Centers for Innovation and Community Engagement in Solid Earth Geohazards | 21 628

Opportunity Information: Apply for 21 628

The National Science Foundation (NSF) funding opportunity called Centers for Innovation and Community Engagement in Solid Earth Geohazards (Funding Opportunity Number 21-628) is designed to build and support university-based research centers that tackle the underlying Earth processes responsible for major natural hazards. The basic idea is to move beyond single-investigator or small-team projects and instead create coordinated centers that can pull together large, diverse groups of researchers to produce systems-level, transformative science. These centers are expected to catalyze and coordinate major research efforts, drive innovation in how geohazard science is done, and use convergent approaches that combine multiple disciplines, methods, and perspectives to answer fundamental questions about how the solid Earth works in hazardous settings.

Scientifically, the program targets the major drivers of solid Earth geohazards, with emphasis on faulting and earthquakes, volcanism, mass movements such as landslides, and other dynamic tectonic or solid Earth processes. The solicitation explicitly ties the center research themes to priorities highlighted in the National Academies decadal survey report, The Earth in Time. Examples of the kinds of core questions NSF wants these centers to help answer include: what an earthquake is at a fundamental physical level, what drives volcanism across different tectonic and magmatic environments, what causes topographic change and what its downstream consequences are, and how Earth science research can reduce the overall risk and human toll associated with geohazards. In practice, that framing encourages proposals that connect basic physical understanding (for example, rupture physics, magma transport, slope stability, deformation and landscape evolution) with broader, integrative models of how hazards initiate, evolve, and interact with the built and natural environment.

A major defining feature of this opportunity is that research excellence alone is not the whole point; NSF is also asking for meaningful community engagement tied to national welfare. Centers are expected to build outward-facing partnerships and activities that translate fundamental geohazard research into broader societal value, including public outreach and hazard mitigation-focused engagement. The solicitation calls for flagship community engagement activities that are bold and creative, with a strong emphasis on broadening participation in the geoscience workforce, particularly by increasing pathways for groups that have historically been underrepresented in geosciences. The expectation is that centers will not treat these efforts as add-ons, but as well-developed, center-level commitments with real partnerships, planning, and measurable impact.

The program is structured around two distinct tracks that match different stages of center maturity. Track I, called Center Catalyst, is meant for teams that are not yet operating a full center but need resources to develop one. These awards support the planning and coordination needed to shape a future center, including refining the science vision, designing the management and governance structure, and developing a robust broader impacts and community engagement strategy. In other words, Track I is about building the blueprint and coalition for a large center effort and positioning a team to compete for full center operations later.

Track II, called Center Operation, supports the operation of a fully developed center. These awards are intended for mature, ready-to-run centers with established leadership, research plans, management processes, and engagement partnerships that can deliver frontier science at scale. Notably, the FY 2022 competition described in the solicitation narrows the emphasis differently by track: Track I proposals are encouraged to develop future centers across the broad set of solid Earth geohazard processes (earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, and related tectonic processes), while Track II proposals in FY 2022 are focused specifically on operating centers that advance frontier research in fundamental earthquake processes. NSF also signals that future competitions may expand Track II operations support to include centers focused more broadly across solid Earth geohazards, not just earthquakes.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is a discretionary NSF grant program within the Science and Technology and other Research and Development funding activity category (CFDA 47.050). The creation date listed is October 1, 2021, with an original closing date of March 15, 2022, and NSF anticipated making about five awards under this solicitation. The award ceiling is listed as zero in the source data, which typically indicates that the ceiling is not specified in that particular summary field rather than implying no cap; applicants generally need to rely on the full solicitation text for budget expectations and limits. Eligibility is summarized as "Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification)," which usually means the program has specific eligibility rules beyond a simple category label and that applicants must consult the solicitation for details.

Overall, this opportunity is aimed at building durable, high-impact centers that can both transform the fundamental science of solid Earth hazards and improve public outcomes through deliberate engagement, workforce development, and partnerships that help communities better understand, prepare for, and reduce risks from geohazards.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Centers for Innovation and Community Engagement in Solid Earth Geohazards" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.050.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 01, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 15, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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