The Belmont Forum has released a call for proposals on Arctic Observing and Research for Sustainability as part of its 2014 International Opportunities Fund to encourage interdisciplinary and trandisciplinary science. The call seeks to bring together integrated teams of natural scientists, social scientists, and stakeholders to develop projects that utilize existing Arctic observing systems, datasets and models to evaluate key sustainability challenges and opportunities in the Arctic region.
This funding opportunity will support projects that advance research utilizing and developing both the relevant information streams and the sustainability science necessary to assess, predict, inform, and communicate resilient pathways. The call focuses on four themes relevant to observing and sustainability that hold particular urgency in the Arctic: the natural and living environment, the built environment and infrastructures, natural resource management and development, and governance. Recognizing that the Arctic is a highly interdependent system, these themes are not unrelated and projects may address interactions amongst these themes.
Three types of submissions are being sought – small collaboration grants, synthesis projects, and research proposals. Available funding for meritorious projects is 13 million euros, comprising contributions from Canada, China, France, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, the Nordic Council of Ministers, Norway, Russia, the United States of America, and the World Ocean Council. Possibilities for collaboration with non-participatory countries exist as well. All proposals require collaboration amongst three or more countries and integrate across natural and social sciences while also including end-users, policy-makers, or other relevant stakeholders in the project. A researcher matching tool is available on the Belmont Forum website to better enable connection between interested international proposers.
For more information about research themes, national priorities and agency contacts, proposal submission documents, and to access the researcher matching tool, please visit the funding website: http://igfagcr.org/cra-2014-arctic-observing-and-research-sustainability. Proposals for this funding opportunity are due 31 July 2014.