The Clinton Administration and also House Bill HR 2086 have called for NSF to fund more long-term basic research in networking and information technology. NSF is therefore seeking letters of intent by 05Jan00 and full proposals under $500K by 14Feb00 -- or letters of intent by 15Nov99, pre-proposals by 05Jan00, and full proposals over $500K by 17Apr00 -- for fundamental research in information technology. As usual, NSF prefers that proposals be multidisciplinary and multi-institutional, with links to undergraduate education and to minority or less-developed (EPSCOR) institutions. Information Technology Research (ITR), NSF 99-167, ; Michael Lesk , (703) 306-1930. [Maria Zemankova , dbworld, 29Sep99.] (This is primarily for networking research, with a separate solicitation to be issued for a terascale computer facility for high-end science and engineering. However, money for IT seems to be available and the early proposals will help shape both the nature of the program and its level of funding by Congress.)

Upcoming NSF deadlines include Knowledge Modeling and Computational Intelligence, (01Oct99); Research in Undergraduate Institutions, 15Oct99; Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biological Informatics, 01Nov99; Experimental Partnership Activities Program, 01Nov99; Parallel Algorithms, 01Nov99; Program for the Analysis of Science and Technology Resources, 01Nov99; Applied Mathematics, (04Nov99); NSF Graduate Research Fellowships, 04Nov99; CISE Postdoctoral Research Associates in Experimental Computer Science, 05Nov99; University-Industry Cooperative Research Programs in the Mathematical Sciences, 13Nov99; NSF-NATO PostDoctoral Fellowships in Science and Engineering, 15Nov99; Information Technology Research LOI (over $500K), 15Nov99; Summer Programs in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, 01Dec99; Computational Mathematics, (04Dec99); Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education (POWRE), 09Dec99; Interdisciplinary Grants in the Mathematical Sciences, 10Dec99; Information Technology Research LOI (under $500K), 05Jan00; Biological Databases and Informatics Program, 10Jan00; International Digital Libraries Collaborative Research, (15Jan00); Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, 18Jan00; Scientific Computing Research Environments for the Mathematical Sciences (SCREMS), 18Jan00. . See also for deadlines in NSF's Div. of International Programs. [NSF E-Bulletin, 01Oct99.] (Parentheses indicate target dates rather than deadlines.)

NSF's FY2000 began on 01Oct99, so don't be surprised if you see proposal numbers that look like "0000001". The first two digits are the year number. [grants, 21Sep99.] (Gartner Group says there will be enough '00...' and '2000...' transaction dates and account numbers by the end of 1999 to cause 25% of all Y2K problems to surface by then. Another 55% of failures will occur in the following nine months. [SJM, 18Aug99, 3C.])