Updates to the Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) Program
Dear Colleagues:
Since 2017, the Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) Program--one of NSF's Ten Big Ideas-- has supported creative new directions for understanding and adapting to a rapidly changing Arctic. Projects funded through the NNA Program have made significant advances in Arctic-related research, education, workforce development, and the leveraging of science, engineering, and technology advances from a wide range of disciplines. Further, the NNA community has made important contributions regarding conducting community-engaged research and the co-production of knowledge.
NNA proved prescient in its focus on solution-oriented convergence research, informing recent federal priority documents on Arctic research and policy, including the Interagency Arctic Research and Policy Committee’s (IARPC) 2022-2026 Arctic Research Plan, the US Arctic Research Commission’s Report on the Goals and Objectives for Arctic Research 2023-2024, and the White House's National Strategy for the Arctic Region. With NSF investing over $150 million in forward-looking Arctic research, NNA teams are training the next generation of Arctic scientists, identifying co-produced research questions and methodologies, and deeply engaging local and Indigenous communities to build relationships and develop new projects that bring value to the region.
NSF's Big Ideas end as a unifying concept in FY 2023 as planned. Investments in these forward-looking research categories provided the groundwork for many new successes. Most of the Big Ideas will continue as core research programs or be superseded by new but related efforts. This Dear Colleague Letter announces the end of an active solicitation accepting new proposals to the NNA Program, as well as next steps for the NNA community.
CURRENT AND FUTURE STATUS OF THE NNA PROGRAM
Proposals that have been submitted to the NNA solicitation (NSF 22-520) in FY 2023 will be reviewed and the final set of NNA awards will be made toward the end of the fiscal year. These planned awards- along with those already funded- will conduct convergence projects studying the natural, built, and social intersections of Arctic systems and how a changing Arctic affects local and global systems.
Active projects funded through the NNA Program will continue to be managed by a team of NSF Program Officers. NSF Program Officers will be participating in active award management, including ensuring that reporting and data archiving requirements are met.
The NNA Community Office (NNA-CO) will continue to serve as an important resource for all NNA projects and community members for several more years. The NNA-CO will continue the important work of building awareness, partnerships, opportunities, and resources for collaboration and equitable knowledge generation within, among, and beyond the research projects funded by the NNA Program. Interested individuals can continue to stay informed through subscribing to the NNA-CO newsletter.
Projects funded by the NNA Program are still required to attend the planned Annual NNA Community Meetings, which will take place at locations and dates determined by the NNA-CO, and will be communicated through the NNA-CO website.
Each funded NNA project must provide open and rapid access to quality-controlled and fully documented data and information during and after the project. For all NNA projects, metadata files, full data sets, and derived data products must be deposited in a long-lived and publicly accessible archive within two years of collection, or by the end of the award, whichever comes first. In addition, a description of metadata, full data sets, and derived data products, and information describing how to access them, must be submitted to the NSF Arctic Data Center within the same time frame. Exceptions to the above data reporting requirements may be granted for social science data and Indigenous Knowledge, where privacy or intellectual property rights might take precedence.
NEXT STEPS
The NNA Program has been developing two important approaches to generating new knowledge: (1) empowering local and Indigenous voices in Arctic research and new ways of knowing through meaningful Arctic community engagement and (2) deepening convergent research. There is much work to be done in both areas. Investigators and community members interested in conducting work in these areas may submit proposals to relevant core programs at NSF and are encouraged to contact cognizant Program Officers to discuss the scope of proposed research activities.
Navigating the New Arctic within the Directorate for Geosciences will be superseded by a new effort which builds on the core success of engaging with local communities and broadens the scope to look at resilient futures for these communities. To remain apprised of related developments, please sign up to get NSF funding information from the funding search page.
QUESTIONS
Investigators and community members with questions about a particular project should contact their managing Program Officer. The current managing Program Officer may be found in Research.gov.
For any further questions about the NNA Program, please contact nna@nsf.gov.
Sincerely,
Alexandra R. Isern, Assistant Director
Directorate for Geosciences (GEO)