NSF Water Sustainability and Climate Program

NSF Water Sustainability and Climate Program is sponsored by NSF. Supports interdisciplinary research on water sustainability and climate, including groundwater studies.

NSF 13-535: Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) | NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation Archived funding opportunity This solicitation is archived. Important information for proposers and award recipients All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in the funding opportunity and in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and its supplements .

All NSF grants and cooperative agreements are subject to the applicable set of NSF award terms and conditions . NSF has updated its research security policies for NSF funded projects. NSF 13-535: Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) Download the solicitation (PDF, 0.

6mb) National Science Foundation Directorate for Geosciences Directorate for Engineering Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences National Institute of Food and Agriculture Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p. m. proposer's local time): Important Information And Revision Notes Change in the limit on number of proposals per PI.

Any proposal submitted in response to this solicitation should be submitted in accordance with the revised NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) ( NSF 15-1 ), which is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after December 26, 2014.

The PAPPG is consistent with, and, implements the new Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance) (2 CFR § 200).

Summary Of Program Requirements Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) One of the most urgent challenges facing the world today is to ensure an adequate supply and quality of water in light of both burgeoning human needs and increasing climate variability and change.

Despite the importance of water to life on Earth, there are major gaps in our basic understanding of water availability, quality and dynamics, and the impact of both human activity and a changing and variable climate on the water system.

The goal of the Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) solicitation is to enhance the understanding and predict the interactions between the water system and land use changes (including agriculture, managed forest and rangeland systems), the built environment, ecosystem function and services and climate change/variability through place-based research and integrative models.

Studies of the water system using models and/or observations at specific sites, singly or in combination, that allow for spatial and temporal extrapolation to other regions, as well as integration across the different processes in that system are encouraged, especially to the extent that they advance the development of theoretical frameworks and predictive understanding.

Specific topics of interest include: Developing theoretical frameworks and models that incorporate the linkages and feedbacks among atmospheric, terrestrial, aquatic, oceanic, biotic and social processes that can be used to predict the potential impact of (1) climate variability and change, (2) land use and (3) human activity (including population change) on water systems on decadal to centennial scales in order to provide a basis for adaptive management of water resources.

Determining the inputs, outputs, and potential changes in water budgets and water quality in response to (1) climate variability and change, (2) land use and (3) human activity (including population change), and the effect of these changes on biogeochemical cycles, water quality, long-term chemical transport and transformation, terrestrial, aquatic and coastal ecosystems, landscape evolution and human settlements and behavior.

Determining how our built water systems and our governance systems can be made more reliable, resilient and sustainable to meet diverse and often conflicting needs, such as optimizing consumption of water for energy generation, industrial and agricultural/forest rangeland production and built environment requirements, reuse for both potable and non-potable needs, ecosystem protection, and flood control and storm water management.

This activity enables interagency cooperation on one of the most pressing problems of the millennium--water sustainability -- how it is likely to affect our world, and how we can proactively plan for its consequences.

It allows the partner agencies -- National Science Foundation (NSF) and the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA/NIFA) - to combine resources to identify and fund the most meritorious and highest-impact projects that support their respective missions, while eliminating duplication of effort and fostering collaboration between agencies and the investigators they support.

Successful proposals are expected to study water systems in their entirety and to enable a new interdisciplinary paradigm in water research. Proposals that do not broadly integrate across the biological sciences, geosciences, engineering, and social sciences may be returned without review.

Projects supported under this solicitation may establish new observational sites or utilize existing observational sites and facilities already supported by NSF (National Science Foundation) or other federal and state agencies (e.g. USGS (US Geological Survey), USEPA (US Environmental Protection Agency), USDA/ARS/FS (US Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Station/Forest Service), NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)).

See also specific guidance on the collection of new data for each category. Cognizant Program Officer(s): Please note that the following information is current at the time of publishing. See program website for any updates to the points of contact.

Thomas Torgersen, Program Director, Division of Earth Sciences, Shemin Ge, Program Director, Division of Earth Sciences, Bruce Hamilton, Program Director, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems, Debra Reinhart, Program Director, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems, Robert O'Connor, Program Director, Division of Social and Economic Sciences, Cheryl Eavey, Program Director, Division of Social and Economic Sciences, Mary Ann Rozum, National Program Leader, Institute of Bioenergy, Climate, and Environment-NIFA, email: mrozum@nifa.

usda. gov Nancy Cavallaro, National Program Leader, Institute of Bioenergy, Climate, and Environment-NIFA, email: ncavallaro@nifa. usda.

gov Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): --- Agriculture and Food Research Initiative --- Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant or Continuing Grant or Cooperative Agreement Estimated Number of Awards: 10 Three categories of awards are anticipated for this solicitation.

Category 1 Awards: Small team synthesis, modeling, integration and assessment projects that will use existing data (or new measurements) to study entire watersheds and groundwater sites. Both NSF and USDA/NIFA funds will be used to support this category. Some projects may be funded directly by USDA/NIFA.

Projects will have a duration of 2-4 years for a maximum of $600,000 for each award. An estimated 4-8 awards are expected to be made for Category 1 proposals. Category 2 Awards: Place-based modeling studies with new observations, 3 to 5 years in duration and in the range of $2million to $4million maximum for each project.

An estimated 2- 5 awards are expected to be made for Category 2 proposals. Category 3 Awards: Synthesis, modeling and integration grants that will use only existing data to integrate and synthesize across watershed and groundwater sites. Both NSF and USDA/NIFA funds will be used to support this category.

Some projects may be funded directly by USDA/NIFA. Project duration of 3-5 years and in the range of $1million to $2. 5million maximum for each project.

An estimated 6-8 awards are expected to be made for Category 3 proposals. Anticipated Funding Amount: $26,000,000 Approximately $26,000,000 is expected for the FY2014 competition, pending availability of funds. Of this amount, NIFA anticipates contributing approximately $5,000,000 which will be available for this program pending appropriation action to make standard grants.

This solicitation is being released prior to the passage of an Appropriations Act for FY 2014. Enactment of Continuing Resolutions or an Appropriations Act may affect the availability or level of funding for this program.

Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following: Universities and Colleges - Universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in, the US acting on behalf of their faculty members. Such organizations also are referred to as academic institutions.

Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities. For-profit organizations: U.S. commercial organizations, especially small businesses with strong capabilities in scientific or engineering research or education.

For proposals to be considered for funding under USDA/NIFA : Eligible applicants for the grant program implemented under WSC include: (1) State agricultural experiment stations; (2) colleges and universities (including junior colleges offering associate degrees or higher); (3) university research foundations; (4) other research institutions and organizations; (5) Federal agencies, (6) national laboratories; (7) private organizations or corporations; (8) individuals who are U.S. citizens, nations, or permanent residents; and (9) any group consisting of 2 or more entities identified in (1) through (8).

Eligible institutions do not include foreign and international organizations. There are no restrictions or limits. Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: Because of the complexity of the teams formed in response to this solicitation, collaborative submissions can include a maximum of four institutions (four institutional cover sheets).

Other participating institutions must be funded via subcontracts through one of the four lead collaboratives. Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI: 2 An individual may appear as Principal Investigator (PI), co-PI, other senior personnel or investigator on only two WSC proposals submitted for FY 2014 in response to this solicitation.

This limitation includes proposals submitted by a lead organization, any sub-award submitted as part of a proposal, or any collaborative proposal. Proposals that do not meet this requirement will be returned without review. Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions A.

Proposal Preparation Instructions Letters of Intent: Not required Preliminary Proposal Submission: Not required Full Proposals submitted via FastLane: NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide, Part I: Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) Guidelines apply. The complete text of the GPG is available electronically on the NSF website at: https://www. nsf.

gov/publications/pub_summ. jsp? ods_key=gpg .

Full Proposals submitted via Grants. gov: NSF Grants. gov Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants.

gov Guidelines apply (Note: The NSF Grants. gov Application Guide is available on the Grants. gov website and on the NSF website at: https://www.

nsf. gov/publications/pub_summ. jsp?

ods_key=grantsgovguide ) Cost Sharing Requirements: Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited. Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: For NSF, Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) guidelines apply.

For awards made by USDA/NIFA, section 720 of the General Provisions in Title VII of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Programs (HR 112-284), limited indirect costs to 30 percent of the total Federal funds provided under each award. Applicants should anticipate that the FY 2013 (and 2014) appropriation will contain a similar limitation.

Revised budgets will be solicited if these guidelines are not met by an application to be awarded by USDA/NIFA. Other Budgetary Limitations: Not Applicable Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p. m.

proposer's local time): Proposal Review Information Criteria Merit Review Criteria: National Science Board approved criteria. Additional merit review considerations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

Award Administration Information Award Conditions: Additional award conditions apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. Reporting Requirements: Additional reporting requirements apply.

Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. One of the most urgent challenges facing the world today is to ensure an adequate supply and quality of water in light of both burgeoning human and ecosystem needs and climate variability and land use change.

Variations in evaporation and precipitation patterns due to climate and land use changes, as well as increasing water usage to meet human needs, are fundamentally changing the availability, quality, and temporal variability of water across the globe.

Despite its importance to life on Earth, there are major gaps in our basic scientific knowledge of the water cycle, including the impact of a changing climate and human activity on water availability and quality.

Forces shaping the vulnerability/sustainability of water as an essential resource include, but are not limited to, extreme events such as floods and droughts; watershed disturbances such as deforestation, desertification, and urbanization; construction of engineered infrastructure such as dams and irrigation systems; and threats such as pollutants, invasive species, human population and climate change.

Water connects physical, geochemical and ecological processes occurring at the Earth's surface, and in the atmosphere and oceans, and links and integrates the natural environment with human, social and engineered systems at multiple scales of space and time.

Water systems are distribution networks for natural and anthropogenic chemicals, living organisms, and particles, encompassing complex and interacting suites of chemical, biological, and physical processes that alter and are altered by water and its constituents.

On this foundation, humans add engineered and social systems to control, manage, utilize, and alter the water environment for a variety of uses and through a variety of organizational and individual decisions.

The central role that water plays in human existence, and the challenges that face our society in adapting to our altered water resources, lead to an overarching question that links societal needs with fundamental science: How can we protect ecosystems and better manage and predict water availability for future generations given alterations to the water cycle caused by climate variability and human activities?

In order to address this question, we require a holistic, predictive understanding of complex water cycle and water resource processes, the feedbacks associated with the water system, and the vulnerability and resilience of water systems to climate and anthropogenic change.

In this context, a water system comprises the drainage basin and its physical, chemical, and biological constituents, including water networks, ecosystems, the built environment, the oceanic and atmospheric systems that govern evaporation and precipitation in the basin, and the source water bodies and terminal lakes or seas into which the water flows.

There have been few attempts to study an entire water system with an integrative, systems science approach or even study similar aspects of different water systems in a comparative sense that will develop such a framework.

Scaling from the leaf or engineered infrastructure element level to transboundary basin level as well as transferability of our understanding from one system to the next are significant challenges in water systems science and engineering.

A systems analysis of the planet's water system focused on aspects such as feedbacks and linkages among climate change, ecosystems, built environments requirements, and human activity can provide a common theoretical framework that can transcend disciplinary boundaries and lead to improved understanding, prediction, and management of water resources and protection of ecosystems.

A number of technical reports that have influenced the scope of science for this particular solicitation and may be of interest to prospective investigators are listed in the FAQ section of this solicitation. See Appendix in Section X of this solicitation. The FAQ's contain additional important information.

The goal of the Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) solicitation is to understand and predict the interactions among the water system and climate change, land use (including agriculture and forest production systems), the built environment, and ecosystem function and services through place-based research and integrative models.

Studies of a water system in its entirety using models and/or observations at specific sites, singly or in combination, that allow for spatial and temporal extrapolation, as well as integration across the different processes in that system are encouraged, especially to the extent that they advance the development of theoretical frameworks and predictive understanding.

Water systems may include relatively pristine systems, built or engineered water environments or anthropogenically modified ecosystems and may range from a built environment site or a single watershed to the basin scale.

Proposals may involve field observations and data collection (specifically Category1,2; collection of new data is not allowed in category 3 ) and the installation of advanced sensor arrays, in situ instrumentation and equipment at facilities and sites already supported by NSF (e.g., Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites, Critical Zone Observatories (CZOs), WATERS Network Test Beds, Cyberinfrastructure for Environmental Observatories: Prototypes (CEOPs) or sites supported by other federal, regional, private or state agencies (e.g., USEPA, USDA (including NIFA, the Forest Service and ARS), USGS, NOAA).

Successful proposals in all categories are expected to broadly integrate across the biosciences, geosciences, engineering and social sciences enabling a new interdisciplinary paradigm in water research using a systems science and engineering approach to develop theoretical frameworks for a predictive understanding.

Specific topics of interest include: * Developing theoretical frameworks and models that incorporate the linkages and feedbacks among atmospheric, terrestrial, aquatic, oceanic, biotic and social processes that can be used to predict the potential impact of (1) climate variability and change, (2) land use and (3) human activity (including population change) on the water cycle and water availability on decadal- to centennial-scale in order to provide a basis for adaptive management of our water resources.

* Determining the inputs, outputs and potential changes in water budgets and water quality in response to (1) climate variability and change, (2) land use and (3) human activity (including population change), and the effect of these changes on biogeochemical cycles, water quality, long-term chemical transport and transformation, terrestrial, aquatic and coastal ecosystems, landscape evolution and human settlements and behavior.

* Determining how our built water systems and our governance system can be made to be reliable, resilient and sustainable to meet diverse and often conflicting needs such as optimizing consumption of water for energy generation, industrial and agricultural production and built environment requirements, reuse for both potable and non-potable needs, as well as, for flood control and storm water management.

Projects that incorporate rich legacy data or remote sensing data are highly encouraged. Generation of new data/measures (including social surveys) is not an allowable budget item for Category 3. This solicitation seeks proposals to build interdisciplinary research teams to pursue topics such as those listed above that cannot readily be addressed by traditional disciplinary programs within the National Science Foundation.

This activity enables interagency cooperation on one of the most pressing problems of the millennium --water sustainability -- how it is likely to affect our world, and how we can proactively plan for its consequences.

It allows the partner agencies -- National Science Foundation (NSF) and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture -- to combine resources to identify and fund the most meritorious and highest-impact projects that support their respective missions, while eliminating duplication of effort and fostering collaboration between agencies and the investigators they support.

USDA/NIFA Areas of Interest: The Program Area for 2013 supports the USDA Research, Education, and Economics Action Plan( http://www. ree. usda.

gov/ree/news/USDAREEActionPlan02-2102Final.

pdf ) Goal 2: Responding to Climate and Energy Needs, Sub-goal 2A: Responding to Climate Variability, with direct reference to the Actionable item to "Create adaptation strategies (including "transformative" systems as described by the 2010 National Research Council [NRC] publication "Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century", e.g., crop-livestock, organic, agro-forestry, etc.), to sustain and increase the resiliency of crop, livestock, and forest tree production systems, biodiversity, and ecosystem services, including practices and technologies that increase the resilience of subsistence food systems to climate variability, weather extremes, and changes in the composition of the atmosphere".

Agricultural modeling needs related to the sustainability of water resources through climate, land-use and population change arise from the necessity to project crop, livestock, forestry, rangeland, and aquaculture yields at multiple watershed and groundwater scales while balancing ecosystem needs.

Increasing air temperature, wide swings of air temperature over short periods of time (e.g., warm conditions followed by a hard frost early during the growing season), increased precipitation or drought in different areas, changing intensity and timing of precipitation and snowmelt patterns increasing length of growing season, conditions accelerating crop maturation, and severe weather are factors that are likely to affect hydrologic processes on different scales, and in different parts of the country.

In addition to climate and precipitation downscaling to the farm and ranch scale, further temporal downscaling to sub daily time intervals is needed for precipitation intensities to drive hydrology, erosion, and water quality process-based models where infiltration, excess runoff, or manmade drainage mechanisms are dominant.

USDA/NIFA seeks research projects that clearly demonstrate the linkages between water sustainability for agriculture and forestry and the broader program goals described in this solicitation (please refer to synopsis). Within these broader goals, USDA/NIFA aims to support projects that increase knowledge of water sustainability and climate variability and change at the watershed and groundwater scale.

In particular, successful projects will focus on the creation of hydrologic and climate models that are 1) integrated with or can later be coupled to models on agricultural production or natural resource management; or 2) that can be used to describe and predict thresholds or trends in water quality and quantity, resilience of agricultural lands/water, forests or rangelands to changes in water availability that affect their ability for food, feed, fiber and fuel production or provide ecosystem services under altered seasonal or extreme climate-driven conditions.

Approaches include but are not limited to: >Scenario-based analysis of the hydrological, climatological, environmental, resource, technological, and economic implications of different climate impacts on the sustainability of water resources in agroecosystems.

Spatially explicit hydrologic and climate-ecosystem models at regional to global scales, to improve our understanding of contemporary and historical changes in agroecosystem structure and functioning, and synthesis of known effects of increasing CO 2 , warming, and changes in the hydrologic cycle.

Developing the next comprehensive integrated watershed/groundwater and global model is a major challenge requiring engagement by researchers from many disciplines. The next generation water sustainability models will need to be high resolution, enabling predictions in the decadal timeframe and at regional scales.

They will need to incorporate and advance sophisticated understanding of natural and human-moderated systems; not only their physical aspects, but also biological and human, including contributions from the built environment.

USDA/NIFA will support research to develop watershed and groundwater and climate models that can be linked to crop, forestry, aquaculture, and livestock models to assess risks and potential outcomes of management strategies so that development and yields can be projected reliably at different spatial and temporal scales.

These types of models include: Water systems models for watersheds and groundwater yielding data on water availability and quality that can interact with new or existing climate and crop models that can be down-scaled to predict impacts on agricultural production and processing systems, forests, rangelands and grasslands.

Water systems models that can be used to predict the potential impact of climate variability and change, land use change, and human activity or population change on water availability for agricultural lands, forests or rangelands and rural community needs.

Coupled climate and water systems models to help manage water allocations from snowmelt, reservoirs, groundwater, and surface water, to deal with competing demands from agricultural, energy, environmental, urban/industrial, and western land management uses.

variability, changing land use and changing land management practices on agricultural lands, forests, or rangelands, with enough specificity to identify and account for environmentally sensitive "hot spots" on the landscape that may indicate areas of low water quality or water shortage, or increased flooding.

Watershed and groundwater models addressing how social and economic factors affect the quality and quantity of surface and groundwater in agricultural production and processing systems, urban/urbanizing environments, and rural communities.

Coupled climate, agronomic, water quality and quantity, resource conservation and economic impact models suitable for the development and assessment of planning and management strategies that exploit opportunities and mitigate adverse impacts of anticipated, yet uncertain, climate change scenarios.

Projects are required to be trans-disciplinary incorporating physical, hydrological, biological, and economic/social-sciences; and are encouraged to address the interconnectivity of agricultural practices and environmental and social impacts and responses.

This includes mechanisms to coordinate and support regional land use changes to improve water sustainability, stabilize agricultural productivity, and marketing of ecosystem services to economically enhance producers.

A system science approach that incorporates the natural, mathematical, engineering and social sciences is an integral part of modeling to understand the impacts of climate change on agroecosystems and the human interventions for adapting to and mitigating these impacts. For more information on this solicitation, you may view the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) in Appendix X.

Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant or Continuing Grant or Cooperative Agreement Estimated Number of Awards: 10 to 24 Three categories of awards are anticipated for this solicitation. Category 1 Awards: Small team synthesis, modeling, integration and assessment projects that will use existing data (or new measurements) to study entire watersheds and groundwater sites.

Both NSF and USDA/NIFA funds will be used to support this category. Some projects may be funded directly by USDA/NIFA. Projects will have a duration of 2-4 years for a maximum of $600,000 for each award.

An estimated 4-8 awards are expected to be made for Category 1 proposals. Category 2 Awards: Place-based modeling studies with new observations, 3 to 5 years in duration and in the range of $2million to $4million maximum for each project. An estimated 2- 5 awards are expected to be made for Category 2 proposals.

Category 3 Awards: Synthesis, modeling and integration grants that will use only existing data to integrate and synthesize across watershed and groundwater sites. Both NSF and USDA/NIFA funds will be used to support this category. Some projects may be funded directly by USDA/NIFA.

Project duration of 3-5 years and in the range of $1million to $2. 5million maximum for each project. An estimated 6-8 awards are expected to be made for Category 3 proposals.

Anticipated Funding Amount: $26,000,000 Approximately $26,000,000 is expected for the FY2014 competition, pending availability of funds. Of this amount, USDA/NIFA anticipates contributing approximately $5,000,000 which will be available for this program pending appropriation action to make standard grants.

Estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds and quality of proposals. This solicitation is expected to be the final call for WSC proposals in this form subject to availability of funds and programmatic considerations.

This is an interagency partnership between NSF and USDA, therefore meritorious proposals may be funded by one or more agencies at the option of the agencies, not the proposer. For proposals selected for funding entirely by USDA/NIFA, PIs will be asked to withdraw their proposal from NSF and resubmit it to USDA/NIFA in accordance with instructions given by the cognizant USDA/NIFA Program Officer.

Subsequent grant administration procedures will be in accordance with the individual policies of the awarding agency. IV. Eligibility Information Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following: Universities and Colleges - Universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in, the US acting on behalf of their faculty members.

Such organizations also are referred to as academic institutions. Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities. For-profit organizations: U.S. commercial organizations, especially small businesses with strong capabilities in scientific or engineering research or education.

For proposals to be considered for funding under USDA/NIFA : Eligible applicants for the grant program implemented under WSC include: (1) State agricultural experiment stations; (2) colleges and universities (including junior colleges offering associate degrees or higher); (3) university research foundations; (4) other research institutions and organizations; (5) Federal agencies, (6) national laboratories; (7) private organizations or corporations; (8) individuals who are U.S. citizens, nations, or permanent residents; and (9) any group consisting of 2 or more entities identified in (1) through (8).

Eligible institutions do not include foreign and international organizations. There are no restrictions or limits. Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: Because of the complexity of the teams formed in response to this solicitation, collaborative submissions can include a maximum of four institutions (four institutional cover sheets).

Other participating institutions must be funded via subcontracts through one of the four lead collaboratives. Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI: 2 An individual may appear as Principal Investigator (PI), co-PI, other senior personnel or investigator on only two WSC proposals submitted for FY 2014 in response to this solicitation.

This limitation includes proposals submitted by a lead organization, any sub-award submitted as part of a proposal, or any collaborative proposal. Proposals that do not meet this requirement will be returned without review.

Additional Eligibility Info: Individual researchers and researchers at ineligible organizations (including foreign universities and colleges) may be included on proposals from eligible institutions through subawards or as consultants.

For proposals to considered for funding under USDA/NIFA: Eligible applicants for the grant program implemented under WSC include: (1) State agricultural experiment stations; (2) colleges and universities (including junior colleges offering associate degrees or higher); (3) university research foundations; (4) other research institutions and organizations; (5) Federal agencies, (6) national laboratories; (7) private organizations or corporations; (8) individuals who are U.S. citizens, nations, or permanent residents; and (9) any group consisting of 2 or more entities identified in (1) through (8).

Eligible institutions do not include foreign and international organizations. Federal Agencies and FFDRCs should also be aware to the specific Indirect cost (F&A) Limitations for awards made by USDA/NIFA elsewhere in this solicitation. Projects involving USDA FFRDC or National Laboratories will only be considered for co-funding by NSF if they are collaborative efforts that involve non-federally funded institutions.

Proposals from FFRDCs must obey NSF budget guidelines and may not include costs already covered by federal funds. To facilitate possible interagency funding of such collaborations, an institution other than the USDA FFRDC facility must serve as the lead institution.

As a general rule, projects funded by USDA/NIFA with follow normally operational USDA/NIFA guidelines for agencies and FFRDCs; projects funded under this solicitation by NSF with follow normally operational NSF guidelines for agencies and national laboratories (GPG I-E. 7).

Under exceptional circumstances, research or education projects at other Federal agencies or FFRDCs that can make unique contributions to the needs of researchers elsewhere or to other specific NSF objectives may receive NSF support. This generally means that other federal agencies and/or FFRDCs should not be the lead organization and specific budgetary restrictions apply per NSF.

Because of the complexity of the teams formed in response to this solicitation, collaborative submissions can include a maximum of four institutions (four institutional cover sheets). Other participating institutions in a single project must be funded via subcontracts through one of the four lead collaborative institutions. V.

Proposal Preparation And Submission Instructions A. Proposal Preparation Instructions Full Proposal Preparation Instructions: Proposers may opt to submit proposals in response to this Program Solicitation