Brief Description:

Description:

Application Information:

• Step 1: Concept proposal (500 words) – due by May 20, 2022

1. Contact information that includes applicant’s name, affiliation, title, address, phone number, and email
2. Proposal title
3. Submitting team PI, co-PIs, and collaborator(s))
4. Statement of the real-world climate problem the cluster addresses
5. Description of cluster research questions
6. Possible additional cross-School collaborative opportunities for the cluster
7. Likely uses of funds, in broad terms

• Step 2: Revised Concept Proposal (1000 words) – due by August 8, 2022

1. Title
2. Submitting team (PI and any co-PIs) (please note any changes to the team)
3. Statement of the real-world climate problem the cluster addresses and the objectives of the cluster
4. Cluster research questions
5. Description of work plan describing how the research questions will be addressed and how the objectives will be achieved, including methods, data sources, engagement, etc.
6. Contribution of the proposed work in the context of related existing work in the proposed area, e.g. relation to existing research & academic work, relation to other entities working in the area, and what important contribution the Cluster will make given the existing intellectual and institutional landscape.
7. Likely uses of funds, in broad terms

• Step 3: Full proposal – due by October 11, 2022 

1. Contact information that includes applicant’s name, affiliation, title, address, phone number, and email.
2. Project Summary (300 words) (should be accessible to the climate-educated public)
3. Project Description (4000 words). Describe the proposed Cluster’s motivation, objectives, relation to existing intellectual and institutional landscape (including academic literature, comparable projects or activities including within NGOs and governmental organizations), intended real-world contributions in the context of that landscape, and work plan (including research plan, methods, role of personnel (postdocs, visitors, etc.) data sources, and engagement strategies including entities and timetables).
4. References Cited
5. Description of the interdisciplinary, cross-school collaboration, including the contributions of each member of the research cluster.  
6. Bio sketch or CV of Principal Investigator, Co-Investigators, Collaborators, and other team members.
7. Supplemental information that can include (as appropriate for the Cluster) up to 3 publications or pre-publications, preliminary participation agreements by individual/institutional collaborators, documentation of availability of key third-party data or other information needed to conduct the research, indications of willingness to participate by key stakeholders, and so forth.
8. Project Budget requires both a Budget Form and Budget Justification. Applicants must use the Budget Form and Budget Justification Form provided in the application.

i.  Non-allowable Expenses include:

1. Student tuition
2. Renovation costs

ii.  Allowable Expenses include:

1. Academic-year salary support for ladder faculty principal investigators. (Requests for partial support of principal investigator summer salary will be considered in limited circumstances.)  Applicants requesting salary support must include a letter signed by their school’s academic dean, or other appropriate institutional officer, indicating the school’s approval of the request for salary. Such a letter is also required for any Harvard faculty member serving as a co-investigator on the project, but not for others on the project team.

iii.  If the total cost of the proposed project is larger than the award requested from the Climate Research Clusters program, please include an overall financial plan for the project that indicates other sources of funding.

iv.  Applicants should note that any benefits-eligible personnel (e.g. faculty, exempt employees, union employees, post-doctoral fellows, teaching assistants, temps) expenses in the budget must include the appropriate fringe rates for each year of funding. If the application proposes to fund a certain amount of an existing employee’s time, then the budget must also include that percentage of applied fringe. Applicants should consult with Human Resources at their home schools for applicable rates.

v.  Capital projects and renovation costs will not be covered.

vi.  The recipient of any funding involving travel should adhere to Harvard University’s travel policies.

9. Other Support: Applicants must use the form provided in the application to summarize active and pending support for the ladder faculty member, serving as Principal Investigator. Other Support includes all financial resources, whether Federal, non-Federal, commercial, or institutional, available in direct support of an individual’s research endeavors, including but not limited to research grants, cooperative agreements, contracts and/or institutional awards. Please include any Harvard internal grants or major, project-specific support. Please do not include any "start-up" packages and/or tenure-transfer funding.

10. Assurance of Compliance: All recipients of an award from the Climate Research Clusters program are expected to comply with all University, (or local institutional, if awarded through an affiliated entity), policies governing the conduct of research including, but not limited to, the use of animals, human subjects, hazardous materials, and export controls. Awardees will be asked to provide the name and signature of a school or department administrator who, in addition to the principal investigator, will certify that the project complies with all relevant policies. Funds will not be made available, and invoices from non-Harvard entities will not be reimbursed, without such certification. All applicants are subject to audit.

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