Competition for the Management of Operation and Maintenance of the National Geophysical Facility | 23 623

Opportunity Information: Apply for 23 623

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is seeking proposals to take over the management, operation, and maintenance of the National Geophysical Facility (NGF), an NSF-funded major facility intended to support a broad range of Earth science research. NGF is set up to help the research community investigate Earth processes at local, regional, and global scales by running global and regional sensor networks, maintaining a lending library of geophysical instrumentation, and providing the operational support needed for PI-led field experiments. In addition to field and instrumentation support, the facility is expected to provide end-to-end data services, including archiving, quality control, distribution of geophysical data, and development of data products. Education, outreach, workforce development, and community engagement are also core parts of the facility mission, with an emphasis on serving diverse audiences and expanding who participates in Earth sciences.

A key part of this opportunity is that NGF will consolidate and replace NSF's current separate geophysical facilities, specifically the Seismological Facility for the Advancement of GEoscience (SAGE) and the Geodetic Facility for the Advancement of GEoscience (GAGE). NSF intends NGF to operate as a single integrated facility under a single operator. The organization selected will be expected to work closely with NSF and the broader scientific community to ensure the facility's capabilities remain aligned with community needs and continue to advance Earth sciences and related disciplines. Within available resources and in coordination with NSF, the operator will be responsible for building and executing a coherent program that brings existing capabilities together into a streamlined management and operations structure, strengthens and modernizes instrumentation and data/cyberinfrastructure services, and advances an ambitious approach to broadening participation. That participation goal is framed explicitly around fostering a culture of equity and inclusion across Earth sciences and allied fields, making this more than a side activity and instead a central performance expectation.

Programmatic oversight for NGF will sit primarily with NSF's Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) in the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO), but the work is expected to be coordinated across other NSF units with overlapping interests, including the Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE), the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS), and the Office of Polar Programs (OPP). This signals that NGF services and data will likely be important across multiple research environments, including marine, atmospheric, geospace, and polar contexts, and that the operator should be prepared to engage stakeholders and requirements that span these communities.

NSF anticipates making a single award, structured as a cooperative agreement, with an initial period of five years. A cooperative agreement typically implies substantial NSF involvement during the period of performance, so proposers should expect ongoing coordination, reporting, and joint planning with the agency rather than a hands-off grant relationship. NSF may renew the agreement for an additional five years if funds are available, performance is satisfactory, and the recipient submits and passes review of a cost proposal for the second period. NSF also notes that its decision-making will be informed by the National Science Board statement on recompetition of major facilities (NSB 2015-45 or any successor), reinforcing that this is treated as major-facility stewardship with expectations around competition, accountability, and performance review.

Eligible applicants are limited to U.S.-based organizations in a few categories: U.S. for-profit organizations (including small businesses) that have strong scientific or engineering research or education capabilities; non-profit, non-academic organizations such as museums, observatories, research laboratories, and professional societies located in the United States and closely tied to research or education; and U.S.-accredited two- or four-year Institutions of Higher Education (including community colleges) with a U.S. campus, applying on behalf of their faculty. If any proposal includes funding that would flow to an international branch campus of a U.S. institution (including via subawards or consultants), the proposer must clearly explain why activities need to occur at that international location, what benefit it provides, and why the work cannot be carried out at the U.S. campus. The Principal Investigator must be an employee of the proposing organization, which effectively means the lead applicant must directly employ the person responsible for overall project leadership and accountability.

From the opportunity listing, the funding opportunity title is "Competition for the Management of Operation and Maintenance of the National Geophysical Facility" with funding opportunity number 23-623. It is categorized as a discretionary opportunity under NSF, aligned with science and technology and other research and development, and associated with CFDA/Assistance Listing number 47.050. The original closing date listed is June 13, 2024. The notice indicates a single expected award, but it does not provide an award ceiling in the provided text, so interested organizations would need to consult the full solicitation and related NSF documents for budget expectations, required cost structure, and detailed performance and reporting requirements.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Competition for the Management of Operation and Maintenance of the National Geophysical Facility" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.050.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-09-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-13. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for 23 623

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