Opportunity Information: Apply for 13 535
Apply for 13 535
- The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Water Sustainability and Climate" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.310 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) 47.041 Engineering Grants 47.050 Geosciences 47.075 Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences.
- This funding opportunity was created on Feb 1, 2013 and posted on Feb 1, 2013.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 10, 2013 Full Proposal Deadline(s) September 10, 2013. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $26,000,000.00 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 24 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
- Organization Limit Proposals may only be submitted by the following For profit organizations U.S. commercial organizations, especially small businesses with strong capabilities in scientific or engineering research or education. 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. 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 institutions. For proposals to be considered for funding under USDA/NIFA Eligible applicants for the grant program implemented under WSC include (1) State agricultural experiment stations (2) colleges and universities (including junior colleges offering associate degrees or higher) (3) university research foundations (4) other research institutions and organizations (5) Federal agencies, (6) national laboratories (7) private organizations or corporations (8) individuals who are U.S. citizens, nations, or permanent residents and (9) any group consisting of 2 or more entities identified in (1) through (8). Eligible institutions do not include foreign and international organizations.
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Opportunity Summary:
The Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) grant opportunity is a joint National Science Foundation (NSF) and USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA/NIFA) effort focused on one of the biggest practical science challenges of this century: keeping water supplies adequate and water quality safe as demand grows and climate variability and climate change intensify. The program is built around the idea that water problems cannot be solved by looking at hydrology alone. Instead, it aims to fund place-based, real-world studies that treat water systems as tightly connected networks linking climate, land use, ecosystems, infrastructure, and human decisions. The solicitation emphasizes that major gaps still exist in basic understanding of water availability, quality, and dynamics, and it targets research that can close those gaps while improving prediction and decision-making.
A central theme of WSC is integration across disciplines and across processes. Projects are expected to combine observations and modeling (either can be used alone, but the program encourages their combination) at specific field sites or study regions, with the explicit expectation that findings should be scalable or transferable. In other words, site-focused research should be designed so results can be extrapolated across space and time to other regions, and so different parts of the system (atmosphere, land surface, rivers and groundwater, coastal and ocean influences, biology, and human systems) can be analyzed together. The program is also looking for work that advances broader theoretical frameworks and predictive understanding, not just isolated case studies.
The solicitation highlights three major topic areas. First, it seeks new or improved theoretical frameworks and integrative models that explicitly capture linkages and feedbacks among atmospheric, terrestrial, aquatic, oceanic, biotic, and social processes. These tools should help predict how water systems may respond to climate variability and long-term climate change, land-use change, and human activity (including population change), with an emphasis on longer planning horizons such as decadal to centennial time scales. The purpose of these predictions is not purely academic; they are meant to support adaptive management of water resources under changing conditions.
Second, WSC encourages research that quantifies and explains water budgets and water quality, including how inputs and outputs may shift under climate change, land-use change, and human pressures. This includes studying downstream consequences such as impacts on biogeochemical cycles, water quality trends, long-term chemical transport and transformation, ecosystem responses across terrestrial, aquatic, and coastal systems, and even landscape evolution and patterns of human settlement and behavior. In practice, this topic area is about tracing cause-and-effect through the water system, from drivers (climate, land, people) to measurable hydrologic and chemical changes, and then to ecological and societal outcomes.
Third, the program calls for research on the reliability, resilience, and sustainability of built water systems and governance systems. This area addresses the reality that water is managed through infrastructure (reservoirs, canals, treatment plants, stormwater systems) and institutions (policies, laws, markets, management agencies). WSC is interested in how these coupled human-engineered systems can better handle competing demands and tradeoffs, including water for energy production, industry, agriculture and managed forests/rangelands, municipal needs in the built environment, potable and non-potable reuse, ecosystem protection, and flood control and stormwater management. The goal is to support research that makes water management more robust under uncertainty and stress, not only by improving engineering approaches but also by improving governance and decision processes.
This is an interagency program designed to pool expertise and funding while reducing duplication and encouraging collaboration among research communities supported by NSF and USDA/NIFA. A key requirement is interdisciplinary breadth: proposals are expected to integrate across the biological sciences, geosciences, engineering, and social sciences. The solicitation explicitly warns that proposals that do not broadly integrate across these areas may be returned without review, which signals that narrowly scoped projects are not a fit for this program even if they are strong within a single discipline.
Projects may create new observational sites or leverage existing monitoring networks and facilities supported by NSF or other federal and state agencies. The opportunity specifically mentions potential use of sites and data tied to agencies such as USGS, EPA, USDA research units (including ARS/FS), and NOAA, reflecting the program preference for building on established observing capabilities and coordinating with existing investments where possible.
From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 13-535) was a discretionary program using the cooperative agreement funding instrument, categorized under science and technology and other research and development. The program anticipated around 24 awards, with an estimated total funding level of $26,000,000 and an award ceiling of $5,000,000. It did not require cost sharing or matching. The original posted date was February 1, 2013, with a full proposal deadline of September 10, 2013, and an archive date of October 10, 2013.
Eligibility was broad but primarily U.S.-based. Eligible applicants included U.S. for-profit organizations (with an emphasis on strong research or education capabilities, including small businesses), U.S. nonprofit and non-academic organizations such as museums, observatories, research labs, and professional societies, and accredited U.S. colleges and universities. For USDA/NIFA consideration in particular, eligible applicants also included state agricultural experiment stations, research foundations, federal agencies, national laboratories, private organizations and corporations, U.S. citizens or permanent residents (where allowable), and partnerships among eligible entities. Foreign and international organizations were not eligible as institutions under the USDA/NIFA eligibility language.
Overall, WSC is best understood as a program that funds high-impact, systems-level water research tied to real places but designed to generate insights and predictive tools that extend beyond a single watershed or region. It prioritizes integrated modeling and observation, explicit treatment of climate and land-use change, and a serious coupling of natural science with engineering and the social and governance realities that determine how water is actually managed.
Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) Grant Opportunity FAQs
What is the Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) grant opportunity?
The Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) grant opportunity is a joint National Science Foundation (NSF) and USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA/NIFA) effort focused on sustaining adequate water supplies and protecting water quality as demand grows and climate variability and climate change intensify. It funds place-based, real-world studies that treat water systems as interconnected networks linking climate, land use, ecosystems, infrastructure, and human decisions.
What is the main goal of the WSC program?
The program aims to close major gaps in basic understanding of water availability, water quality, and water-system dynamics, while also improving prediction and decision-making relevant to adaptive water resource management under changing conditions.
What kind of research approach does WSC prioritize?
WSC prioritizes integrated, systems-level research rather than studies focused on hydrology alone. Projects are expected to connect processes across climate, land surface, rivers and groundwater, coastal and ocean influences, biology, infrastructure, and human systems, with an emphasis on real-world, place-based research that yields transferable insights.
Are projects expected to be interdisciplinary?
Yes. A key requirement is broad interdisciplinary integration across biological sciences, geosciences, engineering, and social sciences. The solicitation explicitly warns that proposals that do not broadly integrate across these areas may be returned without review.
What does "place-based" research mean in this solicitation?
Place-based research refers to studies grounded in specific field sites or study regions where observations and/or models can be tied to real conditions. Even though the work is site-focused, the program expects results and approaches to be scalable or transferable to other regions and across time.
Does WSC require both observations and modeling?
The program encourages combining observations and modeling, though either can be used alone. The solicitation emphasizes integration and using studies at field sites or regions to build understanding and predictive capability that can extend beyond a single case.
What are the main topic areas supported by WSC?
The solicitation highlights three major topic areas: (1) new or improved theoretical frameworks and integrative models capturing linkages and feedbacks among atmospheric, terrestrial, aquatic, oceanic, biotic, and social processes; (2) research that quantifies and explains water budgets and water quality and how they shift under climate and land-use change and human pressures, including downstream consequences; and (3) research on the reliability, resilience, and sustainability of built water systems and governance systems.
What kinds of models or frameworks is WSC looking for under Topic Area 1?
WSC seeks theoretical frameworks and integrative models that explicitly represent linkages and feedbacks among atmospheric, terrestrial, aquatic, oceanic, biotic, and social processes. These tools should improve prediction of how water systems respond to climate variability and long-term climate change, land-use change, and human activity, with attention to longer planning horizons such as decadal to centennial time scales and relevance to adaptive management.
What is meant by water budgets and water quality research under Topic Area 2?
This area includes studies that quantify and explain inputs and outputs of water systems and how those may shift under climate change, land-use change, and human pressures. It also includes investigating downstream consequences such as impacts on biogeochemical cycles, water quality trends, long-term chemical transport and transformation, ecosystem responses across terrestrial, aquatic, and coastal systems, and links to landscape evolution and patterns of human settlement and behavior.
What does WSC mean by built water systems and governance under Topic Area 3?
Built water systems include infrastructure such as reservoirs, canals, treatment plants, and stormwater systems. Governance systems include policies, laws, markets, and management agencies. WSC is interested in research that improves the reliability, resilience, and sustainability of these coupled human-engineered systems under uncertainty and stress, including how decisions and institutions handle competing demands and tradeoffs.
What kinds of water-use tradeoffs are mentioned in the solicitation?
The solicitation references competing demands and tradeoffs involving water for energy production, industry, agriculture and managed forests/rangelands, municipal needs in the built environment, potable and non-potable reuse, ecosystem protection, and flood control and stormwater management.
Is WSC only about studying a single watershed or case study?
No. While studies are expected to be tied to specific sites or regions, WSC emphasizes advancing broader theoretical frameworks and predictive understanding, not just isolated case studies. Projects should be designed so findings can be extrapolated across space and time and applied beyond the immediate study location.
Can projects create new observational sites, or must they use existing ones?
Projects may create new observational sites or leverage existing monitoring networks and facilities supported by NSF or other federal and state agencies. The opportunity notes a preference for building on established observing capabilities and coordinating with existing investments where possible.
What agencies and data sources are mentioned as potentially relevant for observational sites or data?
The solicitation specifically mentions potential use of sites and data tied to agencies such as USGS, EPA, USDA research units (including ARS/FS), and NOAA.
Which federal agencies are running this opportunity?
This is an interagency program jointly run by NSF and USDA/NIFA to pool expertise and funding, reduce duplication, and encourage collaboration among research communities supported by both agencies.
What is the Funding Opportunity Number for WSC?
The Funding Opportunity Number is 13-535.
What funding instrument was used for this opportunity?
The opportunity used the cooperative agreement funding instrument.
How many awards were anticipated and what was the estimated total funding level?
The program anticipated around 24 awards, with an estimated total funding level of $26,000,000.
What was the award ceiling?
The award ceiling was $5,000,000.
Was cost sharing or matching required?
No. The solicitation states that cost sharing or matching was not required.
What were the key dates for this opportunity?
The original posted date was February 1, 2013. The full proposal deadline was September 10, 2013, and the archive date was October 10, 2013.
What type of program was this categorized as?
Administratively, it was a discretionary program categorized under science and technology and other research and development.
Who was eligible to apply?
Eligible applicants included U.S. for-profit organizations (including small businesses, with an emphasis on strong research or education capabilities), U.S. nonprofit and non-academic organizations (such as museums, observatories, research laboratories, and professional societies), and accredited U.S. colleges and universities.
Are there additional eligibility notes specific to USDA/NIFA consideration?
For USDA/NIFA consideration, eligible applicants also included state agricultural experiment stations, research foundations, federal agencies, national laboratories, private organizations and corporations, U.S. citizens or permanent residents (where allowable), and partnerships among eligible entities.
Are foreign or international organizations eligible?
Foreign and international organizations were not eligible as institutions under the USDA/NIFA eligibility language described in the opportunity.
What kinds of projects are likely not a fit for WSC?
Projects that are narrowly scoped within a single discipline and do not broadly integrate across biological sciences, geosciences, engineering, and social sciences are not a fit. The solicitation indicates such proposals may be returned without review.
What is the overall "best understood" summary of WSC?
WSC funds high-impact, systems-level water research tied to real places but designed to generate insights and predictive tools that extend beyond a single watershed or region. It prioritizes integrated modeling and observation, explicit treatment of climate and land-use change, and serious coupling of natural science with engineering and the social and governance realities that shape water management.
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