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Synopsis of Program:

Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) promotes university-industry partnerships by making project funds or fellowships/traineeships available to support an eclectic mix of industry-university linkages. Special interest is focused on affording the opportunity for:
Faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students to conduct research and gain experience in an industrial setting;
Industrial scientists and engineers to bring industry's perspective and integrative skills to academe; and
Interdisciplinary university-industry teams to conduct research projects.
This solicitation targets high-risk/high-gain research with a focus on fundamental research, new approaches to solving generic problems, development of innovative collaborative industry-university educational programs, and direct transfer of new knowledge between academe and industry. GOALI seeks to fund transformative research that lies beyond that which industry would normally fund.

A major objective of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is to improve the nation's capacity for intellectual and economic growth by increasing the number of industrial partnerships and collaborations. By serving as a catalyst for industry-university partnerships, NSF helps ensure that intellectual capital and emerging technologies are brought together in ways that promote economic growth and an improved quality of life. Benefits to universities may include extensions to in-house research capabilities, alignment of efforts with viable technology options; direct and more immediate impact on technology and its design infrastructure; and the training of students for industrial positions. Possible benefits for industry include more research-intensive activities, investigations of high-risk ideas, increased efforts towards research, shortening the research and development cycles, training students for future employment, and vetting of future hires.

To meet this objective, the GOALI program seeks to stimulate interactions and staff exchange between universities and industry. For example, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students are encouraged to develop creative modes of collaborative interactions with industry through individual or small-group projects, and industry-based fellowships or traineeships for students and post-doctoral fellows. The GOALI mechanisms suggested below are examples only and proposers are encouraged to modify or adapt them to meet individual needs or realize imaginative ideas.

Examples of Proposal Ideas

An extended faculty experience in industry (of several months duration) to foster industry-university collaboration;
A faculty visit to industry (of several months duration) at the beginning of a multiple-year university-based research project to better enable the transfer of research results to industry by project's end;
Visit of a leading engineer, scientist, or manager from industry to a university, to catalyze collaborative research or teach and develop curricula;
Support for one or two semesters of work in industry by a graduate or an undergraduate student under the guidance of an academic advisor;
Post-doctoral support for one or two years of work in an industrial setting, under the guidance of an academic mentor in collaboration with an industrial partner;
Support for a supplement to an existing grant for high-risk/high-gain research in order to gain basic knowledge necessary for development of a generic technology;
Opportunities for graduate students and faculty to attend planned seminars or carry-out of research;
Support of untenured faculty for an internship in industry;
Research Experiences for Industry (REI) opportunity support;
University-based support for partnering university and industry scientists, or engineers, or both on a research project of mutual interest, including joint graduate student advising. A letter from the industrial collaborator(s) documenting the intention to collaborate should be appended to the proposal;
Support for interdisciplinary research or educational projects of two or three faculty from different academic units to interact with one or more industrial partners in a virtual industry-university group or network;
Research support in conjunction with a new industrial chair position,
Support for continuing education in industry towards advanced degrees; and
Research Experiences for Teachers in Industry (RETI) to gain research experience in an industrial setting.

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION
Organization Limit:

None Specified
PI Limit:

For fellowships/traineeships, only U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents are eligible to apply for support under this program.

NSF funds cannot go to an industry partner; they can only be used by the academic institution. The industry partner is expected to participate in the research effort to facilitate in the commercialization of the research.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:

None Specified
Limit on Number of Proposals per PI:

None Specified
Additional Eligibility Info:

The categories of proposers identified in the Grant Proposal Guide are eligible to submit proposals under this program announcement/solicitation.

Cognizant Program Officer(s):

Donald Senich, GOALI Solicitation Coordinator: Senior Advisor, Small Business Procurement Policy, Directorate for Engineering, 550 S, telephone: (703) 292-7082, fax: (703) 292-9056, email: dsenich@nsf.gov

William S. Bainbridge, GOALI Program, Program Director - Information and Intelligent Systems, Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering, telephone: (703) 292-8930, email: wbainbri@nsf.gov

John Cherniavsky, GOALI Program, Senior EHR Advisor for Research, Directorate for Education and Human Resources, 855S, telephone: (703) 292-5136, fax: (703) 292-9046, email: jchernia@nsf.gov

Leonard E. Johnson, GOALI Program, Program Director - Division of Earth Sciences, Directorate for Geosciences, telephone: (703) 292-8559, email: lejohnso@nsf.gov

Graham M. Harrison, GOALI Program, Program Director - Office of International Science and Engineering, Office of International Science and Engineering, telephone: (703) 292-7252, email: gharriso@nsf.gov

Glenn H. Larsen, GOALI Program, Program Director - Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships, Directorate for Engineering, telephone: (703) 292-8050, email: glarsen@nsf.gov

Jacqueline Meszaros, GOALI Program, Program Director - Innovation and Organizational Sciences, Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economics Sciences, 980.12, telephone: (703) 292-7261, email: jmeszaro@nsf.gov

Diane Jofuku Okamuro, GOALI Program, Program Director - Integrative Organismal Systems, Directorate for Biological Sciences, telephone: (703) 292-4400, fax: (703) 292-9062, email: dokamuro@nsf.gov

Sonia Ortega, GOALI Program, Program Director - Division of Graduate Education, Directorate for Education and Human Resources, telephone: (703) 292-8697, email: sortega@nsf.gov

Celeste Rohlfing, GOALI Program, Head, Office of Multidisciplinary Activities, Directorate for Mathematics and Physical Sciences, 1005N, telephone: (703) 292-4962, email: crohlfin@nsf.gov