Novel Approaches to Critical Minerals Research in the Geosciences (GEO-CM)
Novel Approaches to Critical Minerals Research in the Geosciences (GEO-CM) supports researchers studying mineral discovery, recovery, and environmental impacts to advance fundamental geoscience knowledge.
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Due Dates: See participating program requirements (GEO-CM submissions)
Funding Amounts: Funding through participating NSF programs
Summary: GEO-CM encourages fundamental, hypothesis-driven geoscience research on critical mineral discovery, characterization, extraction, separation, and environmental impacts.
Key Information: This is not a separate funding opportunity; submit to a participating program with “GEO-CM:” in the proposal title.
Description
GEO-CM is an NSF Dear Colleague Letter encouraging innovative, high-impact research on critical minerals, including essential metals and rare earth elements needed for a clean-energy future. It involves the Directorate for Geosciences’ Divisions of Earth Sciences, Ocean Sciences, and Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, along with the Office of Polar Programs. Research should advance fundamental understanding of mineral resources and the processes involved in their discovery, characterization, extraction, and separation.
Topics include mineral deposit formation, sustainable biogeochemical recovery, prospecting in Earth’s crust and on the ocean floor, and mineral and contaminant leaching from altered geologic environments. Other interests include sustainable water use in mining regions, air and water quality, subsidence, induced seismicity, and Arctic ecological and socioeconomic impacts. NSF encourages collaboration between academic researchers and partner organizations, including industry, and research and training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.
