The Simons Foundation’s Mathematics and Physical Sciences (MPS) division invites applications for a new Solar Radiation Management program (SRM). The foundation strongly encourages applications from scientists in the global south and from investigators who may not have worked in SRM but have expertise that could bring new perspectives and skills to this field.
The Simons Foundation has launched an international collaborative research program designed to fill fundamental scientific knowledge gaps relevant to Solar Radiation Management. SRM is 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 changes in rainfall, thereby affecting water resources and agriculture. At present, 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.
Deadline: Sep. 30, 2024
Applications may be submitted by established U.S. and foreign public and private educational and nonprofit institutes, research centers and national laboratories or the equivalent. Any entity must adhere to the 20 percent maximum overhead rate noted above. Principal Investigators (PIs), co-Investigators (co-Is) and other project participants may be from non-U.S. institutions.
For those at universities: PIs and co-Is must hold a tenured or tenure-track faculty, or equivalent, position at an educational institution in a department with a Ph.D. program at the time of application and for the duration of the award. There are no restrictions on the department and/or discipline of the PIs/co-Is. A co-I must be employed by or be affiliated with a PI institution or another organization participating in the project under a consortium agreement. Please see the foundation’s grant policies for further information regarding requirements and responsibilities of PIs and co-PIs.
Proposal budgets should not exceed $500,000 per year, including indirect costs (limited to 20 percent modified total direct costs), for a period of three years. The foundation estimates up to six additional SRM awards will be made for awards starting July 1, 2025.