News & Announcements

NSF Attempting to Expand International Scientific Collaborations With SAVI

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is attempting to expand international scientific collaborations with SAVI (Science Across Virtual Institutes), a new program that will provide funding for a number of different international activities. The program is designed primarily to catalyze international collaborative activities with the expectation that funds from NSF investments and international support can be leveraged to significant advances in science and engineering, and for workforce development.

Although the name of the program suggests that these collaborations would only occur in the "virtual" world, the more detailed description includes opportunities for closer interactions. In particular, one goal of the program is to have US students and junior researchers spend time abroad doing research with their international collaborators, and vice versa. Workshops and other meetings are also possible.

Three pilot programs were used as a basis for SAVI, one of which involved mathematical and statistical sciences. The Virtual Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (VI-MSS) involves two institutes (the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM) and the Statistical and Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI)) funded by the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) with multiple research institutes in India, including the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Chennai Math Institute (CMI), Institute of Mathematical Sciences Chennai (IMSC) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

NSF funding can only be used for the US component of the collaboration. Collaborators in other countries would be expected to get support from their own science foundation or their institution. For more information about the program, and for a SAVI Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), go to the SAVI website at www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/savi/index.jsp.