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Simons Foundation invites applications for Solar Radiation Management
Deadline: May 31, 2023 at 12 noon ET (Letters of Intent)
The Simons Foundation Mathematics and Physical Sciences (MPS) division invites applications for a new Solar Radiation Management program (SRM).
The international collaborative research program is designed to fill
fundamental scientific knowledge gaps relevant to Solar Radiation
Management, an emerging collection of approaches, including
stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), marine cloud brightening (MCB),
and cirrus cloud thinning (CCT), designed to modify the Earth’s
radiative balance and cool the planet. Although reducing atmospheric
greenhouse gas concentrations is the only long-term strategy to mitigate
climate change and other impacts, SRM might be able to ameliorate some
of the negative impacts this century. However, SRM also may pose
significant environmental and societal risks, including stratospheric
warming, ozone depletion, and rainfall changes, affecting water
resources and agriculture. Not enough is known about SRM systems and
their potential impacts to allow informed decision making. This call
aims to help fill key fundamental knowledge gaps in the science of SRM.
Priority areas for this call include environmentally benign materials
discovery for SAI and CCT; laboratory physicochemical characterization
of SAI and CCT materials and their interactions with light, clouds,
atmospheric trace gases, and with themselves or ambient aerosols to
improve microphysical inputs to existing climate models; approaches to
minimize cirrus cloud formation, including from aircraft emissions;
assessments of near-field (<100 km) atmospheric turbulence and its
impact on SAI and CCT interventions, primarily through modeling; and
integration of improved representations of aerosols and turbulence into
global-scale modeling, and characterization of global and regional
impacts of novel materials for SAI and CCT.
Areas not within the scope of this program include social science research and in-situ field experiments involving aerosol release.
The program is anticipated to award $10 million yearly over five
years. Proposal budgets for three years should be at most $500,000
annually, including indirect costs (limited to 20 percent modified total
direct costs). Allowable indirect costs to the primary institution for
subcontracts are not included in the $500,000 budget threshold. Up to 20
awards will be funded, although some of the original $10 million may be
held in reserve to award during a potential two-year renewal period
after the initial three-year award.
Proposals may be from individual investigators or small teams; the
latter are not required to be from the same institution. Investigators
can be science/engineering faculty at PhD-granting research universities
or PhD-level research staff members at nonacademic institutions.
Letters of intent are due May 31, 2023, at 12 noon ET, and upon
review, selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal,
due October 3, 2023, at 11:00 am ET.
For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the Simons Foundation website.
Link to complete RFP
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