The “Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains” Research Grant supports interdisciplinary research on building resilient and secure semiconductor supply chains – a topic that intersects with national security, technology policy, and leadership.
Invite proposals from graduate students conducting research on semiconductors and/or semiconductor supply chains. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Cybersecurity vulnerabilities in global supply chains
- Semiconductor design and innovation
- Semiconductor supply chain (in)security and resilience
- Regulatory and policy challenges associated with securing supply chains for critical technologies
- Geopolitics of semiconductor manufacturing and trade
This grant will support direct research expenses, which may include research materials, travel for field research or training, data acquisition, undergraduate or graduate research assistantships, hardware and/or software, etc. Ineligible expenses include publication fees, faculty and/or Cornell staff salaries, travel costs for caregivers, computers/equipment typically provided by faculty advisors or labs, and training.
Applications Open: April 1, 2025
Due Date: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis
Eligibility:
- This grant is open to all Cornell students and faculty (including those completing terminal degrees) with research interests that align with the topics listed above
- Applicants can submit proposals as teams of 2-3 co-PIs. Research groups may submit one application per round.
- Teams may include members from outside of Cornell, but the primary PI must remain at Cornell for the duration of the award.
Funding Amount: Maximum award of $10,000.
Duration: May 2025 – May 2026
Application Process
All applications must submit the following information:
- Name, department, collegial affiliation of PI and all co-PIs (maximum 3)
- CVs (maximum 3 pages) of PI and all co-PIs
- Advisor(s) name and a brief letter indicating that the advisor has reviewed and approved the project
- Proposal title
- IRB attestation, if applicable
- Budgetary proposal (details below)
- Research proposal (details below)
Proposal Guidelines
Research Proposals should be maximum five pages in length, double-spaced, and include the following:
- 250 – 500 word research abstract highlighting project’s main research questions, goals, methods, etc.
- A comprehensive description of the research project, including details about the research design and methodology
- Intended research outputs, including publications in scholarly journals, conference presentations, etc.
Budgetary Proposal
Budgetary information should be maximum 1 page in length, double-spaced, with the following details:
- Total dollar amount requested, maximum of $10,000
- List of the individual expenses and explanation of each expense
- Timeline for use of funds
- Funding status – if you have secured or anticipate alternative funding for the proposed project, please provide a brief description of the source, amount, timeline, and intended use of the funds.
Review Process
Applications will be evaluated on the basis of their novelty, feasibility, and relevance to the topics of semiconductor supply chain resilience and cybersecurity. Each research project application will be reviewed by a team of faculty members and graduate research fellows from Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute.
Awardee Requirements
All successful applicants will be required to submit a white paper for publication through Brooks Tech Policy Institute upon the completion of the research project. We ask that you please acknowledge BTPI in any research publications or presentations: “This research was supported by a Brooks Tech Policy Institute grant.
All application materials can be submitted to Brooks Tech Policy Institute at btpi@cornell.edu with the subject line ‘Semiconductor 2025 Grant Application.’
Questions?
Email the Brooks Tech Policy Center (btpi@cornell.edu)