Environmental Convergence Opportunities in Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems | 20 517

Opportunity Information: Apply for 20 517

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Environmental Convergence Opportunities in Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (ECO-CBET) program is a grant opportunity designed to push environmental engineering and sustainability research toward genuinely interdisciplinary, systems-level solutions. It is motivated by the National Academies report "Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century: Addressing Grand Challenges," which highlights five broad societal needs: sustainably supplying food, water, and energy; curbing climate change and adapting to its impacts; designing a future without pollution and waste; creating efficient, healthy, resilient cities; and fostering informed decisions and actions. The core idea behind ECO-CBET is that solving these problems will take more than incremental improvements within one discipline. NSF is looking for coordinated teams that can combine fundamental science with engineering design to create new processes, materials, and devices that address environmental challenges in integrated, scalable ways.

ECO-CBET specifically promotes a convergence research model that links sustainability and environmental engineering with process science and engineering. In NSF terms, "process science and engineering" is broadly defined and spans the full range of interests within the NSF Directorate for Engineering, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET). The solicitation encourages research that draws from and connects multiple CBET clusters, including Chemical Process Systems (such as catalysis, electrochemical systems, interfacial engineering, and process systems/reaction engineering/thermodynamics), Engineering Biology and Health (such as biosensing, biophotonics, and cellular/biochemical engineering), Environmental Engineering and Sustainability (including environmental engineering, environmental sustainability, and nanoscale interactions), and Transport Phenomena (including fluid dynamics, multiphase and particulate processes, combustion/fire systems, and thermal transport). The emphasis is not simply on having multiple disciplines present, but on creating complementary, distinct expertise that produces outcomes unlikely to emerge from a single-field approach.

A major requirement and theme of the opportunity is team-based collaboration. Proposals are expected to represent sustained, well-integrated efforts rather than loosely connected subprojects. Teams must include at least three named investigators to ensure a real diversity of perspectives, and the program explicitly welcomes non-traditional collaborations between research communities that do not usually work together. Depending on the problem being targeted, teams are also encouraged to include contributors with manufacturing expertise or social science perspectives, reflecting the program's interest in solutions that can move beyond the lab and account for real-world adoption, human behavior, and system constraints. In addition to research outcomes, ECO-CBET also places importance on training the future workforce to operate effectively in interdisciplinary environments, recognizing that long-term progress depends on engineers and scientists who can collaborate across boundaries.

While the solicitation is broadly open to many environmental engineering and sustainability topics, the fiscal year 2020 competition highlighted two priority areas: greenhouse gas mitigation and managing the nitrogen cycle. These priorities signal interest in high-impact, globally relevant issues where advances in processes, materials, biological systems, and transport behavior could unlock new mitigation or management strategies. NSF also notes that, assuming sufficient appropriations, the competition is expected to run annually, though specific priority topics may shift from year to year.

From a funding standpoint, awards were expected to be large, multi-year grants intended to support ambitious, integrated projects. Typical award sizes were anticipated to fall between $1.5 million and $1.7 million total over four years, with budgets expected to match the scope and complexity of the proposed work. Pending availability of funds, awards could potentially be renewed once, allowing up to eight years of total support, but renewals would require a competitive merit review rather than being automatic. The opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 20-517) was issued by NSF as a discretionary grant program in the science and technology research and development category (CFDA 47.041), with an original closing date of April 30, 2020, and an expected number of awards around seven. Eligibility is listed broadly as "others" with additional clarification referenced in the full solicitation, which is typical of NSF programs that may allow proposals from a range of institution types while still following NSF-wide eligibility rules.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Environmental Convergence Opportunities in Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 14, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 30, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 7 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 20 517

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