Geospace Cluster

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Description

The Geospace Cluster (GC) in the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS) at the National Science Foundation funds research, technology development, and education related to Earth's near-space environment—including the mesosphere, thermosphere, ionosphere, exosphere, magnetosphere, radiation belts, inner heliosphere, and solar atmosphere. The program aims to advance understanding of the Sun-Earth system, the coupling of its components through dynamical, electrodynamical, and chemical processes, and the societal impacts of phenomena such as space weather and upper atmosphere climate change.

GC supports a broad range of activities, including:

• Ground-based and space-based observations
• Theoretical, modeling, and laboratory studies
• Data analysis and data center development

Research topics include, but are not limited to:

• Aeronomy: Wave dynamics, ionization, recombination, chemical reactions, photo emission, and energy/momentum transport in the mesosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere; coupling to the stratosphere and magnetosphere; plasma physics of the ionosphere-magnetosphere system.
• Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetospheric structure and dynamics, energization by the solar wind, plasma waves and instabilities, planetary electric fields, geomagnetic storms/substorms, and coupling among radiation belts, magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere.
• Solar-Terrestrial Physics: Solar energy generation and eruptive processes, solar dynamo, activity cycles, flares, coronal mass ejections, solar wind heating, energetic particles, cosmic ray interactions, and helioseismology.
• Space Weather and Space Climate: Drivers of space weather, integrative system modeling, predictive capabilities, and impacts on critical infrastructure.

The program also encourages proposals that integrate education, outreach, workforce development, open science, and efforts to broaden participation in geospace sciences.

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Due Dates

• Proposals are accepted at any time for most GC topics.
• Target dates or deadlines may apply to specific solicitations or community efforts, such as:
  • CEDAR: Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions
  • GEM: Geospace Environment Modeling
  • SHINE: Solar, Heliospheric, and Interplanetary Environment
  • FDSS: Faculty Development in geoSpace Science

Check individual solicitations for their specific deadlines and eligibility.

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Funding Amount

• No fixed minimum or maximum award amount.
• Typical research awards vary in size and duration based on project scope and solicitation.
• Instrumentation and infrastructure programs:
  • Major Research Instrumentation (MRI): up to $4 million
  • Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1 (MSRI-1): $4 million–$20 million
  • Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-2 (MSRI-2): $20 million–$100 million

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Eligibility

• Unrestricted: Open to all types of organizations, subject to any restrictions in specific solicitations.
• Proposals are encouraged from:
  • Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)
  • Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs)
  • Institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions
  • Two-year colleges, primarily undergraduate institutions, and master's-level institutions
• See individual solicitations for any PI or institutional restrictions.

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Application Process

• Proposals must be submitted in accordance with the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG).
• Submission is via Research.gov or Grants.gov.
• Proposals must address both intellectual merit and broader impacts.
• Non-compliant proposals will be returned without review.
• Special proposal types (e.g., RAPID, EAGER, conference, travel, planning) are defined in PAPPG Chapter II.F.

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Additional Information

• The Geospace Cluster participates in and coordinates with other NSF and AGS programs, including:
  • Distributed Array of Small Instruments (DASI)
  • ECLIPSE: ECosystem for Leading Innovation in Plasma Science and Engineering
• Career development and capacity-building opportunities are available through:
  • AGS Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (AGS-PRF)
  • Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER)
  • Mid-Career Advancement (MCA)
  • EMBRACE
  • HBCU Excellence in Research (HBCU-EiR)
  • RUI/ROA for PUIs

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External Links

• NSF Geospace Cluster Program Page
• NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG)
• Grants.gov Opportunity Listing
• Browse Funded Projects

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Contact Information

For general NSF inquiries:

• NSF Contact Page
• Email: info@nsf.gov
• Phone: 1-703-292-5111

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