1. NSF Day University at Albany State University of New York October 19, 2011 NSF Day University at Albany State University of New York October 19, 2011 NSF Directorate for Geosciences Alex Pszenny Program Director, Atmospheric Chemistry Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences apszenny@nsf.gov

2. NSF Structure and GEO Programs Budget and Proposal Statistics Proposal and Award Process New Funding Opportunities Proposal preparation Outline

3. NSF Structure and GEO Programs

4. National Science Foundation (NSF)  U.S. federal agency created by Congress in1950  Funds research, education, and technological innovation  Annual budget about $6.8 billion (2011)  About 10,000 new awards per year with an average duration of three years  Supporting an average of about 200,000 scientists, engineers, educators and students  About 42,000 new proposals and 50,000 reviewers/ panelists per year  NSF-funded researchers have won >180 Nobel Prizes ( http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/mmg_disp.cfm?med_id=65196 ) http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/mmg_disp.cfm?med_id=65196

6. Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) Ocean Earth Atmosphere and Geospace

7. The Mission of GEO Directorate  Support research in the atmospheric, earth and ocean sciences  Address the nation’s need to understand, predict and respond to environmental events and changes in order to use the Earth’s resources wisely

8. Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences NCAR/Facilities Section Aeronomy Magnetospheric Physics Solar Terrestrial Geospace Section Paleoclimate Climate & Large-Scale Dynamics Atmospheric Chemistry Physical & Dynamic Meteorology Atmosphere Section Geospace Facilities Lower Atmospheric Observing Facilities National Center for Atmospheric Research Cross-Disciplinary Activities

9. Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS)  Furthers understanding of weather, climate and the solar-terrestrial system by expanding the fundamental knowledge of the composition and dynamics of the Earth ’ s atmosphere and geospace environment  Supports large, complex facilities required for research in the atmospheric and solar- terrestrial sciences

10. Division of Earth Sciences Sedimentary Geology & Paleobiology Geomorphology & Land Use Dynamics Geobiology & Environmental Geochemistry Education & Human Resources Hydrologic Sciences Surface Earth Processes Section Tectonics Petrology & Geochemistry Geophysics Instrumentation & Facilities Continental Dynamics EarthScope Deep Earth Processes Section

11. Division of Earth Sciences (EAR)  Improves the understanding of the structure, composition, and evolution of the Earth and the processes that govern the formation and behavior of the solid Earth  Supports theoretical, computational, laboratories and field stations and state-of-the-art scientific infrastructure

12. Division of Ocean Sciences Ocean Drilling Program Marine Geology and Geophysics Marine Geosciences Section Biological Oceanography Physical Oceanography Chemical Oceanography Ocean Section Ocean Sciences Education Oceanographic Technology and Interdisciplinary Coordination Oceanographic Centers, Facilities and Equipment Integrative Programs Section

13. Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE)  Enhances understanding of all aspects of the global oceans and their interactions with the solid earth and the atmosphere  Supports major shared-use oceanographic facilities including research vessels and manned deep diving submersibles

14. Budget and Proposal Statistics

15. GEO Budgets  FY 09: $807M  FY 10: $892M  FY 11: $890M  FY 12: $979M (President’s request)

16. NSF Proposal Statistics FY 2011 ItemNSFGEO Competitive Proposal Actions 51,5774,512 Competitive Awards 11,2071,413 Funding Rate22%31% Average Research Duration (yrs) 2.55 years2.48 years Median Annual Award Size ($) $107,272$120,219 Individual Panel Reviews 178,5374,198 Panel Summaries54,2394,461 Mail Reviews67,29121,854

17. GEO Funding Trend

18. Proposal and Award Process

19. Modes of support unsolicited proposals from all scientists with interests in the geosciences - investigator-initiated individual research projects - investigator-initiated collaborative research programs special competitions, often interdisciplinary promote collaborations with scientists in other disciplines, funding agencies, and nations promote integration of research and education

20. Long-term support for shared resources  Observational platforms  Ships, aircraft  Analytical facilities  NOSAMS Facility  Computational facilities  NWSC (under construction)

21. NSF-wide Cross-cutting Programs  Faculty Early Career Program (CAREER)**  Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI)  Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)**  Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) **  Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) ** **contact Program Director before submitting

22. Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER)  CAREER proposals are submitted to a disciplinary program  They are reviewed according to the relevant Program guidelines - Talk to Program Officer or Division Contact for more information  Make sure to check on typical award sizes in your program  Ask about expectations for scope of research and education plans  Assessment of Departmental endorsement letter is part of the review criteria for CAREER  Funding rates follows trend for regular proposals in the program of interest (http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/career/contacts.jsp)

23. NSF Activities of Interest - Instrumentation and Facilities  Major Research Instrumentation (MRI)  $100,000 to $6M -- proposals requesting less than $100,000 will be considered only from non-Ph.D. granting organizations or from the disciplines of mathematical science or social, behavioral, and economic science at any eligible organization.  Improvements in facilities, communications, and equipment at biological field stations and marine laboratories (FSML)  Earth Sciences: Instrumentation and facilities (EAR/IF)  Atmospheric & Geospace Sciences: Mid-Size Infrastructure Opportunity (MSI)  EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: Inter-Campus and Intra-Campus Cyber Connectivity (RII C2)  ….

24. GEO has a Directorate-wide program to fund formal (K-16) and informal geoscience education activities. Contact: Jill Karsten jkarsten@nsf.govjkarsten@nsf.gov  Division of Atmospheric Sciences Contact: Sue Weilercweiler@nsf.govcweiler@nsf.gov  Division of Earth Sciences Contact: Lina Patino lpatino@nsf.govlpatino@nsf.gov  Division of Ocean Sciences including the Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE) Contact: Lisa Rom erom@nsf.goverom@nsf.gov GEO Education

25. Opportunities for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences (OEDG) Addresses the problem of underrepresentation of certain groups across the geosciences as compared to their proportion of the general population. The primary goal of the OEDG program is to increase the participation in geoscience education and research by students from these groups. Solicitation 10-599 Contact Jill Karsten for further information at (703) 292-8500 or at jkarsten@nsf.govjkarsten@nsf.gov

26. Post-Doctoral Fellowships Integrated program of independent research and education that address scientific questions within the scope of geoscience. Fellowship program may be conducted at any appropriate U.S. or foreign host institution 2 year long fellowships, $172K/2years Eligibility within 3 years of PhD Fellowships are awards to individuals, not institutions, and are administered by the Fellows. 2 months parental leave can be requested

27. New Funding Opportunities

28. New Funding Opportunities for Climate Research Investment (CRI)  CRI-EaSM: Decadal and Regional Climate Prediction Using Earth System Models (NSF/GEO, NSF/MPS, NSF/BIO, NSF/CISE, NSF/SBE, NSF/OCI, NSF/OPP, USDA & DOE)  CRI-WSC: Water Sustainability and Climate (GEO, BIO, ENG & SBE)  CRI-OA: Ocean Acidification (GEO, BIO & OPP)  CRI-DB: Dimensions of Biodiversity (GEO, BIO & OPP)  CRI-CCEP: Climate Change Education Partnership (EHR, GEO, BIO & OPP)

29. FESD: Frontiers in Earth System Dynamics GEO-wide program involving AGS, EAR and/or OCE Intra- or Inter- Divisional scope, but beyond purview of a single discipline Complements science funded through GEO’s core programs; Provides support for ‘mid-sized’ activities that fall between core program and STC/MREFC scales Where appropriate, capitalizes on major facility investments NSF is already making; Promotes interdisciplinary study of interactive dynamics within the Earth system over a wide range of space and time scales Program budget: Planning for $28M per competition 3 competitions FY11, FY13, FY15

30. Major Investments in 2012  Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES)  Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CIF21)  Creating a More Disaster Resilient America (CaMRA)  Continuing investments in Basic Research, Education & Diversity, Infrastructure

31. Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (SEES)  Goal: Generate discoveries and build capacity to achieve an environmentally and economically sustainable future  FY 2012 priorities:  Advance a clean energy future  Nurture the emerging SEES workforce  Expand research, education, and knowledge dissemination  Engage with global partners  Environment, energy, and economy nexus  Increase of $338 million over FY 2010 enacted level (GEO increase $87.2M)

32. SEES – Geosciences Foci  Sustainable Energy Pathways  characterize and understand existing energy systems and their limitations (e.g. wind, geothermal, hydro)  understand risks and stressors associated with new and emerging energy sources (e.g. tidal, clean coal, carbon sequestration)  Sustainability Research Networks  interdisciplinary research and education partnerships involving government, academe, and the private sector  address fundamental issues of use in improving policy and practices with regard to energy, the environment, and human well-being

33. Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21 st Century Science and Engineering (CIF21)  Comprehensive and integrated cyberinfrastructure to transform research, innovation and education  Focus on computational and data- intensive science to address complex problems  Four major components  Data-enabled science  New computational infrastructure  Community research networks  Access and connections to cyberinfrastructure facilities

34. CIF21 – Geosciences Foci  GEO investment is $16 million in 2012  Computational Infrastructure  acquisition and use of cyberinfrastructure for the conduct of geoscience research  Data Enabled Science  geoinformatics – the tools and techniques that facilitate data-enabled geoscience  enhancement of access and connections to facilities and scientific instruments

35. Creating a More Disaster Resilient America (CaMRA)  GEO will initiate a new $10.0 million GEO-wide program on Creating a More Disaster Resilient America (CaMRA)  CAMRA will catalyze basic research efforts in hazard- related science to improve forecasting and prediction of natural and man-made hazardous events  AGS, EAR, and OCE are participating  A formal solicitation is anticipated

36. Proposal preparation

37. Proposal Preparation Resources  NSF Home Page (www.nsf.gov)www.nsf.gov  Guide to Programs  Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures  http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=papp  Program Solicitations – eligibility, goals, special requirements  NSF Custom News Service – what’s new  Program Officers – current or former rotators

38. NSF Merit Review NSF Review Criteria  Intellectual Merit  Broader Impacts  Programs can also have additional review criteria – read the Program Solicitation! Merit Review is conducted through ad hoc peer review and/or panel review

39. Proposal Peer-Review Process Most Scientists regarded the new streamlined peer-review process as ‘quite an improvement’

40. Core Program Due Dates  Earth Sciences: January and July  Ocean Sciences: February and August  Atmospheric Sciences: no target dates, proposal may be submitted any time  CAREERs, MRIs, others do have deadlines!  It is useful to check the NSF web site for actual dates and updates to requirements etc when developing a proposal idea.

42. www.nsf.gov/dir/index.jsp?org=GEO Always Check the NSF Website

43. Words of Wisdom  Talk to your Program Director(s) - ask early, ask often during conferences, email, phone, visit NSF, meetings.  Read the funding opportunity (program descriptions, solicitations) carefully, and ask a Program Officer for clarifications if needed  Learn the culture - each Division/solicitation is different  Know and follow the current Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) - it changes! (e.g., Postdoc mentoring and data management plans)  Explicitly address Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts in both the Project Summary and Project Description.

44. Words of Wisdom Know the audience for your proposal’s review! Check available NSF facility pool for your research needs Compelling Project Summary-big picture Match and justify the budget to the scope of the proposed work - ask for what you need! Be familiar with projects that have succeeded - Award Abstracts at http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch Submit proposals before the last day/hour

45. Attributes of Successful Proposals  New and original ideas  Articulate importance of the science  Sound, succinct, detailed, focused plan  Preliminary data and/or feasibility study  Relevant experience and facilities  Clarity concerning future direction  Well-articulated broader impacts

46. Some Do’s Dave’s words of wisdom (see handout) Serve as a reviewer and/or panelist Consider serving as a rotator and Some Don’t’s Jakob et al. (2010): http://chronicle.com/article/How-to-Fail-in- Grant-Writing/125620/

47. Life Cycle of a Proposal: PI’s View Funded! Conceptualize Declined Try again What next? Write & Revise & Submit Start End (or Begin project) Very Important don’t give up, keep trying

48. NSF GEOsciences: Questions?