SRC Proposals for STARSS

Ready to submit a proposal? Read the guide.

Overview

Welcome to the SRC information for submitting proposals to Secure, Trustworthy, Assured and Resilient Semiconductors and Systems (STARSS), a joint program of the Semiconductor Research Corporation and the National Science Foundation. At the bottom of this page is a description of the goals of this program and the research topics of interest. See also: NSF information about STARSS.

After becoming familiar with the description of desired research, if you wish to submit a proposal, first submit your proposal to NSF, and then follow these steps to submit the same proposal to SRC. In summary:

  1. Submit your proposal to NSF, and save the PDF file that you receive from NSF FastLane.
  2. Obtain a proposal ID from SRC (this will be different from the NSF proposal ID).
  3. Generate a cover page for your proposal.
  4. Prepare your proposal by creating a PDF file with the signed SRC proposal cover page incorporated with the NSF proposal as submitted.
  5. Upload your completed SRC proposal PDF.

Please note the following points about this particular solicitation:

  • Only U.S. universities are eligible.
  • To be considered, proposals must be submitted to both NSF and SRC.
  • SRC proposals may be submitted beginning November 1, 2017. 
  • SRC proposals must be submitted to SRC no later than November 15, 2017, 5:00 pm EST. 
  • The proposal submission windows are virtually identical for NSF and SRC.
  • Allow enough time in your planning for separate submissions to NSF and SRC.

STARSS Secure, Trustworthy, Assured and Resilient Semiconductors and Systems

About STARSS

STARSS is a joint effort of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC). In order to be considered for funding under STARSS, a proposal must be submitted to both NSF and SRC according to each organization’s proposal and submission guidelines. It is expected that, at a minimum, the project summary, project description, and budget, will be identical in the proposals submitted separately to NSF and SRC. Certain documentation/information specific to each organization is required. Please see: NSF information about STARSS and SRC instructions for STARSS proposals.

Research Topics

STARSS is focused on research on Design for Assurance. Specifically, STARSS will support research to develop designs, analysis strategies, processes and tools for secure, trustworthy, reliable and privacy-preserving chips, systems, computing and communications, with the aim of decreasing the likelihood of unintended behavior or access, increasing resistance and resilience to tampering, and improving the ability to provide authentication throughout the supply chain and in the field.

The following topics are representative of relevant research areas:

  • Architecture and design. Approaches, models and frameworks for reasoning about and specifying hardware-specific security properties. These design and architecture approaches should not be studied in isolation; the impact of security at the level of circuits and processors must be understood in terms of system-wide functionality, performance, and power goals.
  • Principles, properties and metrics. Hardware security design principles and semiconductor-specific properties. Security metrics for evaluating or comparing designs, and that are extensible and potentially useful for privacy composition or for providing trust evidence at the system level.
  • Verification. Tools, techniques, and methodologies for verifying hardware-specific security properties and enforcing security design principles. Innovative approaches to establish safety properties without knowing all aspects of the design, and thereby providing strong provable assurance. Approaches to increase automation of security verification and analysis.
  • Embedded software and firmware. Strategies and techniques to reduce vulnerabilities in embedded software and firmware, and for providing updates to address known vulnerabilities discovered after deployment in the field.
  • Authentication and attestation. Models for the insertion of artifacts or design elements that are verifiable during design and throughout the life cycle. Supporting issues, such as the generation, protection and establishment of trust models for hardware-implemented keys, are also of interest.

STARSS provides an opportunity for close collaboration with SRC industry members. When considering topics for research, proposers are encouraged to review past awards made by the STARSS activity and identify areas that are within the technical scope and not already the subject of study. Proposals in areas not already covered by prior projects are particularly encouraged. To find past STARSS awards, go to http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch and search for "STARSS."

Questions regarding STARRS research topics, or SRC policies and guidelines should be addressed to Scott List, (919-941-9471).

For questions regarding the particulars of the online submission process, contact the SRC proposal administrator.

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