Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology | 22 597

Opportunity Information: Apply for 22 597

The National Science Foundation (NSF) grant opportunity titled Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology (Funding Opportunity Number 22-597) supports research aimed at understanding Earths deep-time sedimentary crust and the long-term history of environmental change and biological evolution recorded in rocks and fossils from before the Holocene. At its core, the program is designed for projects that use the sedimentary and fossil record to answer fundamental questions about how Earths surface environments, ecosystems, and life itself have changed across geologic time, with an emphasis on innovative approaches and strong links between the data being collected and big-picture interpretations of Earth history.

The program highlights four main research directions. First, it encourages studies on the evolution of life, ecology, environments, and biogeography using evidence from fossils, sediments, and geochemical proxies. This includes work that reconstructs ancient ecosystems, tracks biodiversity patterns and extinction or radiation events, and interprets how organisms interacted with their environments across different time periods and regions. Second, it invites research into the geological processes that form and shape the sedimentary lithosphere, including the mechanisms that create and preserve economically important organic and inorganic resources within sedimentary sequences. Projects in this area might examine basin evolution, sedimentary architecture, diagenesis, and the physical and chemical pathways that concentrate materials such as hydrocarbons, critical minerals, or other resource-related deposits in the rock record, while still keeping the emphasis on fundamental geoscience questions rather than applied exploration.

Third, the solicitation explicitly calls for new geochronological efforts that improve the ability to measure the timing, rates, and sequences of pre-Holocene sedimentary and biological events. In practice, this can include developing or applying dating methods to better constrain when depositional events occurred, how quickly environmental transitions unfolded, and how biological change lines up with climate shifts, tectonic events, or ocean-atmosphere reorganizations. Fourth, it supports research on how sediments are produced, transported, and deposited through time, spanning physical sediments (clastic), bioclastic materials (shell and skeletal debris), and chemical sediments (precipitates). This track covers the full sedimentary system from source to sink and can include field-based stratigraphy, process-based interpretation, laboratory analyses, and quantitative or modeling approaches, as long as the project is anchored in the geologic record and addresses deep-time questions.

A key boundary condition of the program is its focus on the pre-Holocene record. Projects that rely on modern or Holocene samples are not ruled out, but they must clearly explain how studying those materials will directly improve understanding of older, deep-time sedimentary, environmental, or fossil processes. In other words, modern analog studies need a strong justification that they are being used as tools to interpret ancient systems rather than being ends in themselves.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary NSF research grant in the science and technology and other research and development category, listed under CFDA 47.050. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning proposals may be submitted by any entity type as allowed by NSF policies and any additional eligibility language in the full announcement. Proposals are accepted at any time rather than having a single annual deadline, and the program anticipates making around 30 awards. The listed award ceiling is shown as 0, which typically signals that a fixed maximum is not specified in the summarized record and that budgets are instead evaluated based on project scope, justification, and NSF norms for the relevant research area. The opportunity was created on May 14, 2022, and remains open on an ongoing submission basis.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.050.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 14, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Proposals accepted anytime. (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 30 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for 22 597

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