Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) funding opportunity titled Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) is a competitive solicitation intended to complete the last three core awards needed to fully stand up NHERI as an integrated, national-scale research infrastructure for natural hazards engineering. NHERI is positioned as the next-generation successor to the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), which operated as a distributed national facility supporting earthquake engineering research from 2004 to 2014 after a construction phase from 2000 to 2004. Where NEES focused primarily on earthquake engineering, NHERI broadens and modernizes the concept into a multi-user, distributed facility that supports research and education across natural hazards engineering, with particular emphasis on providing shared experimental capabilities, cyberinfrastructure, computational tools, and curated data resources that help convert hazard events into actionable knowledge rather than societal disasters.

This specific solicitation (Funding Opportunity Number 15-598) was issued because three essential NHERI components were previously competed under NSF 14-605 (NHERI 2015-2019) but were not awarded at that time. NSF is now re-competing those missing components to ensure the overall NHERI ecosystem functions as a coordinated whole. The three components eligible for submission under this call are the Network Coordination Office (NCO), the Computational Modeling and Simulation Center (SimCenter), and the Post-Disaster Rapid Response Research (RAPID) Facility. Proposals for any other NHERI components will be returned without review, which is NSF's way of making clear that the scope is tightly limited to these three awards only. Although the solicitation provides context about the entire NHERI structure, including the Cyberinfrastructure (CI) award and the earthquake and wind Experimental Facilities that were funded under NSF 14-605, applicants are not being asked to propose for those already-established elements in this round.

NHERI as a facility is designed to give the natural hazards engineering community access to several types of shared capabilities: earthquake and wind engineering experimental facilities, networked cyberinfrastructure, advanced computational modeling and simulation tools, and well-managed research data, paired with education and community outreach activities. The purpose is not for these facility awards themselves to perform hypothesis-driven research; instead, they are meant to operate and coordinate the infrastructure that enables research by external investigators funded through separate NSF research awards. In other words, the NCO, SimCenter, and RAPID Facility awardees function as service-and-capability providers and community integrators rather than as research performers, with success measured by reliability, usability, scientific reach, and the degree to which they strengthen the broader hazards engineering research and education ecosystem.

Each of the three awards is expected to be made as a cooperative agreement, reflecting NSF's intention to have substantial involvement in oversight and partnership during execution, as is typical for large research infrastructure activities. NSF anticipated one cooperative agreement for the NCO, one for the SimCenter, and one for the RAPID Facility, each beginning in early calendar year 2016 and running for five years. The solicitation describes these awards as integral parts of an interconnected NHERI facility, meaning the awardees will be expected to work closely not only with NSF but also with the other NHERI awardees and the wider natural hazards engineering community. Through governance structures and cross-awardee activities, the combined network is expected to set shared priorities, align research and education agendas, and create a cohesive national resource that is more valuable than the sum of its individual sites and tools.

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity is a discretionary NSF program in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category, listed under CFDA 47.041 (Engineering Grants). The solicitation indicates no cost sharing or matching requirement. The posted and creation date was August 4, 2015, with an original and current closing date of November 4, 2015, and an archive date of December 4, 2015. The total estimated funding is listed as $19,100,000, and the award floor is also stated as $19,100,000, signaling that NSF was planning a single, bundled total amount across the anticipated cooperative agreements rather than many small awards, consistent with facility-scale support.

Eligibility is limited to US-accredited universities and colleges, including two- and four-year institutions and community colleges, provided they have a US-based campus and are applying on behalf of faculty members. The principal investigator must be a full-time employee of the lead institution by the start date of the cooperative agreement. For full details, NSF directs applicants to NSF Publication 15-598, and general access or electronic submission issues are routed through NSF grants.gov support.

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