October 4, 2022

1. What was the rationale for creation of the new P4CLIMATE solicitation?
2. Does P4CLIMATE accept interdisciplinary proposals?
3. Since P4CLIMATE is a competition rather than a program, what does that mean in terms of proposal submissions and the review process?
4. P4CLIMATE proposals are not submitted to a specific NSF Program, Division or Office (Atmosphere, Earth, Ocean Sciences or Office of Polar Programs), but are submitted to the GEO-wide solicitation. How should I/we submit a proposal to ensure that it gets reviewed in the right place?
5. Where can I find additional office/ division specific requirements for the Data Management Plan?
6. If my project is co-funded by one or more Division(s), which data management guidance should our project follow?
7. Does P4CLIMATE support proxy development or other methods development activities?
8. Does P4CLIMATE support development of paleoclimate databases?
9. Does P4CLIMATE consider research from “deep time” geological records, or is the program restricted to certain periods of geological time (such as the Holocene)?
10. Do P4CLIMATE proposals necessitate the use of climate models?
11. What types of additional proposals are supported by the P4CLIMATE competition?
12. Can P4CLIMATE proposal budget include funds for support of international collaborations?
13. Can P4CLIMATE proposal budgets include funds to support activities by individuals employed by Federal agencies or Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs)?
14. Does P4CLIMATE consider proposals to collect new data or does the emphasis on data synthesis exclude projects that would collect new data?
15. Is the submission date flexible?
16. Is there a maximum budget request for P4CLIMATE proposals?
17. Is there a minimum scope and budget of proposals to P4CLIMATE?
18. Are proposals to study societal impacts of climate change considered by P4CLIMATE?
19. Are broadening participation and stakeholder engagement activities required in P4CLIMATE?

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1. What was the rationale for creation of the new P4CLIMATE solicitation?

   P4CLIMATE arose from the longstanding and successful P2C2 competition which facilitated interdisciplinary paleoclimate research to advance understanding of the magnitudes, rates and drivers of past climate variability on a range of timescales. To build on these outcomes of P2C2, an NSF-sponsored workshop was hosted by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering (NASEM) to help NSF identify current knowledge gaps in interdisciplinary paleoclimate science and new opportunities for research to address these knowledge gaps. The focus of P4CLIMATE, like that of the former P2C2, remains centered on the utilization of paleo-records to provide perspective on our understanding of present and projected climate change. Significant new considerations in the P4CLIMATE solicitation include the focus on two broad new research themes and six additional considerations for proposals, which are outlined in further detail in the solicitation.

2. Does P4CLIMATE accept interdisciplinary proposals?

   Yes, the cross-directorate P4CLIMATE competition is intended to foster interdisciplinary research in support of the scientific objectives of the NSF Directorate for Geosciences (GEO), including the Divisions of Atmospheric, Earth, and Ocean Sciences and the Office of Polar Programs. Thus, P4CLIMATE encourages projects that cross shorelines, connect polar and non-polar regions, or otherwise link climate data and models that span Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and terrestrial systems.

3. Since P4CLIMATE is a competition rather than a program, what does that mean in terms of proposal submissions and the review process?

   P4CLIMATE is an interdisciplinary competition within the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO), with participation from the Divisions of Atmospheric, Earth, and Ocean Sciences and the Office of Polar programs. Thus, the review process is inherently coordinated across these organizational units, as opposed to within an individual program or between several programs. Support for successful projects may come from one or more of a number of programs across the Directorate for Geosciences.

4. P4CLIMATE proposals are not submitted to a specific NSF Program, Division or Office (Atmosphere, Earth, Ocean Sciences or Office of Polar Programs), but are submitted to the GEO-wide solicitation. How should I/we submit a proposal to ensure that it gets reviewed in the right place?

   All proposals submitted to the GEO P4CLIMATE program are managed and evaluated by a group of Program Officers representing the Divisions of Atmospheric, Earth, and Ocean Sciences and the Office of Polar Programs. An initial review by this group will determine which Division(s) will manage the review of each proposal, based on an evaluation of the scope of the research. One or more Program Officers from the relevant Division(s)/Office will evaluate the proposal’s compliance to the solicitation requirements and will then obtain the advice of relevant disciplinary reviewers. Hence, the proposal submission system (Research.gov or Grants.gov) does not require proposal submitters to identify a specific Program, Office or Division for the review of their proposal.

5. Where can I find additional office/ division specific requirements for the Data Management Plan?

   The data policies of the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) are described on the GEO website: https://www.nsf.gov/geo/geo-data-policies/. This location links to the data policies for each of the Divisions of Atmospheric, Earth and Ocean Sciences and the Office of Polar Programs.

6. If my project is co-funded by one or more Division(s), which data management guidance should our project follow?

   As the solicitation states: “in the event of an award, the grantee will adhere to the minimum criteria of the P4CLIMATE solicitation plus any Division/Office-specific requirements from the entity or entities supporting the award.” Thus, for proposals submitted to P4CLIMATE, the submitted data management plan should follow the guidance of the Division(s)/Office with missions most aligned with the proposed research goals. During the process of any award recommendation, Program Officers from the relevant Division(s)/Office will ensure that the data management plan adheres to the relevant Division(s)/Office requirements.

7. Does P4CLIMATE support proxy development or other methods development activities?

   P4CLIMATE’s encouragement of novel methodologies does not include the development of new proxies or methods which should be submitted to the core disciplinary programs. Novel methodologies encouraged by P4CLIMATE include leveraging or applying recent advances in proxy methodologies to refine the interpretation of paleoclimate records (e.g., proxy refinement, calibration, ground-truthing, and monitoring aimed at improving mechanistic understanding of proxies are encouraged in conjunction with other approaches).

8. Does P4CLIMATE support development of paleoclimate databases?

   Yes, if the database is a product of the primary research effort. However, projects with the sole focus of creating new data infrastructure, improved access to data standards and tools, or to develop centralized community efforts to share and synthesize data, should be considered for submission to cyberinfrastructure programs.

9. Does P4CLIMATE consider research from “deep time” geological records, or is the program restricted to certain periods of geological time (such as the Holocene)?

   Although the solicitation does not specify time scales that are considered relevant, nor does it exclude deep-time research, the solicitation goals are centered around utilization of paleo-records that provide a perspective on our understanding of present and projected climate change.

10. Do P4CLIMATE proposals necessitate the use of climate models?

    While climate models can be a valuable tool in addressing past regional and seasonal change as well as past forcings, P4CLIMATE does not require the use of climate models in addressing proposed hypotheses.

11. What types of additional proposals are supported by the P4CLIMATE competition?

    P4CLIMATE may consider some of the additional proposal types described in the PAPPG or other NSF-wide solicitations (such as planning grants, RCNs and RUIs), with the requirement that proposers must contact the NSF program officer(s) whose expertise is most germane to the proposal topic and obtain approval prior to any submission.

12. Can P4CLIMATE proposal budget include funds for support of international collaborations?

    P4CLIMATE supports interdisciplinary collaboration including research that involves international collaboration where appropriate. Note, however, NSF rarely provides direct funding support to foreign organizations. Refer to Chapter II.D.8 of the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) for guidance on required information and justification in cases where the funding of a foreign organization is considered to be essential by the proposer.

13. Can P4CLIMATE proposal budgets include funds to support activities by individuals employed by Federal agencies or Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs)?

    As described in PAPPG Chapter I.E, NSF does not normally support research activities by employees of other Federal agencies and/or FFRDCs. P4CLIMATE will consider requests for an exception only when the other Federal agency or FFRDC can make unique contributions to the needs of researchers elsewhere. A request for an exception must provide specific detail about what unique contributions the other Federal agency or FFRDC can provide. However, also note that employees of other Federal agencies and/or FFRDCs may participate in P4CLIMATE projects as unfunded collaborators without requiring a request for an exception.

14. Does P4CLIMATE consider proposals to collect new data or does the emphasis on data synthesis exclude projects that would collect new data?

    Although synthesis of existing and archived data is encouraged, collection of new data is also appropriate for P4CLIMATE projects. The new data collection should be motivated by addressing the research themes of P4CLIMATE.

15. Is the submission date flexible?

    No, proposals are due by 5pm submitter’s local time on October 20.

16. Is there a maximum budget request for P4CLIMATE proposals?

    No, there is no absolute limit. The budget request should reflect the proposal needs (resources) to achieve the research goals.

17. Is there a minimum scope and budget of proposals to P4CLIMATE?

    There is no minimum budget for P4CLIMATE projects. Examples of projects with relatively minimal scope and budget may include synthesis projects that do not require extensive field work or new collection of data. Note that P4CLIMATE does not accept RAPID or EAGER proposals (both of which have restricted budgets).

18. Are proposals to study societal impacts of climate change considered by P4CLIMATE?

    P4CLIMATE is intended to advance paleoclimate research on climate processes and climate prediction on “societally-relevant” spatial and temporal scales. This is not necessarily the same as understanding possible links between past climates and past societies.

19. Are broadening participation and stakeholder engagement activities required in P4CLIMATE?

    Activities to broaden participation and increase stakeholder engagement are not required. However, the P4CLIMATE program encourages projects that involve researchers and students with diverse experiences and backgrounds in research that advances the research goals and themes of P4CLIMATE. And where appropriate, the P4CLIMATE program encourages submission of proposals that include plans to reach out to community stakeholders early in the process to develop research questions, and for the co-production of knowledge.