Water, Landscape, and Critical Zone Processes
This grant funds research on how water, landscape, and critical zone processes shape Earth's near-surface environment and respond to change to advance Earth Sciences.
This grant is no longer accepting proposals
U.S. National Science Foundation has archived this opportunity.
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Due Dates: Rolling (former full-proposal schedule; archived September 26, 2026)
Funding Amounts: $23,850,000 estimated total program funding; 60–80 anticipated awards
Summary: Supports fundamental research on hydrologic, geomorphic, and geochemical processes in Earth’s near-surface environment.
Key Information: Proposals must advance process-based understanding, not primarily address case-specific problems or engineered-system design.
Description
The U.S. National Science Foundation’s Water, Landscape, and Critical Zone Processes program is administered by the Division of Earth Sciences within the Directorate for Geosciences. It supports hypothesis-driven research on Earth’s near-surface environment and its response to change, including interactions among water, landscapes, soils, living systems, and geochemical processes. The goal is to advance fundamental understanding of Earth-surface processes.
Projects may use field, laboratory, or computational methods and may span disciplines. Topics include water availability and quality, weathering and soil development, material transport, Critical Zone interactions, modeling, and human impacts on natural environments. The program also encourages community workshops on emerging research questions, prioritizing those with plans to disseminate their outcomes broadly.
