Slots: An organization may serve as sole submitting organization or as lead organization of a collaborative project on only one submission per cycle, regardless of track, but may serve as the non-lead organization of a collaborative project more than once per cycle.
Deadlines
Internal Deadline: Contact RII.
LOI: Not required.
External Deadline: March 27, 2023
Recurring Deadlines: February 23, 2024; Fourth Friday in February, Annually Thereafter
Award Information
Award Type: Standard or Continuing Grant
Estimated Number of Awards: 15, with ~5 awards being made in each of the three tracks.
Anticipated Award Amount: $6,000,000. NSF anticipates available funding for the GEOPAths program to be approximately 6 million total for new awards per fiscal year. See section III below for further information about the anticipated number of awards in the program’s three tracks and the duration of awards. The estimated program budget, number of awards, and award size/duration are subject to the availability of funds.
Who May Serve as PI: There are no restrictions or limits.
Link to Award: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2023/nsf23540/nsf23540.htm
Process for Limited Submissions
PIs must submit their application as a Limited Submission through the Research Initiatives and Infrastructure Application Portal: https://rii.usc.edu/oor-portal/.
Materials to submit include:
- (1) Single Page Proposal Summary (0.5” margins; single-spaced; font type: Arial, Helvetica, or Georgia typeface; font size: 11 pt). Page limit includes references and illustrations. Pages that exceed the 1-page limit will be excluded from review.
- (2) CV – (5 pages maximum)
Note: The portal requires information about the PIs and Co-PIs in addition to department and contact information, including the 10-digit USC ID#, Gender, and Ethnicity. Please have this material prepared before beginning this application.
Purpose
The Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) supports the Pathways into the Geosciences – Earth, Ocean, Polar and Atmospheric Sciences (GEOPAths) funding opportunity. GEOPAths invites proposals that specifically address the current needs and opportunities related to education, learning, training and professional development within the geosciences community through the formation of STEM Learning Ecosystems that engage students in the study of the Earth, its oceans, polar regions and atmosphere. The primary goal of the GEOPAths funding opportunity is to increase the number of students pursuing undergraduate and/or postgraduate degrees through the design and testing of novel approaches that engage students in authentic, career-relevant experiences in geoscience. In order to broaden participation in the geosciences, engaging students from historically excluded groups or from non-geoscience degree programs is a priority. This solicitation features three funding tracks that focus on Geoscience Learning Ecosystems (GLEs):
- GEOPAths: Informal Networks (IN). Collaborative projects in this track will support geoscience learning and experiences in informal settings for teachers, pre-college (e.g., upper level high school) students, and early undergraduates in the geosciences.
- GEOPAths: Undergraduate Preparation (UP). Projects in this track will engage pre-college and undergraduate students in extra-curricular experiences and training in the geosciences with a focus on service learning and workplace skill building.
- GEOPAths: Graduate Opportunities (GO). Projects in this track will improve research and career-related pathways into the geosciences for undergraduate and graduate students through institutional collaborations with a focus on service learning and workplace skill building.
Visit our Institutionally Limited Submission webpage for more updates and other announcements.