Network Information and
Space Security Center (NISSC)
at
University of Colorado at
Colorado Springs
Announces
Request for
Proposals
For
Grants Related to
Homeland Security and
Homeland Defense
Fall 2003: July 1,
2003
For information contact:
Dr. Bill
Ayen
Director,
NISSC
University Hall
134
262-3538
wayen@uccs.edu
Overview
You are invited to submit proposals as described below to the Network Information and Space Security Center (NISSC) for potential award of grants for the periods of June – July 2003 and August – December 2003. The purpose of these grants is to increase the research capability within the University of Colorado with specific focus on increasing the university research capacity in the evolving areas of homeland security and homeland defense. To ensure that as many disciplines as possible are included in the grants awarded, a number of the grants will be set aside for disciplines that have not before been involved in security-related research and for cross-disciplinary research projects.
The Network Information and Space Security Center (NISSC) was established at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) in 2002 to help satisfy critical needs in technical, management, and policy and doctrine areas related to information assurance and future network and space system architectures. While still focused on those needs, the mission has been expanded to include all aspects of homeland defense and homeland security. Working in a collaborative manner within the University of Colorado and with partners from industry, military, government, and other the academic institutions, NISSC will conduct theoretical and applied research; manage projects that provide focused study and technical assessment for complex systems issues; provide seminars and workshops; and, in conjunction with academic units, facilitate the definition and delivery of credit courses, certificates, and academic programs.
The grant program described below will increase the research capacity of the university in homeland security and homeland defense, including information assurance. UCCS has already initiated research and academic program efforts tied closely to USSPACECOM (now USSTRATCOM) and USNORTHCOM needs. NISSC recently received a grant from the Colorado Institute of Technology to inventory educational assets for homeland security within the state and to analyze how state institutions can compete more successfully for national grants.
Specifically, the grants to be awarded will enable academic units, and the faculty in those units, to assess the applicability of their research capacity to the area of security research, and then to begin to develop that capacity. Thus the university will be better positioned to support future USNORTHCOM, Department of Homeland Security, and other needs that will be identified in the future. It is anticipated that there will be significant amounts of research funding available in the future from Federal sources, as well as from state governments and from industry. The grants awarded from this RFP will begin to identify security-related research interests, will permit early assessment of the viability of those research interests, and will identify possible steps needed to further enhance the viable research interests. Follow-on research support either directly from NISSC or NISSC-identified funding sources is expected.
Proposals will be accepted from individual faculty members or from multiple faculty members proposing a joint project. Faculty do not need to be housed in the same academic unit. In fact, proposals that cross college boundaries are encouraged.
Proposals should clearly state the following:
1. What research capability currently exists related to the proposed work
2. What security-related area(s) will be investigated
3. What will be accomplished in the project
4. Who will work on the project
5. What timeframe the proposed work will be accomplished and the level of effort for each of the participants.
A non-exhaustive set of sample topics or areas of interest has been included in Appendix A. These should be viewed as a starting point in your thinking about how you might become involved in security-related research.
The proposal should be brief, but should answer the points above. Generally a proposal of 3 –4 pages in length will suffice. The proposal should be attached to the submittal form included as Appendix B to this RFP
Proposal Review
and Grant Awards
Proposals will be accepted for 2 periods of performance - Summer 2003 and Fall 2003. Selected Summer 2003 projects may be continued for Fall 2003 depending on funding availability and the potential for advancing security-related research capabilities. Additional projects will be awarded for the Spring 2004 term.
Dates of interest and target award levels are as follows:
|
Term |
Performance |
Proposal |
Award Dates |
Number of |
|
|
Timeframe |
Due Dates |
|
Awards (est.) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Summer 2003 |
Jun – Aug |
May 27, 2003 |
June 2, 2003 |
15 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fall 2003 |
Aug – Dec |
July 1, 2003 |
July 15, 2003 |
10 |
A panel of knowledgeable campus and community personnel will review proposals submitted in accordance with the criteria outlined elsewhere in this RFP. The recommendations will be submitted to the Director of NISSC who will make the final decision on awards.
Proposals will be categorized as fitting into one or more of the following 5 areas. Awards will be made in as many of the categories as possible based on overall quality and appropriateness of proposals.
Grants will be awarded in amounts of $5,000, $7,500 and $10,000. Grants will be awarded to the academic units from which the proposal is submitted. The academic unit will then determine how the grant is used in paying faculty and staff costs, materials, and administrative costs.
The NISSC Research Director will handle administration of the grants. Working closing with the grant recipient, he/she will monitor progress on research projects, review results, and handle administrative tasks.
Grant recipients will be required to submit a 1 – 2 page status report at the midpoint of the project. At the end of the project a summary of the work completed, conclusions and recommendations will be required within 30 days of the grant end date. The grantee will be invited to present the results at an appropriate forum and may be asked to attend meetings with other researchers and/or community members to share results and to discuss options for further work.
Appendix
A
Sample Security-Related
Areas
National Strategy for Homeland Security, published by
the Office of Homeland Security, July 2002
Six critical mission areas are identified in this document:
Intelligence and Warning
Border and Transportation Security
Domestic Counterterrorism
Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Key Assets
Defending against Catastrophic Threats
Emergency Preparedness and Response
UCCS - Community Working Group
Chancellor Shockley-Zalabak formed a Working Group of CU Colorado Springs faculty working with key community partners in early-April 2003 to identify areas of excellence or focus areas for research and educational activities within the area of homeland security. The criteria for these focus areas included: existing campus capability (e.g., faculty, access to labs, etc.), Colorado Springs community relevance (e.g., industry overlap, interest in educational opportunities), impact on students (e.g., availability of internships and employment opportunities), and the potential for outside funding opportunities (e.g., industry and military support, federal grant monies). Each area is described below and examples of research areas provided.
Data acquisition
involves the research and educational activities dealing with the collection of
data. The data may be collected by dedicated sensors or sensors that are a
subsystem of a larger system. The
sensor data must be transmitted to a storage location, possibly requiring
processing of the original signal to get the data into a form where it can be
stored for later processing. For the most part, this involves advanced
technology such as sensors or space-based radar.
Information management and assessment includes transformation of raw data into useful information and the subsequent storage of that information. Beyond the data acquired in the Data Acquisition focus area is information on geographic and physical structures, people, and systems. One example is the use of computer vision to take images and to recognize important patterns such as building characteristics, facial features, or system designs.
· GIS / geographic assessment / applied geography
· Data collection and analysis
· Software watermarking
· Web searching, face and fingerprint authentication, signal and image databases
· Virtual reality, wearable computing, animation, human computer interaction
· Data fusion
· System architecture and gap analysis
· Automatic detection of human faces
· Intelligent control structures for automated monitoring and surveillance systems
· Modeling and simulation
· Remote sensing
· Computer vision, pattern recognition
Decision Management and
Control
Decision management and control is the key process of using valuable information to make informed decisions. The information comes from the Information Management and Assessment area of focus as well as other information sources. The decisions then are based on both the content of the information and on an understanding of the cultural, political, economic, etc. aspects of the situation.
Cyber-security and Information
Protection
Cyber-security and information protection is concerned with ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information and the information systems. This area is important to all three of the previous focus areas. No matter if the information (or data) is at rest, in transit, or being processed it must be protected.
Threat Assessment and
Response
Threat assessment and response includes the study of possible threats posed by terrorist organizations as well as possible response to those threats. The emphasis is not only in the cultural and social arena but the advanced technical aspects of detecting these possible attacks.
As the importance of homeland security arises, and activities such as detection and protection are put in place, the need for policies that set parameters and boundaries will increase. This focus area will include the study of economic, political and sociological impacts and the need for policies.
Education Outreach
The education outreach focus area includes activities that extend beyond the normal on-campus course offerings that generally lead to degrees. These more specialized programs will meet the needs of community partners for education, training, and research. Often these activities will be incorporated into the on-campus offerings
Appendix
B
Submittal
Form
NISSC Homeland Security and Homeland Defense
Project Name:
Submitting College/Department:
Researchers (Names and Departments):
Funding Level Requested: $5,000 ____ $7,000 ____ $10,000 ____ Other ____
Term: Summer 2003 _____
Fall 2003 _____
Contact Information:
Name:
Phone:
E-mail:
Send proposals to:
Dr. Bill Ayen
NISSC
University Hall, Room 134
Mail Stop: UH#4