Dimensions of Biodiversity | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) grant opportunity titled Dimensions of Biodiversity (Funding Opportunity Number 14-525) is a discretionary research grant program designed to tackle one of the central challenges in modern biology and Earth science: the fact that a large share of the planets biodiversity is still undescribed and poorly understood, even as it is being lost at an accelerating and often irreversible pace. The program frames biodiversity loss not only as an ecological crisis, but also as a loss of ecosystem services and future options for society, including potential breakthroughs related to food and agriculture, materials and fiber, energy and fuel, pharmaceuticals, and bio-inspired technologies. In that context, the opportunity supports research meant to strengthen the scientific foundations needed to understand, document, and interpret life on Earth before further gaps become permanent.

The core aim of the Dimensions of Biodiversity campaign is ambitious and transformational: to change, by 2020, how biodiversity is described and understood, including how it is shaped by ecological and evolutionary processes across both present-day environments and the deep history preserved in the geologic past. Rather than funding work that stays within a single lane of biodiversity research, the program explicitly pushes for integrative projects that connect multiple perspectives to reveal a more complete picture of what biodiversity is, how it is structured, and why it matters. That includes encouraging novel methods and cross-cutting approaches that can address major unknowns and clarify biodiversitys role in critical processes such as adaptation, species interactions, ecosystem function, and responses to environmental change.

A defining feature of this opportunity is its requirement to integrate three dimensions of biodiversity within a single, coherent research effort: (1) genetic diversity, such as genomic or population-level variation; (2) taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity, meaning the discovery, delimitation, and evolutionary relationships of species and lineages; and (3) functional diversity, which focuses on traits and roles that organisms play in ecosystems. Competitive proposals are expected to address these dimensions together, not as separate work packages, but in a way that allows researchers to investigate interactions and feedbacks among them. This integration is what distinguishes the program from many core NSF programs that might support excellent work within one dimension; here, the emphasis is on understanding the synergy among dimensions and using that synergy to advance fundamental ecological and evolutionary insights.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, the program is offered by NSF under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category, with CFDA numbers 47.074 (Biological Sciences) and 47.050 (Geosciences), reflecting its interdisciplinary reach. For the FY2014 cycle described in the announcement, NSF anticipated making about 12 awards with an estimated total funding amount of $22,000,000. Individual awards were expected to fall between $750,000 (award floor) and $2,000,000 (award ceiling). Cost sharing or matching was not required. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning the opportunity is broadly open to applicant organizations, subject to any clarifications in the full solicitation text.

The opportunity also highlights international collaboration components for FY2014, including partnerships with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) in Brazil, signaling encouragement for projects that can leverage complementary expertise, biodiversity resources, or study systems across countries. At the same time, the announcement notes that NASA would not partner with Dimensions of Biodiversity in FY2014, clarifying federal collaboration expectations for that cycle.

Key dates for this archived solicitation include a posted date of December 20, 2013, and a full proposal deadline of April 3, 2014, with an archive date of May 3, 2014. NSF also encouraged prospective investigators to check fit early by emailing a brief project summary and contact information to Dimensions@nsf.gov, which reflects the programs emphasis on ensuring that submissions truly meet the integrated, multi-dimensional expectations. For technical access issues related to the announcement through Grants.gov, applicants were directed to Grants.gov support at grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov.

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