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Call for LOI on Food Security

About the AWS Impact Computing Project at the Harvard Data Science Initiative

The AWS Impact Computing Project at the Harvard Data Science Initiative (HDSI) is an alliance with Amazon Web Services (AWS) aimed at reimagining data science and high performance computing to identify potential solutions for society’s most complex challenges.

The three-year effort will support faculty-led research projects across Harvard. Awards to faculty will be made through sponsored research agreements facilitated by the HDSI and Harvard’s Office for Technology Development.

Summary of Opportunity

The HDSI seeks Letters of Intent (LOIs) from faculty interested in pursuing research that will lead to actionable insights into the causes of and solutions to address food insecurity. For this second round of funding in this subject area, funding of up to $380,000 total direct costs (maximum three-year term) will be made available for a small number of faculty-led projects, and HDSI encourages research proposals having smaller budgets and shorter duration and will look to fund a mixture of project sizes. The deadline to submit a 500-word LOI is September 20, 2023.

Purpose

Projects should identify complex, large-scale, or novel computing or analysis needs, and priority will be given to projects having the potential to drive real-world solutions. This includes, for example, scalable policy solutions, food supply chain improvement, improved climate resilience of crops, better irrigation systems, improved processing and storage solutions, or development of early warning systems for farmers, researchers, and policy makers. These examples are illustrative, and we encourage novel and ambitious proposals on additional topics.

Projects are encouraged that focus on FAO hot-spots and Global Food Security Index weak performers. Please identify stakeholders/communities that will benefit from the research outcomes.

Who is Eligible to Apply for Funding?

This program is open to individuals who (i) hold a faculty appointment at a Harvard school; and (ii) have principal investigator rights at that school. (Please note: Harvard Medical School faculty must hold a faculty appointment with PI rights in one of HMS’s Quad-based, preclinical departments). Other personnel (e.g., co-investigators) must be affiliated with a Harvard school.

Faculty may submit multiple LOIs.

Submission Process and Requirements

Applicants should submit a 500-word Letter of Intent by September 20, 2023.

The Letter of Intent should state the problem, describe sample research questions to be explored, explain why the research could lead to impactful real-world outcomes, and provide a provisional list of the research team including any co-PIs.

LOIs will be reviewed by a joint AWS-HDSI review panel and successful submissions will be invited to submit full proposals by November 10th. Funding is expected to begin in early 2024. Prior to full proposal submission, HDSI and AWS will  confer with faculty leads and potentially suggest revisions to timelines and scope of proposed projects.

How to Submit and LOI

Please submit your LOI as a PDF to datascience@harvard.edu no later than 11:59 p.m. on September 20, 2023 with the subject line “AWS Food Security – Second CFP LOI”. Receipt of your letter will be acknowledged within twenty-four hours. If you do not receive an acknowledgement, please email kevin_doyle@harvard.edu.

LOIs must include the following:

  1. Title of proposed project
  2. Names and affiliations of submitting team (PI and any co-PIs)
  3. Statement of real-world problem that the project addresses
  4. Description of proposed research questions.
  5. Description of implications for real-world solutions that may arise from the research, e.g., scalable policy solutions. We especially encourage proposals that identify stakeholders/communities that will benefit from the research outcomes.
  6. Description of any requirements for large-scale data science, compute-driven modeling, simulation, forecasting, and analytics. Projects should identify complex, large-scale, or novel computing or analysis needs.
  7. Likely uses of funds, and milestones, in broad terms.
  8. Budget and timeline – this should include initial, direct cost estimates only.

Examples of eligible expenses include:

  • Personnel, such as postdocs, research staff, graduate students, undergraduate students
  • Travel (domestic and international)
  • Acquisition of datasets

Graduate student tuition is NOT eligible for funding.

AWS will make available AWS Cloud Credits to support funded research. At this stage, and where possible, please provide an estimate of need.

Please direct any questions to the HDSI Scientific Director, Lawrence Weissbach at lawrence_weissbach@harvard.edu.