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CCI Southwest Virginia Node Research, Innovation, & Workforce Development Funding

Goal: To accelerate collaboration in research, innovation, and workforce development by engaging faculty at Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) Southwest Virginia institutions in projects related to fast, secure, and customizable communications systems and technologies, including 5G, AI, ML, defense-in-depth cybersecurity solutions, emerging technologies (such as 6G and quantum algorithms) and cryptographic protocols, applications to transportation, energy, autonomous systems, manufacturing, and agriculture, and as well issues surrounding human factors, privacy, ethics, and global security in modern society.

Amount: up to $25,000

Period of performance: ends June 2021

Eligibility: teams of individuals from two or more CCI institutions, with PI from a CCI Southwest Virginia institution other than Virginia Tech

Applicants must submit a single pdf named lastname_RIW_F20.pdf and containing in order:

project description (2 pages in 12 pt font with 1-inch margins) which includes

  • list of team members, their institutions and email addresses, with PI identified
  • project overview and collaboration goals
  • statement of intellectual merit
  • statement of alignment with CCI mission; see goals in the CCI Blueprint
  • statement of funding potential and planned future research award submissions
  • statement of commercialization and economic development/impact, and/or workforce development in the Commonwealth
  • budget (see unallowable expenses in VRIC requirements for Node funding)

letter of support from department head(s) or supervisor(s) (1 page each)

biosketch for each investigator (up to 2 pages in NSF format)

Submissions are encouraged to include informational figures or a system diagram.

 Evaluation Criteria:

• Strong intellectual merit related to CCI’s mission

• Strong broader impacts related to CCI’s mission

• Responsiveness to focus areas and relevance to industry needs

• Potential to generate additional funding and revenue

Award Conditions: The successful applicant is expected to participate fully in the activities of CCI including providing materials needed for reports, participation in CCI meetings, and responding to data collection requests by the CCI. All publications and presentations resulting from the grant should acknowledge support from Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI).

Deadline: 5 pm November 2, 2020

Submission: via email to Gretchen Matthews gmatthews@vt.edu, subject: CCI SWVA RIW Funding