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

Opportunity Information: Apply for 21 626

The NSF-DFG Lead Agency Activity in Chemistry and Transport in Confined Spaces (Funding Opportunity No. 21-626) is a joint U.S.-Germany research funding mechanism designed to make it easier for teams in both countries to pursue tightly integrated collaborative projects. It builds on a formal Memorandum of Understanding between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) that sets shared expectations for research cooperation and creates a practical pathway for jointly supported work. The central idea is to lower the administrative and review hurdles that often slow down international projects, while still allowing each funding organization to support its own country’s researchers under its usual rules.

Scientifically, the opportunity targets research at the intersection of chemistry and transport phenomena in spatially confined environments, where small length scales can dramatically change how chemical and physical processes behave. The solicitation highlights that systems under confinement can show complex and not-yet-well-understood shifts in chemical properties and physical dynamics, especially when processes are nonlinear, time-dependent, or far from equilibrium. Examples of the types of coupled behavior emphasized include reaction combined with diffusion and convection, along with other multi-physics interactions that become especially important when boundaries, pores, channels, interfaces, or micro/nanoscale geometries strongly influence transport and reactivity.

A major motivation is that predicting and controlling confined-space behavior often requires better experimental and computational capabilities than are currently available. The call 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. Because the challenges span applications, instrumentation, theory, and computation, the program explicitly encourages projects that bring together complementary expertise across these areas, rather than isolated efforts in a single discipline.

On the funding mechanics, this is structured as a "Lead Agency" opportunity. U.S. and German collaborators submit a single joint proposal that is reviewed once, rather than being duplicated through two separate national review processes. Either NSF or DFG serves as the Lead Agency for review, chosen based on where the largest share of the research effort resides. After the review is completed, the review outcome is shared with the relevant divisions on both sides (NSF CHE and/or CBET, and DFG PC and/or ING 1) before each organization makes its own final funding decision for its portion. This approach aims to streamline decision-making while preserving budgetary control: NSF funds the U.S. side and DFG funds the German side, consistent with their respective policies.

To be competitive, proposals must clearly explain why a U.S.-German collaboration is necessary, not just convenient. The solicitation asks teams to lay out the unique expertise each group brings and to demonstrate real scientific synergy, meaning the work should be meaningfully integrated across the partners and difficult to accomplish at the same level without the international collaboration. Applicants are also expected to align their research scope with the participating programs: NSF’s Division of Chemistry (CHE) and Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET), and DFG’s Divisions of Physics and Chemistry (PC) and Engineering Sciences (ING 1). Budgets and project durations should follow the typical norms of the specific NSF or DFG programs being targeted rather than assuming a special budget structure for this opportunity.

Administratively, the opportunity is a discretionary grant program within the Science and Technology / Research and Development category and is associated with CFDA numbers 47.041 and 47.049. The posting lists an expected number of awards around 10 and notes that the award ceiling is not specified (shown as 0, which typically indicates that limits depend on the underlying program expectations rather than a single fixed cap). The opportunity was created on September 21, 2021, with an original closing date of March 7, 2022, and it was intended to support proposals eligible for consideration in FY 2022. German participants are directed to DFG guidance and announcements through the DFG research funding portal for additional national requirements and context.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NSF-DFG Lead Agency Activity in Chemistry and Transport in Confined Spaces" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041, 47.049.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 21, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 07, 2022. (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 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 21 626

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: