OPPORTUNITIES

The Illinois Sustainable Agriculture Scholars maintain an email listserv for sharing opportunities for research funding, industry partnerships, student funding, and education and outreach activities. If you are a faculty-level researcher who would like to be counted among the Illinois Sustainable Agriculture Scholars and receive those updates, please email us at sustainability@illinois.edu with the subject line, “Add a Sustainable Agriculture Scholar.”

Job, Grant, and Other Opportunities for Illinois Scholars ...

Current and recent calls for proposals from major funding agencies, as well as speaking opportunities and other announcements for Illinois faculty-level scholars.

SEPTEMBER 2023: NSF ORCC

 

Please see an opportunity below for the Organismal Response to Climate Change (ORCC) from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support mechanistic studies of organismal response to climate change. There are three tracks: Research Proposals, Research Coordination Networks, and Workshop and Conference proposals. This solicitation encourages submission of projects across the full range of conceptual scales, and duration (1-5 years) with associated budget requests commensurate with the scope, scale, and duration of the work. There are no budget minimums, and support will continue for both small-scale projects and larger requests as appropriate for the work proposed.

If you plan to pursue a funding opportunity, please confirm deadlines for yourself and remember that SPA requires proposals to be submitted at least four full business days prior to the deadline

If researchers are interested and pursuing this opportunity, have an interdisciplinary team (at least two campus units), and iSEE can support this endeavor (including helping bring an interdisciplinary team together, business office support, etc.), please each out to Heidi Leerkamp to discuss the ways iSEE can support your team and proposal development.

 

Agency/Foundation: National Science Foundation

RFP/FOA topic: Organismal Response to Climate Change (ORCC)

Proposal Deadline: Dec. 13, 2023

Funding/Duration: Commensurate with scope, scale, and duration of work

More Information: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2023/nsf23622/nsf23622.htm

SEPTEMBER 2022: Agroecosystem Sustainability Center Hiring for 2 Positions

 

The Agroecosystem Sustainability Center (ASC) is a new research center aiming to be a world-leading innovation powerhouse in advanced monitoring and modeling of agroecosystems for improving sustainability under climate change. ASC is jointly funded by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment (iSEE), the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES), and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation (OVCRI). ASC gathers leading researchers from across the UIUC campus in the subject areas of biophysical and biochemical research in agroecosystems, primarily focusing on whole-plant and landscape-level studies to regional and global applications. The research is driven by co-founding and affiliated faculty members, professional staff scientists, postdocs and graduate students to advance science goals and technological innovations, with clear motivation to generate real-world solutions and impacts. ASC also has plans to work closely with industry partners and bring truly interdisciplinary educational opportunities for aspiring students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

ASC has two job openings:

 

SEPTEMBER 2023: Joint Funding Programs with Taiwan University
From iSEE Associate Director for Research Jeremy Guest:
 
National Taiwan University and the University of Illinois System have launched two joint funding programs: a Joint Research and Innovation Seed Grants Program and a Travel Grants Program. The programs are intended to foster greater connection and collaboration between the universities’ faculty.
 
Informational webinar: 7-8 p.m. Sept. 14, 2023
Webinar registration: https://go.illinois.edu/NTU-UIwebinar (sign up by Sept. 8)
 
Joint Research & Innovation Seed Grants
Deadline for applications: Oct. 27, 2023
Funding: $20,000 to the UIUC side & $20,000 to the NTU side (all for direct costs)
Duration: Projects may be up to 2 years (Jan. 1, 2024-Dec. 31, 2025)
Allowable expenditures: Funding covers international travel by university faculty members and students, hosting scholars from the other university (daily stipends in principle), international events, meetings, personnel expenses1 for postdocs and student workers (no faculty salaries), supplies, and additional expenses that are necessary to move research forward. A maximum of one-third of NTU funding may be utilized for personnel expenses per project.
 
Travel Grants
Deadline for applications: Oct. 27, 2023
Funding: $5,000 per selected proposal
Duration: 1 year (Jan. 1, 2024-Dec. 31, 2024)
Allowable expenditures: Funding covers international travel by the funding university’s faculty members and students, hosting scholars from the other university (daily stipends in principle) , and international events in Taiwan (international events in Taiwan can only be reimbursed through NTU funding). Funding does not cover consumable supplies and equipment for research and personnel expenses. 
 
 
If you have any questions about this opportunity, I encourage you to reach out to Jisu Hong from the Office of the Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation. 

 

AUGUST 2023: DOE Carbon Negative Shot

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has outlined its intent to publish a series of Carbon Negative Shot (CNS)-aligned funding opportunities focused on supporting the advancement and maturation of a suite of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies. This CNS Notice of Intent outlines multiple program interests that aim to support the development and commercialization of CDR technologies and collectively enable the Department’s CNS target of gigaton-scale deployment for less than $100 per net metric ton of CO2-equivalent within the decade.

If you are interested in pursuing either of these opportunities, please each out to Heidi Leerkamp to discuss the ways iSEE can support your team and proposal development.


Agency: DOE

Program: DE-FOA-0003082 – Carbon Negative Shot Pilots (expected release date of early FY24) 

  • Includes four (4) anticipated Areas of Interest (AOIs) related to: o Small Biomass Pilots, Small Mineralization Pilots, Small Marine CDR Pilots, and Multi-Pathway CDR Testbeds. 
  •  

Other intended funding opportunities and prize tracks include: 

  • Direct Air Capture (DAC) Pilot Prize § (expected release date late FY23) 
  • CDR Purchase Prize § (expected release date late FY23) 
  • Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs § (expected release of additional FOA(s) in FY24/25 and beyond) 
  • Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) for CDR § (expected release date FY24) 
  • DE-FOA-0002614 – Carbon Management: CDR Technology Research and Development § (expected release date FY24)

Full NOI >>>

 

JULY 2023: DOE NETL

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released two funding opportunities, one on innovative long duration energy story system demonstration projects advancing a technology toward commercialization and validating cost and performance in the field.  The second is on Storage Innovations, fostering partnerships of companies to pursue pre-competitive R&D ideas.

If you are interested in pursuing either of these opportunities, please each out to Heidi Leerkamp to discuss the ways iSEE can support your team and proposal development.

 
Agency: DOE

Program: DE-FOA-0003036 – Energy Storage Demonstration and Validation

Deadlines: Required Concept Paper due Sept. 15; Full Application due Dec. 4

Funding: Up to $5M over 4 years, *requires 50% cost share*

Topics: 1. Lithium Batteries 2. Flow Batteries 3. Other Innovative Technologies

Full solicitation PDF >>>

 

Agency: DOE

Program: DE-FOA-0003020 – Storage Innovations 2030: Technology Liftoff

Deadlines: Required Concept Paper due Sept. 15; Full Application due Dec. 4

Funding: Up to $5M over 2-4 years, *requires 20% cost share*

Details: Projects must enable a long-duration capable (10+ hours) energy storage technology with a pathway to $0.05/ kWh Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS) by 2030.

Full solicitation PDF >>>

 

 

JULY 2023: NOAA Climate Program Office 2024 Competitions

Please see an opportunity below for the NOAA Climate Program Office 2024 Competitions, which support six themes in the Earth System Science and Modeling program.

Agency: NOAA

Deadlines: Letters of Intent Aug. 18 or Sept. 11, 2023, depending on topic; all full proposals due Nov. 17, 2023.

Funding: Individual proposals up to $190k/year for three years; team proposals up to $750k/year, varying by competition topic.

Topics:

  • Atmospheric Chemistry, Carbon Cycle and Climate (AC4): Understanding Urban Air in a Changing Climate
  • Climate Variability and Predictability (CVP): Advancing Understanding of Ocean Variability and Change in Support of NOAA’s Climate Ecosystems Fisheries Initiative
  • Climate Variability and Predictability (CVP): Advancing Understanding of Multi-year to Decadal Climate Variability and Predictability for U.S. Climate Prediction
  • Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP): Advancing an Integrated NOAA
  • Capability for Climate Predictions and Projections in Support of NOAA's Climate Ecosystems Fisheries Initiative
  • Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP): Process-Oriented Diagnostics for NOAA Climate Model Improvement and Applications
  • Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP): Early Career Award for Exceptional Research in Earth System Model Development and Application

The full solicitation at grants.gov >>>

If you are interested in pursuing a proposal through iSEE, please reach out to Heidi Leerkamp, and we can discuss how our Institute can support your proposal efforts.

 

 

MAY 2023: DOE Materials and Chemistry Research
From iSEE Associate Director for Research Jeremy Guest:
 
Please find an update on Department of Energy research and funding priorities for materials and chemistry research in this PDF >>>
 
The updates includes anticipated opportunities:
 
  • $100M for Energy Frontier Research Centers (November/December 2023);
  • $24M for Computational Materials Sciences Centers (November/December 2023);
  • $25M for EPSCoR (November/December 2023);
  • $47M for Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) (January/February 2024);
  • $40M for Funding to Accelerate Inclusive Research (FAIR) (January/February 2024);
  • $200M for Energy Earthshot Research Centers Lab Call (Spring 2024);
  • $75M for Energy Earthshot Research Foundations (Spring 2024);
  • $60M for Microelectronics Science Research Centers (Spring 2024).
 
Please see attached for additional details. Note that some of these initiatives must be led by national labs or institutions in EPSCoR states, but sub-contracts to UIUC may be possible. If you are interested in working toward building a team to pursue one of these large-scale research initiatives, please reach out me (jsguest@illinois.edu) and Heidi Leerkamp (leerkamp@illinois.edu) to discuss if and how we can support your efforts.

 

 

 

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