NSF Long Term Ecological Research National Coordination Office (LTER-NCO) Solicitation

Please see the full solicitation for complete information about the funding opportunity. Below is a summary assembled by the Research & Innovation Office (RIO).

Program Summary 

NSF invites proposals for a Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network Coordination Office. This office will coordinate network level activities, including synthetic research, education, and outreach programs across the 28 LTER research sites, communicate these activities to diverse audiences, and provide centralized representation of the LTER network to the broad scientific community and the public. The lead PI of the successful proposal will serve as the Office Director and will work with the LTER Science Council and research community to develop and implement strategic goals and future initiatives.

The LTER-NCO will have two main responsibilities: A) facilitate coordination and communication among all LTER projects and with a diverse range of stakeholders, including the management of the Network website and B) foster synthesis through sponsorship of synthetic research activities, organization of meetings, providing access to synthesis and other meeting products via the Network website, and facilitating future LTER initiatives and directions in collaboration with the LTER Science Council. It is intended to be a service organization and should not promote its own scientific or outreach agendas. 

NSF anticipates that successful operation and management of the Network Coordination Office will require an engaged senior-level scientist (the proposal PI) who is familiar with the LTER program as well as with ecological science or environmental biology across habitats, ecosystems, and biomes. This individual will have a part-time appointment as the Office Director with responsibility for oversight and management of all office activities. Additional personnel may be budgeted to support the enterprise.

Deadlines

CU Internal Deadline: 11:59pm MST January 8, 2019

Sponsor Letter of Intent (required) Deadline: 5:00pm MST January 18, 2019

Sponsor Application Deadline: 5:00pm MST March 19, 2019

Internal Application Requirements (all in PDF format)

  • Project Summary (up to 2 pages): Please provide a summary of the project, making sure to address the following: intellectual merit, broader impacts, qualifications of PI and institutional host. You may also include information about the following: plans for fostering synthetic research activities broadly inclusive of Network and non-Network scientists, plans for LTER community engagement, plans for effective communication with diverse audiences.
  • Project Team (up to 1 page): Please include the names of PIs and other Senior Personnel as well as institutions that will be involved.
  • PI CV
  • Budget Overview (up to 1 page): A basic budget outlining project costs is sufficient; detailed OCG budgets are not required.

To access the online application, visit: https://colorado.secure-platform.com/a/solicitations/home/6311

Eligibility

Principal Investigators, including Co-PIs, on active LTER research awards are not eligible to serve as lead PI or co-PI for this solicitation. Collaborative proposals submitted by PIs from multiple organizations are not allowed for this competition. A PI or co-PI is allowed to submit only a single proposal to this solicitation.

Limited Submission Guidelines

One proposal per organization.

Award Information

Award Amount: $800,000 annually for a total of $4,000,000.

Award Duration: An initial commitment of five years and the possibility of a five-year renewal.

Number of Awards: 1