SHINE and the NSF’s Solar Terrestrial Research (STR) Program

1. SHINE and the NSF’s Solar Terrestrial Research (STR) Program Paul Bellaire pbellair@nsf.gov STR Program Director Division of Atmospheric Sciences National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Room 775 S Arlington, Virginia 22230

2. “To promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense.” NSF’s Statutory Mission

3. NSF Solar Research Funding Sources NSF Structure

4. ANNUAL UARS BUDGETS

5. FY2008 budget of $7.876M STR Budget Detail Additional Funds Provided to STR in FY2008: $120K from UARS reserves $72K from AFOSR for REU support $144K from NSF EPSCoR Office

6. Solar-Terrestrial Physics: +2.0% Aeronomy: +2.0% Magnetospheric Physics: +2.0% Upper Atmosphere Facilities: +2.0% Percentage Change from FY2007 to FY2008 NSF budget increases (if any) for FY09 are ‘To Be Determined!’

7. STR Proposal Pressure Gradient,by Fiscal Year Percentage Awarded Number Submitted % # # % Note the approximate three year periodicity – submissions grow steadily and peak about every three years, then crash. In the absence of fiscal growth, years of peak submission tend to coincide with years of low success rate. This is the inevitable result of the standard three-year duration of awards typically favored by the NSF. However, longer awards are now more common, skewing these trends.

8. 32 Submissions, 6 Projects Funded! FY2008 Awardees in Surname Alphabetical Order: Paul Bellan, CalTech Bill Matthaeus, University of Delaware Dusan Odstrcil, University of Colorado Eliot Quataert, University of California at Berkeley Katharine Reeves, Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory Brian Welsch, University of California at Berkeley CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!! Total SHINE Expenditures: $1.68M in FY08 ~$2.0M expected in FY09 ~$2.0M expected in FY10 FY2008 SHINE Competition Results

9. • Upcoming Deadline for the SHINE Competition Proposals due 20 Aug 2008; approx $800K in new funds will be available. Panel to be held in the Oct-Nov 2008 timeframe. Funds to be awarded around Jan 2009. • Upcoming Deadline for SHINE Postdocs, Program Solicitation NSF 06-584: Proposals due 3 Feb 2009 NOTE:GRANTS.GOV is NO LONGER obligatory for SHINE Postdocs!! SHINE is one of several NSF programs currently testing the Grants.gov concept. Your feedback on Grants.gov would be appreciated. FY2009 SHINE Competition

10. • Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) (Proposals due 22 Jan 2009) • Special NSF Programs CAREER (Proposals due TBD; Spring 2009?) Kudos to STR CAREER Awardees since 2004: Sarbani Basu Joe Giacalone DebiPrasad Choudhary Amy Winebarger Ilia Roussev Merav Opher Jie Zhang Jiong Qiu National Space Weather Program (NSWP) (Unlikely to be competed in FY09 due to budget constraints) Program for Research and Education with Small Telescopes (PREST) (AST No Longer Requesting Proposals) CubeSat-based Science Missions for Space Weather & Atmospheric Research (Proposals due 10 Feb 2009) Major Research Equipment Facilities & Construction (MREFC) The ATST telescope project is managed by NSF Astronomy and is still being assessed by the National Science Board and NSF leadership DASI? Still to be defined and submitted by the community...! Other Relevant Feeding Funding Programs

11. The next deadline should be announced in December 2008! Space physics students should consider this for the summer of ‘09! A Great Grad Student Opportunity! The primary goals of EAPSI are to introduce students to East Asia and Pacific science and engineering in the context of a research setting, and to help students initiate scientific relationships that will better enable future collaboration with foreign counterparts. The institutes last approximately eight weeks from June to August.

12. Read & Heed! The concept of “transformative research” is now formally part of NSF’s ‘Intellectual Merit’ review criterion New restrictions on font type and font size! Revised NSF cover page and budget page formats! Get your copy at the NSF web site! NEW PROPOSAL RULES http://www.nsf.gov/funding/

13. I must respond to the Government Performance Results Act (GPRA, pronounced “Gipp-Rah”) I need “research nuggets!!” (Colorful graphics preferred!) Annual Reports are due 90 days before award anniversary date! Your funding increment – and that of any of your current Co-PIs on any NSF grant – is delayed until your report is approved! Please submit a No Cost Extension if you cannot expend your annual budget due to unforeseen circumstances – do not just delay the submission of your annual report ANNUAL REPORTS

14. PROPOSAL REVIEWS Unless you’ve been informed that your review is for a special competition or a specific panel, your review is for a proposal submitted to my core STR program. I need to obtain a minimum of 3 written reviews within 6 months. Special NSF competitions and panels have deadlines. However, core STR reviews, which are strictly mail-in, do not have hard deadlines (other than the NSF’s de facto 6 month rule).I would prefer to receive a delayed review than none at all.

15. SUMMARY • NSF Budget for FY09 is uncertain • The STR portfolio received nearly a 2% increase in FY08, but this is below inflation • SHINE will continue testing Grants.gov in FY09 • SHINE is on a secure fiscal profile • Obtaining reviews is a continuing problem, but you can help!