Opportunity Information: Apply for 15 576
Apply for 15 576
- The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.050 Geosciences 47.074 Biological Sciences.
- This funding opportunity was created on Jun 3, 2015 and posted on Jun 3, 2015.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 9, 2015. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $10,000,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $5,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
- Who May Submit Proposals Proposals may only be submitted by the following Non profit, non academic organizations Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities. State and Local Governments State educational offices or organizations and local school districts. Universities and Colleges Universities and two and four year colleges (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in, the US acting on behalf of their faculty members. Such organizations also are referred to as academic in
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Opportunity Summary:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) grant opportunity titled "Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections" (Funding Opportunity Number 15-576) is aimed at strengthening and growing a national-scale digital resource built from vouchered biological and paleontological specimens held in U.S. scientific collections. The central purpose is to make these collections far more usable for research and decision-making by expanding the amount, quality, and accessibility of digitized specimen information, including high-value digital images. By investing in digitization, data integration, and improved access, the program is designed to turn distributed museum, university, and other institutional holdings into an interoperable, research-ready data infrastructure that supports modern biodiversity and Earth science.
A major theme of the opportunity is that specimen-based collections contain far more than just the physical objects; they also preserve extensive contextual information that becomes especially powerful once digitized and aggregated. The solicitation highlights the kinds of data tied to specimens that the program seeks to mobilize at scale: geographic distributions (where organisms were collected), paleogeographic and stratigraphic context for fossil specimens (where they occur in space and geologic time), environmental and habitat descriptors, phenology (timing of life-cycle events such as flowering or migration), information about associated organisms (ecological interactions or co-occurring species), collector field notes, and linked resources such as tissues and molecular data derived from specimens. Collectively, these data provide a baseline for answering new questions in biodiversity, ecology, evolution, paleontology, biogeography, and global change science, while also helping identify and prioritize gaps in what is known about life on Earth.
The opportunity also describes a national organizational structure for this resource that operates at three connected levels: (1) a central coordinating organization, (2) a set of thematic networks organized around important research themes, and (3) the distributed physical collections that house the actual vouchered specimens. This structure is intended to coordinate standards and practices, connect institutions around shared scientific priorities, and ensure that digitization efforts contribute to a coherent national system rather than isolated databases. In doing so, it explicitly builds on the significant prior U.S. investment in curating physical collections and leverages that investment by extending the reach and impact of those collections through digitized access.
In practical grant terms, the solicitation is a discretionary NSF grant program in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category, associated with CFDA numbers 47.050 (Geosciences) and 47.074 (Biological Sciences). NSF anticipated making around 12 awards with an estimated total program funding level of $10,000,000. Individual awards were expected to be large, with a stated award floor of $3,000,000 and an award ceiling of $5,000,000, and no cost sharing or matching requirement was listed. The opportunity was posted June 3, 2015, with an original and current closing date of October 9, 2015, and it was later archived on November 7, 2021.
Eligibility was broad across U.S.-based research and education organizations that manage or support collections and related cyberinfrastructure. Eligible applicants included non-profit, non-academic organizations such as independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies, and similar U.S. entities tied to education or research. State and local government entities were also eligible, including state education offices or organizations and local school districts. Colleges and universities were eligible as well, including accredited two- and four-year institutions (including community colleges) with a U.S. campus, applying on behalf of their faculty.
Overall, the opportunity is best understood as an infrastructure-focused research enablement program: it funds coordinated, large-scale efforts to digitize, standardize, and open access to specimen-based biodiversity and paleontological data so that researchers, educators, and other stakeholders can more easily discover, analyze, and apply these records to pressing scientific questions and contemporary biological challenges. For full official details, NSF directed applicants to NSF Publication 15-576, and provided support contacts through grants.gov for access and linking issues.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): NSF Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (15-576)
What is the NSF "Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections" opportunity (15-576)?
It is a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant opportunity focused on strengthening and expanding a national-scale digital resource built from vouchered biological and paleontological specimens held in U.S. scientific collections. The goal is to make specimen-based collections far more usable for research and decision-making by increasing the amount, quality, and accessibility of digitized specimen information, including high-value digital images.
What is the main purpose of this program?
The central purpose is to invest in digitization, data integration, and improved access so that distributed holdings (museums, universities, and other institutions) become an interoperable, research-ready data infrastructure supporting modern biodiversity and Earth science.
What kinds of collections does this funding focus on?
The program centers on vouchered biological and paleontological specimens housed in U.S. scientific collections, along with the specimen-linked information that gives those collections research value.
What does NSF mean by "digitization" in this context?
Based on the solicitation description, digitization includes expanding the amount, quality, and accessibility of digitized specimen information, and specifically includes high-value digital images. It also includes efforts that support data integration and improved access so that information can be used at national scale.
What types of specimen-linked data are emphasized as valuable to mobilize?
The solicitation highlights digitizing and aggregating contextual information tied to specimens, including geographic distributions (where organisms were collected), paleogeographic and stratigraphic context for fossils (where they occur in space and geologic time), environmental and habitat descriptors, phenology (timing of life-cycle events), associated organisms (ecological interactions or co-occurring species), collector field notes, and linked resources such as tissues and molecular data derived from specimens.
Why is the program focused on specimen-based data rather than only the physical specimens?
The opportunity emphasizes that specimens preserve extensive contextual information that becomes especially powerful once digitized and aggregated. Digitization allows this contextual information to be discovered, integrated, and analyzed at scale, turning distributed physical holdings into a usable digital resource for research and decision-making.
What scientific fields or research areas does this support?
As described, the digitized and aggregated data provide a baseline for answering new questions in biodiversity, ecology, evolution, paleontology, biogeography, and global change science.
How does the opportunity describe the national structure for this digital resource?
The program describes a connected national organizational structure with three levels: (1) a central coordinating organization, (2) thematic networks organized around important research themes, and (3) the distributed physical collections that house the vouchered specimens.
What is the role of the central coordinating organization?
From the description provided, the central coordinating organization is part of a three-level structure intended to coordinate standards and practices and help ensure digitization efforts contribute to a coherent national system rather than isolated databases.
What are "thematic networks" in this program?
Thematic networks are groups organized around important research themes. They are intended to connect institutions around shared scientific priorities and support coordinated digitization and data mobilization within the broader national structure.
How does this program avoid creating isolated databases?
The structure and intent described in the opportunity stress coordinated standards and practices, data integration, and improved access so that digitization efforts contribute to an interoperable national system rather than stand-alone institutional databases.
How does the program relate to prior investments in physical collections?
The solicitation explicitly builds on significant prior U.S. investment in curating physical collections and leverages that investment by extending the reach and impact of those collections through digitized access.
What federal agency is offering this grant?
The grant opportunity is offered by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
What is the Funding Opportunity Number?
The Funding Opportunity Number is 15-576.
What NSF publication contains the official details?
NSF directed applicants to NSF Publication 15-576 for the full official details.
What type of grant program is this?
It is described as a discretionary NSF grant program in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category.
What CFDA numbers are associated with this opportunity?
The opportunity is associated with CFDA 47.050 (Geosciences) and 47.074 (Biological Sciences).
How many awards did NSF anticipate making?
NSF anticipated making around 12 awards.
What was the estimated total program funding level?
The estimated total program funding level was $10,000,000.
What is the expected size of individual awards?
Individual awards were expected to be large, with an award floor of $3,000,000 and an award ceiling of $5,000,000.
Is cost sharing or matching required?
No cost sharing or matching requirement was listed in the opportunity information provided.
When was the opportunity posted?
The opportunity was posted on June 3, 2015.
What was the application deadline?
The original and current closing date listed was October 9, 2015.
Is this opportunity still open?
No. The opportunity was later archived on November 7, 2021, and the closing date shown was October 9, 2015.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility was broad across U.S.-based research and education organizations that manage or support collections and related cyberinfrastructure. This included non-profit, non-academic organizations (such as independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies, and similar U.S. entities tied to education or research), state and local government entities (including state education offices or organizations and local school districts), and colleges and universities (including accredited two- and four-year institutions and community colleges with a U.S. campus applying on behalf of their faculty).
Are museums eligible applicants?
Yes. Independent museums were specifically included among eligible non-profit, non-academic organizations.
Are colleges, universities, and community colleges eligible?
Yes. Accredited two- and four-year institutions (including community colleges) with a U.S. campus were eligible, applying on behalf of their faculty.
Are state and local government entities eligible?
Yes. State and local government entities were included as eligible applicants, including state education offices or organizations and local school districts.
What kinds of organizations are included under non-profit, non-academic eligibility?
The information provided lists independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies, and similar U.S. entities tied to education or research.
What is the program trying to achieve at a national scale?
The program is designed to transform distributed specimen holdings into an interoperable, research-ready national data infrastructure by expanding digitization, integrating data, and improving access to specimen information and images.
What is meant by making collections "more usable" for research and decision-making?
As described, usability is improved by expanding the amount, quality, and accessibility of digitized specimen information, including images, and by integrating data so it can be discovered and applied more easily to scientific questions and contemporary biological challenges.
What kinds of outcomes does the solicitation suggest digitized specimen data can enable?
It suggests digitized and aggregated specimen-based data can serve as a baseline for new research across multiple fields and help identify and prioritize gaps in what is known about life on Earth.
Where were applicants directed for support with access or linking issues?
NSF provided support contacts through grants.gov for access and linking issues.
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