October 4, 2018

Dear Colleagues:

Through this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), the Directorates for Engineering (ENG), Geosciences (GEO), and the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) encourage the submission of proposals that address challenges related to Hurricane Florence, similar events that could occur in the coming weeks, and their aftermaths. These directorates support fundamental science and engineering research projects whose results enable families, communities, businesses, institutions, and governments to better prepare for, respond to, and recover from future catastrophic events. With this DCL, NSF seeks to support research on new science and engineering questions posed by such natural disasters, primarily those that require immediate, time-sensitive data collection and other research activities to advance basic science.

The ENG, GEO, and SBE directorates invite proposals to support time-sensitive research seeking to address the challenges related to Hurricane Florence and any other hurricanes that might occur in the United States prior to October 31, 2018. Rapid Response Research (RAPID) proposals may be submitted to conduct new research related to these hurricanes. Although NSF accepts RAPID proposals at any time, Hurricane Florence-related RAPID awards proposals must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. submitter's local time on October 15, 2018.

Submission Guidelines: The RAPID funding mechanism supports projects for which there is an urgent need for data, facilities, or specialized equipment that can be utilized for quick-response research about natural disasters. RAPID proposal project descriptions are expected to be brief. They may not exceed five pages. Requests may be up to $200,000 and up to one year in duration. See the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) Chapter II.E.1 for instructions on preparation of a RAPID proposal. Proposals submitted pursuant to this DCL must designate the proposal as being related to this DCL by including "2018 Hurricane Season:" at the beginning of the proposal title.

To submit a RAPID request, investigators must contact the ENG, GEO, or SBE Program Officer most closely related to the proposal topic before submitting to determine if the proposed activities meet NSF's guidelines for these types of submissions or whether the proposed work is more suitable for submission as a regular research proposal.

Proposals submitted pursuant to this DCL may request the use of NSF-funded advanced computing resources such as Blue Waters or Stampede2. In these cases, investigators must contact the NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) prior to submission of the proposal.

Research proposals relating to a better fundamental understanding of storms and their impacts (physical, biological and societal), human aspects of natural disasters (including first responders and the public), means of improving emergency response methods, and approaches that promise to reduce future damage also are welcome. NSF continues to support fundamental science and engineering research projects whose results on the topics listed above are not time-sensitive. Such proposals should be submitted to standing programs and competitions according to their established deadlines.

Investigators with general questions are advised to contact one of the following Directorate liaisons:

ENG: Joy Pauschke, jpauschk@nsf.gov, (703) 292-7024
GEO: Chungu Lu, clu@nsf.gov, (703) 292-8524
SBE: Robert (Bob) O'Connor, roconnor@nsf.gov, (703) 292-7263

Arthur Lupia
Assistant Director, Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences

Dawn Tilbury
Assistant Director, Directorate for Engineering

William Easterling
Assistant Director, Directorate for Geosciences