Dear Colleague Letter – Research in Support of the National Space Weather Program

November 7, 2006

REFERENCE: NSF 07-520 (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/nsf07520/nsf07520.htm)

PROPOSAL DEADLINE: January 16, 2007

Dear Colleague:

This letter is to inform you of the status of the NSF program solicitation
for Research in Support of the National Space Weather Program
(NSF 07-520)
for 2007.  In 2006, NSF formed a partnership
with NASA to promote large, collaborative research in space weather
modeling.  Since the majority of the 2006 NSF funding went
to modeling work, the emphasis in 2007 will be on data analysis
and modeling of past space weather events rather than on the
development of new space weather models.  Topics of particular
interest are:

• CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) initiation and transport
• Evolution of solar active regions and CME precursors
• Magnetic field evolution and dynamics in Interplanetary CMEs
• CME "cannibalism"
• Acceleration and transport of Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs)
• Variability of SEP spectra and composition at high energies
• SEP creation mechanisms
• SEPs and heliospheric shock physics and wave particle interactions
  in the heliosphere
• Interaction of CMEs and CIRs (Corotating Interaction Regions)
  with the magnetopause
• disturbances in magnetopause location and shape
• explosive particle energization, transport and precipitation
  in the plasma sheet
• injection of plasma into the magnetosphere
• generation of large waves and currents on the magnetopause
  and in the magnetotail current sheet
• Magnetic storms
• source and loss processes of energetic particles in the radiation
  belts and the ring current
• large magnetic perturbations on the ground – including over
  and under-shielding phenomena
• density variations in the ionosphere, thermosphere and magnetosphere
• Subauroral Polarizations Streams (SAPS)

For 2007, NSF welcomes individual Principal Investigator proposals,
but it also welcomes collaborative research involving multiple
PIs and institutions.  In particular, NSF is cooperating with
the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) under the terms
of the Memorandum of Understanding on Basic Scientific Research
Cooperation Between the National Science Foundation of the United
States of America and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.  Standard
NSF review processes will be used to evaluate all the proposals
submitted to the 2007 space weather competition, including those
involving collaborations with scientists in Russia.

Collaborative research with scientists in Russian to be performed
under the MOU between NSF and the RFBR requires that proposals
be submitted to both NSF (proposal submitted by the American PI(s)
and institutions) and to the RFBR (proposal submitted by the Russian
investigator(s)).  The proposal submitted to NSF must include
a letter from the Russian PI(s) confirming that a companion proposal
has been or will be submitted to the RFBR.  Under the terms
of the MOU, Russian scientists who compete successfully for an
award will receive funding from the RFBR and successful American
applicants will receive funding from the NSF.  For an award
to be made for a proposal, both the agencies must agree on the
level of funding to be provided from the agencies.  Program
Officers from both agencies will cooperate in selecting reviewers
for the collaborative proposals and making the final selection
of  the proposals to be awarded.

For further information on the goals of the NSF/RFBR goals in space
weather research please contact:

Dr. Kile Baker (kbaker@nsf.gov)
GEO/ATM
National Science Foundation.

Russian Scientists who wish to have additional information about
the NSF/RFBR cooperative agreement should contact:

Dr. Vladimir Konnov (konnov@rfbr.ru)
Dept. of International Relations
Russian Foundation for Basic Research

For general information about NSF’s program solicitation
for space weather research please refer to NSF 07-520 (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/nsf07520/nsf07520.htm)
or contact the cognizant NSF program officers:

Dr. Kile Baker (kbaker@nsf.gov)
Dr. Paul Bellaire (pbellair@nsf.gov)
Dr. Robert Kerr (rkerr@nsf.gov)
Dr. Therese Moretto (tjorgens@nsf.gov)
Dr. Robert Robinson (rmrobins@nsf.gov).