September 26, 2023
Dear Colleague:
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the French National Research Agency (ANR) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Research Cooperation. The MOU provides a framework to encourage collaboration between U.S. and French research communities and sets out the principles by which jointly supported activities might be developed. The MOU provides for an international collaboration arrangement whereby U.S. researchers may receive funding from NSF and French researchers may receive funding from ANR. Through a "Lead Agency Opportunity", NSF and ANR will allow proposers from both countries to submit a collaborative proposal that will undergo a single review process at the Lead Agency. NSF will be the Lead Agency between the publication date of this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) and June 30, 2024. ANR and NSF anticipate that the Lead Agency will alternate annually thereafter.
Proposals will be accepted for collaborative quantum information science and engineering (QISE) research at the intersection of participating NSF programs and relevant themes under ANR's Generic Call for Proposals. The NSF organizations participating in this Lead Agency Opportunity are the Directorates for Biological Sciences (BIO); Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE); Engineering (ENG); and Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS). Specific participating NSF programs within each Directorate are listed on the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) website at https://www.nsf.gov/od/oise/IntlCollaborations/France.jsp. French researchers are invited to read the Generic Call for Proposals (AAPG) from ANR (https://anr.fr/en/call-for-proposals-details/call/generic-call-for-proposals-aapg-2024/). Proposals are expected to adhere to the research areas, funding limits, and grant durations for these participating NSF programs and for the ANR funding instruments from which funding is sought. As details vary by NSF program, U.S. Principal Investigators (PI) are encouraged to contact program directors of pertinent NSF programs for specific guidance.
Division-specific considerations:
- Proposals submitted to the Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF) in CISE under this opportunity should be limited to the "Small" category (maximum budget for the U.S. side: $600k; maximum duration: 36 months).
- The Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) in BIO is particularly interested in proposals to investigate quantum effects in biological systems.
- The Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) in MPS and CCF welcome proposals on the mathematical foundations of quantum computing and the development of new quantum algorithms.
Proposals must represent an integrated collaborative effort between the U.S. and French researchers and be submitted to NSF by an eligible U.S. organization. Eligibility restrictions and other program specific requirements for U.S. proposers, if applicable, can be found in the relevant funding opportunity for each participating program.
Proposers are advised that all documents submitted to NSF or ANR may be shared with the other agency to implement the Lead Agency Opportunity.
The collaborative opportunity described in this DCL remains in effect until archived.
There is only one round of proposal submissions related to this DCL with NSF as the Lead Agency. Proposals submitted to an NSF program that accepts proposals at any time should be submitted by December 15, 2023. Proposals submitted to any other participating NSF program should be submitted following the program due dates for calendar year 2023.