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Knowinnovation, supported by the National Science Foundation, is hosting a Wildfire and the Biosphere Innovation Lab to generate creative strategies and new research collaborations aimed at improving understanding of different types of fires across temporal and spatial scales, predicting feedbacks between wildfire and living systems, and improving the representation of biological processes in models.

The 5-day virtual Innovation Lab will take place May 17-19, May 21, and May 26, 2021. PI-level researchers — such as biologists (molecular to global scale), engineers, Earth scientists, physical scientists, social scientists, mathematicians and computer scientists — are strongly encouraged to apply before the deadline of March 1.

To introduce the Innovation Lab and answer any questions you may have, we will host a virtual Town Hall on February 1, 2021 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm Eastern. Please register for the town hall in advance. We will introduce the Wildfire and the Biosphere Innovation Lab and answer any questions you might have about the focus, content, approach, or application.

In addition, because this is such an active area of research, an online community survey is being conducted prior to the Innovation Lab. You can find more information on the website https://apply.hub.ki/wildfire/. Survey responses will be accepted until March 31, 2021. It is short and anonymous, and the responses will be used to inform discussion at the Innovation Lab.

DEB Program Officers will be present at several upcoming virtual meetings this summer. If you can’t make it to any of the meetings listed below, as always, feel free to reach out to us directly.

We’re also available to virtually meet with your institution or society to discuss our programs and funding opportunities. The virtual format of meetings this year makes it easy for us to visit with you, so we are hoping to get around to a greater variety of meetings than ever! Feel free to drop us a line at debquestions@nsf.gov or reach out to a Program Officer directly if you’re interested in scheduling something.

Due to the multifaceted challenges faced by universities and PIs under COVID-19, NSF is extending the upcoming proposal deadline for the Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER; NSF 20-525) until 5:00 p.m. submitter’s local time on Tuesday, August 11, 2020.

Please note that the eligibility requirements specified in the solicitation remain unchanged, and proposers must meet all of the eligibility requirements as of the original deadline of July 27, 2020.  We strongly encourage the submission of CAREER proposals on or before the original deadline of July 27, 2020.  NSF will not consider requests to extend the deadline date beyond 5:00 p.m., submitter’s local time on Tuesday, August 11, 2020, except as outlined in PAPPG Chapter I.F.3. Tips for applying to NSF’s CAREER program can be found here.

Please reach out to a CAREER Program Divisional contact if you have any questions.

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) held its latest Virtual Office Hour on June 8^th, 2020. We host these office hours 1-2pm EDT on the 2^nd Monday of every month. There is a designated theme each time, but attendees are welcome to ask about other NSF-related topics. Program Officers from each of DEB’s clusters are present at each Virtual Office Hour.

This month’s topic was Opportunities for Promoting Understanding through Synthesis (OPUS) Solicitation (NSF 20-564).

The presentation and other documents are available here:

• Slides (PDF)
• PAPPG 20-1

If you were unable to attend, here are some of the questions asked during the Q & A section:

Q: Does the OPUS solicitation cover other directorates such as material science and engineering?

A: No. The OPUS solicitation (NSF 20-564) is specifically for the Division of Environmental Biology including all four clusters within the division (Ecosystem Science, Evolutionary Processes, Population and Community Ecology, and Systematics and Biodiversity Science). The focus and scope of research questions must be consistent with the program descriptions of one or more of the four clusters within the Division of Environmental Biology.

Q: Does an OPUS proposal need to be a synthesis primarily of the PI’s work? Can it be a meta-analysis?

A: Per the solicitation, OPUS provides an opportunity for an investigator or a group of investigators at any career stage to revisit and synthesize a significant body of their prior research or to harmonize distinct data sets that they have produced to enable new understanding. That said, the solicitation does not say that only your own data sets can be synthesized. This program targets investigators who have, over time, produced significant work and data from a series of research projects, and who are planning to integrate that work in a single synthesis. Combining your own work with other datasets could be appropriate but check with your Program Officers in the appropriate cluster for guidance. Proposals requesting support mainly for the production of new data are not appropriate. Likewise, efforts simply to summarize previous results will not be supported. We expect OPUS awards to generate novel understanding, new questions, or emergent insights that are more than the sum of their individual parts.

Q: Are there any restrictions in budget?

A: There are few restrictions with regards to the OPUS budget. Requests may be for up to two years with an anticipated award size of between $175,000 and $350,000. Additionally, the total salary allocated to PIs cannot exceed 6.5 months plus fringe benefits for a period spanning up to two years. In cases where multiple investigators are involved, the total allowance of 6.5 months’ salary may be distributed among investigators.

Q: If we were planning to apply to what previous OPUS solicitations referred to as the Mid-Career Synthesis track, what I’m hearing is that OPUS is no longer appropriate for us and now we need to wait until a new opportunity is announced. Is that correct?

A: There is no mid-career track in the 20-564 OPUS solicitation. We aim to expand the mid-career opportunity to other science and engineering programs in addition to Biological Sciences. You can sign up for notifications about new funding opportunities here to know as soon as information is public.

Q: OPUS seems particularly amenable to sabbaticals. How soon could a sabbatical start after the submission deadline to be supported by OPUS?

A: Yes, OPUS proposals are very well suited for funding sabbaticals. As with proposals submitted to our core solicitation (NSF 20-502), please allow enough time (typically 5-6 months, but in rare cases it may be more) for the peer review process to proceed before you expect to hear from us about a decision.

Please reach out to a Program Officer if you have any questions about the proposal submission and review process in DEB programs.

Our next virtual office hours will be held on August 10^th, 2020 from 1-2pm EDT and will address Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems (DISES; NSF 20-579) formerly known as CNH2.

There will be NO virtual office hour in July. Be sure to check back here or on the NSF Events Page for information on how to register.

Upcoming Office Hours and Topics:

July: No Office Hours

August 10: DISES: Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems f.k.a. CNH2

September 14: Macrosystems Biology and NEON-Enabled Science (MSB-NES)

October 19: BIO Postdoc Program

November 9: Intro to DEB

December 14: Supplements

January 11: TBD (Feel free to suggest a topic!)

Are you an investigator at a Historically Black College or University (HBCU)?

Are you curious which programs at NSF support research like yours?

Are you interested in applying to or learning more about the HBCU-EiR program?

Program Officers representing each division in BIO will be hosting two online informational sessions to help answer any questions you may have. Join us to learn more about the NSF HBCU-EiR program, gain an understanding of where your research fits in at NSF, and have one-on-one conversations with Program Officers about your research goals. Register for one of the two sessions below:

July 1^st from 1-2pm EST

REGISTRATION LINK

or July 14^th from 3-4pm EST

REGISTRATION LINK

“The Historically Black Colleges and Universities – Excellence in Research (HBCU-EiR) program was established in response to direction provided in the Senate Commerce and Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Report (Senate Report 115-139), and is built on prior and continuing efforts by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to strengthen research capacity at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The program aims to establish stronger connections between researchers at HBCUs and NSF’s research programs.”

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) held its sixth Virtual Office Hour on May 18^th, 2020. We will be hosting these office hours 1-2pm EDT on the 2^nd Monday of every month. There will be a designated theme each time, but attendees are welcome to ask about other NSF-related topics. Program Officers from each of DEB’s clusters will be present at every Virtual Office Hour.

This month’s topic was Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) (NSF 20-525).

The presentation and other documents are available here:

• Slides (PDF)
• PAPPG 20-1
• Transcript of Q&A’s (PDF)

If you were unable to attend, here are some of the questions asked during the Q & A section. Due to the high volume of questions, the full list of questions can be found in the link above:

Q: Is the education component focused just on higher education?

A: Reviewers want to see that part of the education plan is in line with the institutional goals and that you have the appropriate resources to conduct the proposed activities. However, that does not preclude you from engaging in broader impacts activities away from your home institution. We encourage investigators to do things that they want to do, and that create educational opportunities.

Q: How much preliminary data would be appropriate for a successful proposal? How critical is preliminary data in a successful CAREER proposal?

A: Reviewers like to see that you can accomplish the methods you say you are going to use. This includes a combination of your publication record, relevant citations, and enough preliminary data to show the work can be conducted.

Q: Does the CAREER solicitation support interdisciplinary projects, and if so, are there any suggestions on which program to choose given the interdisciplinary nature of a research project?

A: Investigators will submit proposals to the CAREER solicitation but indicate the core program to which they’re submitting. This is the primary program of interest, but investigators can also indicate another program that may be relevant.

As with other proposals, CAREER proposals can be co-reviewed by multiple programs. For more information on what this entails check out our blog post on demystifying the co-review process, as well as our November Office Hour recap on the same topic. The CAREER solicitation also includes additional details on Cross-Disciplinary Opportunities.

Please reach out to a Program Officer if you have any questions about the proposal submission and review process in DEB programs.

Our next virtual office hours will be held on June 8^th, 2020 from 1-2pm EDT and will address Opportunities for Promoting Understanding through Synthesis (OPUS) (NSF 20-564). Be sure to check back here or on the NSF Events Page for information on how to register.

photo credit: Javier Brosch

DEB Program Officers and staff are as available as ever to serve our community. Like many of you, we are concerned for all our friends and family, and are working from home in an effort to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. We are entirely accessible via email and phone, though, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to us (contact us with questions about current awards, proposal preparation and submission, NSF policies and procedures, or anything else).

NSF is continuing to accept and review proposals, host virtual panels, and make awards. We are happy to discuss your research ideas and help you manage your awards during this stressful time.

For questions about how NSF is responding to the pandemic and its impact on research, please visit https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/coronavirus/.

Stay safe, be well.

Join us May 18^th from 1pm-2pm EDT for DEB’s next Virtual Office Hour. Program Officers will provide an introduction to the Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) (NSF 20-525). Please note that this is a different date than our normally scheduled office hour.

Representatives from each of the four DEB core programs will be available for questions. Questions can be on any DEB topic.

Please use the registration link below to participate. Upcoming DEB Virtual Office Hours are announced ahead of time on DEBrief, so sign up for blog notifications for reminders.

REGISTER HERE

If you can’t make it to this or any future office hours, don’t worry! Come back to the blog, as we will be posting a recap and the presentation slides. In the future, our Virtual Office Hours will happen on the second Monday of every month from 1pm-2pm EST. Below is a list of upcoming dates and topics, so be sure to add them to your calendars!

Upcoming Office Hours and Topics:

May 18: CAREERs

June 8: OPUS

July: TBD

August 10: CNH2: Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems

September 14: Macrosystems Biology and NEON-Enabled Science (MSB-NES)

October 12: BIO Postdoc Program

November 9: Intro to DEB

December 14: Supplements

January 11: TBD

Our friends over at BIO BUZZ posted a recap of the BIO-wide COVID-19 Office Hours. You can read the entire post below;

The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) held a series of four virtual office hours during the week of March 30 to provide an opportunity for researchers from across the biological sciences to ask concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on NSF efforts, solicitations, and awards, and to hear ideas from the community about how NSF might respond to those impacts in the long-term. Representatives from each of the four Divisions within BIO were present during each session.

During these difficult times, the health and safety of our community remains our utmost concern. NSF is working to provide researchers with the highest level of flexibility to support your health and safety as well as your work.

Slides from the sessions are linked here. For information on how NSF is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and the answers to frequently asked questions about the impact on awards and panels, please visit https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/coronavirus/. If you have questions specific to an award or solicitation, please contact the Program Officer; all contact information for BIO Program Officers is available at https://www.nsf.gov/dir/index.jsp?org=BIO