PROVIDENCE – Roughly $800,000 in grants is available for Rhode Island researchers studying the effects of climate change on marine life.
The grants, available through the R.I. Science and Technology Advisory Council and its partnership with the National Science Foundation, were announced Tuesday by Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee.
The funding is designed to support multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary projects that focus on building research capacity and infrastructure in order to advance the competitiveness of researchers in the Ocean State.
“One of Rhode Island’s most valuable natural advantages is the great minds at work at our colleges, universities, pioneering businesses and research facilities,” Chafee said in a statement. “Innovation depends on an environment that links ideas and talent with financial resources to turn discoveries and knowledge into products and companies to help grow our economy.”
Researchers are asked to submit proposals to answer one of three research questions proposed by the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.
- What are the stress responses and evolutionary potentials of marine organisms in response to climate change?
- How are the structure and function of coastal marine food-webs and biogeochemical cycling being redirected in response to climate change?
- How will global climate change affect the ecology of marine pathogens and parasites?
Preferred proposals will include the use of core research facilities in proteomics, genomics and squencing at Brown University and the University of Rhode Island as well as in marine life sciences at URI’s Bay Campus – the Graduate School of Oceanography.
Since 2007, the STAC program has awarded roughly $7.7 million to 46 teams of 155 researchers from 44 research institutions.
Melissa Chambers at the R.I. Economic Development Corporation told Providence Business News that the next set of funds will be for a broader scientific range.
Pre-proposals are due by Sept. 28, with full proposals due on Oct. 24. More information is available at stac.ri.gov.
