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Important Note Regarding Changes to the R2K Proposal Process

January 4, 2007

Best Wishes to all Ridge 2000 members as 2007 gets underway!

All scientists considering applying for National Science Foundation (NSF) funding for Ridge 2000 or closely related mid-ocean ridge research in the next several years please read on.

Changes in the way that Ridge 2000 (R2K) proposals are submitted and reviewed at NSF will be implemented this year (2007). The changes have been under discussion by NSF program managers and R2K Steering Committee members since November. I had hoped to provide information on the new procedures at the AGU meeting but details are still being finalized. This message explains the nature of the changes, so that you can adjust any plans you have for the February 15 Ocean Sciences (OCE) target date. As the specific plan is finalized later this month, I will send information with new R2K proposal submission dates and panel procedures. All such updates will also be posted right away on the R2K website www.ridge2000.org.

The main motivation for the changes is to optimize the review process so that the inter-disciplinary projects that characterize many R2K studies are considered by a panel that has the necessary range of in-depth expertise and is well-informed about current program priorities. This has been difficult to achieve within the framework of the general Marine Geology & Geophysics (MGG) review panel (with Bio representation as relevant).

I expect NSF will implement a dedicated R2K Panel to review the upcoming round of Ridge 2000 proposals. R2K Steering Committee agrees that this approach can benefit the program. NSF will also implement a single proposal call each year, as is currently the case for other special programs. This change will aid ship scheduling and other facility utilization issues that are key for much of the seagoing work we do.

The new R2K proposal deadline is expected to be set for Spring 2007. Proposals for this deadline would have earliest start dates in Fall 2007, to draw from funds in Fiscal Year 2008. Following the November, 2006, NSF Panel, R2K funds for FY07 are essentially spent out, so investigators contemplating projects for Ridge 2000 funding probably want to hold off submitting to the Feb 15 OCE target date, to take advantage of the dedicated R2K deadline that will follow in the subsequent few months. The MG&G program continues to experience significant proposal pressure from all sub-disciplines. The likelihood of R2K projects receiving support beyond the program's funding allocation (~4.3 million dollars per year for science support, plus contributions from Biological Oceanography) is significantly reduced. By moving to an R2K-dedicated panel, the aim is to keep expenditure of our portion of the OCE budget supporting the strongest R2K science.

An additional step aims to renew the program's ability to respond to excellent new proposals as they come in. The early R2K years were characterized by a number of important large projects, some of which have mortgaged the program significantly into the 2007/2008 fiscal years. This previous management approach allowed a strong inception for the program but recently it has limited the number of new projects that the program can take on. With the change in panel procedures will come a move by NSF to fund most R2K projects as Standard grants (block funded in the first year). This is intended to significantly reduce future mortgaging so that R2K can remain a program that is responsive to ideas that evolve with new findings.

Please feel free to get in touch with me, or any R2K Steering Committee member, with questions or comments about the new plan.

Since November, I have discussed various aspects of the changes with Adam Schultz, and we both recognize that this first round of proposal submissions for an R2K-dedicated panel will likely turn up things that need clarification. An important difference from past procedure is that proposals submitted for R2K funding will no longer be shifted automatically to core MG&G if R2K relevance/priority is low. I expect there may be some flexibility in this first round as we all work through the transition. As always, the Ridge 2000 Science Plan and subsequent reports are a good guide to the range of projects that fall within the scope of the program (all available on the R2K website www.ridge2000.org).

The R2K program is strong- I see this in my day-to-day dealings with a wide variety of people in our community as well as in the responsiveness of NSF to our science, both in terms of actual support and in our impact on planning activities within broader Ocean Sciences. I understand that there will be some wariness to this change, but keep in mind that the Steering Committee has tried to think this through carefully. We see this as a positive move for the program. It will increase the strength of our profile as R2K undergoes its scheduled major review in late 2007/earliest 2008 and reinstates a full budget each year for the post-review phase of the program.

Lets all get those papers written this year to ensure that the broader community knows about the excellent results we've obtained since 2001! Most importantly, this will make our knowledge available to others but it is also key for ensuring that the program review results in a recommendation that R2K continue for the second half of the initially expected ~10 yr term.

Donna

Donna Blackman
Chair, Ridge 2000 Steering Committee