New MacroSystems Biology and Early NEON Science solicitation

Here’s some good news to start the new year – the MacroSystems Biology (MSB) program, which was on hiatus in 2015, just released a new solicitation for proposals under the revised program title “MacroSystems Biology and early NEON Science”. You can find the program summary here with a link to the solicitation (NSF 16-521).

The solicitation invites innovative proposals to detect, understand, and forecast the consequences of climate and land use change and invasive species on the biosphere at regional to continental scales. The program also supports planning, training, and development activities to enable groups to conduct research at macrosystem scales.

The solicitation includes three tracks, two of which provide special opportunities for early career scientists and for researchers proposing to make use of or develop tools to enhance use of early NEON data, samples or collections.

Past projects funded through the program have focused on a wide variety of topics including, for example, regional-scale carbon dynamics; climate change impacts on forest biodiversity; extinction risks for lizards, amphibians, fishes and plants; the ecological homogenization of urban America; adaptive evolution of tree species and pathogens; and training the next generation of scientists to conduct multidisciplinary team science.

Funds for the MacroSystems Biology and Early NEON Science program reside in BIO’s Division of Emerging Frontiers and the program is managed by Drs. Tim Kratz and Liz Blood, Program Directors in the Division of Biological Infrastructure. Tim is a rotator from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some of you may remember that he did a rotation from 2010-2012 in the DEB Ecosystems Studies program. His main duty during his current rotation is to manage the MSB and Early NEON Science program. Liz is a permanent Program Director who has managed the development, construction and early operation of NEON. Liz also served as a managing Program Director for the MacroSystems Biology program for its initial five year run.

Both Liz and Tim encourage you to read the program summary page and solicitation carefully and contact them with any questions.

The due dates for proposals are March 15 and October 17 in 2016 and the third Monday in October thereafter.


DEB Summer 2015: Where to find us at Professional Meetings

We’ve got a busy summer meeting schedule and are offering numerous opportunities to hear the latest NSF updates, meet your Program Officers, and learn about funding opportunities in-person. Since it is so close this year, there will be a fairly large contingent of us heading up to Baltimore for the ESA meeting. But, we’re not forgetting the other side of the house; we’ll have representatives at both of the big, international evolution conferences. We’ll also be at the IALE Congress and the joint Botany meeting, and we were already at ASM earlier this season.

And remember, if you can’t make it to our lunchtime brown-bag sessions to hear the latest from DEB, you can always email one of the attending Program Officers to set up another meeting time, catch us in the poster hall, or drop by our information tables (where available).

 

26 – 30 June, 2015: Guarujá, Brazil. Evolution 2015

Featuring: Simon Malcomber, David Mindell, Sam Scheiner, Kelly Zamudio

Presentation Followed by Q & A (NSF Update)
Sunday 28 June, 12:00 – 13:30 (during lunch break), Meeting Room Diamantina

 

6 – 9 July, 2015: Portland, OR. 9th International Assoc for Landscape Ecology World Congress

Featuring: George Malanson

Panel Discussion: Funding Opportunities for Landscape Ecology at the US National Science Foundation
Monday 6 July, 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM, See Final Schedule for Location

Additional Notes: Tuesday eve poster session is a good time to meet up with George.

 

25 – 29 July, Edmonton, Alberta. Botany 2015

Featuring: Joe Miller

With Special Appearances: Roland Roberts, Judy Skog

NSF Information Booth (Exhibitor #114)
All Days, Staffed during poster sessions, by appointment and whenever we can be there, Hall D.

NSF Outreach Presentation and Discussion
Wednesday 29 July, noon, location TBA (check final program).

 

9 – 14 August, 2015: Baltimore, MD. Ecological Society of America 2015

Featuring: Henry Gholz, Doug Levey, Sam Scheiner, Alan Tessier, Alan Wilson, George Malanson, Diane Pataki, John Adamec, Shannon Jewell

With Special Appearances by: Matt Kane (TBD), Betsy Von Holle (W, Th, F), Emily Leichtman (Su, M)

NSF Information Booth (Exhibitor #438)
Monday 10 – Thursday 14 August, All-day, Baltimore Convention Center Poster/Exhibit Hall.

Special Session (SS 2): Ecology on the Runway: An Eco-Fashion Show and Other Non-Traditional Public Engagement Approaches
Monday 10 August, 11:30 AM-1:15 PM, Baltimore Convention Center 310.

Special Session (SS 10): New Frontiers: Bridging the Gaps Between Continental and Global-Scale Research Networks, A Special AGU-ESA Event and Evening Social
Monday 10 August, 8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Baltimore Convention Center 309.

Workshop (WK 53): Federal Agency Networking Session (Come and meet your Program Officers from NSF and beyond!)
Thursday 13 August, 11:30 AM-1:15 PM, Baltimore Convention Center 316.

 

9 – 15 August, 2015: Lausanne, Switzerland. European Society for Evolutionary Biology

Featuring: George Gilchrist and Leslie Rissler

Presentation followed by Q & A (NSF Update)
Thursday 13 August, noon, location TBA.

Additional Notes: This will be the same program as presented at Evolution 2015 (if you’re like us and had to choose one or the other, we’ve got you covered!)


DEB Summer 2015: Where to find us at Professional Meetings

We’ve got a busy summer meeting schedule and are offering numerous opportunities to hear the latest NSF updates, meet your Program Officers, and learn about funding opportunities in-person. Since it is so close this year, there will be a fairly large contingent of us heading up to Baltimore for the ESA meeting. But, we’re not forgetting the other side of the house; we’ll have representatives at both of the big, international evolution conferences. We’ll also be at the IALE Congress and the joint Botany meeting, and we were already at ASM earlier this season.

And remember, if you can’t make it to our lunchtime brown-bag sessions to hear the latest from DEB, you can always email one of the attending Program Officers to set up another meeting time, catch us in the poster hall, or drop by our information tables (where available).

 

26 – 30 June, 2015: Guarujá, Brazil. Evolution 2015

Featuring: Simon Malcomber, David Mindell, Sam Scheiner, Kelly Zamudio

Presentation Followed by Q & A (NSF Update)
Sunday 28 June, 12:00 – 13:30 (during lunch break), Meeting Room Diamantina

 

6 – 9 July, 2015: Portland, OR. 9th International Assoc for Landscape Ecology World Congress

Featuring: George Malanson

Panel Discussion: Funding Opportunities for Landscape Ecology at the US National Science Foundation
Monday 6 July, 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM, See Final Schedule for Location

Additional Notes: Tuesday eve poster session is a good time to meet up with George.

 

25 – 29 July, Edmonton, Alberta. Botany 2015

Featuring: Joe Miller

With Special Appearances: Roland Roberts, Judy Skog

NSF Information Booth (Exhibitor #114)
All Days, Staffed during poster sessions, by appointment and whenever we can be there, Hall D.

NSF Outreach Presentation and Discussion
Wednesday 29 July, noon, location TBA (check final program).

 

9 – 14 August, 2015: Baltimore, MD. Ecological Society of America 2015

Featuring: Henry Gholz, Doug Levey, Sam Scheiner, Alan Tessier, Alan Wilson, George Malanson, Diane Pataki, John Adamec, Shannon Jewell

With Special Appearances by: Matt Kane (TBD), Betsy Von Holle (W, Th, F), Emily Leichtman (Su, M)

NSF Information Booth (Exhibitor #438)
Monday 10 – Thursday 14 August, All-day, Baltimore Convention Center Poster/Exhibit Hall.

Special Session (SS 2): Ecology on the Runway: An Eco-Fashion Show and Other Non-Traditional Public Engagement Approaches
Monday 10 August, 11:30 AM-1:15 PM, Baltimore Convention Center 310.

Special Session (SS 10): New Frontiers: Bridging the Gaps Between Continental and Global-Scale Research Networks, A Special AGU-ESA Event and Evening Social
Monday 10 August, 8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Baltimore Convention Center 309.

Workshop (WK 53): Federal Agency Networking Session (Come and meet your Program Officers from NSF and beyond!)
Thursday 13 August, 11:30 AM-1:15 PM, Baltimore Convention Center 316.

 

9 – 15 August, 2015: Lausanne, Switzerland. European Society for Evolutionary Biology

Featuring: George Gilchrist and Leslie Rissler

Presentation followed by Q & A (NSF Update)
Thursday 13 August, noon, location TBA.

Additional Notes: This will be the same program as presented at Evolution 2015 (if you’re like us and had to choose one or the other, we’ve got you covered!)


Guest Post: A Shifting Landscape for International Biology-related Research

Editor’s note: Today we’re bringing you a guest post on issues related to international biology research written for us by Elizabeth (Libby) Lyons, Regional Program Coordinator: Africa, Near East and South Asia (ANESA) in the NSF International Science and Engineering (ISE) office. Libby is also a former DEB Program Officer. We’d like to thank Libby for taking the time to discuss this topic with us and her willingness to share her expertise and experience here on DEBrief. The content is important and applicable beyond DEB so we hope you’ll take the time to share it with your colleagues.

 

Late in 2014 a new international agreement became official that could affect any research using biological material in or from other countries. We want to help NSF-funded PIs adapt to any resultant changes so that the benefits of NSF-funded scientific discovery, workforce development and education, international collaboration, biodiversity conservation and/or capacity-building can continue in the United States and in partner countries.

We start with two important points:

  • This agreement applies to almost all international projects involving non-human biological resources, even if you don’t plan to transport material back to the U.S. and even if you don’t expect any commercial use! If you work internationally with non-human material that contains DNA the process for securing research, collection and/or export permits for your project could be affected.
  • Sovereign nations own their biological resources and associated traditional knowledge, and therefore have the right to make laws about their use and protection. NSF and your institution require you to follow those laws and secure the required permits!

Background:

The agreement, known as the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources[i] (NP hereafter), aims to help countries develop standard protocols and protections for access to and sharing of benefits derived from their biological materials. Alas, in the near term, the NP is likely to place international biological research, especially fieldwork, under greater political scrutiny and increase its complexity due to variation across countries in, for example, interpretation of NP language, balance between use and protection, and stage of development of relevant laws. We note however, that in some countries there will be no change to current protocols, in some parts of the world there is growing regional cooperation[ii], and in others the permitting process has been simplified due to recognition of the importance of fundamental research with no commercial objectives.

Possible ways to adapt to this new landscape:

  • learn about the issues around the NP. The Swiss Academy of Sciences has published several documents on Access and Benefit Sharing involving non-commercial academic research, which provide an overview of terms, general processes and effective practices. Scientific societies and collections/museum consortia may also be resources for relevant information.
  • learn about the permitting requirements for country(ies) where you work. Country information will eventually be centralized at the NP Clearinghouse, though that effort is just starting. It may help to reach out to other researchers working in the same country to share knowledge and approaches.
  • apply for permits for the broadest scope of project you think possible, so that if your project or a related student project moves in a slightly different direction you not need re-apply.
  • strengthen relationships with your foreign collaborators. NSF encourages such collaboration and these scientists will likely be knowledgeable of the requirements in their country; some countries may require in-country research partners be named on permit applications.
  • be able to articulate how your research can benefit the partner country. Such benefits will usually be non-monetary, but from the perspective of partner countries, they include critically important outcomes such as discovery of biodiversity, co-training of students, academic collaboration and networks, and conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
  • consider adjusting the timing of your project. Learn about the permitting process in advance and apply for permits ASAP. Consider delaying the start date of your NSF award and/or the hiring of critical personnel (e.g., post-docs) until all final permissions are in hand.

We recognize that these international requirements could be cumbersome, but we emphasize the importance of compliance. In the past, non-compliance has had serious consequences for PIs, projects, U.S. universities and even international relationships between the United States and other countries.

PIs with questions are encouraged to get in touch with us. Either Libby or any of the ISE regional contacts can help. If DEB is your usual programmatic home at NSF, Simon Malcomber serves as a local point of contact.

 

[i] The official name is the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (website: http://www.cbd.int/abs/about/ ).

[ii] Access and Benefit-Sharing in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Science-Policy Dialogue for Academic Research. Diversitas, June 2014.


Program Announcements: LTER postdoc opportunity and LTER National Communications Office

We’ve got two new opportunities we are happy to share with you related to the Long Term Ecological Research program:

First, directly from DEB, is a new solicitation for a Long Term Ecological Research National Communications Office:

NSF has recently announced an open competition for a Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) National Communications Office (NSF 15-535). The office will coordinate research, education, and outreach programs across the current 25 LTER projects, communicate these activities to diverse audiences, and provide centralized representation of the LTER network to the broad scientific community and the public. The Director of the Office will work with the LTER Science Council and the research community to develop and implement strategic goals and future initiatives, and the Office will serve as the primary point of contact for information about the LTER program. A single National Communications Office will be awarded; the competition is open to universities and colleges, non-profit, and non-academic institutions.

Second, we’d like to point you to the  NSF-supported LTER Postdoctoral Synthesis Fellowships:

The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), in collaboration with NSF’s Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, invites applications for two-year postdoctoral synthesis fellowships that will begin August 5, 2015. Synthesis of long-term data sets, on-going experiments, and model results is an important goal of NSF’s LTER program. Successful Postdoctoral Fellowship applications will identify specific research questions and how they will be addressed using synthesis methods and long-term ecological data. Fellowships will engage and assist early-career investigators in the use and analysis of existing long-term data and in advanced computational methods to ask new questions and initiate new research collaborations. Fellows must identify long-term datasets that form the foundation for these syntheses. These must involve LTER data, but applicants are encouraged to include additional long-term data collected by projects outside of the LTER network as well. Proposed projects can focus on ecological or interdisciplinary questions. For details, see http://www.sesync.org/opportunities/sesync-lter-synthesis-postdoctoral-fellowships.


Links for recent funding opportunity updates in BIO

Please take note of these recently published funding opportunity updates:

1) A revision to the DEB Core Programs solicitation has been published. The new solicitation number is NSF 15-500. See it here: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15500/nsf15500.htm.

2) The Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) solicitation has also been updated. The new solicitation number is NSF 15-503. See it here: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15503/nsf15503.htm.

3) Current DEB awardees should have received a reminder about Education and Broadening Participation supplement requests, due December 2. The guidance for these supplements is also online, here: http://www.nsf.gov/bio/deb/suppopp.jsp.

4) A revision of the BIO Postdoctoral Fellowships program has also been published. There are 3 tracks all of which may be relevant to new PhDs in DEB fields: (1) Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology, (2) Research Using Biological Collections, and (3) National Plant Genome Initiative (NPGI). See it here: www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15501/nsf15501.htm.

As always, we are happy to receive  your questions in the comments and by phone or email.


DEB Numbers: Community Satisfaction Survey Results

You may recall that way back in the first half of 2013 we invited the community by email and also via this blog to participate in a survey to gauge satisfaction with the preliminary proposal process in DEB and IOS.

The full results of the survey have now been published in BioScience. Our thanks to you for responding to our call to participate in great numbers and to the various discussants, readers, and reviewers who helped throughout the process.

We understand how strongly many people feel about these issues and appreciate your engagement as individuals with diverse experiences and perspectives. For every possible change we do or do not make, real lives are being impacted and that matters to us; and when 9 of 10 proposals are declined there will always be more individuals who “lose” than “win” even if the collective face of either group doesn’t change at all. We are ultimately people, trying to do our best to balance trade-offs with very real individual and collective consequences amidst constraints that extend well beyond any one of us. We are considering the responses very carefully, continuing to monitor outcomes, make adjustments, and evaluate the results of these changes with all available data.

Major Messages:

Respondents were most satisfied with the preliminary proposal requirement and mostly dissatisfied with the switch to a single annual deadline.

The respondents indicated that they see the DEB and IOS changes as a potential threat to the success of several different groups, especially to the ability of early career faculty to obtain funding. After the first complete review cycle, there were no immediate and obvious changes to the representation of these groups in the award portfolio.

General consensus was seen in responses between DEB and IOS and across various demographic divisions.

You can check the results out for yourself here:

http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/biu116?ijkey=WFhRM2sAgTLgzNa&keytype=ref (Web)

http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/biu116?ijkey=WFhRM2sAgTLgzNa&keytype=ref (PDF)

Note: you may hit a paywall if searching for the article directly from the web. These links should get you there directly.

Citation:

Leslie J. Rissler and John Adamec. Gauging Satisfaction with the New Proposal Process in DEB and IOS at the NSF. BioScience (September 2014) 64 (9): 837-843 first published online August 13, 2014 doi:10.1093/biosci/biu116

 

 

 


Reminder: 2014 BIO DDIG Deadline Thursday Oct 9

The DEB (all clusters) and IOS (Behavioral Systems Cluster only) due date for Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants (DDIG) is Thursday, 9 October 2014.

Submissions must be received by 5:00 PM (your local time) on Thursday, 9 October 2014.

This is the same scheduled deadline (2nd Thursday in October) as last year.

Don’t be confused by last year’s extended deadline caused by the government shutdown. Be aware of the correct due date and don’t miss your window to apply!

If you are planning to submit:

Please be sure all of the required paperwork and certifications (especially the “statement that the student has advanced to candidacy for a Ph.D., signed and dated by the department chairperson, graduate dean, or similar administrative official”) will be ready for the submission. Also, please make sure your organizational representative (usually, the Sponsored Research Office (SRO)) is aware of the actual due date to avoid missing the deadline.

Resources-

DDIG solicitation (submission instructions): http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13568/nsf13568.htm

DDIG Website (with program contacts): http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5234

Our recent series on DDIG: part 1, part 2, part 3

 


DEB Live! 2014: ESA in Sacramento, 10-15 August

DEB is coming to the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Sacramento, California.

We are expanding our formal presence at this year’s meeting by:

(1) Holding our regular lunchtime “Town Hall” session on Tuesday, August 12 from 11:30-1:15 pm in room 202 of the Sacramento Convention Center.

(2) Hosting a Table in the Exhibit Hall  with general information about NSF and the Biological Sciences Directorate, including funding opportunities in and beyond DEB (as of press time we expect to be Table B). Expect 1 or 2 representatives at the table throughout the day.

Our ESA 2014 Table. Stop by and say "hi."

Our ESA 2014 Table. Stop by and say “hi.”

(3) Program Officers will also generally be available for questions at the NSF exhibit table during the late-afternoon poster sessions: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 4:30-6:30 pm.

(4) If you wish to arrange a special time to meet with one of these folks you can contact them by email.

 

Below are individuals from NSF who will be in attendance at the meeting:

Penny Firth, Division Director
Division of Environmental Biology
pfirth@nsf.gov

Alan Tessier, Deputy Division Director (Acting)
Division of Environmental Biology
atessier@nsf.gov

Henry Gholz, Program Officer
Division of Environmental Biology, Ecosystem Science Cluster
hgholz@nsf.gov

Peter Alpert, Program Officer
Division of Environmental Biology, Population and Community Ecology Cluster
palpert@nsf.gov

Linda Deegan, Program Officer
Division of Environmental Biology, Ecosystem Science Cluster
ldeegan@nsf.gov

Betsy Von Holle, Program Officer
Division of Environmental Biology, Population and Community Ecology Cluster
mvonholl@nsf.gov

John Schade, Program Officer
Division of Environmental Biology, Ecosystem Science Cluster
jschade@nsf.gov

Alan Wilson, Program Officer
Division of Environmental Biology, Population and Community Ecology Cluster
aewilson@nsf.gov

John Adamec, Program Analyst
Division of Environmental Biology
jadamec@nsf.gov

Cheryl Dybas, Public Affairs Officer
NSF Office of Legislative and Public Affairs
cdybas@nsf.gov

 


DEB Spring 2014 Preliminary Proposal Results

Some of you have already heard about your DEB preliminary proposal(s). Invitations for full proposals have been going out first, one cluster at a time, followed by declines, again by cluster. DEB does this to maximize preparation time for the invited PIs and to make sure individuals in the same cluster and outcome grouping receive notice at roughly the same time. These decisions are being announced in line with or ahead of the review calendar discussed here and here.

Each PI will receive a context statement describing the review process and results in the reviewing cluster. Here we provide a compilation of the same context information for all four clusters in DEB.

 

Preliminary Proposals submitted to the Division of Environmental Biology were evaluated by panel-only review using the two NSF review criteria of intellectual merit and broader impacts as described in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (NSF 13-1). Additional criteria were applied to preliminary proposals submitted in response to targeted solicitations (e.g., LTREB), as specified in the program announcements for those solicitations.

DEB brought 1587 preliminary proposals to panel review in March and April of 2014. After discussion the panels assigned each of the preliminary proposals to a recommendation category.

Reviews and panel evaluations are advisory. Decisions to Invite or Not Invite are made by NSF. In the difficult decision-making process, Program Directors consider the relative promise of each preliminary proposal as well as other factors, such as balance among sub-disciplines, types and geographic distribution of submitting institutions, and the potential contribution of each project to broadening the participation of individuals from groups traditionally underrepresented in science. After considering these factors, recommendations are made by the program. The Invitation Count represents the number of full proposals that are actually being invited by the program.

 

DEB Cluster

Submission Count

Merit Review Panel Recommendation

Invitation Count

(Invitation Rate)

High Priority Invite

Low Priority Invite

Do Not Invite

Ecosystem Science

293

63

8

222

70 (24%)

Evolutionary Processes

504

92

(Not Used)

412

98 (19%)

Population and Community Ecology

457

100

9

348

112 (24%)

Systematics and Biodiversity Science

333

64

17

252

84 (25%)

Total

1587

319

34

1234

364 (23%)