Vice President for Research

Due Date

Nov 13th

CRREL ERDC: Remote Sensing and Prediction of Snow Conditions Request for Solutions – Due November 13, 2024

ERDCWERX invites solutions that provide new remote sensing and prediction tools and/or methodologies for navigating snow-covered regions. This opportunity aligns with the Army’s goal of enhancing readiness by accurately characterizing and predicting terrain in sub-Arctic and Arctic environments. A total of up to $5.5 million is available in multiple awards.

The objective is to develop or advance solutions that address one or both of the following focus areas:

Nov 29th

FY25 Minerva Research Initiative University Research Program – Due November 29th, 2024

Topic 3: Arctic at the Polar Crossroads

POC: Laura Steckman, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, laura.steckman.1@us.af.mil

The Arctic continues to grow as a region of geostrategic and geopolitical importance. While relatively stable and peaceful, the region is experiencing increasing socio-economic, governmental, environmental, and international pressures in the current global order. As it adapts to internal and external pressures, social and cultural adaptations may occur as local and global actors come to terms with the changing reality.

Human populations are fundamental actors at these crossroads. They simultaneously drive and experience effects in the region, whether these changes occur from climate change, environmental transformation, technology, or involve cultural and societal values, security, and sustainability. Such changes may be viewed differently between and among peoples/actors, depending on the circumstances and contexts involved. The presumed opening of the Arctic, as well as growing global interest in its lands and resources, will undoubtedly continue to introduce opportunities and tensions for people, traditions, and national relationships across and beyond the region.

This topic seeks research that explores the opportunities and challenges in the Arctic that stem from multiple, simultaneous realities and possible [re-]imagined futures resulting from a changing physical and ecological environment, increasing access and human activity, introduction and adoption of new technologies, and evolving strategic competition. All research proposed must be human-centered. Proposers anticipating fieldwork in indigenous territories are strongly encouraged to provide evidence in the technical narrative and/or letters of support to demonstrate local concurrence for and/or partnering in the research.

Specific areas of interest include:

• Cooperation and competition, specifically how these are understood by local and global actors with regional interests.

• Sustainability with the convergence of western and indigenous knowledge.

• Resilience and resilience-building at multiple layers.

• Maintaining national and regional stability while addressing the Arctic region’s current (and future) opportunities and challenges.

• Interplay between space infrastructure, science, support, or technologies and societal change in the region.

• Techno-social implications of new technologies adopted within the region for any/all of the interests above.

Dec 1st

Fellows are expected to pursue research that relates to the priorities of the Arctic Initiative: addressing the challenges and opportunities associated with the rapid transformation of the Arctic. A special focus is on exploring to what extent existing governmental and international policies, programs, laws, and regulations are adequate and appropriate to address the evolving challenges and opportunities in the Arctic, and to consider how they can be improved.

In the 2025-2026 academic year, we will prioritize policy-focused proposals on:

Advancing Sustainable Ocean Management (climate change impacts; maritime navigation and new shipping routes; human health impacts; marine litter; ocean pollution; ocean acidification and biodiversity; natural resource management and efficient utilization of marine resources; international and scientific collaborations and challenges and opportunities for Indigenous communities);

Permafrost Thaw (policy implications of improved understanding of how pace of permafrost thaw and pace of global climate change interact; regional impacts of permafrost thaw under plausible scenarios; adaptation/resilience measures against regional impacts; communication of findings to key regional & global audiences);

Resilience in the Far North (infrastructure; transportation; health; food security; community empowerment; governance; culture; connectivity; tourism; shipping; and renewable energy in remote communities – including environmental and economic impacts and exploring ways to increase the resilience of and sustainable development for local Arctic communities and the ecosystems upon which they depend).

Arctic residents and Indigenous candidates, including pre- and postdoctoral scholars, and seasoned practitioners are encouraged to apply. Fellows are expected to be in residence during their fellowship term.

The Arctic Initiative is a joint project of the Environment and Natural Resources Program and the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the Belfer Center and fellows will interact — and collaborate — with fellows from both programs, as well as with faculty, visiting policy makers, and other experts at the Belfer Center and the Harvard Kennedy School.

Dec 2nd

NOAA’s Weather Program Office – Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBES) grant competition – Due December 2nd, 2024

NOAA’s Weather Program Office (WPO, wpo.noaa.gov/nofo) is soliciting proposals for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBES) grant competition from this funding opportunity notification. The program competition's approximate total award funding per year is $1,500,000.00.

Recent societal impacts from hurricanes, floods, snow storms, tornadoes, and wildfires demonstrates that, although there have been considerable advances in weather prediction and forecasting, there is a continual need to understand the intersection of human behavior and meteorology. A variety of social, behavioral, and environmental factors “affect how we prepare for, observe, predict, respond to, and are impacted by weather hazards” (NASEM, 2018. doi:10.17226/24865). Thus, social, behavioral, and economic science (SBES) research plays a critical role in connecting NOAA's weather forecast information and improvements to the public’s growing forecast needs.

The Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 further recognizes the importance of SBES science integration within the larger weather enterprise by emphasizing the need to improve our understanding of how people (e.g., NWS stakeholders, forecasters, the public) receive, interpret, and respond to warnings and forecasts of weather events that endanger life and property, as well as how to best communicate weather events to various stakeholders. Additionally, the NOAA Science Advisory Board published a report titled Priorities in Weather Research with a recommendation to “Increase investments in social and human behavioral data collection and sciences to better understand how weather products are used and to support co-development of improved products” (p.6 https://sab.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/PWR-Report_Final_12-9-21.pdf).

Dec 16th

Arctic Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement - Due December 16th, 2024

Supports doctoral research on the connection between social, biological, physical and geochemical components of the Arctic system and the changing connections between the Arctic and lower latitudes.

Jan 15th

NSF Arctic Research Opportunities – Due January 15th, 2025

The National Science Foundation (NSF) invites investigators at U.S. organizations to submit proposals to the Arctic Sciences Section in the Office of Polar Programs (OPP) within the Geosciences Directorate, to conduct research about the Arctic region.

The goal of this solicitation is to attract research proposals that advance a fundamental, process, and/or systems-level understanding of the Arctic's rapidly changing natural environment, social and cultural systems, and, where appropriate, to improve our capacity to project future change. The Arctic Sciences Section supports research focused on the Arctic region and its connectivity with lower latitudes. The scientific scope is aligned with, but not limited to, research priorities outlined in the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) five-year plan.

The Arctic Sciences Section coordinates with programs across NSF and with other federal and international partners to co-review and co-fund Arctic-related proposals as appropriate. The Arctic Sciences Section also maintains Arctic logistical infrastructure and field support capabilities that are available to enable research.

Read more about it here.

March 14th

This ISO seeks solution summaries and proposals for projects that fall within the general scope of the ARPA-H Scalable Solutions mission office. SSO expands what is technically possible by developing approaches that will leverage an interdisciplinary approach and collaborative networks to address challenges of geography, distribution, manufacturing, data and information, thereby improving health care access and affordability. In the United States, many communities and remote areas lack access to timely and quality health care, which leads to disparities in health outcomes for those populations. Bottlenecks during the manufacturing processes of products and health technologies also lead to delays and limited availability, preventing effective distribution of health care solutions to areas of need, especially in emergencies.

ARPA-H SSO seeks solutions to improve the scalability and affordability of health care solutions, bridge gaps in underserved areas, and extend remote access to expertise by developing location-specific interventions, telemedicine solutions, and mobile health clinics. Solutions should focus on rapid innovation and the use of partnerships, as well as flexible distribution networks and streamlined manufacturing processes.