US-UK Climate Consequences of Rapid Ocean Changes (CCROC) Scheme Open to Applications

Funding opportunity for collaborative research projects featuring scientists from the UK and US to improve climate change projections across the North Atlantic region.

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is working with the US National Science Foundation (NSF) to offer funding under the US-UK Climate Consequences of Rapid Ocean Changes (CCROC) Scheme. This opportunity is for a joint UK-US project to improve understanding of the Atlantic Meridional Overturing Circulation (AMOC) and improve climate change projections across the North Atlantic region.

The Rapid Climate Change (RAPID) and Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP) observing systems have been running for a decade. The CCROC programme will take advantage of RAPID and OSNAP data to deliver enhanced understanding of AMOC and improve projections of future climate change throughout the North Atlantic region. The programme will also deliver research to enable the future transformation of AMOC observations by taking advantage of alternative observing and modelling approaches in a way that will allow for a more sustainable and lower cost future AMOC observing system.

CCROC’s aims will be delivered through six challenges. This funding opportunity will focus on challenges two to six, as follows:

  • Challenge two: Determining the heat and freshwater budgets of the North Atlantic Ocean using observations and models.
  • Challenge three: Using RAPID and OSNAP AMOC observations to establish the predictability of North Atlantic sector climate.
  • Challenge four: Coastal and shelf sea level and AMOC.
  • Challenge five: Monitoring the AMOC temporal and spatial evolution through indirect observations.
  • Challenge six: Enhanced understanding of carbon accumulation in the North Atlantic by combining models and ocean transport observations.

Applicants should apply for funding to address one of the challenges. (Challenge one, which is not included in this funding call, is: Design and demonstration of a more sustainable, lower cost, RAPID 26˚N observing system for future observations of the AMOC.)

For UK applicants, this scheme is open to candidates employed by organisations that are eligible for UKRI funding (ie approved higher education institutions, research council institutes, independent research organisations, public sector research establishments (PSREs) and Catapult centres). NERC individual PI and Co-I eligibility rules apply (refer to Section C of the NERC research grant and fellowships handbook). For US applicants, NSF eligibility criteria apply.

All projects must be collaborative and include UK and US scientists. One integrated proposal should be submitted to NERC detailing both the UK and US contributions to the project.

The full economic cost (FEC) of UK proposals can be up to £625,000. NERC will fund 80% of the fEC for most UK costs. UK equipment is funded at 50% fEC. The US component of proposals will be funded under the lead agency agreement and costs will be limited to $625,000 per project. Up to four projects will be funded.

There is a two-stage application process consisting of a mandatory Notification of Intent followed by a full application. Only those who have registered a Notification of Intent will be able to submit a full proposal. Notifications of Intent must be submitted by the deadline of 18 May 2023 (15:00).

(This report was the subject of a RESEARCHconnect Newsflash.)