NSF hosted a webinar on Monday, February 12, 2024 about the recently updated solicitation of the Partnership to Advance Conservation Science and Practice (PACSP) program (24-531), a collaboration between the NSF and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

The webinar recording and transcript are available here.

The PACSP program supports basic research that investigates organismal biology, ecology, and/or evolution and is designed to contribute to the development and implementation of evidence-based activities and/or technology solutions to advance biodiversity conservation. Proposals that involve the implementation of conservation activities based on conservation science principles via academic-conservation organization partnerships are appropriate for the PACSP program. Projects already funded by this program can be found using the link at the bottom of the PACSP program webpage or via this direct link to the NSF award search.

Following an overview presentation of the updated PACSP program solicitation, Program Directors answered audience questions including:

Can federal, state, and local governmental agencies serve as the conservation partner? Yes, government agencies can act as the conservation partner. Eligible entities who can serve as conservation action partners and receive an award from the foundation include: Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3), U.S. organizations; Units of state or local government; State colleges or universities; or federally recognized tribal communities or tribes. All supported organizations must review and agree to the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation Grantee Code of Conduct found here: https://pgafamilyfoundation.org/_ui/img/pgafoundation/Grantee_Code_of_Conduct.pdf. Eligible institutions do not include foreign organizations.   

What is the total anticipated funding amount and budget cap for individual proposals?  Pending availability of funds, we anticipate $16M for the 2024 fiscal year for new standard and/or continuing awards. We expect to award 8-16 proposals. There are no budget caps for individual proposals.

How do we submit the conservation partner budget? Should it be a subaward? The conservation partner budget and budget justification must use the same format as the NSF budget and must be submitted as a supplementary document. It should not appear as a subaward on the research budget. Additionally, no indirect costs can be included in conservation partner budgets. All project costs for the conservation partner, including those for project infrastructure, must be specifically included as direct costs.

Should the conservation or basic research partner serve as the lead on the project? The lead partner will submit the project to the NSF and must be from either:

(1) Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) – Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Special Instructions for International Branch Campuses of US IHEs: If the proposal includes funding to be provided to an international branch campus of a US institution of higher education (including through use of subawards and consultant arrangements), the proposer must explain the benefit(s) to the project of performance at the international branch campus and justify why the project activities cannot be performed at the US campus. Or

(2) Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies and similar organizations located in the U.S. that are directly associated with educational or research activities.

Institutions that encompass both research and conservation action and meet both NSF and Paul G. Allen Family Foundation eligibility criteria may act in both roles.  However, in that case, research and conservation action budgets are still both required and must be submitted as described in the PACSP solicitation.

Are the general guidelines for the structure of the project similar for the new TOOLS track? Yes, the partner roles are parallel, and the project descriptions have similar structure in the two tracks. For the TOOLS track, projects should have analogous integrated components, including (1) basic research questions motivated by an urgent biodiversity conservation need, (2) the development and implementation of science-informed usage of a new conservation tool that is related to the biodiversity conservation need, and (3) a plan for on-going evaluation or assessment of the efficacy of that new technology in meeting conservation goals, including comparisons to existing tools where appropriate.