Dear Colleague Letter: Special Guidelines for Submitting Collaborative Proposals under U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) of India Collaborative Research Opportunities

August 18, 2023

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) of the Government of India have signed an Implementation Arrangement on research cooperation. The Implementation Arrangement provides a framework to encourage collaborations between U.S. and Indian research communities and sets out the principles by which joint activities might be supported. Through this research agency partnership, U.S. researchers may receive funding from NSF and India researchers may receive funding from MeitY.

This NSF-MeitY collaborative opportunity focuses on research and technological development in areas of mutual interest listed through the participating NSF programs that develop new knowledge in all aspects of semiconductor research, next generation communication systems, cyber-security, sustainability and green technologies, and intelligent transportation systems. Technology development/demonstrations may be in terms of development of prototypes, pilot scale demonstrations, field deployment, and other efforts to accelerate technology transfer. Proposing teams of U.S. and India investigators are strongly encouraged to develop appropriate partnerships with testbed providers, local communities, and industry partners to ensure that necessary resources and expertise are available for the success of their project.

Research agency partnership between NSF and MeitY will allow investigators from both countries to develop a single proposal that will undergo a single review process at NSF, the Coordinating Agency. The collaborative opportunity described in this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) remains in effect until archived.

U.S. proposers are encouraged to submit to NSF by the target date of January 5, 2024. Subsequent target dates will be listed on the OISE website: https://www.nsf.gov/od/oise/IntlCollaborations/India.jsp. Proposals submitted late in a given U.S. fiscal year (FY) may be held over for consideration to the following Fiscal Year.