NSF-DFG Lead Agency Activity in Chemistry and Transport in Confined Spaces | 21 626

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What is the NSF-DFG Lead Agency Activity in Chemistry and Transport in Confined Spaces (Funding Opportunity No. 21-626)?

It is a joint U.S.-Germany research funding mechanism that supports tightly integrated collaborative projects between U.S. researchers and German researchers. The activity is designed to reduce administrative burden and avoid duplicative peer review by using a single proposal and a single review process, while still allowing NSF to fund the U.S. team and DFG to fund the German team under each agency's normal rules.

2) Which organizations are involved in this opportunity?

The opportunity is a collaboration between the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in Germany. It operates under a formal Memorandum of Understanding that sets expectations for research cooperation and provides a pathway for jointly supported work.

3) What scientific area does this opportunity focus on?

The focus is research at the intersection of chemistry and transport phenomena in spatially confined environments, where boundaries and small length scales can significantly alter chemical properties and physical dynamics.

4) What does "transport in confined spaces" mean in the context of this solicitation?

In this context, it refers to how matter, species, or energy move (for example via diffusion or convection) when the environment is spatially constrained by features such as pores, channels, interfaces, or micro/nanoscale geometries. The solicitation emphasizes that confinement can change behavior in complex ways, especially under nonlinear, time-dependent, or far-from-equilibrium conditions.

5) What types of coupled or multi-physics behavior are emphasized?

The opportunity highlights coupled behavior where chemical reactions interact with transport processes such as diffusion and convection, along with other multi-physics interactions that become particularly important when boundaries and confined geometries strongly influence transport and reactivity.

6) Why is confinement considered scientifically challenging in this call?

The solicitation notes that systems under confinement can exhibit complex and not-yet-well-understood shifts in chemical properties and physical dynamics. Predicting and controlling these behaviors often requires improved experimental and computational capabilities beyond what is currently available.

7) What research needs or capability gaps does the opportunity call out?

It points to a need for improved measurement approaches, stronger modeling and simulation methods, and more advanced data analysis strategies that can connect changes occurring at the confinement length scale to outcomes at larger scales (such as overall process dynamics, selectivity, or efficiency).

8) Are interdisciplinary or team-based projects encouraged?

Yes. Because the challenges span applications, instrumentation, theory, and computation, the program explicitly encourages projects that combine complementary expertise across these areas rather than isolated efforts confined to a single discipline.

9) What is the "Lead Agency" model described in the opportunity?

Under the Lead Agency model, U.S. and German collaborators submit a single joint proposal that is reviewed once rather than going through two separate national review processes. Either NSF or DFG acts as the Lead Agency for the review.

10) How is the Lead Agency chosen for review?

The Lead Agency is selected based on where the largest share of the research effort resides. If the larger share is on the U.S. side, NSF may lead the review; if it is on the German side, DFG may lead the review.

11) If there is only one review, who makes the final funding decisions?

After the Lead Agency completes the review, the review outcome is shared with the relevant divisions on both sides. NSF and DFG then each make their own final funding decision for their respective portion of the project.

12) Who funds which part of a successful collaboration?

NSF funds the U.S. researchers, and DFG funds the German researchers. Each agency supports its own country’s researchers consistent with its usual policies and program expectations.

13) Which NSF and DFG divisions/program areas are relevant to this opportunity?

The solicitation references NSF’s Division of Chemistry (CHE) and the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET). On the DFG side, it references the Divisions of Physics and Chemistry (PC) and Engineering Sciences (ING 1).

14) What does a competitive proposal need to demonstrate about the U.S.-German collaboration?

The proposal must clearly explain why a U.S.-German collaboration is necessary, not merely convenient. Teams are expected to describe the unique expertise contributed by each group and to show genuine scientific synergy, meaning the work is meaningfully integrated across partners and would be difficult to accomplish at the same level without the international collaboration.

15) What does "meaningfully integrated" collaboration imply here?

Based on the solicitation’s language, it implies that the research tasks are tightly connected across the U.S. and German teams (not parallel or loosely coordinated), and that the combined effort produces outcomes that would be hard to achieve without leveraging strengths on both sides.

16) Do budgets and project durations follow special rules for this joint activity?

No special budget structure is implied. Budgets and project durations are expected to follow the typical norms of the specific NSF or DFG programs being targeted, rather than assuming a single fixed cap or special duration unique to this opportunity.

17) Is there an award ceiling (maximum award amount) listed?

The posting indicates the award ceiling is not specified (shown as 0). This generally signals that limits depend on the underlying program expectations rather than a single fixed cap for the joint activity.

18) About how many awards were expected under this opportunity?

The posting lists an expected number of awards of around 10.

19) What type of grant program and category is this?

It is described as a discretionary grant program within the Science and Technology / Research and Development category.

20) What CFDA numbers are associated with this opportunity?

The opportunity is associated with CFDA numbers 47.041 and 47.049.

21) When was this opportunity created, and what were the listed dates?

The opportunity was created on September 21, 2021. It lists an original closing date of March 7, 2022, and it was intended to support proposals eligible for consideration in FY 2022.

22) Where are German participants directed for additional requirements or guidance?

German participants are directed to DFG guidance and announcements through the DFG research funding portal for additional national requirements and context.

23) Does this opportunity eliminate all agency-specific rules?

No. While the goal is to streamline administration and reduce duplicative review, NSF and DFG still fund their own researchers under their usual rules and retain separate final funding decisions for their respective parts of the project.

24) What kinds of outcomes or impacts are implied as being important to connect across scales?

The solicitation emphasizes connecting confinement-scale changes to larger-scale outcomes, such as overall process dynamics, selectivity, or efficiency.