Meng, and others interested in proposing science pertaining to the North Atlantic:
 
We have had quite a number of discussions (in person and via email) between interested U.S ocean science community members and NSF/OCE staff on the topic of North Atlantic physical/biological/chemical oceanographic processes, the funded European program of research along these lines, and the community development of multinational coordination of research on the North Atlantic along the lines of the BASIN concept.  There are clearly interests in the U.S. ocean sciences community to propose, to NSF/OCE, interdisciplinary science projects on diverse themes of study pertaining to the North Atlantic, perhaps coordinating or collaborating with international partners.  OCE anticipates proposals may come in over the course of some years and it will review proposals submitted.
 
      Following these many discussions, it is apparent to those involved here in OCE, based on the draft 2-pager your group has put together, that the message from the NSF has not been made clearly enough with regard to the nature of BASIN, and the role of any extra pages appended to a group of interactive proposals.  To state things more clearly now, here are three concise points from OCE for proposers to realize:
 
-     While there is a funded (by European Commission, plus European member states) program of research pertaining to the broad set of BASIN themes, there is no international BASIN program, per se, and no intent at the NSF of funding a proscribed BASIN Program.

-     The draft two-pager does not have approval by OCE to be used to augment the pages of any proposals submitted for review.  The document written and sent to us is simply a lengthy statement of the philosophy and very general themes of research outlined in community BASIN documents.  The two-pager does not serve to give the NSF staff, and more importantly reviewers, a strong and needed context for how a set of very related, but independent projects, can be and will be integrated into a strongly synergistic set of projects, should they be funded together based on the timelines outlined in the projects.  The two-pager does not address the questions that have been voiced by NSF staff multiple times in the past, in the tone of constructive criticism, with regard to generalities, lack of focus, lack of integration, and priority setting in the research.

-     Proposers who have BASIN interests should expect to use the normal NSF proposal process, guidelines (15-pages) and target dates (August and February 15 each year) to seek funding for their North Atlantic research interests. They should outline interdisciplinary projects that describe compelling, innovative, conceptually sound, and tractable scientific questions and/or hypotheses that seek to explain North Atlantic processes and how they shape the biogeochemical and ecological dynamics of the large sectors of the basin.  The context, the envisioned integration, and the planned collaborative activities should be described concisely to allow review of the science and the approached. Talking to Program Officers for larger, collaborative endeavors should be preceded by discussions with OCE program officers.

The NSF provided advice to you and interested parties (Email on 11 May; Advice from OCE on future proposals pertinent to meeting BASIN goals). That advice to proposers holds, with the exception of the bullet discussing extra proposal pages. Please disseminate this further guidance to your list of interested investigators.


On behalf of OCE,

Phil Taylor

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Phillip R. Taylor
Head, Ocean Section (Biological, Chemical and Physical Oceanography)
Division of Ocean Sciences
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Blvd., Suite 725
Arlington,  Virginia,  USA  22230
703-292-8580,    fax: 703-292-9085  
prtaylor@nsf.gov