The following is a guest blog post by Tracy Kimbrel, Program Director, in Computing and Communication Foundations and Gera Jochum, Communications Specialist, in the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate at the National Science Foundation.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released a document, 10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments, that seeks to “define a set of cutting-edge research agendas and processes.” One of the Big Ideas is Harnessing Data for 21st Century Science and Engineering, described as “a bold initiative to develop a cohesive, national-scale approach to research data infrastructure and a 21st-century workforce capable of working effectively with data.”
In April 2016, NSF sponsored a workshop Theoretical Foundations of Data Science (TFoDS): Algorithmic, Mathematical, and Statistical that assembled leading researchers from computer science, mathematics, and statistics. A key conclusion of the workshop as reported in a draft report is that “theoretical foundations are necessary in all aspects of data science, from the generation and collection of data to the analysis and decision making processes.”
NSF’s Directorate for Computer Science and Engineering (CISE) and the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)
recently released a new program solicitation, Transdisciplinary Research in Principles of Data Science (TRIPODS), which aims to support collaborative institutes bringing together the theoretical computer science, statistics, and mathematics communities to develop and shape the theoretical foundations of data science.
The program synopsis reads as follows:
Transdisciplinary Research In Principles Of Data Science (TRIPODS) aims to bring together the statistics, mathematics, and theoretical computer science communities to develop the theoretical foundations of data science through integrated research and training activities. Phase I, described in this solicitation, will support the development of small collaborative Institutes. Phase II (to be described in an anticipated future solicitation, subject to availability of funds) will support a smaller number of larger Institutes, selected from the Phase I Institutes via a second competitive proposal process. All TRIPODS Institutes must involve significant and integral participation by all three of the aforementioned communities.
Phase I proposals may request up to $500,000 per year for 3 years. Letters of intent are required and are due January 19, 2017. Proposals are due March 15, 2017.
A webinar describing the program will be held November 15 at 2:30 pm Eastern Time; check the TRIPODS program page or the CISE website for more information. In the meantime, the program directors welcome inquiries about the program. Contact information is available on the TRIPODS program page and in the solicitation.
