Addressing Systems Challenges through Engineering Teams | 23 541

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - NSF ASCENT (Addressing Systems Challenges through Engineering Teams), Funding Opportunity 23-541

What is the NSF ASCENT program (Funding Opportunity Number 23-541)?

ASCENT ("Addressing Systems Challenges through Engineering Teams") is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funding opportunity run through the Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) Division. It solicits proposals for bold, fundamental engineering research focused on complex systems and network-level challenges that are too large, too interconnected, or too multi-dimensional to be addressed by a single investigator or a short, narrowly scoped project.

What kinds of research problems is ASCENT trying to fund?

ASCENT targets fundamental engineering research that advances systems and networks at nano, micro, and macro scales. The focus is on tackling systems-level challenges where new devices, components, and underlying engineering principles can be integrated into real-world power, control, networking, communications, and cyber systems, with measurable societal benefit.

Is the program looking for incremental improvements or transformative research?

The solicitation emphasizes transformative, enabling research rather than incremental progress within a single subfield. Projects are expected to shift capabilities in engineering systems and networks through disruptive technologies, new methods, or substantial performance gains that can ultimately improve quality of life.

What application domains does ECCS highlight as high impact for ASCENT?

ECCS explicitly calls out high-impact domains including healthcare, homeland security, disaster mitigation, telecommunications, energy systems, environmental monitoring, transportation, manufacturing, and other system-relevant areas. These examples illustrate where systems-level engineering advances could produce meaningful real-world outcomes.

What priority or emerging technology areas are mentioned in the solicitation?

The opportunity highlights ECCS priority and emerging areas including 5G and beyond wireless and spectrum technologies, quantum information science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data. Proposals may leverage these areas when they strengthen the core systems-oriented research objective.

What does "systems and network-level challenges" mean in this program context?

In this solicitation, systems and network-level challenges refer to problems that require coordination across multiple components, layers, or subsystems (for example devices, circuits, sensing, communications, control, and power/networking). The program is aimed at research where interactions and interdependencies make the challenge too complex for isolated, single-investigator efforts.

Does ASCENT require a team, and how large must it be?

Yes. ASCENT is structured around interdisciplinary team science and requires proposals to include at least three collaborating principal investigators (PIs) and co-PIs working as an integrated team. The proposal must justify why coordinated expertise across disciplines is necessary, rather than parallel efforts that are only loosely connected.

What does NSF mean by an "integrated team" for ASCENT proposals?

Based on the solicitation description, an integrated team is expected to collaborate in a coordinated way with clear interdependence among team members. The proposal should explain how collaboration will occur in practice, including mechanisms for frequent communication, shared approaches (such as data, methods, or tools), and ongoing assessment of progress toward goals.

Which ECCS research clusters are relevant, and must my project align with them?

Yes. A proposal must fit within at least one of ECCS's three major research clusters: Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems (CCSS); Electronics, Photonics and Magnetic Devices (EPMD); and Energy, Power, Control, and Networks (EPCN). Projects spanning multiple clusters are strongly encouraged, particularly when cross-cluster integration is essential to solving the systems challenge.

Are cross-cluster proposals encouraged?

Yes. While alignment with at least one cluster is required, the solicitation explicitly encourages projects that span multiple clusters. ECCS is seeking a connected portfolio of projects that creates synergies across CCSS, EPMD, and EPCN, especially where integrating these areas is crucial to the research outcome.

How important is the societal impact component?

The program expects proposals to frame a fundamental research problem with a strong intellectual core and a credible pathway to significant societal impact. The solicitation links impact to measurable societal benefit through advances that can be integrated into real-world systems (such as communications, cyber, power, control, and networking).

What does the solicitation say about methods and approaches?

ASCENT emphasizes transformative research strengthened by modern computation, synthesis, evaluation, and analysis methods. The intent is to support enabling engineering research that uses contemporary technical approaches to tackle complex, interconnected systems challenges.

What is the award size and project duration for ASCENT?

Awards are intended to be up to four years in duration, with a total project budget between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000. The award ceiling is $1.5 million.

How many awards does NSF anticipate making?

NSF anticipated making about six awards under this competition cycle.

What type of funding mechanism is used?

Funding is provided as a grant within NSF's science and technology research and development category, listed under CFDA 47.041.

What was the closing date for the cycle described?

The solicitation information provided lists an original closing date of April 19, 2023 for that cycle.

Will there be future ASCENT competitions?

The solicitation notes that future ASCENT competitions are expected to continue if the NSF budget allows. It also indicates that specific themes and priorities may change from year to year.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is described broadly as "Others," with additional clarification referenced in the full eligibility text of the solicitation. The information provided indicates that applicants typically need to consult the program document for precise institutional and investigator requirements.

Is ASCENT focused on a particular scale of engineering systems?

No. The program explicitly references engineering systems at nano, micro, and macro scales, with an emphasis on work that can connect advances at these scales to real-world systems and networks.

What kind of project planning and management details are expected in proposals?

The solicitation puts weight on execution. Teams are expected to provide a realistic timeline, describe how collaboration will happen in practice, and specify mechanisms for frequent communication and ongoing assessment of progress. Reviewers will consider both the ambition of the research and whether the team has a workable plan to integrate efforts, share data and methods, and adapt based on results.

What is ECCS trying to build through this program besides individual projects?

ECCS indicates it wants a connected portfolio of projects that create synergies across its three research clusters (CCSS, EPMD, and EPCN). This suggests the program is not only funding strong standalone teams, but also aiming to advance a broader, coordinated set of systems-oriented research outcomes across ECCS.

What is the overall goal of the ASCENT opportunity in plain terms?

The opportunity is aimed at engineering-led teams proposing high-risk, high-reward fundamental research that crosses boundaries among communications and sensing, electronics and photonics, and energy and control, with the explicit goal of producing new approaches to systems-level problems that matter in the real world.