Catalyst
Targeted investment for advancing collaborative science
Catalyst grants support activities that advance collaborative science by facilitating the development of new, collaborative science ideas; amplifying or enhancing existing collaborative research; or synthesizing NERRS monitoring data for a regional or national application. All proposals must adopt an end user-driven approach and be developed in collaboration with reserve partners to ensure the project meets a current reserve management need. Applicants may draw on both the social sciences and physical/natural sciences to meet the goals of this RFP. To learn more about recent projects browse the project catalog: Catalyst Projects.
Catalyst Grants
Catalyst grants support one-year projects with awards ranging from $75,000 - $200,000. The Science Collaborative announced projects recommended for funding from the 2020 call for catalyst proposals (see: announcement). We anticipate releasing another request for catalyst proposals in fall of 2022. The 2020 RFP and application materials are provided here as references.
Download the RFP: 2020 Request for Catalyst Proposals
References and Templates for Proposals:
- Reserve Management Needs Summary (October 2019)
- Team Roles and Definitions Used in RFP
- Proposal Review Process for 2020 Catalyst RFP
- Timeline Template (Excel)
- Budget Template (Excel)
- Data Sharing Plan Template (Word)
- Data Sharing Plan Example (PDF)
Q&A about RFP
- RFP Q&A Record (PDF), last updated February 19, 2020
- 2020 Catalyst RFP Q&A webinar - View Recording (YouTube) and Slide Deck (PDF)
Additional Proposal Development Resources:
- Conceptualizing & designing collaborative science projects - Webinar summary and video
- Characterizing end users – A tool for collaborative projects (Word)
- Reflections on engaging end users – A tool with key considerations for engaging end users (Word)
- Engaging end users webinar summary – Working iteratively to produce usable science (PDF)
- An Integrated Assessment Primer (PDF) Note: This primer was developed to support teams developing proposals for the NERRS Science Collaborative 2016 RFP.
- Additional references and tools are available on the Applicant Resources page
Contact
Questions about this funding opportunity can be directed to:
Email: NERRS-info@umich.edu
Phone: Lynn Vaccaro (734-763-0056), Maeghan Brass (734-763-0727)