Opportunity Information: Apply for 15 503
Apply for 15 503
- The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Long Term Research in Environmental Biology" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.074 Biological Sciences.
- This funding opportunity was created on Aug 11, 2015 and posted on Oct 3, 2014.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 2, 2016. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $1,500,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $450,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 8 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.
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Opportunity Summary:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) program is a discretionary grant opportunity designed to support long-running, data-rich research that can only deliver its full scientific value through extended time series. The central goal is to enable researchers to collect and analyze additional years of consistent observations so they can answer major questions in evolutionary biology, ecology, and ecosystem science that are not realistically solvable with short-term studies. LTREB is explicitly oriented toward decadal-scale science, where slow processes, rare events, long return intervals, and gradual feedbacks can be measured and interpreted with enough statistical and conceptual power to advance core theory and understanding.
The program targets environmental biology topics where change unfolds over long periods or where meaningful patterns only emerge with sustained sampling. Examples highlighted in the solicitation include evolutionary change driven by natural selection or other evolutionary mechanisms acting on populations, communities, or ecosystems; interspecific interactions (such as competition, predation, mutualism, or parasitism) that vary across time and space; population and community dynamics in organisms with long life spans or slow turnover; feedbacks between ecological and evolutionary processes; long-term dynamics of material pools like soil nutrients that cycle on intermediate to long time scales; and the influence of external forcing functions such as climatic cycles that recur over long intervals. In practical terms, LTREB is meant for projects where the biggest scientific payoff comes from continuity, consistency, and the ability to interpret present observations in the context of a long record.
LTREB awards are structured around two sequential five-year funding segments, with the expectation that projects are framed as ten-year research efforts. For a new (initial) award covering the first five years, applicants must first submit a preliminary proposal. Only if NSF invites the team to proceed do they submit a full proposal, which includes a project description of up to 15 pages. After the first five-year segment, researchers can seek support for years six through ten via a renewal proposal; renewals do not require a preliminary proposal and are limited to an eight-page project description. If a project is to continue beyond the initial ten-year award, it cannot simply roll forward indefinitely; investigators must submit a new preliminary proposal that lays out a new decadal research plan, essentially resetting the justification and the scientific questions for the next decade.
Competitive LTREB proposals must include three core elements that the program treats as essential rather than optional. First is a Decadal Research Plan: a clear, conceptually driven argument for why ten more years of data are necessary and what important questions those new data will uniquely enable. NSF emphasizes that this is not a simple timeline or management schedule; it should read as a focused scientific rationale tied to significant concepts, questions, or theories in environmental biology that cannot be answered with the data already in hand. Second is Core Data: investigators must already have a substantial foundation of prior observations, defined as at least six years of study up to the present or enough to provide a contemporary time series with six data points. These existing data are not just proof of effort; they are supposed to function as the analytic base from which new, sharper questions emerge, keeping the proposed long-term work anchored to a continuing phenomenon or process. Third is a Data Management and Dissemination Plan that addresses information management and data sharing. NSF underscores that long-term datasets often have enduring value beyond the original research team, so proposals need credible plans for organizing, preserving, and making data accessible to the broader scientific community and, where appropriate, the interested public.
From an organizational and review standpoint, LTREB proposals are co-reviewed by participating clusters within NSF's Division of Environmental Biology (DEB), specifically Ecosystem Science, Population and Community Ecology, and Evolutionary Processes. Applicants need to ensure their topics fit within the scientific scope of these programs, because proposals must align with areas that these DEB programs support. NSF also encourages prospective applicants who are uncertain about fit to contact the cognizant program director, which is often a practical step for long-term projects that sit near boundaries between programs.
The solicitation also clarifies an important restriction introduced beginning in January 2014: the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) stopped accepting proposals through the LTREB solicitation. As a result, long-term projects centered primarily on certain organismal and physiological themes are no longer supported via LTREB, including studies focused on (a) development, mechanisms, adaptive value, or evolutionary history of behavior; (b) mechanisms and processes mediating antagonistic or beneficial symbioses; (c) growth, development, stress adaptation mechanisms, energetics and metabolism, or other physiological processes; and (d) structural and physiological traits underlying organisms' capacities to live in different environments. NSF notes that these topics may still be fundable, but they should be directed to the appropriate core IOS programs rather than LTREB, even if they are built on long-term datasets.
In terms of funding details from the posted opportunity record (NSF Publication 15-503; Funding Opportunity Number 15-503), the program anticipated around eight awards with an estimated total funding level of approximately $1.5 million. The award ceiling listed is $450,000, and the opportunity indicates no cost-sharing or matching requirement. The CFDA listing is 47.074 (Biological Sciences). Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning it is broadly open to different entity types, subject to any clarifications in the full solicitation text. The opportunity was posted October 3, 2014, with recurring annual deadlines indicated: preliminary proposals due January 23 (annually thereafter) and full proposals due in early August (August 2 or August 3 depending on the cycle). The record shows an archive date of September 3, 2025, and points applicants to NSF and Grants.gov support channels for access and submission issues.
Overall, LTREB is best understood as NSF's mechanism for extending already-established environmental biology studies into a new decade of discovery, with a strong preference for proposals that (1) build directly on a solid multi-year dataset, (2) use that foundation to motivate new, high-value questions that genuinely require long-term continuation, and (3) treat data stewardship and sharing as a central product of the award rather than an afterthought.
NSF LTREB (Long Term Research in Environmental Biology) - Frequently Asked Questions
What is the NSF Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) program?
LTREB is a National Science Foundation discretionary grant program that supports long-running, data-rich research in environmental biology where the main scientific value depends on extended time series. It is designed for studies where consistent observations over long periods are essential to answer major questions in evolutionary biology, ecology, and ecosystem science.
What is the main goal of LTREB funding?
The central goal is to enable researchers to collect and analyze additional years of consistent observations so they can address questions that are not realistically solvable with short-term studies. LTREB is explicitly aimed at decadal-scale science, including slow processes, rare events, long return intervals, and gradual feedbacks.
What types of research topics are a good fit for LTREB?
LTREB targets environmental biology topics where change unfolds over long periods or where patterns only emerge with sustained sampling. Examples include evolutionary change in populations, communities, or ecosystems; long-term interspecific interactions (competition, predation, mutualism, parasitism); population and community dynamics for long-lived or slow-turnover organisms; eco-evolutionary feedbacks; long-term dynamics of material pools like soil nutrients; and impacts of external forcing functions such as climatic cycles that recur over long intervals.
What makes LTREB different from typical short-term research grants?
LTREB is built around continuity and consistency of observations over a long record. The program is meant for projects where the biggest payoff comes from interpreting new observations in the context of an established time series, rather than producing results from a short sampling window.
How long is an LTREB award, and how is it structured?
LTREB awards are structured as two sequential five-year funding segments, with the expectation that projects are framed as ten-year research efforts. Researchers apply for the first five years as an initial award, and then may seek support for years six through ten through a renewal proposal.
Is a preliminary proposal required?
Yes for new (initial) awards covering the first five years. Applicants must submit a preliminary proposal first. Only teams invited by NSF may submit a full proposal for the initial award.
Is a preliminary proposal required for renewals (years 6-10)?
No. Renewal proposals for years six through ten do not require a preliminary proposal, based on the information provided.
What is the maximum project description length for an initial (full) proposal?
For an initial award, the full proposal includes a project description of up to 15 pages.
What is the maximum project description length for a renewal proposal?
Renewal proposals are limited to an eight-page project description.
Can an LTREB project continue beyond ten years?
Yes, but it cannot simply roll forward indefinitely. If a project is to continue beyond the initial ten-year effort, investigators must submit a new preliminary proposal that lays out a new decadal research plan, effectively resetting the scientific justification and questions for the next decade.
What are the required core elements of a competitive LTREB proposal?
LTREB proposals must include three essential elements: (1) a Decadal Research Plan, (2) Core Data demonstrating an established time series, and (3) a Data Management and Dissemination Plan addressing information management and data sharing.
What is meant by a "Decadal Research Plan" in LTREB?
A Decadal Research Plan is a conceptually driven scientific rationale explaining why ten more years of data are necessary and what important questions those new data will uniquely enable. NSF emphasizes this is not merely a timeline or management schedule; it should be tied to significant concepts, questions, or theories in environmental biology that cannot be answered with the existing data.
What qualifies as "Core Data" for LTREB?
Investigators must already have a substantial foundation of prior observations. The solicitation defines this as at least six years of study up to the present or enough to provide a contemporary time series with six data points. These data are intended to serve as the analytic base from which new questions emerge.
Why does LTREB require existing multi-year data before applying?
LTREB is meant to extend already-established studies, not start from scratch. Existing data anchor the proposed work to a continuing phenomenon or process and are expected to motivate sharper, higher-value questions that specifically require long-term continuation.
What is the Data Management and Dissemination Plan expected to cover?
It should address information management and data sharing. NSF highlights that long-term datasets often have enduring value beyond the original research team, so proposals need credible plans for organizing, preserving, and making data accessible to the broader scientific community and, where appropriate, the interested public.
Which NSF programs review LTREB proposals?
LTREB proposals are co-reviewed by participating clusters within NSF's Division of Environmental Biology (DEB): Ecosystem Science, Population and Community Ecology, and Evolutionary Processes.
Do proposals need to align with specific NSF scientific areas?
Yes. Applicants need to ensure their topics fit within the scientific scope of the DEB programs participating in LTREB, because proposals must align with areas that those DEB programs support.
What should applicants do if they are unsure whether their project fits LTREB?
NSF encourages prospective applicants who are uncertain about fit to contact the cognizant program director, especially for long-term projects that sit near boundaries between programs.
Are there topic restrictions related to the NSF Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS)?
Yes. Beginning in January 2014, IOS stopped accepting proposals through the LTREB solicitation. This means certain organismal and physiological themes are no longer supported via LTREB, even if they use long-term datasets.
Which types of projects are no longer supported through LTREB due to the IOS restriction?
The solicitation lists several areas that are no longer supported via LTREB: (a) studies focused on development, mechanisms, adaptive value, or evolutionary history of behavior; (b) mechanisms and processes mediating antagonistic or beneficial symbioses; (c) growth, development, stress adaptation mechanisms, energetics and metabolism, or other physiological processes; and (d) structural and physiological traits underlying organisms' capacities to live in different environments.
If a project falls into those IOS-related topics, is it automatically unfundable by NSF?
No. NSF notes these topics may still be fundable, but they should be directed to the appropriate core IOS programs rather than LTREB.
What is the funding opportunity number and NSF publication number for this program?
The opportunity record lists NSF Publication 15-503 and Funding Opportunity Number 15-503.
How many awards were anticipated, and what was the estimated total funding level?
The posted opportunity record anticipated around eight awards with an estimated total funding level of approximately $1.5 million.
What is the award ceiling for LTREB in the provided record?
The award ceiling listed is $450,000.
Is cost sharing or matching required?
No. The opportunity indicates there is no cost-sharing or matching requirement.
What is the CFDA number for this opportunity?
The CFDA listing is 47.074 (Biological Sciences).
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning it is broadly open to different entity types, subject to any clarifications in the full solicitation text.
When was this opportunity posted, and what deadlines were indicated?
The opportunity was posted October 3, 2014. Recurring annual deadlines were indicated: preliminary proposals due January 23 (annually thereafter) and full proposals due in early August (listed as August 2 or August 3 depending on the cycle).
What is the archive date listed in the opportunity record?
The record shows an archive date of September 3, 2025.
Where should applicants go for submission or access issues?
The record points applicants to NSF and Grants.gov support channels for access and submission issues.
What kind of projects does LTREB most strongly prefer, based on the description provided?
LTREB is best understood as NSF's mechanism for extending already-established environmental biology studies into a new decade of discovery, with a strong preference for proposals that (1) build directly on a solid multi-year dataset, (2) use that foundation to motivate new, high-value questions that genuinely require long-term continuation, and (3) treat data stewardship and sharing as a central product of the award rather than an afterthought.
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