07/26/2024 Edition 135

----- Division of Research -----

NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers Program (IUCRC), NSF 20-570. CFDA #s 47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076, 47.079 and 47.083. Individual award sizes (total costs): $20,000 for Planning Grants, $150,000 per year for Phase I, $100,000 per year for Phase II, $150,000 per year for Phase II+, $50,000 per year for Phase III. Proposals Due: 09/11/2024 (preliminary) and 12/11/24 (full).

The IUCRC program catalyzes breakthrough pre-competitive research by enabling close and sustained engagement between industry innovators, world-class academic teams, and government agencies. IUCRCs help industry partners and government agencies connect directly and efficiently with university researchers to achieve three primary objectives: 1) Conduct high-impact research to meet shared and critical industrial needs in companies of all sizes; 2) Enhance U.S. global leadership in driving innovative technology development, and 3) Identify, mentor and develop a diverse, highly skilled science and engineering workforce.

The IUCRC program provides a structure for academic researchers to conduct fundamental, pre-competitive research of shared interest to industry and government organizations. These organizations pay membership fees to a consortium so that they can collectively envision and fund research, with at least 90% of Member funds allocated to the direct costs of these shared research projects.

IUCRCs are formed around research areas of strategic interest to U.S. industry. Industry is defined very broadly to include companies (large and small), startups and non-profit organizations. Principal Investigators form a Center around emerging research topics of current research interest, in a pre-competitive space but with clear pathways to applied research and commercial development. Industry partners join at inception, as an existing Center grows or they inspire the creation of a new Center by recruiting university partners to leverage NSF support. Government agencies participate in IUCRCs as Members or by partnering directly with NSF at the strategic level.

Universities, academic researchers, and students benefit from IUCRC participation through the research funding, the establishment and growth of industry partnerships, and educational and career placement opportunities for students. Industry Members benefit by accessing knowledge, facilities, equipment, and intellectual property in a highly cost-efficient model; leveraging Center research outcomes in their future proprietary projects; interacting in an informal, collaborative way with other private sector and government entities with shared interests; and identifying and recruiting talent. NSF provides funding to support Center administrative costs and a governance framework to manage membership, operations, and evaluation.

Successful IUCRCs require:

• A capable research/management team with an entrepreneurial mindset;
• Universities, faculty, and students interested in engaging in research of interest to industry;
• A community of industry partners seeking pre-competitive, use-inspired research projects.

Each IUCRC is expected to grow and become independently sustainable by the end of the NSF support.

Simons Foundation, Solar Radiation Management. Proposal budgets should not exceed $500,000 per year, including indirect costs (limited to 20 percent modified total direct costs), for a period of three years. The foundation estimates up to six additional SRM awards will be made for awards starting July 1, 2025. Letter of Intent Due: 09/30/2024 and Full Proposals Due: 02/27/2025 (By invitation only).

The Simons Foundation has launched an international collaborative research program designed to fill fundamental scientific knowledge gaps relevant to Solar Radiation Management. SRM is an emerging collection of approaches, including stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), marine cloud brightening (MCB) and cirrus cloud thinning (CCT), designed to modify the Earth’s radiative balance and cool the planet. Although reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations is the only long-term strategy to mitigate climate change and other impacts, SRM might be able to ameliorate some of the negative impacts this century. However, SRM also may pose significant environmental and societal risks, including stratospheric warming, ozone depletion and changes in rainfall, thereby affecting water resources and agriculture. At present, not enough is known about SRM systems and their potential impacts to allow informed decision-making. This call aims to help fill key fundamental knowledge gaps in the science of SRM.

Priority areas for this call include:

• Environmentally benign materials discovery for SAI and CCT.
• Laboratory physicochemical characterization of SAI and CCT materials and their interactions with light, clouds, atmospheric trace gases and with themselves or ambient aerosols, with the aim to improve microphysical inputs to existing climate models.
• Approaches to minimize cirrus cloud formation, including from aircraft emissions.
• Assessments of near-field (<100 km) atmospheric turbulence and its impact on SAI and CCT interventions, primarily through modeling.
• Integration of improved representations of aerosols and turbulence into global-scale modeling, and characterization of global and regional impacts of novel materials for SAI and CCT.
• Areas not within the scope of this program include social science research and in-situ field experiments involving aerosol release.

NSF GEO Paleo Perspectives on Present and Projected Climate (P4CLIMATE), NSF 22-612. CFDA # 47.050. Proposals Due: 10/20/2024.

Much can be learned about the climate system using existing historical observations and models of current climate, but those records and models do not reflect the range of climate behavior on multi-decadal to millennial time scales, or capture tipping points, thresholds, and other key features of the climate system. For that, data from geological records or other environmental archives are required.

The PALEO PERSPECTIVES ON PRESENT AND PROJECTED CLIMATE (P4CLIMATE) competition is a coordinated paleoclimate science initiative that is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Divisions of Atmospheric and GeoSpace Sciences (AGS), Earth Sciences (EAR), Ocean Sciences (OCE), and Office of Polar Programs (OPP) in the Geosciences (GEO) Directorate. The annual P4CLIMATE competition supports the scientific objectives of the National Science Foundation by fostering interdisciplinary research and synthesis of climate data.

The goal of the interdisciplinary P4CLIMATE solicitation is to utilize observational and modeling studies to provide paleo perspectives addressing the two research themes: 1) Past Regional and Seasonal Climate; and 2) Past Climate Forcing, Sensitivity, and Feedbacks.

OPP will accept proposals to this solicitation A) with and without fieldwork in the Arctic, and B) only without fieldwork in the Antarctic. Proposals that have fieldwork in Antarctica should be submitted to the annual solicitation for proposals that have fieldwork in Antarctica.