NSF issues ESNO announcement with limited submissions

The National Science Foundation has issued the following program announcement for EarthScope National Office (ESNO). EarthScope is an Earth science program created to explore the four-dimensional structure of the North American continent. The EarthScope Program provides a framework for broad, integrated studies across the Earth sciences, including research on fault properties and the earthquake process, strain transfer, magmatic and hydrous fluids in the crust and mantle, plate boundary processes, large-scale continental deformation, continental structure and evolution, and composition and structure of the deep Earth. In addition, EarthScope offers multiple opportunities for Earth science education at all levels and an excellent opportunity to develop cyberinfrastructure to integrate, distribute, and analyze diverse data sets.

The nucleus of the Program is the EarthScope Facility, a multi-purpose array of instruments and observatories consisting of the Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD), and the USArray. These observatories provide an unprecedented amount of geophysical data to address the processes that formed and continue to deform North America.
As a result of the limited number of proposals that can be submitted, UND will conduct an internal review of preproposals. Preproposals should consist of the following sections:

– Cover page listing the project name, collaborators, contact person, total budget amount
– Instrument(s) to be purchased or developed and its (their) function(s)
– Impact on the research program of the collaborators, department(s), and college(s)
– Impact on the university’s mission as a whole
– Detailed budget.

Preproposals should be no more than three pages in length using a reasonable format (one inch margins, font size 11, single-spaced). Preproposals are due in Research Development and Compliance (RD&C) by 4:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 6. Criteria used for reviewing preproposals will include appropriateness to the goal of the program, probability for funding by NSF, reasonableness of budgetary requests, and impact of the request on the university and the academic units involved. Investigators will be notified of the results as soon as possible in order to provide as much time as possible to prepare a final proposal for submission.

Available Formats:

HTML: www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10576/nsf10576.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click
PDF: www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10576/nsf10576.pdf?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click
TXT: www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10576/nsf10576.txt?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click

— Barry Milavetz, associate vice president For Research, 777-4278, barrymilavetz@mail.und.edu.