August 23, 2024

The University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Planetary Systems Habitability (CPSH) is pleased to announce the inaugural grant competition for interdisciplinary research among graduate students and/or postdoctoral fellows involved with CPSH. We encourage proposals from interdisciplinary teams from any school affiliated with CPSH: College of Natural Sciences, the Jackson School of Geosciences, and the Cockrell School of Engineering.

Proposals may cover research in any topic related to planetary habitability, broadly defined, including but not limited to pre-biotic chemistry, origin of life, perseverance of life, mass extinctions/biotic crises, planetary dynamics, nutrient pathways, planetary atmospheres, biosignatures, habitable environments, planetary system dynamics, system and galactic hazards, galactic habitability, instrumentation, and planetary mission design. Given that proposed projects will most likely fall outside the core focus of the applicant’s thesis, the expectation is that proposals will be submitted for mini-research projects.

We welcome proposals for research expenses at the graduate and postdoctoral level. Non-salary research expenses can be planned anytime from Fall 2024 through Summer 2025 with anticipated funding levels <$5,000 per selected award. Examples of activities commensurate with the anticipated funding level include, but are not limited to:

• Student-led field, travel, and/or analytical costs
• Core facilities use fees (e.g. TACC, CBRS, TMI)
• Materials, supplies, consumables
• Purchase of equipment for student-led research

To ensure that CPSH can support as many projects as possible, we also strongly encourage the faculty advisors of the team members to provide some form of ‘matching’ financial support. Matching support should be clearly indicated in the budget, and we suggest that this be designated as one full line item. If this matching is not possible, please state why.

ELIGIBILITY

Applications must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows within the College of Natural Sciences, the
  Jackson School of Geosciences, and the Cockrell School of Engineering may apply.
• Collaborations must include 2 or more graduate students and/or postdoctoral fellows.
• Project teams must be interdisciplinary but are not required to be interdepartmental or intercollegiate. However, preference for funding will be given to teams from two or more different departments.
• Applicants must be engaged with CPSH currently or include plans for engagement.
• Eligible applicants may participate in only one application per cycle.

APPLICATION COMPONENTS

All application documents should be formatted using 1-inch margins and no smaller than 11-point font.
Recommended fonts are Aptos, Arial, Georgia, Helvetica and Times New Roman. The following documents are all required and must be submitted by the application deadline:

• Research Project Description (1 page; including figures, excluding citations): Describe your research
  project. Emphasize the novel aspects and potential impact of your research project. Briefly discuss
  the interdisciplinary aspect of the team and how the two research areas will work together for the
  purpose of the project. Proposals will be reviewed by the CPSH Executive Committee, and so it is
  important to write to a broad audience and clearly link the subject matter to planetary
  habitability.
• Bibliography/References (no page limit): List sources in a document separate from your project description.
• Detailed Budget (1 page): Provide a detailed budget of anticipated costs, and (where applicable) the advisor matching description.
• Short-form Curriculum Vitae (1 page): Provide a one-page curriculum vitae for each team member.
• Research Advisor Letter of Support: The applicants’ research advisors must submit an email or signed letter of support, also acknowledging any matching funding provided. This should not be a letter of reference, but rather is to assure the Executive Committee that the advisors support this work and are aware of the proposed scope and budget request. Research advisors may submit separate emails/letters or a single co-signed email/letter.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Proposals must be submitted to the CPSH Executive Committee via email at cpsh_ec@utlists.utexas.edu. All application components listed above should be combined and emailed as a single PDF by the application deadline of 5:00 PM CT on September 16, 2024.

KEY DATES

Submission window opens: August 20, 2024
Submission deadline: September 16, 2024
Announcement of awardees: October 2024
Award start date: Fall 2024
Award end date: Summer 2025

CONTACT INFORMATION

Program and application questions should be directed to the CPSH Executive Committee:
cpsh_ec@utlists.utexas.edu