Long-Term Ecological Research | 24 520

Opportunity Information: Apply for 24 520

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program is a long-running grant program created in 1980 to support ecological research that cannot be answered with short-term studies. Its central purpose is to enable scientists to observe, measure, and test ecological change over long time spans, which is often essential for understanding slow processes, rare events, long recovery periods after disturbance, and gradual shifts tied to climate, land use, species interactions, or nutrient and water cycles. LTER projects are designed to produce sustained, high-value datasets and long-term experiments that strengthen and refine fundamental ecological theory while also improving practical understanding of how ecosystems function and change.

Two defining features set LTER apart from many other NSF ecology opportunities. First, research is organized around specific, established field sites that were selected to represent major ecosystem types or biomes. Second, the work emphasizes long-term observations and data collection across five core research areas (the program expects consistent, multi-year data streams and coordinated research that builds on them). Because ecological dynamics often operate across multiple scales, LTER research commonly integrates multiple disciplines and approaches, and it frequently connects across sites to compare patterns, test generality of mechanisms, and examine processes that play out over broad regions rather than at a single location.

A major program requirement is open data. NSF expects that data collected at all LTER sites will be made publicly accessible and managed in compliance with NSF data policies. The idea is that long-term ecological datasets become more valuable over time and are useful well beyond the original investigator team, including for synthesis projects, cross-site comparisons, model development, and forecasting. NSF currently supports 27 LTER sites plus a network office that helps coordinate network-wide activities and cross-site work.

This particular solicitation is not for establishing new LTER sites. It governs renewal proposals for currently active LTER site awards. While NSF periodically issues separate solicitations when it decides to add new sites (for example, to balance ecosystem representation across the network or when new funding opportunities arise), that is explicitly outside the scope here.

Eligibility is narrow because it is a renewal-only competition. Only the organization or institution that holds the current LTER award may submit a renewal proposal. If multiple organizations are involved, collaboration must be handled through a single proposal submission format (as described in NSF's Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide, PAPPG); separately submitted collaborative proposals will be returned without review. The lead Principal Investigator (PI) must already be part of the currently funded award team: the lead PI on the renewal must be either the current award's lead PI or one of the co-PIs listed on the existing award.

Key administrative details from the opportunity listing include: it is a discretionary NSF grant opportunity in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category, with CFDA numbers 47.050, 47.074, and 47.075. The opportunity number is 24-520. NSF anticipates making around 12 awards under this solicitation. The original closing date is March 6, 2025. The award ceiling is not specified in the provided listing.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Long-Term Ecological Research" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.050, 47.074, 47.075.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-12-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-03-06. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for 24 520

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