The following are current and recent program solicitations from relevant NSF funding directorates and other funding entities:
1. Program Title:Dimensions of Biodiversity
Synopsis of Program:The Dimensions of Biodiversity initiative seeks to characterize biodiversity on Earth by using integrative, innovative approaches to fill rapidly the most substantial gaps in our understanding of the diversity of life on Earth. This campaign will take a broad view of biodiversity, and in its initial phase will focus on the integration of genetic, taxonomic, and functional dimensions of biodiversity. Successful proposals should integrate these three dimensions to understand interactions and feedbacks among them. While this focus complements several core NSF programs, it differs by requiring that multiple dimensions of biodiversity be addressed simultaneously, in innovative or novel ways, to understand the roles of biodiversity in critical ecological and evolutionary processes.
Despite centuries of discovery, most of our planet's biodiversity remains unknown. The scale of the unknown diversity on Earth is especially troubling given the rapid and permanent loss of biodiversity across the globe. With this loss, humanity is losing links in the web of life that provide ecosystem services, forfeiting an understanding of the history and future of the living world, and eliminating future beneficial discoveries in the domains of food, fiber, fuel, pharmaceuticals, and bio-inspired innovation. This reality has stimulated a campaign to characterize key but little knowndimensions of biodiversity on Earth.
By 2020, the Dimensions of Biodiversitycampaign is expected to have transformed how we describe and understand the scope and role of life on Earth. Thecampaign promotes novel, integratedapproaches to identify and understand the evolutionary and ecological significance of the dimensions, of biodiversity amidst the changing environment of the present day and in the geologic past.
Estimated Number of Awards: 30 -- Awards are contingent on availability of funds and quality of proposals in each competition.
Anticipated Funding Amount:$20,000,000 -- Up to $20,000,000 available in Fiscal Year 2010 with individual or collaborative projects not to exceed $3,000,000 (not including costs of facilities or ship time) over a 5-year duration. In FY2010 international research coordination network projects involving US and Chinese investigators will be funded at a level of up to $750,000 for 5 years with up to 50% of this amount expected to come from NSF-China.
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2. Program Title:Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC)
Synopsis of Program:One of the most urgent challenges facing the world today is ensuring an adequate supply and quality of water in light of both burgeoning human needs and climate variability and change. Despite its importance to life on Earth, there are major gaps in our basic understanding of water availability, quality and dynamics, and the impact of both a changing and variable climate, and human activity, on the water system. The goal of the Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) solicitation is to understand and predict the interactions between the water system and climate change, land use, the built environment, and ecosystem function and services through place-based research and integrative models. Studies of the water system using observations at specific sites in combination with models that allow for spatial and temporal extrapolation to other regions, as well as integration across the different processes in that system are encouraged, especially to the extent that they advance the development of theoretical frameworks and predictive understanding. Specific topics of interest include:
-Determining the inputs, outputs, and potential changes in water budgets in response to both climate variability and change, and human activity, and the effect of these changes on biogeochemical cycles, water quality, long-term chemical transport and transformation, terrestrial, aquatic and coastal ecosystems, landscape evolution and human settlements and behavior.
-Developing theoretical frameworks and models that incorporate the linkages and feedbacks among atmospheric, terrestrial, aquatic, oceanic, and social processes that can be used to predict the potential impact of climate variability and change, land use and human activity on water systems on decadal to centennial scales in order to provide a basis for adaptive management of water resources.
-Determining how our built water systems and our governance systems can be made more reliable, resilient and sustainable to meet diverse and often conflicting needs, such as minimizing consumption of water for energy generation, industrial and agricultural production and built environment requirements, reuse for both potable and non-potable needs, ecosystem protection, and flood control and storm water management.
Proposals may establish new observational sites or utilize existing sites and facilities already supported by NSF or other federal and state agencies (e.g. USEPA, USGS). Proposals that do not broadly integrate across the biological sciences, engineering, geosciences, and social sciences may be returned without review. Successful proposals are expected to study water systems in their entirety and to enable a new interdisciplinary paradigm in water research.
Estimated Number of Awards: 8 to 14 Estimated Number of Awards: Three categories of awards are anticipated for this solicitation. Category 1 Awards: Small exploratory or incubation grants to develop teams, identify sites, hold workshops and develop plans for establishment or operation of a study site. These will be 1-2 years in duration for up to $150,000. Category 2 Awards: Place-based observational and modeling studies, up to 5 years in duration and for a maximum of $5 million for each award, Category 3 Awards: Synthesis and integration grants that will only use existing data to integrate and synthesize across sites, 3-5 years in duration and for a maximum of $1.5 million for each award. An estimated 3-5 awards are expected to be made for Category 1 proposals, 2-3 awards for Category 2 proposals and 3-5 awards for Category 3 proposals.
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3. Program Title:Human and Social Dynamics (HSD)
Synopsis of Program:The Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) priority area fosters breakthroughs in understanding the dynamics of human action and development, as well as knowledge about organizational, cultural, and societal adaptation and change. HSD aims to increase our collective ability to (1) understand the complexities of change; (2) understand the dynamics of human and social behavior at all levels, including that of the human mind; (3) understand the cognitive and social structures that create, define, and result from change; and (4) manage profound or rapid change, and make decisions in the face of changing risks and uncertainty. Accomplishing these goals requires multidisciplinary research teams and comprehensive, interdisciplinary approaches across the sciences, engineering, education, and humanities, as appropriate.
The FY 2008 competition will include three emphasis areas (Agents of Change; Dynamics of Human Behavior; and Decision Making, Risk and Uncertainty). HSD encourages projects investigating complexity and systems thinking, with a goal of revealing the emergent properties of dynamic systems. HSD also encourages projects identifying human drivers of environmental change and exploring the consequences of environmental change on humans. Such research is central in equipping us to handle the most pressing environmental problems for our nation and the world.
Estimated Number of Awards: 30 to 40 (Approximately 4 to 6 Type 2 awards and 25 to 30 Type 1 awards.)
Anticipated Funding Amount:$30,000,000 (Approximately $6,250,000 expected for Type 2 Full Research awards with maximum award sizes of $1,250,000; and the remainder for Type 1 Full Research awards with maximum award sizes of $750,000.) These estimates are subject to the availability of funds and the quality of proposals submitted.
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4. Program Title:Community-based Data Interoperability Networks (INTEROP)
Synopsis of Program:Digital data are increasingly both the products of research and the starting point for new research and education activities. The ability to re-purpose data – to use it in innovative ways and combinations not envisioned by those who created the data – requires that it be possible to find and understand data of many types and from many sources. Interoperability (the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged) is fundamental to meeting this requirement. This NSF crosscutting program supports community efforts to provide for broad interoperability through the development of mechanisms such as robust data and metadata conventions, ontologies, and taxonomies. Support is provided for Data Interoperability Networks that will be responsible for consensus-building activities and for providing the expertise necessary to turn the consensus into technical standards with associated implementation tools and resources. Examples of the former are community workshops, web resources such as community interaction sites, and task groups. Examples of the latter are information sciences, software development, and ontology and taxonomy design and implementation.
Estimated Number of Awards: 10 - Approximately 10 awards in each of the fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010 subject to the quality of proposals received and pending the availability of funds
Anticipated Funding Amount:$250,000 - Awards may be up to $250,000 total costs per year for three to five years.
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5. Program Title:Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH)
Synopsis of Program:The Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems competition promotes quantitative, interdisciplinary analyses of relevant human and natural system processes and complex interactions among human and natural systems at diverse scales.
Estimated Number of Awards: 7 to 12
Anticipated Funding Amount:$9,000,000 This total is for awards to be made annually, pending availability of funds.
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6. Program Title:Virtual Organizations as Sociotechnical Systems (VOSS)
Synopsis of Program:A virtual organization is a group of individuals whose members and resources may be dispersed geographically, but who function as a coherent unit through the use of cyberinfrastructure. Virtual organizations are increasingly central to the science and engineering projects funded by the National Science Foundation. Focused investments in sociotechnical analyses of virtual organizations are necessary to harness their full potential and the promise they offer for discovery and learning.
The Virtual Organizations as Sociotechnical Systems (VOSS) program supports fundamental scientific research, particularly advances in social, organizational and design science understanding, directed at advancing the understanding of how to develop virtual organizations and under what conditions virtual organizations can enable and enhance scientific, engineering, and education production and innovation. Levels of analysis may include (but are not limited to) individuals, groups, organizations, and institutional arrangements. Disciplinary perspectives may include (but are not limited to) anthropology, complexity sciences, computer and information sciences, decision and management sciences, economics, engineering, organization theory, organizational behavior, social and industrial psychology, public administration, political science and sociology. Research methods may span a broad variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, including (but not limited to): ethnographies, surveys, simulation studies, experiments, comparative case studies, and network analyses.
VOSS funded research must be grounded in theory and rooted in empirical methods. It must produce broadly applicable and transferable results that augment knowledge and practice of virtual organizations as a modality. VOSS does not support proposals that aim to implement or evaluate individual virtual organizations.
Estimated Number of Awards: 8 to 18 New Awards
Anticipated Funding Amount:$3,000,000 Pending the availability of funds and quality of proposals, award sizes are expected to range from $50,000 to $400,000 in total costs (including indirect costs) for the period of the grant with durations up to three years.
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7. Program Title:Research on Gender in Science and Engineering FY 2010 (GSE)
Synopsis of Program: The Research on Gender in Science and Engineering program supports efforts to understand and address gender-based differences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce participation through research, the diffusion of research-based innovations, and extension services in education that will lead to a larger and more diverse domestic science and engineering workforce. Typical projects will contribute to the knowledge base addressing gender-related differences in learning and in the educational experiences that affect student interest, performance, and choice of careers; how pedagogical approaches and teaching styles, curriculum, student services, and institutional culture contribute to causing or closing gender gaps that persist in certain fields. Projects will communicate and apply findings, evaluation results, and proven good practices and products to a wider community.
The Research on Gender in Science and Engineering program has been funding these objectives since 1993, under the prior names "Program for Women and Girls" (PWG), "Program for Gender Equity in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology" (PGE), and "Gender Diversity in STEM Education" (GDSE). The program continues to seek to broaden the participation of girls and women in all fields of STEM education, but also considers gender more broadly to include research and diffusion activities focused on men and boys who are underrepresented in STEM fields.
Estimated Number of Awards: 15 to 22 GSE grants per year; a mix of Research Awards, Diffusion of Research-based Innovations Awards (of all types), and Extension Services Awards. Research grants may be up to 3 years. Diffusion of Research-based Innovations grants may be from 1-5 years depending on the type (Pilot, Scale Up or Dissemination). Pilot projects may be from 1-3 years. Scale Up projects may be from 3-5 years. Dissemination projects may be from 1-3 years. Extension Services grants are for five years, with years 4 and 5 depending on performance. Up to 10 continuing awards will be made in this Innovation through Institutional Integration (I3) competition, pending availability of funds.
Anticipated Funding Amount:$5,000,000 for new grants in all GSE tracks, pending availability of funds. $5,500,000 for Innovation through Institutional Integration (I3) projects across multiple EHR programs, pending the availability of funds
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8. Program Title:Digital Society and Technologies (DST)
Synopsis of Program: The future and well-being of the Nation depend on the effective integration of Information Technologies (IT) into its various enterprises and social fabric. Information Technologies are designed, used and have consequences in a number of social, economic, legal, ethical and cultural contexts. With the rise of unprecedented new technologies (e.g., smart homes, shop-bots, pedagogical agents, wearable computers, personal robots, multi-agent systems, sensors, grids, knowledge environments) and their increasing ubiquity in oursocial and economic lives, large-scale social, economic and scientific transformations are predicted. While these transformations are expected to be positive, such achievements are not automatic. Instead, there is general agreement among leading researchers that we have insufficient scientific understanding of the actual scope and trajectory of these socio-technical transformations. We have great difficulty predicting or even clearly assessing social and economic implications and we have limited understanding of the processes by which these transformations occur. Furthermore, we have barely begun to make the critical theoretical and empirical connections among 1)design principles forIT artifacts, 2) the ways in whichIT artifactsbecomeembedded in activities and used in various contexts, 3) their long-term outcomes and consequences, which arefrequently unintended, and 4) finally, the ways in which learning about use and outcomes can feed back into new and better designs. To assure that transformations related to IT serve human needs and are productive for society over the long term, more focused and generalizable scientific studies and related education activities are necessary.
- Estimated Number of Awards: 35
- Anticipated Funding Amount: $7,000,000
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9. Program Title:Urban Long-Term Research Area (ULTRA) Exploratory Awards (ULTRA-Ex)
Synopsis of Program: The Urban Long-Term Research Areas: Exploratory Research Projects (ULTRA-Ex) competition will provide support to enable teams of scientists and practitioners to conduct interdisciplinary research on the dynamic interactions between people and natural ecosystems in urban settings in ways that will advance both fundamental and applied knowledge.
Estimated Number of Awards: 16 A total of 16 awards, with each receiving $150,000 per year for two years, are expected.
Anticipated Funding Amount:$4,800,000
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10. Program Title:Environmental Synthesis Center (ESC)
Synopsis of Program: This solicitation will establish a new environmental synthesis center to stimulate research, education and outreach at the interface of the biological, geological, and social sciences. The center will foster synthetic, collaborative, cross-disciplinary efforts to understand and predict the complex interactions among ecological populations, communities and ecosystems, the geophysical environment, and human actions and decisions that underlie global environmental change. It will play a pivotal role in forecasting adaptive responses to environmental change and understanding sudden shifts in dynamic systems. The center will also directly involve policy makers, managers, and conservation efforts, and educate an informed citizenry. The center will be international in its scope, addressing the most pressing challenges posed by global environmental change. The center represents a new effort, based on NSF's substantial investments in ongoing synthesis activities, and is not intended to extend or duplicate these activities. The Biological Sciences Directorate expects this center to lead the next generation of synthesis activities.
Estimated Number of Awards: 1 One award with a budget up to $6,000,000 per year for up to five years is anticipated, contingent on the quality of proposals received and pending the availability of funds
Anticipated Funding Amount:$30,000,000 Up to $30,000,000 over a five-year period. The initial term of the award is expected to be five years, with the potential for one terminal renewal for an additional five years, subject to performance and availability of funds. Note that the maximum period NSF will support the center is 10 years. We strongly encourage creative thinking about the potential range of activities that might occur at this center and their budgetary needs.