industry
The goal is to provide an prospective from industry representatives on issues such as: research collaborations, access to datasets and test beds, how to avoid duplicating industry research, problems that need solving, type of CPS research projects of interest to industry.

Panel: Collaboration, Dissemination, etc.
The goal is to address a number of questions submitted by participants regarding strategies and tactics for building and managing an interdisciplinary collaborative team for CPS research, including collaborations with industry. This final panel will also entertain questions on other topics that were not answered in the other sessions.

1-on-1 Meetings
Program officers from the NSF, and possibly other agencies. will be scheduled for one-on-one meetings with aspiring PIs, in their offices or in a conference room nearby, in parallel with workshop sessions. Each aspiring PI will be scheduled to meet with at least one CPS program officer, for 15 minutes

Panel Format
Panels with generally begin with a series of brief prepared talks by the panelists, and then transition to an open discussion of questions from the audience.

Dinner Arrangements
There is no program for Thursday evening, owing to building security policy, but participants are encouraged to organize informal dinner discussion groups around topics of mutual interest. See the link on the left for a list of nearby restaurants.