Presenters: Cindy L. Bethel (NSF) and Geoff P. Andersen (AFOSR-International)
Room: Courtyard 2, Time: Wednesday, March 5, 2025 (9:00 am – 12:00 pm)
The Funding Community Session is being held on March 3 rd from 9:00 – 12:30 pm AEST as part of the 20th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction and will focus on Human-Robot Interaction and how it fits into different funding programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) International Group. There will be a presentation regarding Human-Centered Computing (HCC), Foundational Research in Robotics (FRR), and the Mind, Machine, and Motor Nexus (M3X) programs at NSF.
The US Air Force Office of Scientific Research supports basic research internationally through offices in London, Sao Paulo, Chile, and Tokyo. The latter has a satellite office in Melbourne which serves Australia. Our mandate is to seek out novel basic research that aligns with the Air and Space Forces’ science and technology goals and engage with them through site visits, research grants, conferences and scientist exchanges. In this presentation we will detail our operations and provide details of some of our projects and offer advice on how to apply for support.
There will be question and answer time for each of these programs. This is an opportunity to interact with Program Directors Cindy Bethel from NSF and Dr. Geoff Andersen from AFOSR. This is intended to mostly be an interactive community session with discussions and engagement between the HRI community and NSF/AFOSR. Learn more about potential funding opportunities in these programs.
Tentative agenda
(This agenda might be subject to changes based on the needs of the attendees)
09:00 – 09:30: Welcome and Introductions
09:30 – 10:30: Presentation and Q&A on HCC, FRR, and M3X programs
10:30 – 10:45: Break
10:45 – 11:45: Presentation and Q&A on AFOSR Programs
11:45 – 12:00: Discussions with Program Officers
NOTE: We know you may have many questions about what is happening at the federal level of the United States, but we are not able to respond to those types of questions at this time.
Presenter Bios
Cindy L. Bethel, Ph.D. (IEEE and ACM Senior Member) is a Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department and holds the Billie J. Ball Endowed Professorship in Engineering at Mississippi State University (MSU). She is the Director of the MSU Social, Therapeutic, and Robotic Systems (STaRS) lab. From 2020-2022 She served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Computing Research Association. She was an NSF/CRA/CCC Computing Innovation Postdoctoral Fellow in the Social Robotics Laboratory at Yale University. From 2005 – 2008, she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. She graduated in August 2009 with her Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of South Florida. Her research interests include human-robot interaction, human-computer interaction, robotics, artificial intelligence, and cognitive psychology. Her research focuses on robotics applications associated with law enforcement, search and rescue, and military domains.
Dr. Geoff P. Andersen is the Research Director for the Asian Force Office of Aerospace Research and Development (AOARD) Melbourne Office – the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) international branch serving Australia. After earning a Ph.D. in optical physics at the University of Adelaide, Australia, he served over twenty years as a senior researcher and adjunct instructor in the USAF Academy Department of Physics. During that period, he published “The Telescope: Its History Technology and Future”, 20 journal articles and over 50 conference presentations. In 2017, Dr. Andersen joined AFOSR and spent 4 years as Research Director of their Southern Office in Chile. Then in 2021 he returned to the US to take a temporary position as Chief Scientist of the US Space Operations Command and deputy Chief Scientist of the United States Space Force. Since 2022 he has served in his current position which aims to engage with basic research efforts throughout Australia.