Funding-Systematics
and Biodiversity Science; July 9,
2011
Agency
National Science
Foundation
Description
The
Systematics and
Biodiversity Science Cluster supports research that advances our
understanding of the diversity, systematics, and evolutionary history of
organisms in natural systems. This research addresses fundamental questions in
biodiversity, taxonomy, and phylogenetics, such
as: What kinds of organisms exist in the natural world? How are they
related? How did evolution lead to patterns of global biodiversity in time and
space? How can phylogenetic history shed light on evolutionary patterns and
processes in nature? Example topics include: expeditionary biodiversity
research and discovery; identification and classification of organisms; and
phylogeny and comparative phylogenetic biology. The SBS Cluster seeks to fund
projects that are transformative - that is, those that innovatively and
fundamentally transform our approaches to analyzing and understanding global
biodiversity, its origins, distribution, and evolutionary
history. The Cluster
places a high value on integrative and holistic approaches to systematics
research and training - i.e., those approaches and projects that integrate
across all the components within the cluster (biodiversity discovery,
organismal biology, taxonomy, phylogenetics, and
evolution) and that train highly integrative systematists who can conduct research across the entire
spectrum of these activities.
The
Systematics and Biodiversity Science Cluster comprises two core programs:
Biodiversity:
Discovery & Analysis and Phylogenetic Systematics.
In addition, the cluster includes a unique category of proposal
with specific requirements (Advancing Revisionary Taxonomy and
Systematics -- see Dear Colleague Letter NSF
11-037 for details). All proposals sent to the SBS
cluster should be submitted to one of the two core programs.
1.
Biodiversity: Discovery & Analysis program. Supports all aspects of Biodiversity Science, including
expeditionary and exploratory research in natural environments to advance the
discovery, identification, description, classification and cataloguing of the
world's biodiversity. These investigations should be focused at the
organismal level and within an evolutionary context. Proposals may target any
group of organisms from any natural habitat. Proposals should address
biodiversity discovery questions and may entail a primarily clade-based approach
(i.e., regional to planetary species-level inventories for a particular
taxonomic group), a guild-based approach (i.e., focused on ecological
assemblages, common habitats, or host-symbiont
assemblages), or a geographically-based approach. Such projects should focus on
clades, guilds, or areas for which species-level biodiversity is very poorly
known, and successful proposals will make a compelling case demonstrating that
lack of knowledge. Projects that include fieldwork, work in existing
collections, taxonomic identifications, revisionary classifications, monographs,
hypothesis testing, and bioinformatics are appropriate in this
program.
Biodiversity:
Discovery & Analysis proposals should include well-documented plans
for fieldwork coordination and permitting, vouchering of new collections,
specimen preparation, long-term specimen storage regimes that are openly
accessible, specimen identifications and descriptions, georeferencing, data modeling and databasing, and rapid dissemination of data into public
biodiversity databases. The rationale for targeting specific taxonomic
groups/areas and proposed sampling approaches should be well-justified.
Innovative approaches, such as rapid identification/description, cybertaxonomy, and automated identification tools, are
encouraged.
2.
Phylogenetic Systematics program. Supports research that addresses significant questions about
organismal evolution using phylogenetic approaches. The primary foci of
this program are to investigate the origins of biodiversity and to resolve the
relationships among species across the hierarchy of life. All "tree-based"
approaches to studies of organismal evolution, including tree-building at all
taxonomic levels, tree-based studies of character evolution, and tree-enabled
comparative biology fall within this program. Projects that build, refine, and
use phylogenies to study biogeographic distributions; temporal patterns of
evolution; evolution of morphological, physiological, developmental, behavioral
and molecular traits; adaptation; or other macroevolutionary patterns are appropriate. Projects that
use phylogenies to produce revisionary classifications and monographs are also
appropriate. Additionally, proposals that advance theory and methods of
phylogenetic analysis and phylogenetic comparative approaches are also
encouraged.
Phylogenetic
Systematics proposals should include well-explicated methods of phylogenetic
analysis, justification for targeting specific taxonomic groups, explanation of
proposed data sampling approaches, well-justified phylogenetic comparative
methods if appropriate, and plans for broad dissemination of results. Proposals
that focus primarily on tree-based comparative biology should include a
tree-building component sufficient to ensure that: the tree(s) used for
comparative studies are strongly supported; previously published trees are
enhanced and augmented; and tree(s) used include sufficient sampling for the
questions proposed. Such proposals should also include explanations of
phylogenetic comparative methods to be used.
If proposals
include fieldwork or new collections: include well-documented plans for
fieldwork coordination and permitting, vouchering of new collections, specimen
preparation, long-term specimen storage regimes that are openly accessible,
specimen identifications and descriptions, georeferencing, data modeling and databasing, and rapid dissemination of data into public
biodiversity databases.
NOTE: Research on
biodiversity and organismal evolution is supported in various ways across the
Biological Sciences Directorate, and the Systematics and Biodiversity Science
Cluster frequently co-reviews projects with other clusters or
programs. Research projects that might be more appropriately targeted to
programs other than Systematics and Biodiversity Science
include: demography and evolutionary processes below the
species level; diversity of genes and genomes, or form and function, without a
phylogenetic, comparative, or organismal focus; functional diversity at the
ecosystem level. For proposals in these areas, please consult the Directorate
for Biological Sciences website to identify programs whose
priorities seem to be a good match for your research. You are always encouraged
to contact a program officer for guidance about the most appropriate program for
your particular research.
Announcement
Number: PD
11-7374
Closing
Date:
Full
Proposal Deadline Date: July 9, 2011
July 9, Annually
Thereafter
Full
Proposal Deadline Date: January 9, 2012
January 9, Annually
Thereafter
Link to Full
Announcement
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503618&WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click
Contact
Information
Rafael
O. de Sa rdesa@nsf.gov
(703) 292-7836
Maureen
Kearney mkearney@nsf.gov
(703) 292-7187
Sarah
Mathews smathews@nsf.gov
(703) 292-4415
Susan L. Perkins sperkins@nsf.gov (703) 292-4821