TITLE: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Hazard SEES 2014/2015
Competition (nsf14093)
DATE: 7/22/2014
NSF 14-093
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Hazard SEES 2014/2015 Competition
1. What is meant by interdisciplinary Hazards SEES research?
Proposals are expected to document that the proposed research is
truly interdisciplinary and that the respective components are
fully integrated and necessary for the successful execution of the
proposed project. Plans for integration of the respective research
components must be clearly outlined in the proposal. In order to
ensure an interdisciplinary approach to solving sustainability
problems, proposals must incorporate science from three or more
intellectually distinct disciplines that in aggregate represent
scientific areas supported by three or more of the participating
NSF Directorates, which are:
+ Directorate for Geosciences;
+ Directorate for Engineering;
+ Directorate for Social, Behavioral, Economic Sciences;
+ Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences; and
+ Directorate for Computer and Information Science and
Engineering
A proposal that only integrates social psychology, economics, and
computer science, for example, would not be suitable for this
competition because the research only spans science supported by
two directorates; social psychology and economics are both
supported by the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, Economic
Sciences. Similarly, a proposal that only integrates seismology,
tsunami wave dynamics, and coastal engineering would not satisfy
the requirements of this solicitation, because the Directorate for
Geosciences supports research into both seismology and tsunami
wave dynamics. An additional discipline, such as mathematics, that
is supported by a third directorate would need to be added in
order for this project to be suitable for the Hazard SEES
competition. You are welcome to include more than three
disciplinary dimensions in your proposals. You may also
incorporate science from other disciplines not supported by the
participating directorates as well (see question 2). The
appropriateness of the research teams disciplinary composition and
expertise will also be a factor in the merit review of the
proposal as described in the NSF Merit Review Criteria section in
the Hazards SEES solicitation.
2. My project involves biological research. Would this project be
appropriate for the Hazards SEES solicitation?
It depends. The biological sciences are not one of the distinct
disciplinary areas described in this solicitation (except for
marine systems which are included under ocean sciences in the
Geosciences directorate). However, a biological or ecological
component may fit into the research if appropriate to answer the
overarching research questions. If you include a biological
science, your proposal must still also incorporate science from
three of the directorate-level discipline areas listed above (see
question 1). The key is to craft a compelling argument that is in
the full spirit of the solicitation.
3. Can I obtain a waiver of the page limitation for the project
description if my project is large and complex, or if my project
is a large collaboration among multiple institutions?
No. All proposals must adhere to the page limit given in the
solicitation.
4. Do all proposals require a Data Management Plan? Do all proposals
require a Management and Integration Plan as well?
Yes, all Hazards SEES proposals require both. The proposal must
include a section that describes data and model sharing plans
(Data Management Plan) in the Supplementary Documents section of
the proposal as described in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide and in
the Proposal Preparation Instructions section of the Hazard SEES
solicitation. If you anticipate that your proposed project would
not generate data or samples that require management and/or
sharing, please state that in your Data Management Plan (but note
that this statement will be subject to peer review). The proposal
must also include, in the Supplementary Documents section of the
proposal, a Management and Integration Plan, which is also
described in the Proposal Preparation Instructions section of the
Hazard SEES solicitation. The Management and Integration Plan
differs significantly from the Data Management Plan, as discussed
in the solicitation. The quality and appropriateness of the
Management and Integration Plan is an important review criterion
for Hazards SEES proposals as outlined in the NSF Merit Review
Criteria section of the Hazards SEES solicitation.
5. Can a researcher be involved in more than one Hazards SEES
proposal?
An individual can appear in the budget (including subaward
budgets) for only one proposal. An individual can be involved in
multiple proposals as an unfunded collaborator.
6. The solicitation uses a lot of terms such as vulnerability,
resilience, hazards, and disasters. Would you please define these?
Definitions of these terms can be found in 2009 UNISDR Terminology
on Disaster Risk Reduction published by the United Nations
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), Geneva,
Switzerland
([1]http://www.unisdr.org/files/7817_UNISDRTerminologyEnglish.pdf).
+ Disaster: A serious disruption of the functioning of a
community or a society involving widespread human, material,
economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds
the ability of the affected community or society to cope
using its own resources.
+ Hazard: A dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or
condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health
impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services,
social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.
+ Natural hazard: Natural process or phenomenon that may cause
loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property
damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic
disruption, or environmental damage.
+ Resilience: The ability of a system, community or society
exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and
recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and
efficient manner, including through the preservation and
restoration of its essential basic structures and functions.
+ Vulnerability: The characteristics and circumstances of a
community, system or asset that make it susceptible to the
damaging effects of a hazard.
7. What is the difference between natural hazards, technological
hazards, and technological hazards linked to natural phenomena?
The focus of the Hazards SEES program is natural hazards and
technological hazards linked to natural phenomena, and their
interactions. Such interactions are reciprocal. First,
technological hazards originating in human activity may
significantly impact natural systems. The Deepwater Horizon Oil
Spill in 2010 is an example of technological hazard linked to
natural phenomena. Human error led to the release of oil into the
Gulf of Mexico, which damaged the oceanic and coastal ecosystems
upon which many coastal towns and industries depend. Second,
natural hazards, such as earthquakes and hurricanes, may
precipitate technological disasters. The earthquake and tsunami
that impacted the nuclear plant in Fukishima, Japan in 2011 is an
example. However, many technological hazards are entirely
contained within the social and technological realm (e.g.,
financial system meltdowns), and absent some significant impact on
natural phenomena, such hazards are beyond the purview of the
Hazards SEES program. Hazards originating from war, acts of
terrorism, and other malicious human activity (e.g., criminal
acts, sabotage) are also beyond the scope of Hazards SEES. In
order to be suitable for the Hazards SEES program, proposals must
address hazards related to at least one natural phenomenon.
8. Which natural hazards are of interest to the Hazards SEES program?
The U.S. National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on
Disaster Reduction (SDR) publication [2]Grand Challenges for
Disaster Reduction includes a set of Implementation Plans for
various natural hazards, which provide further definitions and
descriptions of these hazards. Research projects that would fit
within the scope of Hazards SEES include, but are not limited to,
those related to these hazards:
+ Coastal Inundation
([3]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Coastal_FINAL.pdf)
+ Drought
([4]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Drought_FINAL.pdf)
+ Earthquake
([5]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Earthquake_FINAL.pdf)
+ Flood ([6]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Flood_FINAL.pdf)
+ Heat Wave
([7]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Heatwave_FINAL.pdf)
+ Hurricane
([8]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Hurricane_FINAL.pdf)
+ Landslide and Debris Flow
([9]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Landslide_FINAL.pdf)
+ Space Weather
([10]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Space_FINAL.pdf)
+ Tornado
([11]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Tornado_FINAL.pdf)
+ Tsunami
([12]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Tsunami_FINAL.pdf)
+ Volcano
([13]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Volcano_FINAL.pdf)
+ Wildland Fire
([14]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Wildfire_FINAL.pdf)
+ Winter Storm
([15]http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Winter_FINAL.pdf)
9. Can a Hazards SEES project involve international research? Can a
project have international collaborators?
Hazards SEES projects can involve international research. Hazards
and disasters research has natural linkages with international
partners thus international collaborations are encouraged where
appropriate. International collaborators, however, must seek
support from their respective funding organizations, and not NSF.
Funding guidelines for involving international collaborators (see
Budgetary Information section of the Hazards SEES solicitation)
allow only the following expenses to be included in the NSF
budget: 1) Travel expenses for U.S. scientists and students
participating in exchange visits integral to the project; 2)
Limited project-related expenses for international partners to
engage in research activities while in the United States as
project participants; 3) Project-related expenses for U.S.
participants to engage in research activities while abroad.
10. How do I decide if my proposal should be submitted to Hazards SEES
or another SEES (or SEES-like) program, such as Coastal SEES or
the Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems?
The overarching goal of Hazards SEES is to catalyze
well-integrated interdisciplinary research efforts in
hazards-related science and engineering in order to improve the
understanding of natural hazards and technological hazards linked
to natural phenomena, mitigate their effects, and to better
prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. It is up to
the PI to make a compelling case for their project and how well it
fits the particular goals of any NSF solicitation. Please read the
program solicitations carefully in order to select an appropriate
program for any given project.
11. How I should handle NSF facility costs in the proposal?
NSF facilities are often in high demand and allocation decisions
are made well in advance of facility usage. Proposers should
consult facility managers and relevant NSF program officers to
discuss options for requesting the use of a facility as far in
advance of the proposal submission date as possible. In general,
proposers will have to adhere to the established scheduling
guidelines of the individual NSF facility.
As stated in the main text of the solicitation, projects that are
requesting NSF computational facilities and/or observational
platforms and facilities must include a copy of their request for
facility support among the supplementary documents. The document
must include a cost estimate for the use of the facility, which
should be based upon consultation with the facility manager. When
preparing your proposal, do not include these costs in the
standard NSF budget form. Costs for NSF facilities would be
allocated separately if your proposal is supported. However,
please remember that the facility costs will count against the
$3,000,000 cap for proposal budgets. For example, if you are
planning on submitting a proposal that includes a facility cost of
$500,000, your proposal budget should be no larger than
$2,500,000.
12. Are PIs from NCAR permitted to submit proposals to Hazards SEES?
PIs from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), an
NSF-sponsored FFRDC, are permitted to submit proposals to Hazards
SEES subject to certain conditions: (1) NCAR's participation must
be consistent with the NCAR mission of enabling or fostering
focused new community research; (2); participation is expected to
be in partnership with non-FFRDC organizations; and (3) funding
requested by NCAR must be consistent with the Atmospheric and
Geospace Sciences (AGS) divisions guidelines to NCAR for proposal
submissions (for guidelines consult the AGS website
[16]http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?org=AGS).
13. Can PIs from a Federal lab (FFRDC) submit a proposal to Hazards
SEES?
Proposals from non-NSF-sponsored FFRDC's will not be accepted in
the Hazards SEES program. However, investigators from
non-NSF-sponsored FFRDC's may participate as unfunded
collaborators in a Hazards SEES proposal.
14. I would like to include undergraduate students in my project. How
do I incorporate a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
supplement request within my proposal?
Incorporation of an REU supplement request within a proposal is an
effective mechanism to integrate undergraduate educational
activities into a research project. The Research Experiences for
Undergraduates (REU) solicitation ([17]NSF 13-542) describes this
mechanism in detail. The REU solicitation notes that support for
undergraduate students involved in carrying out research under NSF
awards should be included as part of the research proposal itself
instead of as a post-award supplement to the research proposal.
Consult the REU solicitation for further details.
15. I won't be able to prepare a proposal this year. Can I count on
Hazards SEES having another competition next year?
No.
16. The solicitation requires a list of project personnel, a list of
collaborators and individuals with conflicts of interest, and a
spreadsheet that lists participating individuals and persons with
whom they may have a conflict of interest. These seem redundant.
Why are they all necessary?
These lists do provide overlapping information, but unfortunately,
technical limitations on systems used to manage and process
proposals make it infeasible for a single document to serve all
intended uses of these documents. In particular, there is no way
to submit a spreadsheet via FastLane, and we need the spreadsheet
in order to effectively manage conflicts of interest during this
complex competition.
17. How do we fill out the spreadsheet giving the List of
Participating Individuals?
The spreadsheet must be filled out as plain text, in CSV format.
The submitted file may not contain any additional formatting such
as carriage returns, splitting items across multiple cells, extra
spaces/columns, etc. Any such change will interfere with our
automated handling of these files.
The following is an example of a CSV file for a project with three
PIs, two of whom have four conflicts of interest and one of whom
has three. One of the conflicts is common between two of the PIs.
Given the following information:
+ Proposal ID Number: 1512345
+ PI: Joan Doe from University of State
+ Conflict: George Jones from University of X
+ Conflict: Fred Bloggs from College of Y
+ Conflict: Jane Public from City of Place
+ Conflict: Mario Rossi from Company A
18. Co-PI: Jean Dupont from College of B
+ Conflict: Julius Caesar from University of XYZ
+ Conflict: Timothy N. Chanter from ABC University
+ Conflict: John Donne from Company B
+ Conflict: Jane Eyre from Quadrinity College
19. Co-PI: W. Jack Smith from MTX Tech
+ Conflict: Mario Rossi from Company A
+ Conflict: Tom Anderson from CC University
+ Conflict: Hans Gauss from JKL Technical College
The lines in the CSV file providing the conflicts information
should read as follows:
COI_List>,1512345,Doe,Joan,University of State,Jones,George,
University of X
COI_List>,1512345,Doe,Joan,University of State,Bloggs,Fred,
College of Y
COI_List>,1512345,Doe,Joan,University of State,Public,Jane,
City of Place
COI_List>,1512345,Doe,Joan,University of State,Rossi,Mario,
Company A
COI_List>,1512345,Dupont,Jean,College of B,Caesar,Julius,
University of XYZ
COI_List>,1512345,Dupont,Jean,College of B,Chanter,Timothy N.,
ABC University
COI_List>,1512345,Dupont,Jean,College of B,Donne,John,Company B
COI_List>,1512345,Dupont,Jean,College of B,Eyre,Jane,Quadrinity
College
COI_List>,1512345,Smith,W. Jack,MTX Tech,Rossi,Mario,Company A
COI_List>,1512345,Smith,W. Jack,MTX Tech,Anderson,Tom,
CC University
COI_List>,1512345,Smith,W. Jack,MTX Tech,Gauss,Hans,JKL
Technical College
References
1. http://www.unisdr.org/files/7817_UNISDRTerminologyEnglish.pdf
2. http://www.sdr.gov/grandchallenges.html
3. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Coastal_FINAL.pdf
4. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Drought_FINAL.pdf
5. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Earthquake_FINAL.pdf
6. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Flood_FINAL.pdf
7. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Heatwave_FINAL.pdf
8. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Hurricane_FINAL.pdf
9. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Landslide_FINAL.pdf
10. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Space_FINAL.pdf
11. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Tornado_FINAL.pdf
12. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Tsunami_FINAL.pdf
13. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Volcano_FINAL.pdf
14. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Wildfire_FINAL.pdf
15. http://www.sdr.gov/docs/185820_Winter_FINAL.pdf
16. http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?org=ags
17. http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf13542