Environmental Chemical Sciences (ECS)

Proposals submitted to this program (including individual and collaborative proposals, GOALIs) must be submitted to the CHE Disciplinary Research Programs solicitation.

Exceptions:

• RUI proposals must be submitted to the RUI Solicitation during the regular proposal submission window for this program.
• Proposals submitted in response to another solicitation (CAREER) should follow the solicitation guidelines (e.g. CAREER)
• Conference, workshop, EAGER, RAPID or RAISE proposals must be discussed with a Program Officer before submission, and then should only be submitted as instructed.

The Environmental Chemical Sciences (ECS) Program supports experimental and computational research on the fundamental chemistry of processes in the environment. Recognizing the intrinsic complexity and heterogeneity of environmental systems, projects develop and utilize advanced experimental, modeling and simulation approaches to discover, explain, and predict environmental phenomena at the molecular scale. Topics may include, but are not limited to: processes occurring at environmental interfaces and the chemical behavior and transformation under a variety of naturally occurring environmental conditions.

Through the Critical Aspects of Sustainability (CAS) program, the Division of Chemistry looks to support basic research aimed at improving the sustainability of resources for future generations while maintaining or improving current products within a global society. Critical Aspects of Sustainability topics appropriate for the ECS Program include, but are not limited to: Understanding the environmental chemical degradation of contaminants, including emerging contaminants.

PIs are encouraged to monitor current funding priorities identified by the Foundation and the Executive and Legislative Branches, and to highlight relevant synergies in their Project Summaries and Program Descriptions.

Field measurements and instrument development in support of environmental measurements are not supported. Programs in other NSF Directorates and other Federal Agencies address aspects such as field studies, large-scale models of the environment, toxicity studies, industrial processes, remediation methods, and the behavior and fate of nanoparticles in the environment. 

For recent awards made by the program, search NSF award database with the Program Element Code 6882.

• What Has Been Funded (Recent Awards Made Through This Program, with Abstracts)
• Map of Recent Awards Made Through This Program