Smart and Connected Communities | 21 535

NSF Smart and Connected Communities (SampCC) Grant Opportunity: FAQs

1) What is the NSF Smart and Connected Communities (SampCC) program?

SampCC is a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant opportunity that supports research aimed at helping communities use intelligent technologies in ways that measurably improve everyday life. The program emphasizes strengthening the underlying scientific and engineering foundations for technology-enabled community transformation, rather than deploying technology for its own sake.

2) What kinds of places count as a "community" under this program?

NSF defines a community as a geographically bounded place with the structure and ability to engage with the research. Examples described include cities, towns, counties, neighborhoods, rural areas, and tribal regions.

3) What does NSF mean by a "smart and connected community"?

NSF describes a smart and connected community as one that deliberately integrates intelligent technologies with the natural and built environments (including infrastructure) to improve social, economic, and environmental well-being for people who live, work, learn, or travel there.

4) What is the program trying to accomplish beyond deploying new tools?

The program focuses on research that addresses real community-defined problems and advances scientific and engineering knowledge about how technology and communities can be connected effectively. It also recognizes that technology can create challenges at the intersection of technology and society, such as equity, privacy, governance, trust, and long-term maintenance.

5) What types of benefits is SampCC aiming to improve in communities?

The opportunity notes that connected technologies can support better health, safety, economic opportunity, accessibility, and overall quality of life, while also acknowledging the need to address associated societal and operational challenges.

6) What challenges does NSF expect projects to take seriously?

NSF highlights several areas where technology and society can collide, including equity, privacy, governance, trust, and long-term maintenance. Proposals are expected to account for these real-world issues rather than treating them as afterthoughts.

7) How important is community engagement in this program?

Community engagement is central. NSF expects researchers to work closely with stakeholders to identify and shape the community challenge being addressed, and to pilot solutions together in real-world conditions.

8) Who can be a stakeholder or community partner on a SampCC project?

The program describes stakeholders that can include residents; local neighborhood groups; nonprofits and philanthropic organizations; local businesses; and public or civic entities such as libraries, museums, schools, public works departments, and health and social service agencies.

9) What makes a proposal "strong" for SampCC based on the description provided?

Strong proposals typically combine technical innovation (for example, sensing, data systems, AI, networks, cyber-physical systems, or decision-support tools) with social and behavioral understanding (such as policy, governance, human factors, ethics, equity, and community adoption). They are also grounded in community-defined needs and built on meaningful partnerships.

10) Does NSF expect projects to include real-world pilots or deployments?

Yes. The program description emphasizes that researchers and community partners should pilot solutions together in the real world, particularly under the integrative research grant pathway.

11) Does NSF care about what happens after the award ends?

Yes. NSF signals that it values sustainability beyond the award period. Projects are expected to think through what happens after the research ends, including whether outcomes can be maintained, scaled, and transferred to other communities.

12) What are the main funding paths available under this opportunity?

There are three primary categories: (1) SampCC Integrative Research Grants (SCC-IRG), (2) SampCC Planning Grants (SCC-PG), and (3) the SampCC Virtual Organization (SCC-VO).

13) What is an SCC-IRG (Integrative Research Grant)?

SCC-IRG is the main funding option. These grants support multidisciplinary, community-engaged research and pilot deployments aimed at smart and connected community transformations.

14) What are the SCC-IRG tracks and how do they differ?

SCC-IRG has two tracks. Track 1 supports larger projects with budgets between $1,500,001 and $2,500,000 for up to four years. Track 2 supports projects up to $1,500,000 for up to three years.

15) Is there an international collaboration option mentioned for SCC-IRG Track 2?

Yes. The opportunity describes a specific SCC-IRG Track 2 collaboration option with the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). It is aimed at joint US-Japan projects focused on COVID-19 recovery and broader resilience planning for pandemics and disasters, including how communities adapt to a post-COVID "new normal."

16) What is an SCC-PG (Planning Grant) and who is it for?

SCC-PG is intended for teams that are not yet ready to submit a full integrative research proposal. These planning grants support capacity building and preparatory work to develop stronger future SCC-IRG submissions.

17) What activities can an SCC-PG planning grant support?

The planning grant is described as supporting partnership development, co-design activities with community stakeholders, and other preparatory work such as aligning around community needs and refining research questions in advance of an integrative, real-world pilot proposal.

18) What is the funding level and duration for SCC-PG planning grants?

SCC-PG awards are one-year grants up to $150,000.

19) What is the SCC-VO (Virtual Organization) component?

SCC-VO is a proposal category to create a single, program-wide virtual organization that connects SampCC investigators and their teams (including community partners), enables sharing of knowledge and artifacts produced by projects, and builds collaboration and information exchange across researchers and stakeholder communities.

20) How many SCC-VO awards does NSF expect to make?

NSF expects to fund no more than one SCC-VO award.

21) What is the funding level and duration for the SCC-VO award?

Funding is described as up to $250,000 per year for up to three years.

22) What is the purpose of creating a virtual organization for the program?

The SCC-VO is meant to strengthen the overall SampCC ecosystem by making it easier for lessons, tools, and practices to spread beyond individual projects and by supporting knowledge-sharing and collaboration across project teams and stakeholder communities.

23) Which NSF directorates support this program?

The opportunity is supported across multiple NSF directorates: Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Education and Human Resources (EHR), Engineering (ENG), and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE).

24) What type of grant program is this administratively?

It is described as an NSF discretionary grant program in the science and technology research and development (R&D) space.

25) Who is eligible to apply based on the information provided?

The opportunity lists unrestricted eligibility, meaning it is open to any type of entity, subject to any additional eligibility clarifications in the solicitation.

26) About how many awards were expected under this opportunity?

The information provided indicates an expectation of around 30 awards.

27) When was the opportunity created and what closing date is listed?

The provided details indicate the opportunity was created on November 26, 2020, with an original closing date of February 24, 2021.

28) What kinds of technical approaches are mentioned as relevant to SampCC?

Examples of technical innovation mentioned include sensing, data systems, artificial intelligence (AI), networks, cyber-physical systems, and decision-support tools.

29) What kinds of social or behavioral dimensions are mentioned as relevant?

Examples mentioned include policy, governance, human factors, ethics, equity, and community adoption.

30) What is the program's overall philosophy about technology and communities?

The program is built around the idea that fast-moving technologies are reshaping how communities connect people, services, infrastructure, and the environment. SampCC supports use-inspired, community-driven research that pursues improvements in quality of life while directly addressing the societal, governance, and sustainability challenges that come with technology-enabled change.