Arctic Natural Sciences (ANS)

The Arctic Natural Sciences (ANS) program supports novel and creative research that is focused on disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary investigations to advance understanding of Arctic processes, including how those processes are shifting in a rapidly changing Arctic. The program encourages proposals that test hypotheses leading to new understanding of the Arctic, including those that synthesize and analyze existing data. Areas of interest include Arctic marine and terrestrial ecosystems, terrestrial hydrology and biogeochemistry, atmospheric and oceanic dynamics, chemistry and climatology, and glaciological processes. Proposals may be co-reviewed with other programs at NSF, as appropriate. Where ANS participates in cross-Agency competitions, such as the Paleo Perspectives on Climate Change program, proposals that are suitable for review within these competitions must be submitted directly to these competitions rather than to ANS. If there is doubt as to the appropriate destination for a proposal, prospective PIs are encouraged to contact the ANS program officers prior to submission.

A geographic definition of the Arctic region is provided by the United States Arctic Research and Policy Act (ARPA) of 1984 Section 112 (https://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/arctic/iarpc/arc_res_pol_act.jsp). Because the Arctic Natural Sciences Program encompasses research on phenomena that link the Arctic to lower latitudes, the ARPA definition should not be viewed as strictly constraining the location of the work proposed. Proposals conducting research outside the Arctic geographic region should contain a clear statement of how the proposed research will increase our knowledge of the Arctic.

Proposals requesting support for field work should expect to go to the field no sooner than one year after proposal submission to allow time to plan, budget, and complete environmental compliance documentation.