COVID-19 Grant Proposals for Seidenberg
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Proceedings of Student - Faculty Research Day, CSIS, Pace University, April 30, 2021
COVID-19 Grant Proposals for Seidenberg
Priyanka Gurung, Jingxiang Huang, John P. Julich, Akshay Savithru Krishna, Kevin B. McGovern,
Avery Leider and Charles C. Tappert
Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, Pace University, New York
Email: {pg72235n, jh82802n, jj01090n, as81727n, km28308p, al43110n, ctappert}@pace.edu
Abstract—The global pandemic has mobilized the passed the National Quantum Initiative, authorizing
federal government to combat COVID-19 while also more than 1.2 billion dollar investment in quantum
preparing for future biological threats, whether from science and technology over the next five to ten years.
natural causes, lab accidents, or asymmetrical warfare.
Information technology and computer science are force With all of these initiatives, there’s a large increase in
multipliers for good and Seidenberg can fill the need the number of positions in academia, government, and
for innovative talent through sponsored research. In industry. [4].”
Robotics, students develop robots to handle tasks in hos- Exponentially more powerful than even today’s
tile environments instead of exposing humans to nuclear,
biological or chemical threats. In Pharmacology and
supercomputers, quantum computers use either sub-
biological chemistry, quantum computing can simulate atomic bits of pure energy, or trapped ions, or very
chemical reactions needed to create new medicines and small atoms, or photons, to calculate with, instead of
treatments, accelerate the current iterative development the integrated circuits of current day computers. When
model, and drive $9 billion of commercial revenues by reaching the point of the very, very small, the rules of
2030 with the transformation of healthcare, financial
services, and communications industries. The workforce
physics change and “quantum effects” or properties of
training, support and technical research needed now quantum mechanics, emerge, allowing for computers
from U.S. institutes of higher education in technology based on these effects to calculate in mind-bending
is unprecedented and rapid. This paper presents several ways, using superposition, entanglement, tunneling,
grants for Seidenberg to consider in greater detail. and teleportation. It is the natural evolution of the next
Index Terms—Sponsored Research, COVID-19, H1N1,
wave of innovation. Gordon Moore wrote his Moore’s
Robotics, Quantum Computing, Quantum Information
Science, Mathematical Science, National Science Foun- Law in 1965, where he observed that mankind was
dation (NSF) and Historically Black Colleges and Uni- doubling our computing capacity every 18-24 months
versities (HBCU) [5]. Today components are miniaturized so tightly on
the silicon that they can not go any smaller in the
I. I NTRODUCTION current engineering approach, and either have to slow
down the innovation speed or must break down into
The demand in quantum information science and
the sub-atomic realm, where quantum effects must be
quantum computing positions far exceeds the supply
included in the calculations.
of qualified knowledge workers, as this emergent tech-
nology in January 2019 broke through the theory phase Pace University is uniquely qualified to develop
into real quantum computers [1]. These computers will quantum information science and quantum computing
soon deliver on use cases for business, defense, and knowledge workers for national security, pharmacol-
health care. In his article in the New York Times, ogy, and cybersecurity.
Cade Metz says “International competition is a par- For Pace University to continue the development
ticularly thorny issue in quantum computing because of students by equipping them with the knowledge
one of these machines – in theory – could crack the it takes to be competitive in the current world of
encryption that protects sensitive information inside technology, it is critical that quantum computing be
governments and businesses around the world [2].” included in the curriculum. Meeting this shortage of
That theory, MIT researcher Peter Shor’s algorithm [3], talent head-on and becoming an early adopter of quan-
is rock-solid. When quantum computers are developed tum computing coursework will help Pace University
to the point that they can capably execute it, all RSA stand out and further a reputation for developing top
encryption, used especially in banking wires as well as technology talent. When asked about what specifi-
military communications, will become plain text to the cally is driving the demand for talent in the quantum
party that has that quantum computer. Globally, nations computing space, Professor William D. Oliver from
and companies are earnestly funding initiatives. MIT MIT said, “Quantum computing is transitioning from
News quoted Professor William D. Oliver saying “The theory to practice, and there is a growing number of
EU has a flagship, China has a substantial effort, as government programs supporting quantum information
do England, Australia, Singapore, Canada, Sweden, processing. It’s definitely an employee’s market right
Finland, and many more. The U.S. Congress recently now [4].”
The world has been increasingly reliant on the
Thanks to IBM Research for the faculty grant to Dr Tappert. growth of computer networks to support personal
lifestyles and functional priorities in both the commer- C. National Quantum Initiative Act [6]
cial arena and on a national security front. Whilst this One of the more consequential funding events in
demand for more technological solutions has generally the last 5 years was the passage into law by the U.S.
produced a higher standard of living for the global Congress of the National Quantum Initiative Act. This
community, it has also challenged researchers to push law provides for the creation of a coordinated U.S.
the boundaries on innovation. Federal program designed to accelerate quantum re-
Emerging Technologies are no longer a science- search and development for the economic and national
fiction dream but rather are fast becoming a reality security of the United States. Designed around four (4)
(and future necessity) for humanity to support the major areas of focus, this law has a total initial funded
demands being placed on financial services, healthcare, value of $1.2 billion.
U.S. national defense and communication industries. The areas of major focus for National Quantum
This paper explores the crucial role the U.S. Gov- Initiative Act are:
ernment has adopted in the funding of one specific • The National Quantum Initiative
Emerging Technology – Quantum Computing (QC). • National Institute of Standards and Technology
This paper highlights the channels of U.S. Government (NIST) Quantum Activities
funding that have evolved over the recent past, as • National Science Foundation (NSF) Quantum Ac-
shown in Figure 8 and how those efforts may change tivities
in the future. • Department of Energy (DOE) Quantum Activities
The objectives, grant beneficiaries and allocated
A. A special focus will be placed on: funding executed by each of these Federal agencies
will be discussed in more detail later in this report.
• Recent U.S. laws passed authorizing the creation
of agencies to assist or manage funding efforts II. L ITERATURE R EVIEW
(e.g. National Quantum Computing Initiative Act On the “About” page of the National Science Foun-
[6]) dation’s website, it is explained that “With an annual
• Educational Institutions that have successfully re- budget of $8.5 billion (FY 2021), we are the funding
ceived funding from U.S. Government programs source for approximately 27 percent of the total federal
in the past. budget for basic research conducted at U.S. colleges
• Non-Federal U.S. Government Entities that may and universities. In many fields such as mathematics,
be actively funding research and educational ac- computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the
tivities in Quantum Computing. major source of federal backing. [9]” In 2012, for
• Measurement of the un-allocated funding oppor- example, NSF convened more than 17,000 scientists
tunities still available to applicants today. to review 53,556 proposals [10]. In the Directorate
This paper was designed to deliver a measurable being targeted, CISE, the acceptance rate is approx-
and meaningful analysis for the best course of action imately 1 in 3, however, there are other acceptance
in the future for obtaining Quantum Computing (QC) rates that are more difficult in the other parts of the
research funding for Pace University’s Seidenberg organization. NSF receives its funding directly from
School of CSIS (Computer Science and Information the U.S. Congress and reports back to it, as illustrated
Systems). Proper planning and effective research tac- on the left hand side of Figure 1. On the right hand
tics and techniques is a cornerstone to success. This side is an illustration by the researcher Johan Bollen,
study utilizes methodical processes to add to the body who proposes that the granting system would be more
of knowledge and to that of others, by discovery of efficient and equitable if every approved researcher
non-trivial facts and insights [7] [8]. This kind of received the same amount of funds, half of which
contribution enables the study to meet or exceed the could be spend on their own research, and the other
customer’s expectations in delivery. half would be given to another researcher whose work
is believed should be supported.
Researcher Darryl Chubin studied the current review
B. Client requirements for this project are:
process, which is a peer-review process at the Defense
• Clear identification of the U.S. Government QC Department, the Energy Department, and National
programs currently accepting applications from Science Foundation [13]. The peer-review system is
educational entities, and the related protocols. expensive, as peers are recruited to serve on the panels
• References to previous U.S. Government QC and stipends and travel costs are borne by the agency.
grants that were successful in receiving funding When a new proposer is not successful in multiple
and the type of grant authorized for that educa- tries, it is often encouraged to become a peer reviewer
tional institution. of a panel convened to decide on proposals do which
• Alternative funding sources in the U.S. that may they are not a party. Being a peer reviewer gives insight
also utilize the University system to further QC to the decision making process and helps subsequent
research. proposals from that individual researcher.
2
A. University’s Office of Research
Pace University’s Office of Research assists in all
steps of the submission of a proposal [17] . However,
before being qualified to receive that assistance, first
the faculty member who is the prospective Principal
Investigator presents the idea of the proposal to gain
the support of the Department Chair, followed by the
approval of the Dean of the School. In Seidenberg’s
Computer Science Department, the Chair responsibil-
ities are shared by two professors, so both professors
need buy-in to the idea before it is sent to the Dean.
After these two levels of approvals have been obtained,
Fig. 1. Current & Proposed Model of Scientific Research Funding then the Office of Research is allowed to invest time
[11] [12] and labor in developing the proposal for submission
to the granting agency. This process flow is meant to
facilitate internal teamwork and prevent conflicts. This
internal organization flow is shown in Figure 2.
For this paper’s Quantum Computing proposal
ideas, the National Science Foundation is the most
likely sponsor. Researcher David Markowitz recom-
mends brainstorming using the wording in the winning
abstracts and examining the amounts of those grants
awarded, which are public information, downloadable
Fig. 2. Internal Pace University Process Flow [17]
into comma separated value or Microsoft Excel format
spreadsheets and useful to idea formation [14], to
Within the Office of Research there are other sec-
develop wording.
tions, however, the focus in this study is for Sponsored
Researcher Peter Abrams uncovered the value of Research, which has its own section. After gaining
the Principal Investigator’s CV when studying data at the support of the Department Co-Chairs and Dean
the NSF to find the relationship between a scientist’s of the School, the next step is for the Dean to so-
proposal and the quality of the eventual research. cialize the proposal idea to the Associate Provost for
Surprisingly, the find was that there is not a direct Research. The Associate Provost has an assistant, the
correlation between them. The better measure, at least Assistant Provost, who also should be included in that
in the panel that Abrams studied, the Ecology Panel, socialization. The process is illustrated in Figure 3.
that considered proposals for the National Science The signature authority for all proposals sent by Pace
Foundation, was the quality of the previous publica- University to outside agencies and to accept funds
tions of the Principal Investigator’s research. Abrams that are awarded to Pace rests with one person, the
found that the quality of the future work, when funded, Associate Provost for Research. This organization of
was predictable when considering that researcher’s the Research Office, with the single point of contact,
previous published research, instead of the quality of is the same with most universities and colleges who
the writing of the proposal [15]. This finding was accept federal funding.
made possible in part by a standardization of the
format of the resumes/curricula vitae of the Principal
Investigators, which gives clean data fields that can
be easily harvested for insight. For this reason, care
must be taken to strictly follow the example format
of all resumes/CV’s loaded into the system as per Fig. 3. Dean of School to Associate Provost for Research [17]
the NSF Proposals & Awards Policies & Procedures
Guide [16] instructions. This finding by Abrams also At this point, if it would enhance the proposed idea
gives weight to the idea that the preferred Principal to include another school, such as Dyson School of
Investigator, have many good publications in his/her the Arts and Sciences and/or the School of Education,
Google Scholar profile, and loaded into a Pivot pro- which has a Mathematics Department, then the Dean
file for online confirmations of their quality of past of those schools (same Dean for both) must be in-
research work. Dr. Charles C. Tappert, as well as the cluded in the idea, so the school can participate if able
co-investigators, has a unique qualification record of and willing. Naturally, this should be anticipated and
more than 5,000 citations of his scientific research included and specific faculty named who are interested
on Google Scholar. Dr Tappert’s record is only beat in participating. This additional communication path is
at Pace University by Sun-Hyuk Cha, PhD, also of illustrated in Figure 4 and would need to be smoothed
Seidenberg. out in advance so that the Dean of Seidenberg has the
3
groundwork prepared when socializing this proposal an email first in an informal one-page inquiry, to allow
idea to the Dean over that mathematics department. time to think it over and react that yes, the idea fits the
program and there is an interest in receiving the full,
formal proposal with the details [17]. Additionally,
some requests for proposal ask for letters of intent,
prior to the official application, and some of those only
accept applications from those who sent that letter of
intent in advance and received that go-ahead. Others
are not allowed to apply.
Fig. 4. Including the Mathematics Department [17]
This Pace University form, the Proposal Clearance
Form, contains all the relevant information for these
other purposes outside of the university. The submitter
B. Pace University Grant Proposal Clearance of the proposal is the Principal Investigator (PI), and
Once all parties are supportive, then the Principal if another school is also involved, the Co-PI at that
Investigator fills out the Pace University Grant Pro- school submits through the office of Sponsored Re-
posal Clearance Form with all details, an abstract, and search the proposal at the same time, and each proposal
a budget spreadsheet in MS Excel [18] [19] and sends refers to the other, so they can be combined at the
it to the Research Manager to staff for the formal next level, such as internally at Pace University or
signatures as illustrated in Figure 5. The Associate externally, if it is another university, at the granting
Provost is included as a required signature. agency.
Once the permission has been granted with formal
signatures on this clearance form, all fields in the
Office of Research’s computer system with NSF, the
legacy FastLane System, a grants management system,
are populated and the appropriate documents loaded.
Most of this work is expected to be done by the PI, and
reviewed by the Pace Office of Research. There is also
a NSF Grants.gov or Research.gov website system,
however, it is not bug-free, as the newer system, and
Fig. 5. Grant Proposal Clearance Form [17]
after several years still has issues.
For example, one 2018 bug of the NSF Grants.gov
newer system was that if one loaded a Microsoft Word
proposal document in it in font size 11, the system
would convert it to a PDF file in font size 10. Then the
system would automatically reject the proposal as “not
meeting requirements.” Font size 11 is specified in the
NSF Proposals & Awards Policies & Procedures Guide
[16] as the absolute minimum font size. However,
the error message did not specify the reason for the
rejection, giving the proposer the idea that the content
of the proposal, instead of a technical glitch, was
the issue. Challenges such as these could cause a
good proposal to miss a deadline, so as the Sponsored
Research office is keen on getting proposals filed with
a good lead time, and in the proven legacy system,
FastLane, which is a client-server system restricted
to Sponsored Research office system administration.
FastLane has been in use since 1994 and processes
more than 50,000 grant proposals every year. The
newer site, Grants.gov or Research.gov was released
in 2008. The NSF is not planning on retiring Fastlane
[9].
III. P ROPOSALS
Fig. 6. Example Proposal Clearance Form [17]
A. Proposal for COVID-19 Computing Math Confer-
This form has a purpose both internal and external. ence
According to the Research Office, some program offi- A Computing Mathematics Conference, which
cers at the granting agencies like to receive the idea in would focus on the mathematics of emergent tech-
4
nologies, including a track for Quantum Computing, space, one arrives at the non-commutative setting.
that are essential tools for defending against threats In a similar vein, replacing the complex numbers
such as COVID-19, held at Pace University NYC by the Grassmann algebra or by a ternary algebra
campus or a nearby hotel, would help raise the profile one gets new connections with super mathematics
of Pace University. For example, new technologies and manifolds. Four of the special sessions focus on
such as quantum computing that has a practical use this circle of ideas. Recent research in bicomplex,
case for the development of new medicines, and ternary, and quaternionic analysis use operator theory
blockchain, that has a practical use case for protecting techniques to relate the intrinsic analytic structure and
the logistics and supply chain for vaccine distribution, the many types of operators that arise and obtain
uses unique mathematical concepts. The sponsor at realization formulas in each case. Applicability of
National Science Foundation that is the right one to some techniques in a more general hypercomplex
approach for such a conference is the Division of setting provides even more applications to physics
Mathematical Sciences and for Conferences and Work- and digital signal processing. Ternary algebras are
shops the solicitation number is “nsf21-541 [20]”. The known to be a promising candidate for the algebraic
request budget should be less than $50,000 for a quick confinement model for the problem of observability of
response and it is asked that the request be made 6 three quarks/anti-quarks in Quantum Field Theory.This
months prior to the planned conference date. award reflects NSF’s statutory mission and has been
Using the researcher David Markowitz’s advice of deemed worthy of support through evaluation using
examining the abstracts of other proposals which won the Foundation’s intellectual merit and broader impacts
awards for that specific proposal number [14], an review criteria. [20]”
abstract spreadsheet was downloaded from the Math- B. Quantum Computing Research Multi-Year Proposal
ematics Department of National Science Foundation
[20] and studied other wins. A sponsor that can be approached for multi-year
funding is in the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s
For example, Chapman University of California won
Computer and Information Science and Engineering
a $20,000 award for this math conference proposal:
(CISE) Directorate, in one of two of the divisions [21].
“The funds will provide travel support for up to One, the Division of Computing and Communi-
twenty junior US based scientists in operator theory, cation Foundations (CCF) has in the “Foundations
electrical engineering and physics to attend the In- of Emerging Technologies (FET)” program the right
ternational Workshop on Operator Theory and Ap- scope for Quantum Computing pedagogy research in
plications (IWOTA), which will be held at Chapman their Medium Project category of “Medium Projects –
University, Orange, CA during August 9 - 13, 2021. $500,001 to $1,200,000 total budget with durations up
An important goal is the active participation of young to four years.”
mathematicians, such as graduate students, post-docs, The second suitable Division of the CISE Direc-
and other junior level positions. This goal will be torate that can be approached is the Office of Ad-
achieved by encouraging every junior participant to vanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC), which fits quantum
give a contributed talk and by providing space for computing and handles projects up to $500,000 total
informal discussions and avenues for future collabora- budget with durations up to three years. Both of these,
tions. All invited speakers will be asked to ensure that the FET and the OAC, are within CISE Directorate’s
part of their talks be accessible to young researchers. program solicitation number “nsf20591” and the win-
Due to its yearly international presence, IWOTA facil- dow is year-round: October 1, 2020 - September 30,
itates the enlargement of mathematics networks from 2021.
all around the world. Operator Theory lies at the This search for funding that resulted in discovery
intersection of several fields such as analysis, quantum of “nsf20591” was enhanced by the Library of Pace
mechanics, theoretical physics, probability, stochastic University’s subscription to Proquest’s Pivot-RP, which
processes, signal processing, machine learning, and allowed this team’s members to post and enhance
many others. As quantum physics can be described profiles, save searches for funding, track important
via applied operator theory the two special sessions opportunities, and share funding with potential collab-
on quantum physics and on super-oscillations are at orators once signed in to the Pivot-RP [22].
the forefront of one of the biggest challenges of the
21st century: quantum computing[our emphasis]. The C. Rewrites are never done until the grant is won
theory of stochastic processes and operator theory The deliverable embraces the concept that a funding
have numerous intersections, which require deep tools award will support research activity that will make
of operator theory to explore. Stochastic processes an original contribution to knowledge [23] and will
and their derivatives (usually generalized stochastic deliver specific opportunities that have been weighted
processes) may be studied using the theory of Gelfand and analyzed for potential success in what will be the
triples, obtained by applying the Bochner-Minlos theo- initial grant proposal.
rem to a positive definite function on a Frechet nuclear The general landscape of the writing process is
space. Replacing the Fock space by the free Fock illustrated in this diagram from the Tips & Tools of
5
The Writing Center of the University of North Carolina enabling U.S. scientists to establish the present leading
at Chapel Hill in Figure 7. roles in the field. [26]
U.S. funding levels have continued to escalate at
significant rates since 2016 at both the Federal and
State levels with a goal of allowing the U.S. to main-
tain a leadership role in this emerging technology [25].
The primary federal agencies active in the grant space
have been Department of Defense (DoD), Department
of Energy (DoE), IARPA (Intelligence Advanced Re-
search Projects Activity), DARPA (Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency), NIST (National Institute
of Standards and Technology) and the National Sci-
ence Foundation (NSF).
Supplementing these agency grants was the Decem-
ber 2018 legislation that formed the National Quantum
Initiative with a goal to “accelerate the development
of commercially available quantum-based technologies
Fig. 7. Writing Process Flow for Grant Writing [24]
to facilitate growth in the U.S. economy and keep
pace with accelerating international competition” [27].
The quantum technologies of interest are; Quantum
D. Demand vs. Supply Communications, Quantum Computation, and Quan-
The ability to accurately select potential grants that tum Sensing. Observers of QIS advancements have
may represent an opportunity for the customer will be noted that although the U.S. is still a leader in this sci-
determined by how effectively the study can identify, ence, U.S. reported advances have been less frequent
interpret, analyze and reconcile performance require- than international counterparts especially in quantum
ments for U.S. Government funded programs against cryptography.
capabilities existing today or forming in the future for Our Technical Paper identifies potential grants for
the customer. Demand - through the study of QC grant Pace University’s Seidenberg School of CSIS (Sei-
abstracts (both past and present) the study will seek to denberg) and the related data needed to establish a
identify the primary attributes for success in the grant business case that leverages commercial methodolo-
process. Supply – with the help of the customer the gies which will strengthen the application process
study will identify the strengths and capabilities of the for Educational Grants and lead to successful RFPs
applicant for use in future QC grant applications. (request for proposals) now and in the future.
B. Government Funding Activity in 2019
To better understand how Seidenberg School of
CSIS can be more effective and successful in future
grant applications, this study will look back at some of
the grants awarded by the major Federal Agencies in
past years. Using the philosophy that “history repeats
itself” the study can learn from grants awarded to other
education institutes by evaluating the attributes in the
proposal that may have influenced award success.
As noted above, both the National Science Founda-
tion (NSF) and Department of Energy (DoE) have been
Fig. 8. QC Revenues – 14 year Period (2017 $35mm -2030 $9B) investing in research that has paved the foundations
[25] for quantum-based technology, which over the next
few years is on the horizon for rapid growth. NSF
has specifically been supporting educational institution
IV. BACKGROUND
by awarding grants which will build the capacity by
A. Funding Programs and Trends Prior to 2019 educating the workforce that is crucial for develop-
U.S. policy has been well documented and funding ment and commercialization in this quickly evolving
as it relates to Quantum Technologies and with refer- field of emerging technology. NSF has awarded many
ence to a 2016 report issued by the Executive Office of educational institutions for the research on quantum
the President of the U.S. describing the following com- computing. Following are some universities the NSF
mitment, “Federal agencies have supported research or DoE funded in 2019:
in QIS and related areas since the field emerged 20 1) National Science Foundation (NSF): University
years ago. This support has played a significant part in of Utah awarded $1,635,591 to on-campus scientist
6
and a collaborator from University of California Los (FES) which focuses in area of Quantum Informa-
Angeles (UCLA), to do research on one of the greatest tion Science (QIS). Estimated Total Program Funding:
barriers to quantum computing, the quantum logic $12,000,000
units. Quantum Small Business Grants - A project which
2) US Department of Energy (DoE): University grants small businesses to research in the general
of Wisconsin-Madison granted funding for quantum quantum science. Estimated Total Program Funding:
science-driven research proposals to tap into the power $1,300,000 (Phase I $200k /Phase II $1,100k).
of quantum computing to examine the wealth of data E. Department of Defense
generated by high energy physics experiments. Major
Quantum Dot Research - A project from DARPA,
goal of this research is to discover new physics. This
which focuses in the acceleration of quantum dot de-
goal requires identification of rare signals in immense
vice development. Estimated Total Program Funding:
background with the help of machine learning algo-
determined based on project application.
rithm.
United States Military Academy Broad Agency An-
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory was awarded
nouncement - A project from Department of Defense
more than $3.5 million to boost research in the fast-
Department of the Army which focuses in area of gen-
emerging field of Quantum Information Science.
eral Quantum Technologies. Estimated Total Program
Argonne National Laboratory was awarded a total of
Funding: determined based on project application.
$4.15 million for research in quantum computing and National Science Foundation (NSF):
networking, as part of the 2019 Advanced Scientific Quantum Leap Challenge - A project with focus
Computing Research (ASCR) Quantum Computing areas of quantum computation, quantum communi-
and Quantum Network Awards cation, quantum simulation and/or quantum sensing.
Penn State University received $2.75 million in Estimated Total Program Funding: $94,000,000
grants to advance the science of quantum materials at
the mesoscale. The aim of this new $2.75 million Penn F. Impact of National Quantum Computing Initiative
State-led project sponsored by the DoE is a deeper The National Quantum Initiative Act (the Act) fund-
understanding of quantum materials and applying the ing of $1.2 billion was passed by Congress as law in
information to practical technologies. December 2018. The National Quantum Coordination
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was Office of the President of the United States (an Exec-
awarded grants to establish new technologies in quan- utive branch department) will oversee all applications
tum computing. The awards are part of a $37 million for funding under the Act.
DoE research program that will pave the foundations The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) will be
for the development of new quantum information awarding $625 million during the next five years (as
systems and use the existing potential for quantum discussed above) for the recently created quantum
information to advance material and chemical research. information research hubs under the Act [7]. The 5
research hubs will be led by the Department of Energy
C. Government Programs Initiated in 2020 national laboratories - those being: 1) Argonne, 2)
Brookhaven, 3) Fermi, 4) Lawrence Berkeley, and
In early 2020, the U.S government announced an in-
5) Oak Ridge. The research hubs are a collective
crease in the support of quantum computing initiatives
comprised of big tech companies, top research uni-
to address national defense demand and approved a
versities, and other national laboratories. Some of
total of $1.485 billion in QC funding. The Department
the corporations who will participate are Intel Corp.,
of Energy (DoE) Office of Science received $625
Microsoft Corp., Rigetti and Co., ColdQuanta Inc., and
million for National Quantum Information Science
International Business Machines Corp (IBM).
Research Centers. The White House recommended
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has
an additional $860 million for quantum computing
launched the Quantum Leap Challenges Institute pro-
research over the next two years. The collaboration of
gram under the Act and will award $75 million for
government programs like these will address quantum
three new institutes which will be focusing on solving
communication, computing, applications, and devices.
a few major challenges in quantum information science
The goal of these U.S. based programs is to acceler- and engineering.
ate research and development of quantum computing The three new institutes [27] are:
to maintain quantum advantage and remain the leading
• Institute for Enhanced Sensing and Distribution
innovators globally.
Using Correlated States
A selection of U.S government grants for 2020 • Institute for Hybrid Quantum Architecture and
quantum projects are listed below: Networks
• Institute for Present and Future Quantum Com-
D. Department of Energy (DoE) puting
Quantum Information Science Research for Fusion These institutes are partnering with 16 academic
Energy Sciences - A project in Fusion Energy Sciences institutions, 8 national laboratories, and 22 industry
7
partners all of which have been pre-selected. The Potential grants identified using a search criteria
idea is that through this integration of prospective will be catalogued on a “short list” and then analyzed
and shared resources across these many disciplines for applicability to Seidenberg after performing a re-
the fertile ground needed to achieve a breakthrough is view and report of the “Funding Opportunity Descrip-
created which in turn re-establishes the United States tion” (e.g. Grant Objectives), “Eligibility Information”
as the forerunner in Quantum Technology well into the (e.g. Eligibility Standards), and “Application and Sub-
future. mission Information” (e.g. Pre-Application Require-
Even though it is the case today that most of ments”) for the grant as published in the supporting
these awarded funds are going to the well-established FOA (Funding Opportunity Announcement).
players in the research community of the United
B. Execution and Selection Criteria
States, it should not discourage Seidenberg. Quantum
technology and the related research investments by the The search criteria being deployed for research cen-
U.S. government are still in their infancy and it is ters around four basic “Keywords” being using in the
more important for Seidenberg to get established early Basic Search: Quantum Computing (QC), Quantum
with some awards now in order to become a recurring Information Science (QIS), Quantum Physics (QP)
participant in the decade to follow. and Mathematical Sciences (MS). After executing
the initial database search using these 4 keywords
G. Other Recent Trends and Events along with additional filters to produce only open
Today’s InfoSec security is largely dependent on se- grants (Forecast or Posted) with eligibility restricted
cure encryption methodologies that protect commerce, to Private Institutions of Higher Education the output
banking, healthcare, and utility infrastructure sectors. produced 935 initial leads (QIS- 482, MS-293, QP-93,
In a post-quantum era these encryption safeguards QC-67).
may be vulnerable or even rendered useless, thus
exposing sensitive data to a level of unacceptable
risk. While quantum computing may give rise to a
significant improvement in AI’s capability, or dramat-
ically shorten the development time of new drugs,
the same technology can pose a serious threat to the
public key cryptography that protects the credentials
and communications of the financial and industrial
applications that power modern society. [9]
Quantum-safe algorithms, quantum random num-
ber generation, quantum key distribution and crypto-
agile implementations may all be a path forward to Fig. 9. Results of Queries of Active Grants research from Grants.gov
transition the current security provisions into a post-
quantum world. However, InfoSec professionals need Before inclusion to the “Short List” the study will
to be prepared to adopt and respond to these radical identify the grants that appear to best fit Seiden-
transformations lest risking the damage of a failed berg’s institutional strengths, educational capabilities
security model in the decade ahead. and preferences and supply a functional hyperlink to
the corresponding FOA so a historical record and
V. M ETHODOLOGY deeper analysis can be performed by a larger team
of decision makers before final selection.
A. Team Process, Milestone, Objectives
Key to having an efficient filtering from initial
This study’s review of federal grants awarded since extract to final “short list” will be establishing a clear
2019 has identified some trends that will be analyzed set of attributes that Seidenberg has today or will
and explored more fully as potential opportunities for possess in the future which will define them as a
Seidenberg. The goal is to pick certain grant channels credible applicant to any federal grant in quantum
and then use a “golden source” for exploring all U.S. computing. For example, the Literature Review found
Federal Grants closed and open to applicants. The that NSF funded research had one significant predictor
“golden source” chosen was a web portal maintained of proposal success which was the published research
by the U.S. Federal Government called “Grants.Gov”. of the principal investigator. A strength of Seidenberg
URL - www.grants.gov is that we have two candidate principal investigators,
The goal is to find credible opportunities in this fed- Dr Tappert and Dr Cha, who have more than 5,000
eral database that may be opportunities for Seidenberg publication citations each in their Google Scholar
in one of three funding levels (up to $50k, $50k-$500k, profile.
and $500k or greater). Since the federal database
contains all disciplines, and all federal agencies, this C. Other Considerations
study will leverage the filtering capabilities of this Additional funding sources may be explored to
portal to produce grant candidates for further analysis. identify non-federal opportunities for Seidenberg. This
8analysis will consider Pace University’s overall stand- with Seidenberg and unequaled by any adversary.
ing as a major educational institute in the NYC-Metro In every way possible, the study will evaluate the
area and evaluate the requirements for applying to NY probability of success in using one or several of these
State for inclusion in the COE (Centers of Excellence) attributes in a grant application since that could be the
or CAT (Center for Advanced Technology) programs differentiating factor that leads to a successful award
which could bring both recognition and additional for Seidenberg.
funding to Seidenberg in the future. Some of the macro attributes we have analyzed are:
Another alternative funding source channel to be • Pace’s strategy location in NYC and Westchester
explored for Seidenberg will be co-partner applications • Pace’s corporate alliances with NYC HDQR com-
with other universities (e.g. Norfolk State University panies
or other HBCU institutions) and leveraging a collab- • Pace’s media accolades from “Inside the Actors
oration or co-branding with corporate partners such Studio”
as IBM. Sharing the application status with a viable • Pace’s linkage with NYC Mayors Office (across
partner which enhances the chance for award success the street)
is a credible strategy to achieve the desired outcomes • Pace’s access to NYC-STEM schools
for the customer. • Pace’s ability to replicate the NYC-PENCIL pro-
gram
VI. R ESULTS
• Pace’s alliance with IBM and the IBM-Watson
A. Decision Making Process Lab
The plan for a final deliverable to the customer in- • CSIS direct connection to Verizon
cludes the selection of two (2) grants where Seidenberg • CSIS faculty expertise in
can be a viable applicant and the development of a CS/IS/QIS/Cybersecurity
business case that addresses the filing requirements for • CSIS PhD program candidates who can be “am-
each of those 2 grants. The initial information obtained bassadors”
from the customer and the Federal grant database has Guarding against an adversary’s action in govern-
identified those grants as being from the National Sci- ment grant situations is difficult because unlike other
ence Foundation (NSF) and their potential application competitive activities a grant application is a static
universe would have Seidenberg in competition with event largely governed by the sponsor with no dis-
many institutions that could be defined as adversaries closure given to competitive applicants in the interest
on many levels. of fairness. Therefore, the best strategy needs to be
The NSF grants under consideration for application the 1st strategy since the process is not fluid and an
take the form of a Math Conference Grant (which is option to recast a bid probably doesn’t exist unless it
a one-time award usual with a modestly small value) draws the interest of the grantor. In that latter case,
and a SMART Pipeline – Quantum Computing Talent the granting agencies have been known to introduce
Grant (a multi-year award that can be valued up to or different proposers to each other and ask for a new
greater than $1 million in total). proposal that is collaborative..
With the understanding that competition for these
awards is fierce and Seidenberg is a skills producer C. Math Conference Grant
of knowledge workers located in the World’s financial This NSF grant will only require the approval of
capital (New York City), this study plan will develop one sponsor given the limited funding value and term
an application strategy to leverage the strengths and associated with it – value $50,000 or less and term
highlight attributes that clearly differentiate Seidenberg of 1 year. Multiple year renewals may be available to
from adversaries. an applicant and this type of grant lends itself well
Key to success will be to articulate in a compelling to the macro attributes Seidenberg has available to
manner the Project Objective, Intellectual Merit and them as an educational institute. A summary page with
Broader Impact our Seidenberg initiative will deliver the Project Objective, Intellectual Merit and Broader
to the NSF Grant Sponsor. Impact statements for this grant (NSF 16-550) is
included as an addendum to this report.
B. Differentiating Factors This is the easiest type of grant to get: only one
In developing the business case approach for these 2 person at National Science Foundation is needed to
grants it is recognized there are obvious strengths the approve if the budget is less than $50 K. This is
customer has in the form of established QC programs, a one-shot funding that can be repeated every year.
faculty expertise and overall academic reputation. All Advantage that can exploited: researchers worldwide
of these will be explored and exploited as part of love a professional expense reason for travel to NYC.
the grant applications. These attributes are organic to
Seidenberg. D. SMART Pipeline – Quantum Computing Talent
However, less measurable but still evident are the This NSF grant is a multi-year effort with a goal to
macro attributes which could be uniquely associated design and deliver a pedagogy, slides, curricula, and
9test ideas on students and teachers from a high school not read spreadsheets in MS Excel versions higher than
environment to validate the quality and effectiveness 5.0, so the proposed budget must be saved in version
of the class materials. Applications for this grant will 5.0 when submitted. It needs to be appropriate for
be subjected to multiple reviews and approvals by the the scope of work and in line with program norms of
sponsor and the related value of this grant reflects both the granting agency - the Research Office recommends
the development time and level of precision needed to examining the abstracts of prior winning proposals of
deliver an acceptable product to the NSF. that granter and they encourage asking the program
Applicants with established programs in Quantum office for direction on customary allowances if not
Computing, Mathematical Sciences, Quantum Infor- already covered in the Allowable Cost Policy. The
mation Science or Quantum Physics are the best can- budget categories identified on the Microsoft Excel
didates for this award. The value of this 3-year award spreadsheet must meet the criteria of the Allowable
will approximate $1 million. Cost Policy For Federal Grants [19] for categories
Seidenberg has a successful record of using past such as the cost of personnel (for example, the sum-
and current grants to teach cybersecurity camp to mer salary for faculty, and/or hiring students/staff),
high school students and high school teachers in the research supplies, equipment, travel, participant incen-
summer. It does this as part of its National Security tives/payment, and funds for disseminating the results
Agency & Department of Homeland Security funding of the work.
as a Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. When the project involves a partnership that spans
Similar to the 1 year Math Conference Award, the different universities, list a sub-award as part of our
macro attributes uniquely available to Seidenberg can proposal budget as a mechanism for providing funds
become differentiating factors in successfully obtain- to the outside collaborator(s) to cover their research
ing this award and some, or all, of them will be con- costs (e.g., summer salary, personnel, other research
sidered for inclusion in the related business case that expenses). The school can also be the sub-awardee
will support the proposed application by Seidenberg. on a proposal in which another institution is the lead.
Whomever is the lead organization, it’s budget will
E. Project Summary Page as per guidelines of NSF include a fee to supervise the sub-awardees, as this is
Each granting agency has a proprietary style and additional staff labor.
policy guide. The one for the National Science Foun-
dation asks for a one page summary that contains three B. Indirect Costs / Overhead - Facilities & Adminis-
subjects: trative Costs
A summary page for the requests for proposal Indirect Costs or Overhead, (also called Facilities
is required and the initial draft of these one page and Administrative costs) must be included in the
documents for each of the two proposals are included budget to cover the university’s expenses incurred
as addendum to this report. These one page documents for projects. Pace’s federally approved, pre-negotiated
are loaded into the FastLane system of NSF and then indirect rate is 71.5% (30% for off-site rate), which
the three paragraphs are sliced out by NSF and sent to has been agreed upon with the federal government,
different panels to compete with other paragraphs in and is calculated ONLY on salary and wages (and
that same subject. For example, the Intellectual Merit not on other expenses, such as equipment, participant
paragraph will be reviewed and graded against other incentives, travel, etc.). In NSF, NIH, DHS, HHS
Intellectual Merit paragraphs without the context of the grant proposals, as federal government proposals, Pace
preceding Project Objective paragraph or the following always includes the full indirect rate in the proposals
Broader Impact paragraph. So the document needs to as per the guidance in the Facilities and Administrative
stand with all three paragraphs in a one page summary, Cost Policy [18].
and also each paragraph needs to make sense by itself. The negotiations that Pace University has engaged
Reviewing: in the Appendix is this one page document in to decide the Indirect Costs/Overhead percentage
for each grant, containing: conclude with a letter from that agency that covers the
• Project Objective time period and the approved percentage.An example
• Intellectual Merit of such a letter is at Figure 10. A state university, such
• Broader Impact as our potential partner, Norfolk State University, a
designated Historically Black College and Univesity
VII. PACE B UDGET P OLICY AND D EFINITIONS
(HBCU), who is receiving additional funding through
A. Allowable Cost Policy For Federal Grants [19] their state government, has a smaller percentage agreed
The Pace Research Office outlines the criteria for for their budget. Pace Research Office posts the per-
the budget that must be submitted initially with the centage on their website page [17].
grant proposal clearance form and then updated as de-
tails become more clear. National Science Foundation C. University Distribution Policy on Indirect Costs
specifies the budget format as MS Excel and explains The funds that are received from external funding
in their guidelines that the NSF FastLane computer can and marked as Indirect Costs/Overhead are then dis-
10the academic year, up to a maximum of 3/9ths for
the three summer months. The fringe benefits need to
be calculated at the full-time faculty rate of 8.44%
faculty summer salary and the overhead indirect costs
need to be calculated at the indirect rate of 71.5%
(30% for off-site work). Summer Salary calculation at
Figure 12 illustrates partially how the Summer Salary
is calculated.
Fig. 12. Summer Salary with Fringe Benefits, still needing the
Indirect Costs [19] [18]
Fig. 10. Indirect Costs Negotiation Decision [19] [18]
VIII. E VALUATION C RITERIA
The universe of government grants and private cor-
tributed according to the university distribution policy,
porate funding programs far exceeds most educational
which for 2020-2021 is:
institute’s ability to apply for these awards, includ-
• 50% to the Deans based on total earned by each
ing Pace University’s Seidenberg School, therefore, a
school (of which 5% is to be allocated to the PI); key to success is narrowing the population of grants
• 25% to University’s General Fund budget;
available into focal points that align to academic
• 25% to the Provost.
priorities and timelines. The Seidenberg customer has
Fringe benefits are different from indirect costs and prioritized Mathematical Sciences, Quantum Comput-
also must be included in the budget. Fringe covers the ing and Robotics as areas of high-interest and where
costs of benefits such as social security, retirement, practicable grants addressing post-Covid academic so-
health care, etc. Fringe benefits are considered direct lutions in these 3 disciplines would be preferable
costs. All requests for salary in a budget should include for the customer. Open dialogue produced a short-
the fringe benefits. The current 2021 fringe benefit rate list of choices which were arbitrated decisively by the
is as follows: customer so the study could move forward confidently
• 30.28% full-time faculty / staff; and quickly with the development of ideas, conceptual
• 14.32% part-time faculty / staff; solutions, application content and the requisite cite
• 0.79% students; references that could produce a competitive application
• 8.44% faculty summer salary. for Seidenberg.
The Sample Budget at Figure 11 illustrates how the The final selection consisted of 3 grant concepts
Fringe Benefits and Indirect Costs work. which appear as Appendixes to this paper and which
addressed Seidenberg’s topical priorities and could
support both government and corporate proposals (3 x
2 = 6 total possible grant proposals): (1) a multi-year
proposal for developing capacity in and researching
Quantum Computing (2) a short-term IEEE Covid-
19 Computer Mathematics Conference, and a (3) a
multi-year proposal for development of a pedagogy
and laboratory build-out for Robotics.
IX. S IX P ROPOSALS FOR S EIDENBERG
This study research has led to six potential proposals
Fig. 11. Sample Budget with Fringe Benefits and Indirect Costs.
that could be sent forward for socializing in one-page
[19] [18] [17] summaries with the budget spreadsheet and Grant Pro-
posal Clearance Form to gain approval to start working
There is a different calculation for Summer Salary on the best ones with the assistance of the Pace Office
of Full-Time Faculty who normally work a 9-month of Research. Each proposal can be submitted to both
year. This calculation is based on Pace’s academic corporate and federal sponsors. See Figure 13 for the
year, which is also its fiscal year, so the salary rate concept of these 6 grants.
will be the one as of 1 September of that academic It is clear from the research and analysis that grants
year. One month’s salary is 1/9th of that salary for like these can continue to serve an integral role in the
11Investigator. Each of the narratives need budgets that
are reasonable and fit the two policies of the Pace
Research Office, the Allowable Cost Policy for Federal
Grants [19], and the Facilities and Administrative
Costs Policy [18] - the latter is the policy on Indirect
Costs, commonly called “Overhead”.
The strategic recommendation for Seidenberg ad-
dresses the need to replicate this study’s contributions
in the months that follow with a voracity to achieve
award success, especially upon entering a post-Covid
period where public safety and social policy are center
Fig. 13. Six Potential Proposals stage.
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