Proposals for the Future of Designing Accountable Software Systems (DASS)

Proposals for the Future of Designing Accountable Software Systems (DASS) is sponsored by NSF Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CISE/CCF). Seeks proposals for designing accountable software systems.

Proposals for the Future of Designing Accountable Software Systems (DASS) | NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation Important information for proposers and award recipients All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in the funding opportunity and in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and its supplements .

All NSF grants and cooperative agreements are subject to the applicable set of NSF award terms and conditions . NSF has updated its research security policies for NSF funded projects. Proposals for the Future of Designing Accountable Software Systems (DASS) Invites proposals that integrate social, legal and technical research to design software systems that are accountable to laws, regulations and stakeholders needs.

Invites proposals that integrate social, legal and technical research to design software systems that are accountable to laws, regulations and stakeholders needs. Society is becoming increasingly dependent on software applications, systems, and platforms that are integral to the functionality of business, government, and the myriad activities of our everyday lives.

Consequently, software systems must be publicly accountable — not only to laws and regulations, but to the needs and expectations of broad and diverse groups of stakeholders.

With this Future of Designing Accountable Software Systems (DASS) Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) invite EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) proposals that explore frameworks and mechanisms supporting integrative thinking of social and technical themes advancing the design of accountable software systems.

The goal of this DCL is to advance understanding of (1) the public needs/demands to which software must be accountable, including their cognitive/psychological underpinnings; (2) the legal, political, and governance frameworks needed to ensure such accountability; and (3) the specific software designs and systems that will enable that accountability.

To accomplish this goal, the Future of DASS DCL aims to foster collaborations between CISE researchers and SBE researchers. Regarding the latter, we readily envision contributions from scholars who study law/justice, publicly accountable institutions/behavior, social psychology, and/or the science of learning, but we welcome proposals that include contributions from other social and behavioral scientists as well.

An EAGER proposal in response to this DCL should clearly address the definition of accountability the project will adopt, the social and technical contexts being considered, the planned research activities, and how those will lead to generalizable contributions toward both the social/legal and software engineering aspects of future software systems.

To reiterate, because of the need to consider social and technical aspects together, submissions from multi-disciplinary teams that bring expertise in one or more topics of interest to the SBE directorate and one or more topics of interest to the CISE directorate are required. That is, a minimum of one PI and one co-PI (with different expertise) must be associated with each proposal.

NSF anticipates that there will be follow-on activities to look more in-depth at the social context and technical advances around designing accountable software systems. Submission of an EAGER proposal in response to this DCL is not required to participate in future competitions, nor does receiving an EAGER award guarantee any subsequent grants. Guidance on the preparation and submission of EAGER proposals is contained in Chapter II.

F. 3 of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG). An EAGER proposal may only be submitted after consideration of a concept outline by an NSF Program Officer.

The concept outline must describe the research idea with a clear explanation of why it is innovative, potentially transformative, or otherwise potentially impactful. The concept outline should also clearly address, in a separate paragraph, why the project is appropriate for the EAGER mechanism, as described by the PAPPG ( https://new. nsf.

gov/policies/pappg/24-1/ch-2-proposal-preparation#ch2F3 ). Proposals that would be suitable for submission to existing programs or solicitations are not encouraged. Concept outlines will be accepted on a rolling basis through 5 p.

m. submitter’s local time on February 3, 2025. The concept outlines are strictly limited in length to 2 pages, including references.

An individual may be included in only one concept outline as PI, co-PI or Senior/Key Personnel. The concept outlines should be submitted via email to DASS@nsf. gov .

The correspondence regarding whether submission of an EAGER proposal is invited can be expected approximately four weeks after submission of the concept outline. The invited EAGER proposals must be submitted by 5 p. m.

submitter’s local time on April 4, 2025. The EAGER proposals must be submitted via Research. gov to the coordinating program, Software and Hardware Foundations ( SHF ), in the CISE Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF), using the PAPPG (24-1) as the funding opportunity.

EAGER proposals submitted without prior submission of a corresponding concept outline and subsequent correspondence email will be returned without review. The email from an NSF Program Officer serves as documentation of approval for submittal and must be uploaded by the prospective PI in the “Program Officer Concurrence Email” section of Research. gov. The concept outline and proposal titles must begin with "EAGER: FDASS:”.

An individual may appear as PI, co-PI, or Senior/Key Personnel, on no more than one EAGER proposal submitted in response to this DCL. Questions about this DCL, the concept outlines, or the EAGER proposals should be sent to DASS@nsf. gov .

Gregory Hager, Assistant Director Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Kaye G. Husbands, Assistant Director Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Designing Accountable Software Systems (DASS) Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CISE/CCF) Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE)