Particle Astrophysics  (PA)

CONTACTS

PROGRAM GUIDELINES

Apply to PD 12-1643 as follows:

For full proposals submitted via FastLane: standard Grant Proposal Guidelines apply.
For full proposals submitted via Grants.gov: NSF Grants.gov Application Guide; A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants.gov Guidelines apply (Note: The NSF Grants.gov Application Guide is available on the Grants.gov website and on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=grantsgovguide)

Important Notice to Proposers

A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 13-1, was issued on October 4, 2012 and is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 14, 2013. Please be advised that, depending on the specified due date, the guidelines contained in NSF 13-1 may apply to proposals submitted in response to this funding opportunity.

Please be aware that significant changes have been made to the PAPPG to implement revised merit review criteria based on the National Science Board (NSB) report, National Science Foundation's Merit Review Criteria: Review and Revisions. While the two merit review criteria remain unchanged (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts), guidance has been provided to clarify and improve the function of the criteria. Changes will affect the project summary and project description sections of proposals. Annual and final reports also will be affected.

A by-chapter summary of this and other significant changes is provided at the beginning of both the Grant Proposal Guide and the Award & Administration Guide.

DUE DATES

Full Proposal Target Date:  October 30, 2013

Target from PHY DCL

Last Wednesday in October, Annually Thereafter

SYNOPSIS

Particle physics plays an essential role in the broader enterprise of the physical sciences.  It inspires U.S. students, attracts talent from around the world, and drives critical intellectual and technological advances in other fields. It is entering an era of unprecedented potential as a result of new discoveries about matter and energy in the Universe. Particle physics addresses fundamental questions in three overlapping domains: the Energy Frontier, the Intensity Frontier and the Cosmic Frontier.

The Particle Physics program seeks to explore the fundamental nature of matter, energy, space, and time.  It asks such questions as: What are the origins of mass? Can the basic forces of nature be unified?  How did the universe begin? How will it evolve in the future?  What are dark matter and dark energy? Are there extra dimensions of space-time?  Formerly separate questions in cosmology (the universe on the largest scales) and quantum phenomena (the universe on the smallest scales) become connected through our understanding that the early universe can be explored through the techniques of particle physics.

At the NSF, particle physics is supported by three programs within the Division of Physics: (1) the Theory program, which includes fundamental research on the forces of nature and the early history of the universe as well as support for the experimental program by providing guidance and analysis for high energy experiments; (2) the Elementary Particle Physics (EPP) program, which supports particle physics at accelerators, and (3) the Particle Astrophysics (PA) program, which supports non-accelerator experiments.

The Particle Astrophysics program supports university research in many areas of particle astrophysics, including the study of ultra high energy particles reaching Earth from beyond our atmosphere and experiments or research and design projects for underground facilities.

Currently supported activities are: ultra high energy cosmic-ray, gamma-ray and neutrino studies; the study of gamma-ray bursts and solar, underground and reactor neutrino physics; neutrino mass measurements; searches for the direct and indirect detection of Dark Matter; searches for neutrino-less double beta decay; and studies of Dark Energy.

It should be noted that proposals that are submitted to the PA program and are requesting in excess of $1,000,000/year may, at the discretion of the Program Officer, be subjected to an additional level of scrutiny in the form of a cost review that would take place before the annual PA panel that meets to discuss all of the submitted proposals.

THIS PROGRAM IS PART OF

EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICS: Funding Opportunities

What Has Been Funded (Recent Awards Made Through This Program, with Abstracts)

Map of Recent Awards Made Through This Program

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