U.S. Science Support Program Associated with the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (USSSP-IODP)

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) is an international program of basic research in the marine geosciences, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and several international partners.  IODP builds on a rich legacy of scientific ocean drilling pioneered by NSF in the 1960's with the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), which provided a test of the plate tectonic hypothesis and a basic reconnaissance of deep sea sediments and crustal rocks.   This was followed in 1985 by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), the present phase of scientific ocean drilling, which is focused on examination of Earth, ocean and climate processes.  For ODP, Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc. (JOI), provided and facilitated various elements of support enabling the U.S. scientific community's participation in ODP.  This, along with additional support elements directly provided by NSF to the U.S. community, through funding of unsolicited proposals, fostered U.S. leadership in ODP as well as in the broader international geoscience community.

This solicitation seeks the services of a qualified provider to facilitate and enhance the participation of the U.S. scientific community in all aspects of the IODP.  The initial period of the award, to be administered as a Cooperative Agreement, is intended to cover the anticipated IODP implementation period through  30 September 2006.  IODP is an expanded program of scientific ocean drilling based on "Earth, Oceans and Life: Scientific Investigations of the Earth System Using Multiple Drilling Platforms and new Technologies; Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Initial Science Plan, 2003 - 2013" (http://www.iodp.org/isp.html). 

Scientific ocean drilling is an essential capability in modern geoscience research and education.  Its broad use as a scientific tool ranges from investigating the causes of change in the Earth's climate to the rifting and drifting of continents.  Drilling is the primary method of sampling sediment and crustal rock from the large percentage of the Earth's surface covered by oceans, and is the only technique for sampling anything more than a few tens of meters below the ocean floor.                                                                                                     

The Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), which began in 1968 under NSF sponsorship, served as a test of the plate tectonic hypothesis and a basic reconnaissance of deep-sea sediments and crustal rocks.  In 1974, the DSDP became an international program, with several European nations, Japan and the USSR entering into an agreement with NSF for providing scientific and financial participation.

The DSDP was followed in 1985 by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), the present phase of ocean drilling, which is a focused examination of earth, ocean and climate processes.  Since its inception, approximately 700 U.S. scientists from 150 universities, government agencies, and industrial research laboratories have participated in ODP cruises.  Samples and data have been distributed to an additional 700 to 800 U.S. scientists.   International participation in planning, research and funding of operations has grown from an initial five countries in DSDP to over 20 nations in ODP. 

For both DSDP and ODP, NSF provided the primary facility by contracting and converting an industry drill ship for scientific drilling - the Glomar Challenger for the former, and the JOIDES Resolution for the latter.  Both vessels served as facilities to carry out investigations proposed by the scientific community over the course of each program.  The proposals, submitted to the ODP international advisory structure, were evaluated and ranked by panels of science experts, and those with the greatest scientific merit were scheduled for vessel cruises.  The ODP has been structured such that formal agreements between NSF and international partners will terminate at the end of 2003.

The IODP will build upon the achievements of the predecessor programs and expand on their scientific scope based on the "Earth, Oceans and Life: Scientific Investigations of the Earth System Using Multiple Drilling Platforms and new Technologies; Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Initial Science Plan, 2003 - 2013" (http://www.iodp.org/isp.html). The plan identifies the need for two dynamically positioned drill ships, the use of "mission specific" drilling platforms, new sampling and downhole measurement technologies, and long-term observatories for borehole experiments and time series studies of active processes. 

NSF and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan have agreed to co-lead IODP which is scheduled to begin in FY2004.  MEXT has begun construction of a heavy drill ship to address deep drilling objectives in the new program.  Their vessel, the Chikyu (Earth), was launched in January 2002 (http://www.iodp.org), and will undergo outfitting and testing and be available for IODP operations in late 2006.  European plans are to provide additional "mission specific" drilling capability for shallow water and Arctic objectives and up to one third of program operating costs.   NSF will provide a non-riser drilling vessel as the U.S. contribution to IODP.  The characteristics of this vessel will be based on the recommendations resulting from a study conducted by the Conceptual Design Committee (CDC), a subcommittee of the U.S. Science Advisory Committee (USSAC) for ODP.  The CDC report is available at (www.joi-odp.org/USSSP/cdc/default.html). NSF has let a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the acquisition of a non-riser vessel capable of scientific drilling operations for the initial program, Phase 1, beginning in mid 2004 without significant government supported modifications.  Phase 2 provides for the acquisition and conversion of a drilling vessel that is more in line with the enhancements identified in the CDC report.   Funding of the vessel conversion is expected to occur in CY 2005 and 2006, but will depend on future budget appropriations.

The drill ships, facilities, and operations will be used to address scientific research programs identified in the Initial Science Plan.  The scientific plan for the IODP is the result of an extensive, international collaborative effort, and will encompass three principal scientific themes: (1) the Deep Biosphere and the Subseafloor "Ocean," (2) Environmental Change, Processes, and Effects, and (3) Solid Earth Cycles and Geodynamics.  Program initiatives and proposals supporting each of these themes will serve as a focus for scientific investigation.  Recommendations for specific drilling activity and required science services will be provided by a Science Advisory Structure (SAS).  SAS is an international committee structure representing the scientific communities in member countries and organizations of the IODP. These recommendations will result in an annual science plan.  Progress in the IODP Initial Science Plan will require access to global samples of sediments, rocks, fluids and biota buried at great depths below the seafloor.  The effort will also include in-situ geophysical measurements or emplacement of instrumentation for long term monitoring in deep seafloor boreholes.

As with ODP, all member countries in IODP will support scientific drilling operations, and each member country will be required to independently provide support for the research effort of its scientists participating in the program.  In ODP, elements of this support were provided through the Cooperative Agreement with Joint Oceanographic Intitutions, Inc. for the U.S. Science Support Program.  This solicitation seeks to continue, and to build on the past successes by establishing a similar support program for the U.S. scientific community in IODP. 

It is the intent of NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF-OCE), within available resources, to provide robust and effective participation of the U.S scientific community in all phases of the IODP.  Through this solicitation, NSF-OCE is seeking to enter into a Cooperative Agreement with an organization to administer parts of that support by establishing the U.S. Science Support Program Associated with IODP.  The support provided through USSSP-IODP is intended to complement the direct support to the scientific community that NSF will provide through its grants program in response to unsolicited proposals.  The nature and development of the USSSP-IODP will be based, in large part, on the recommendations provided in the report: "Conference on U.S. Participation in IODP (CUSP)" (http://www.joi-odp.org/USSSP/Default.html) prepared by the ODP - U.S. Science Advisory Committee (USSAC) and should, as appropriate, take into consideration the results of community outreach activities such as the USSAC questionnaire at the same web site. The U.S. scientific community has long played a strong leading role in scientific ocean drilling, in terms of planning activities, drilling operations, and producing important scientific results.  Responsibility for that success has been in large part due to the effectiveness of the existing U.S. Science Support Program in ODP.  USSSP-IODP is intended to further that tradition in IODP.  Therefore the proposal for this Cooperative Agreement should address the following support activities:

1.      Program Development and Planning -

USSSP-IODP will support planning activities that develop program concepts, and refine the major long-range objectives as outlined in the "IODP: Earth, Oceans and Life: Scientific Investigations of the Earth System Using Multiple Drilling Platforms and new Technologies"  (http://www.iodp.org/isp.html), and to develop the optimal drilling strategies needed to achieve these objectives.  

It should provide the required support for U.S. scientist to effectively participate in IODP Science Advisory Structure (SAS) panels, committees, and participation in international conferences on scientific ocean drilling.  This support will include travel and per diem, and when determined to be appropriate, whithin the terms of the Cooperative Agreements, salaries.

USSSP-IODP will establish within the U.S. scientific community the means whereby new ideas, approaches, and proposals relevant to scientific ocean drilling can take advantage of and optimize the science that is possible utilizing the two principal IODP platforms, and where appropriate the occasional mission specific platform.  This will include, but not be limited to, sponsorship of topical thematic and regional workshops and symposia.

2.      Pre - Drilling Activities -

USSSP-IODP will fund activities required to refine drilling site information and data syntheses.  This element should provide support for participation of U.S. scientists on non-U.S. site surveys and acquisition of data on ships-of-opportunity.  It also supports reprocessing and syntheses of existing data to aid in both long- and short- term IODP planning.

3.      Platform Participation Activities -

For planning purposes, as stated in the Memorandum of Cooperation between NSF and MEXT, "The IODP is expected to begin with an implementing period extending from 1 October 2003 to 30 September 2006.  During this period, drilling is to be accomplished from the non-riser platform and from mission specific platforms (if recommended by the SAS and provided by IODP members)."    There should be approximately 10 to12 non riser drilling legs during the IODP implementation period that is covered by this solicitation.

Participation in scientific activities and operations is defined in the Memorandum between NSF and MEXT and can be found at (http://www.iodp.org).  Full membership in IODP is equivalent to one participation unit which will entitle the member to have one representative on each panel or committee of the SAS, and two scientific participants per "cruise leg" or equivalent, for each IODP platform.  The U.S. and Japan will contribute equallly to Program costs and may aquire more participation units necessary to fully support the Program. Numbers for U.S. participants is estimated at 6 to 10 per cruise, per platform.

Initially, for planning purposes whithin the time frame of this Cooperative Agreement, staffing models for continuous coring, non-riser drilling proposed in IODP should be based on the historical experiences provided by ODP.   Platform staffing and operations for riser and mission specific platforms at this time are not well defined.  The requirements for the riser platform will become more apparent once planning for operations of the first riser leg get underway.  Since the Japanese vessel Chikyu is scheduled to begin scientific drilling operations in the late 2006 early 2007 time frame, staffing requirements will become more clear prior to renewal/recompetition time of this Cooperative Agreement.   

Planning discussions for participation in mission specific operations have identified the possibility of using shore based parties to satisfy the leg requirements. The size and nature of these operations will probably vary depending on the requirements to meet expedition and post-expedition responsibilities.  At this time, the specifics and occurrence of mission specific campaigns is not well defined.  The European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (http://www.ecord.org/models/accueill.php) has indicated its intent to provide mission specific capability for IODP.  

Support for U.S. platform participation should include travel to and from the vessel as well as required pre- and post- cruise meeting travel to meet expedition requirements.

Salary for U.S. scientific party members should include time on board and time necessary to meet program defined pre- and post- cruise responsibilities.   

Salary for U.S. co-chief scientists should reflect the level of effort and responsibilities for successful expedition planning, implementation, research coordination, and synthesis and publication of expedition results.   

Awardee's implementation of the Cooperative Agreement will follow NSF's merit review criteria when making funding decisions and awards. 

 

4.      Post-Expedition Activities -

This support should be directed towards completing the analyses and measurements required to meet expedition requirements that lead to the publication of the initial reports of the expedition.  Planning for the level of resources required for this support should take into account the expedition variabilityreflected in the annual Program Plan developed by the IODP Central Management Organization. This support has historical precedence with the U.S. Science Support Program associated with ODP.  

Expedition Objective Research - Scheduled drilling expeditions are the result of highly ranked and important science objectives. Optimizing the success of these research objectives will require additional resources from those provided under the Cooperative Agreement that results from this solicitation to fulfill post expedition responsibilities leading to publication of initial results.  Since the level of support that might be required to meet these research objectives could be significant, it is the intention of the NSF-OCE Drilling Program to entertain unsolicited proposals from U.S. expedition participants to fulfill these research objectives.  The intent is to evaluate these proposals through the NSF peer review process and make timely funding decisions.  The window for submission of these research proposals by U.S. members of the scientific party for an expedition will be from the time an expedition is scheduled until the end of the moratorium on sample availability for non-cruise participants expires.  Support for the activities described in this paragraph are not part of this solicitation.

5.      Education and Outreach Activities -

Support for educational and outreach activities that target students at all levels should be established. This support should build and improve on the achievements of the predecessor support program for ODP.  The awardee will keep the U.S. scientific communitry fully apprised of IODP plans and developments.  It should do this through a variety of methods such as, but not limited to, web sites, newsletters, and mail servers for example. 

The Program should encourage and support graduate students to conduct research related to IODP and to encourage their participation in drilling campaigns. 

The USSSP-IODP will develop innovative measures that effectively communicate the activities of the IODP to a broad cross section of the public. 

The USSSP-IODP will make every effort to take advantage of the increased capabilities of the IODP to enhance its educational and outreach activities.   

Through its education and outreach activities the USSSP-IODP should promote diversity and encourage participation of underreperesented groups in all aspects of IODP.

6.      Instrumentation Development  

Modest, timely support for the development or refinement of unique or innovative instrumentation for core or borehole analysis and experiments may be required.  The awardee should make this capability available and should develop the necessary review and evaluation procedures that validate the innovative and/or unique added value this activity could provide to the science objectives of the expedition(s) in question.  The testing of or use of any speciallty  instrumentation/tools will have to conform to the third party regulations and safety requirements of the IODP operators and SAS. 

7.      Coordinating Structure and Management Plan -

The awardee will provide for a planning and management structure that can provide, within available resources, optimal participation of the U.S. scientific drilling community in all aspects of the internationally managed IODP. 

The proposal should identify a qualified Project Director, familiar with the U.S. scientific drilling community,  and academic research in marine geology and geophysics, whose responsibilities will include the overall management and coordination of the USSSP-IODP.

The awardee will be expected to establish a national, proactive coordinating body for the oversight of U.S. national participation in IODP and to provide guidance for activities associated with IODP.  Guidance to the awardee should include advice regarding the balance of related science drilling objectives within IODP.  This coordinating body should be representative of the  U.S. scientific ocean drilling community and its interests.  This body will serve a similar purpose for IODP that the U.S. Science Advisory Committee  has done for ODP. 

Proposals will be accepted from U.S. academic institutions and U.S non-governmental, non-profit organizations familiar with academic geoscience research and the geoscience community.  Familiarity with the scientific drilling community, its goals and aspirations  is necessary.  The successful proponent will have the organizational infrastructure, experience and demonstrated managerial capability to provide the support to the scientific drilling community defined in the solicitation.  Experience in developing outreach and educational programs at all levels is required.

• PI Eligibility Limit: None Specifiied.
• Limit on Number of Proposals: None Specified.

• Anticipated Type of Award: Cooperative Agreement
• Estimated Number of Awards: 1
• Anticipated Funding Amount: $15,000,000 for the period FY 2004 through FY 2006, pending availability of funds.

Initial support for the Cooperative Agreement that results from this solicitation will be for three years.  In the third year the Awardee will prepare and submit for review a five year renewal proposal that will take into account participation of the U.S. scientific community in a fully implemented IODP.  The renewal proposal will undergo a merit review and the awardee's achievements and future plans will be evaluated comprehensively.  If successful, the Awardee will continue to be reviewed annually by NSF.  If unsuccessful, Awardee will be phased-out over an appropriate time period and funding level to be negotiated.  Continuing support is contingent each year on favorable annual reviews of the Awardee and an annual program plan. 

The following information deviates from the GPG guidelines.  Up to seventy-five (75) pages will be allowed in the Project Description.  The following items should be included in the Project Description:

- Project Director, staff, and business capabilities to execute the requirements of this solicitation.

- Mechanism for constituting a USSSP-IODP coordinating and advisory body  representative of the U.S. scientific drilling community.

- Plans and methods for engaging the USSSP-IODP coordinating and advisory body, to maximize advice and input to policy decisions that reflect the support needs of the the U.S. scientic drilling community's participation in IODP.

- A balanced and innovative education and outreach program in consultation with the USSSP-IODP advisory body, that also takes advantage of and leverages the efforts of the IODP Cental Management Office and Implementing Organizations.

- Mechanisms for growing the U.S. scientific drilling community and engaging/liaising with other major research efforts relevant to the scientific goals of IODP.

- Mechanisms by which awardee will evaluate their effectivenes and performance at implementing the various elements of this solicitation.

In addition to the annual project report there are other reporting requiremnets which will be further defined in the Cooperative Agreemment.  The work under the Cooperative Agreement will be carried out in accordance with an annual "Program Plan" developed by the Awardee in consultation with the NSF/ODP Program Officer and approved in writing by the NSF/ODP Program Officer. The Program Plan shall cover the upcoming agreement year and shall address, but not be limited to, the following:

Each Program Plan shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with schedules, funding levels, guidelines, formats, and cost elements approved by the NSF/ODP Program Officer. In addition to the Program Plan, the awardee shall provide the NSF with such backup information as the NSF may request.

Significant changes, apparent to the awardee or identified by the NSF/ODP Program Officer, in objectives or activities described in the annual Program Plan must be approved by the NSF Grants and Agreements Officer prior to implementation. Included are changes involving a funding re-distribution in excess of an amount yet to be negotiated between NSF Program Officials and awardee. The impacts and reasons for the proposed changes must be explained. The changes may or may not require modification of the approved budget. Awardee shall provide NSF Program Officials with copies of all significant revisions to documentation, upon request, substantiating all changes to the Program Plan, whether or not NSF approval is required. All significant changes shall be reported in the quarterly report.

The Awardee shall be expected to provide quarterly reports which summarize U.S. Science Support Program financial and operational information and activity to the NSF/ODP Program Officer. The monthly report format for reporting actual costs shall follow the budget format established in the Program Plan.