Arctic Natural Sciences Program

PROGRAM GUIDELINES


08-597  Program Solicitation

Please be advised that the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) includes revised guidelines to implement the mentoring provisions of the America COMPETES Act (ACA) (Pub. L. No. 110-69, Aug. 9, 2007.) As specified in the ACA, each proposal that requests funding to support postdoctoral researchers must include a description of the mentoring activities that will be provided for such individuals. Proposals that do not comply with this requirement will be returned without review (see the PAPP Guide Part I: Grant Proposal Guide Chapter II for further information about the implementation of this new requirement).

SYNOPSIS

The Arctic Natural Sciences (ANS) Program provides support for disciplinary and interdisciplinary research on arctic processes and coordinates its support of arctic research with the Directorates for Geosciences; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences; and Biological Sciences.

Areas of special interest include marine and terrestrial ecosystems, arctic atmospheric and oceanic dynamics and climatology, arctic geological and glaciological processes, and their connectivity to lower latitudes. The Program particularly encourages proposals that treat arctic processes and that  test hypotheses leading to new understanding  and the development of predictive tools. Proposals to perform monitoring  per se are discouraged. Similarly, proposals that treat generic processes that could be adequately studied outside the Arctic are more appropriate to other programs within the Foundation.

ANS supports projects that emphasize understanding the adaptative responses of organisms to arctic environments. Terrestrial and marine geology and geophysics projects of greatest interest are those that will improve interpretations of the geologic record of environmental change in the Arctic, particularly during the Quaternary. Understanding the processes responsible for the evolution of permafrost and consequences of changing permafrost remains a priority, as well. Projects that focus on all naturally occurring forms of arctic snow and ice, including seasonal snow, glaciers, and the Greenland ice sheet, are supported. The Program supports ocean science projects that advance knowledge of the processes of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas and their interactions with their boundaries. The development of sensors necessary to observe these processes is also supported by ANS.

THIS PROGRAM IS PART OF

Arctic Research Opportunities

Abstracts of Recent Awards Made Through This Program

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