National Science Foundation; Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC)

Deadline: Wednesday, May 1 2024

Award Amount: $75,000 - $1,000,000.

Amounts vary by project stage - see solicitation attached in the portal announcement for more information, or follow the link to the program website below.

NSF will host a 90-minute  informational webinar for this program on Thursday, February 22nd, 10pm PST. It will provide an overview of the CIVIC program and a Q&A with CIVIC Program Directors. Please register in advance here.

About: The Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) is a research and action competition that accelerates the transition to practice of foundational research and emerging technologies into communities through civic-engaged research. By addressing priorities at the local scale that are relevant across the US, CIVIC is laying the foundation for a broader and more fluid exchange of research and technology capabilities and civic priorities through joint partnerships involving civic partners and the research community. CIVIC funds projects that pilot state-of-the-art solutions to community challenges over 12 months, following a six-month planning phase, and have the potential for lasting impact in the partnering community as well as the potential to be scaled and implemented in other communities. Additionally, the foundation for CIVIC projects should be rooted in maturing and transitioning state-of-the-art research in disciplines, including but not limited to computer science, engineering, geosciences, biological sciences, and social sciences.

CIVIC is organized as a two-stage competition with two tracks centered around the following topic areas:

Track A. Climate and Environmental Instability - Building Resilient Communities through Co-Design, Adaption, and Mitigation

Track B. Bridging the gap between essential resources and services & community needs.

In Stage 1, approximately 35-40 Planning Grant awards will be made – each with a budget of up to $75,000 for six months to undertake planning and team development activities. These include solidifying the team, maturing the project plans, and preparing a well-developed full proposal for submission to Stage 2. Only Stage 1 CIVIC recipients can submit to the CIVIC Stage 2 competition.

In Stage 2, approximately 20 Full Awards will be made. These will be selected from Stage 1 award recipients. For Stage 2, proposals will be considered with budgets up to $1,000,000 for up to 12 months. Proposals must describe how the PIs will execute and evaluate their research-centered pilot projects.

Apply: For a detailed program description and the solicitation, please see the NSF’s Civic Innovation Challenge program page.

NOTE: If you are interested in applying or have any questions, please contact our Pre-Award Specialists Pia Gabriel at pg12@humboldt.edu, Kaz Wegmuller at kaz.wegmuller@humboldt.edu, or Jocelyne Takatsuno at jt366@humboldt.edu before April 1, 2024.