The NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO) announced that its Fiscal Year 2024 grant competitions are open.

This year’s notice of funding opportunity consists of six competitions to advance understanding of Earth’s climate system through interdisciplinary, integrated scientific research. The goal is to boost society’s ability to understand, plan for and respond to climate variability as well as extreme weather, water and climate events caused by climate change.

“The rising toll of climate impacts present a significant challenge to human and environmental health, public safety, economic vitality and national and international security,” said Emily Menashes, a deputy assistant administrator for NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. “The Climate Program Office’s annual investment in advancing the nation’s climate science and services shows our continued dedication to providing the information and services needed to protect people, property, infrastructure and natural resources.”

The competitions for this year are:

• Improving understanding of urban air composition, the impact of climate change on urban air quality and use of this research to mitigate air pollution.
• Advancing understanding of ocean variability and change in support of NOAA’s Climate, Ecosystems, and Fisheries Initiative.
• Advancing an integrated NOAA capability for climate predictions and projections in support of NOAA's Climate, Ecosystems, and Fisheries Initiative.
• Advancing understanding of multi-year to decadal climate variability and predictability for the US climate.
• Improving NOAA climate models and applications.
• Offering an early career opportunity for exceptional research in Earth system model development and application.

Through its annual grant competitions, CPO seeks and funds innovative researchers across the nation to conduct cutting-edge research on a range of topics. The researchers eligible to apply include partners across NOAA as well as tribal nations and the broader academic, federal, international, and private sector communities.

“These Climate Program Office funding opportunities play a critical role in advancing science and informing decisions for climate adaptation, resilience and mitigation,” said Wayne Higgins, Ph.D., director of the NOAA Climate Program Office. “The funded projects will meet urgent climate challenges, incubate innovative advancements in Earth system and social science, support world-class assessment reports and help grow the next generation of experts supporting NOAA.”

Letters of intent for all but the “Understanding urban air in a changing climate” competition are due August 18, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Letters of intent for the “Understanding urban air in a changing climate” competition are due September 11, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Full applications for all competitions are due November 17, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Prior to submitting letters of intent, applicants are encouraged to learn more about CPO, its programs, and specific priorities for FY 2024. Several of this year’s competitions align with five urgent, climate-related challenges facing society that CPO has prioritized: 1) extreme heat, health, and compounding hazards; 2) droughts, floods, water availability and quality; 3) coastal changes and inundation; 4) changes in marine and freshwater ecosystems; and 5) mitigation strategies to lessen or avoid risks by slowing or stopping the human causes of global warming.

CPO programs are a vital part of the US Global Change Research Program and NOAA’s mission to build a Climate-Ready Nation.