NSF and DFG Lead Agency Activity in Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer Our Future (DMREF)
Recognising the importance of international collaborations in promoting scientific discoveries, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on research cooperation. To facilitate the support of collaborative work between US researchers and their German counterparts, the NSF and the DFG are pleased to announce a Lead Agency Activity in the area of data-driven materials research.
Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) seeks to foster the design, discovery and development of materials to accelerate their path to deployment by harnessing the power of data and computational tools in concert with experiment and theory. DMREF emphasises a deep integration of experiments, computation and theory, the use of accessible digital data across the materials development continuum and strengthening connections among theorists and computational scientists (including data scientists).
In this call, the NSF acts as lead agency. The review procedure follows the NSF Proposal Processing and Review Procedures as stated in the DMREF programme solicitation (Solicitation Number NSF 25-508). Each organisation will pursue its own decision-making processes. Only if both organisations come to a positive decision, funding can be granted. If granted, each organisation supports the researchers it is responsible for.
Proposal Preparation and Submission
Proposals eligible to apply for this lead agency activity will need to have a research focus relevant to the topic areas identified above. Proposals of German applicants are accepted in the subject areas 3.12 “Chemical Solid State and Surface Research”, 3.16 “Polymer Research”, 3.17 “Theoretical Chemistry”, 3.21 “Condensed matter physics”, 4.31 “Materials engineering” and 4.32 “Materials Science” of the DFG’s subject classification (see below under Further Information). Proposals involving private companies whose participation requires the conclusion of a cooperation agreement in accordance with the rules of DFG are not eligible.
Please note that the eligibility to submit a joint proposal follows the regulations for the NSF and DFG programmes for individual funding respectively (DFG: Individual Research Grants, DFG form 50.01). If in doubt, researchers are strongly encouraged to contact the corresponding programme officers. The standard DFG eligibility rules apply to all applicants from Germany, including the duty to cooperate for non-university researchers which can only be fulfilled through cooperation with a partner at a German university.
Joint proposals must be submitted in accordance with the proposal preparation requirements of the NSF via research.gov. This includes a description of the full proposed research programme and the research team, as well as the funds requested from the NSF. In parallel, a supplement (max. 10 pages) must be prepared for the DFG. It must contain the information required in sections 4 to 5 of the DFG project description (DFG form 53.01). This includes, among other information, a detailed breakdown of the funding requested from the DFG for the first 36 months. The DFG allows a maximum funding period of 36 months for new proposals. To align with the four-year duration of DMREF projects, either a no-cost extension may be requested or a renewal proposal may be submitted to DFG. In the latter case, the funds for the remaining 12 months have to be applied for in a renewal proposal six months before the fourth year starts.
Within the NSF proposal, the work programme for the full period of 4 years has to be described. The explanations regarding any possible safety-related aspects, 4.1.5.1 “Dual Use Research of Concern” and 4.1.5.2 Risks in international cooperation”, have to be elaborated if relevant but are mandatory in case the US military agencies (AFRL, ONR, ARL and GVSC) are partners in the joint project. The considerations on aspects of ecological sustainability in the planning and implementation of the project are also mandatory. In addition, a CV of each German partner using DFG form 53.200 has to be submitted for the eligibility check.
The joint proposal must be submitted to the NSF’s DMREF programme as described in the solicitation from 21 January to 4 February 2025. In addition, the proposal has to be submitted to the DFG via elan by 6 February 2025 (4.00 p.m. CET). After logging in, please use the link “Proposal for a Research Grant” and select “USA-NSF-DFG DMREF 2025” to tag your proposal for this specific call. The submission to the DFG must contain the original proposal submitted to the NSF and the aforementioned supplements. In elan, the US investigator should be appointed as Cooperation Partner.
Applicants must be registered in elan prior to submitting a proposal to the DFG. If you have not yet registered, please do so by 27 January 2025 to submit a proposal under this call.
Notifications are expected by August 2025.
Projects with DFG partnerships are required to report to the NSF on the entirety of the activities and to the DFG by sending a final report to the DFG at the end of the project.
Good Research Practice
Please note that according to a resolution of the DFG General Assembly, as of 1 August 2019, DFG funding may only be awarded to institutions that have implemented the guidelines laid down in the Code of Conduct for Safeguarding Good Research Practice in their own regulations in a legally binding manner. This means that also for international proposals, funding from the DFG can only be received if the guidelines for safeguarding good research practice (see link below) have been implemented by the German applicant´s institution.
Equity and Diversity
The DFG strongly welcomes proposals from researchers of all genders and sexual identities, from different ethnic, cultural, religious, ideological or social backgrounds, from different career stages, types of universities and research institutions, and with disabilities or chronic illness.
Further Information
NSF programme solicitation
- https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/dmref-designing-materials-revolutionize-engineer-our-futur
DFG’s Electronic Proposal Processing System for Applicants – elan:
DFG forms 50.01 Guidelines Research Grants Programme), 53.01 (project description) and 54.01 (Proposal Preparation Instructions) can be downloaded at:
CV template:
DFG’s data protection notice on research funding:
If necessary, please also forward this information to those individuals whose data will be processed by the DFG due to their involvement in your project.
Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice. Code of Conduct:
DFG’s subject classification:
Contacts:
- Dr.-Ing. Georg Bechtold, Program Director DFG, phone: +49 (228) 885-4100, georg.bechtold@dfg.d
Scientific questions:
- Dr. Markus Behnke, Chemistry, phone: +49 (228) 885-2181, markus.behnke@dfg.d
- Dr. Michael Mößle, Physics, phone: +49 (228) 885-2351, michael.moessle@dfg.d
- Dr. Cosima Schuster, Materials Science and Engineering, phone +49 228 885-2271, cosima.schuster@dfg.d
Administrative questions:
- Aline Esch, phone +49 228 885-2470, aline.esch@dfg.d