GEO CI Overview

The Geosciences Cyberinfrastructure (GEO CI) Incubator leads cross-cutting efforts to develop and expand access to cyberinfrastructure to promote open, inclusive, computationally enabled, and data-driven research and education in the geosciences. Cyberinfrastructure (CI) includes resources for data curation, access, synthesis, and analysis; capabilities for modeling and computation; and other cyber tools that increase capacity for research and education in the geosciences. GEO CI is one of five incubators in the Division of Research, Innovation, Synergies, and Education (RISE) in NSF's Directorate for Geosciences (GEO). (RISE webpage)

GEO CI Incubator priority activities fall into three main areas:

1. Open Science: Promote openness and broad participation in geosciences through CI and coordination efforts.
2. AI-Enabled Geosciences: Catalyze innovative uses of AI in the geosciences and lower barriers to use of AI by geoscientists.
3. CI Partnership: Advance computational and data-driven research approaches through GEO participation in NSF-wide CI programs.

 

GEO CI Funding Opportunities

Active and recent NSF funding opportunities for each of the GEO CI Incubator priority areas are summarized in the table below, with further information on specific opportunities provided later in this section. This website provides an overview of the range of NSF opportunities supporting cyberinfrastructure and data sharing in the geosciences. PIs are encouraged to review specific funding opportunity text and communicate with cognizant Program Officers to learn more about relevant funding opportunities.

GEO CI Program Contacts

Program	NSF Opportunity	GEO Contact(s)	Upcoming Deadline(s)/Target Date(s)
Open Science
GEO OSE	NSF 23-534 (solicitation)	Raleigh L. Martin (ramartin@nsf.gov)	Anticipated early 2025
FAIROS RCNs	NSF 22-553 (solicitation)	Raleigh L. Martin (ramartin@nsf.gov)	TBD
AI-Enabled Geociences
CAIG	NSF 24-518 (solicitation)	GEO CI Group (caig@nsf.gov)	March 15, 2024
DCL: Advancing Geosciences Using AI/ML	NSF 23-046 (Dear Colleague Letter)	GEO CI group (geo-ci@nsf.gov)	No Deadline
CI Partnership
CSSI	NSF 22-632 (solicitation)	Eric DeWeaver (GEO/AGS), Eva Zanzerkia (GEO/EAR), Sean C. Kennan (GEO/OCE), Marc Stieglitz (GEO/OPP); CSSIQueries@nsf.gov	December 1, 2023 (annually thereafter)
CyberTraining	NSF 23-520 (solicitation)	Eva E. Zanzerkia (ezanzerk@nsf.gov)	January 18, 2024 (annually thereafter)
SCIPE	NSF 23-521 (solicitation)	Eva E. Zanzerkia (ezanzerk@nsf.gov)	January 18, 2024 (annually thereafter)

 

(1) Open Science

• Geosciences Open Science Ecosystem (GEO OSE). This program seeks to support sustainable and networked open science activities to foster an ecosystem of inclusive access to data, physical collections, software, advanced computing, and other resources toward advancing research and education in the geosciences. The purpose of this support is to broadly enable geoscientists to leverage expanding information resources and computing capabilities to address interdisciplinary grand challenge research questions at the forefront of the geosciences.
• GEO OSE program
• GEO OSE FY23 award announcement

• Findable Accessible Interoperable Reusable Open Science Research Coordination Networks (FAIROS RCNs). This program seeks to create three-year Research Coordination Networks (RCNs) which will foster catalytic improvements in scientific communities focusing on the FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse) guiding principles and Open Science best practices (inclusively summarized by the combined phrase FAIROS for purposes of this program).
  • FAIROS RCNs program

(2) AI-Enabled Geosciences

• Collaborations in Artificial Intelligence and Geosciences (CAIG). This program seeks to advance the development and adoption of innovation artificial intelligence (AI) methods to increase scientific understanding of the Earth System.
  • CAIG program
    
    
• Dear Colleague Letter: Advancing Research in the Geosciences Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). This Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) encourages the submission of proposals that advance our understanding of geosciences using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) methods. This is not a special competition or new program. Relevant proposals should be submitted to an existing GEO program, according to that program's submission guidelines.
• Geosciences AI/ML DCL

 (3) CI Partnership

• Cyberinfrastructure for Sustained Scientific Innovation (CSSI): This program led by NSF’s Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) supports integration of data and software elements of advanced cyberinfrastructure.
• CSSI program
• Training-based Workforce Development for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (CyberTraining): This program led by NSF’s Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) supports development of innovative, scalable training and education programs to grow the cyberinfrastructure workforce, broaden adoption of cyberinfrastructure resources, and foster cyberinfrastructure literacy in undergraduate and graduate curricula.
• CyberTraining program
• Strengthening the Cyberinfrastructure Professionals Ecosystem (SCIPE): This program led by NSF’s Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) supports efforts to strengthen how Cyberinfrastructure Professionals (CIP) function within and democratize access to NSF’s advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI) ecosystem.
• SCIPE program

Related Activities

The GEO CI Incubator relates to past and present NSF activities and initiatives:

(1) GEO Division-/Office-specific CI Opportunities

In addition to RISE, the four other Divisions and Offices within NSF's Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) support cyberinfrastructure (CI) projects serving specific research disciplines. GEO Division- and Office-specific opportunities are described below.

• Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS): AGS supports activities related to adding new understanding of the behavior of the Earth’s atmosphere and its interactions with the sun. AGS funds development of CI and cyber tools through its core scientific and facilities programs. See specific program pages or contact cognizant Program Officers for more information.
• AGS webpage
• Dear Colleague Letter: Innovations in Open Science (IOS) Planning Workshops (NSF 23-141)

• Division of Earth Sciences (EAR): EAR supports activities related to improving understanding of the structure, composition, processes, and evolution of the Earth. EAR support for CI is primarily through the Geoinformatics program, which funds the deployment, operation, and sustainment of cyberinfrastructure (CI) resources to serve and support Earth Sciences research and education. Secondarily, the Earth Sciences Instrumentation and Facilities (EAR/IF) program supports CI components related to the acquisition, creation, and operation of physical infrastructure for research and education in the Earth Sciences. EAR also funds pilot development of CI and cyber tools serving specific disciplinary needs through its core scientific and facilities programs. See specific program pages or contact cognizant Program Officers for more information.
• EAR webpage
• Geoinformatics (GI) program
• EAR/IF program
• Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE): OCE supports research and education on all aspects of global oceans and their interactions with the earth and the atmosphere. OCE funds development of cyberinfrastructure and cyber tools through its core scientific and facilities programs. See specific program pages or contact cognizant Program Officers for more information.
• OCE webpage
• Office of Polar Programs (OPP): OPP supports world-class Arctic and Antarctic science through grants to researchers across the U.S. and by providing polar facilities and operational support. OPP supports Polar Cyberinfrastructure (Polar CI) through its Arctic and Antarctic research solicitations. See specific program pages and contact cognizant Program Officers for more information
• OPP webpage
• Arctic Research Opportunities program
• Antarctic Research Not Requiring U.S. Antarctic Program Field Support program
• Dear Colleague Letter: Supporting Data and Sample Reuse in Polar Research (NSF 21-041)
• Dear Colleague Letter: Supporting Open Polar Research Software (NSF 23-053)

(2) Shared Computing Resources

NSF supports a range of advanced shared computing resources for researchers and educators. These include the Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support (ACCESS) program, which provides a range of advanced computational resources, the Partnership to Advance Throughput Computing (PATh), and the Cloud Access Program establishing partnerships with commercial cloud service providers for cost-effective, flexible access to cloud-based resources. Some of these resources are available to all researchers (with or without supporting grants); others are available only through specific programs.

• ACCESS webpage
• PATh webpage
• CloudBank webpage

(3) NSF Public Access Initiative (PAI)

The NSF-wide Public Access Initiative (PAI) strives to make the outputs of scientific research funded by the National Science Foundation publicly available to the greatest extent and with the fewest constraints possible and consistent with law. As articulated in its Public Access Plan (NSF 15-52) and Public Access Plan 2.0 (NSF 23-104), NSF public access policies and programs seek to increase public access to publications, data, and other research products resulting from federal funding, including through the NSF Public Access Repository (NSF-PAR). In addition to NSF-wide public access policies described in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), GEO Divisions and Offices specify additional policies and resources for data management and sharing.

• Public Access Initiative (PAI)
• Public Access Plan 1.0 (NSF 15-052)
• Public Access Plan 2.0 (NSF 23-104)
• Public Access Repository (NSF-PAR)
• Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG)
• Directorate for Geosciences Data Policies

 (4) AI Institutes

The cross-agency National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes (AI Institutes) program supports multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder teams to focus on large-scale, long-time horizon challenges in both foundational and use-inspired AI research, development of the future AI workforce, and addressing societal grand challenges around specific themes. The related ExpandAI (Expanding AI Innovation through Capacity Building and Partnerships) program seeks to broaden and diversify the artificial intelligence (AI) research community in collaboration with National AI Research Institutes.

• AI Institutes program
• ExpandAI

(5) Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE)

Led by NSF’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP), POSE supports managing organizations for establishing and operating self-sustaining open-source ecosystems, which comprise distributed community of developers and a broad base of users across academia, industry, and government, for open-source products or classes of products.

• POSE program
• TIP Directorate

 (6) EarthCube

EarthCube was an NSF program and associated community-driven activity, sponsored through a partnership between the NSF Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) and the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC), to transform research in the academic geosciences community. EarthCube supported projects and community activities (some of which continue now) that promote discovery, integration, and interoperability of data and cyber resources for the geosciences.

• EarthCube program
• EarthCube community website

(7) Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR)

One of NSF’s “10 Big Ideas,” HDR was an NSF program that supported foundations and applications of data science across research domains, including the geosciences.

• NSF 10 Big Ideas
• HDR Initiative

GEO CI Staff

The GEO CI Incubator is led by staff in GEO’s RISE Division:

• Raleigh L. Martin (Program Officer, on detail from GEO/EAR)
• Jennifer M. Smith (Program Specialist)

GEO CI Incubator activities are guided by a working group of Program Officers from Divisions and Offices across GEO as well as from the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) in the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). Current members of this GEO Cyberinfrastructure Working Group (GEO CI Group) are as follows:

GEO CI Group membership:

• GEO Division of Research, Innovation, Synergies, and Education (GEO/RISE)
• Lead: Raleigh L. Martin (on detail from GEO/EAR)
• GEO Division of Earth Sciences (GEO/EAR)
• Eva E. Zanzerkia
• GEO Office of Polar Programs (GEO/OPP)
• Marc Stieglitz
• GEO Division of Ocean Sciences (GEO/OCE)
• Sean C. Kennan
• Joseph Carlin
• GEO Division of Atmospheric & Geospace Sciences (GEO/AGS)
• Maria P. Womack
• Eric DeWeaver
• CISE Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (GEO/OAC)
• Marlon Pierce
• Alejandro Suarez