Geotechnical Engineering and Materials

The summary for the Geotechnical Engineering and Materials grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the National Science Foundation, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Geotechnical Engineering and Materials: The Geotechnical Engineering and Materials (GEM) Program combines and replaces the Geotechnical Engineering Program and the Geomechanics and Geomaterials Program. This new Program supports fundamental research in soil and rock mechanics and dynamics in support of physical civil infrastructure systems. Also supported is research on improvement of the engineering properties of geologic materials by mechanical, biological, thermal, chemical, and electrical processes. The Program supports civil engineering applications in the traditional areas of foundation engineering, earth structures, underground construction, tunneling, geoenvironmental engineering, and site characterization, as well as the emerging area of bio-geo engineering, with emphasis on sustainable geosystems. Research related to the geotechnical engineering aspects of geothermal energy and geothermal heat pump systems is also supported.

The GEM program encourages knowledge dissemination and technology transfer activities that can lead to broader societal benefit and implementation for provision of physical civil infrastructure. The program supports relevant research topics that address the emerging areas of geotechnical engineering and the Grand Challenges to ??restore and improve urban infrastructure?? and ??provide access to clean water?? described in the following reports:

?? National Research Council, Geological and Geotechnical Engineering in the New Millennium: Opportunities for Research and Technical Innovation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2006, http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11558
?? National Academy of Engineering, Grand Challenges for Engineering, http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/Object.File/Master/11/574/Grand%20Challenges%20final%20book.pdf

Research focused on natural hazards, such as earthquakes, windstorms, tsunamis and landslides should be submitted to the Engineering for Natural Hazards (ENH) Program (PD 15-7396), unless the research is directed at fundamental soil/rock behavior rather than system behavior such as foundations or levees. Research on natural resource exploration or recovery is not supported by this Program.