New NSF Solicitation “Frontier Research in the Earth Sciences (FRES)”


A solicitation has been posted for a new program from the Division of Earth Sciences “Frontier Research in the Earth Sciences (FRES)”. FRES supersedes the former “Integrated Earth Systems (IES)” program. In addition to substantive changes in the goals of the program and eligible projects, the proposed budget for the new program is larger. The target date for submission of proposals is February 20, 2019.

The announcement of the program and link to the solicitation may be found at:

https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504833

A webinar will be held on Wednesday, December 5 at 2 pm, with a brief overview of the program and the opportunity to ask questions. Please email dgeist@nsf.gov by 5 pm on December 3 to enroll in the webinar.

SYNOPSIS

The FRES program will support research in Earth systems from its core through the critical zone. The project may focus on all or part of the surface, continental lithospheric, and deeper Earth systems over the entire range of temporal and spatial scales. FRES projects will typically have a larger scientific scope and budget than those considered for funding by core programs in the Division of Earth Sciences (EAR). FRES projects may be interdisciplinary studies that do not fit well within the core programs or cannot be routinely managed by sharing between core programs. Innovative proposals within a single area with results that will have broad relevance to Earth Science research are also encouraged. Investigations may employ any combination of field, laboratory, and computational studies with observational, theoretical, or experimental approaches. Projects should be focused on topics that meet the guidelines for research funded by the Division of Earth Sciences.

Dennis Geist, Program Director, FRES
National Science Foundation