Date

Solicitation for Proposals
Navigating the New Arctic
National Science Foundation

Proposal submission deadline: 14 February 2019, 5:00 p.m. submitter’s local time

For more information, go to:
https://nsf.gov/pubs/2019/nsf19511/nsf19511.htm


The National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued a new solicitation for research proposals under the rubric of Navigating the New Arctic, one of the agency’s 10 Big Ideas. The solicitation estimates that – pending the availability of the anticipated funding amount of $30 million – 25 awards will be made.

This solicitation is the first of what is envisioned to be at least a five-year agency-wide program to support the research needed to inform decisions about the economy, security, and resilience of the nation, the larger region, and the globe with respect to Arctic change. NSF anticipates that future calls will further define "larger scope," with the potential to include projects up to the scale of centers and/or consortia.

In 2016, unveiled its set of "Big Ideas", 10 bold, long-term research and process ideas that identify areas for future investment at the frontiers of science and engineering. The Big Ideas represent unique opportunities to position the nation at the cutting-edge of global science and engineering leadership by bringing together diverse disciplinary perspectives to support convergence research. As such, even though proposals to this solicitation must be submitted to the Directorate for Geosciences, once received, they will be managed by a cross-disciplinary team of NSF program directors.

Navigating the New Arctic (NNA), one of NSF's 10 Big Ideas, seeks innovations in Arctic observational networks and fundamental convergence research across the social, natural, environmental, and computing and information sciences, and engineering that address the intersection of natural, social, and built systems. NNA promotes initiatives that empower new research communities, diversifies the next generation of Arctic researchers, integrates the co-production of knowledge, and engages partnerships, particularly among international stakeholders. NNA also strongly encourages projects that include or focus on advancing STEM education and workforce development objectives on the scientific themes described below.

Major goals of NSF's NNA Big Idea include:

  • Improved understanding of Arctic change and its local and global effects that capitalize on innovative and optimized observation infrastructure, advances in understanding of fundamental processes, and new approaches to modeling interactions among the natural environment, built environment, and social systems;
  • New enhanced research communities that are diverse, integrative, and well-positioned to carry out productive research at the intersections of Arctic natural and built environments and social systems; and
  • Research outcomes that inform U.S. national security and economic development needs and enable resilient, sustainable Arctic communities.

The solicitation is aimed at proposals that fall within two tracks:

  • Track 1 supports research activities,
  • Track 2 is dedicated to planning grants to develop convergence research teams to tackle projects of larger scope in the future.

Proposal submission deadline: 14 February 2019, 5:00 p.m. submitter’s local time

For more information, including eligibility information and submission instructions, go to:
https://nsf.gov/pubs/2019/nsf19511/nsf19511.htm