Eligibility Questions

1. Is there a specific number of years after a terminal degree that would exclude a prospective applicant

  • No, but non-tenure track equivalent applicants cannot have more than 6 years in that position.

2. Are applicants from Puerto Rico and Guam eligible?

  • Yes, as long as they can spend at least 8 weeks at NCAR in Boulder, CO each year.

3. Are international faculty with visas eligible to apply?

  • It depends. Faculty must be based at a U.S. university and your university would make the final decision about whether you are able to accept funding through the subaward, at the amount we are offering.
  • Before an applicant is invited to write a full proposal, the prospective applicant’s sponsoring university must provide ecinnovators@ucar.edu with a signed document saying the visa holder can accept funding through a subaward and is allowed to participate in the Innovators Program under the terms of their visa. Your sponsoring University would also need to state that they understand and approve of how the funding will be spent, based on a budget you prepare for the invited proposal. Please see the funding section on our main webpage for some guidelines on how the Innovator Program expects funds to be spent.

4. Are non-tenure track or research faculty eligible to apply?

  • It depends. Please see our eligibility criteria for tenure-track equivalency and contact us at ecinnovators@ucar.edu with any remaining questions or concerns.
  • NOTE: Non-tenure-track faculty must submit a departmental letter that affirms that the investigator's appointment is at an early-career level equivalent, pursuant to the additional eligibility criteria. Further, for non-tenure-track faculty, the departmental letter must demonstrate how the faculty member satisfies all the requirements of tenure-track equivalency as defined in the eligibility criteria.

5. Are international graduate students on a Student Visa eligible to participate?

  • Yes

6. Do graduate students have to be at the same university as the faculty applicant?

  • Yes

7. Do faculty have to be the primary advisor to the graduate student they nominate for the Innovators Program?


Letter of Intent (LOI) Questions

1. For the Letter of Intent, does the 3 page limit include a reference page?

  • No. However, a reference page is necessary if the faculty cite literature in their LOI. Reference sections do not have page limits. 

2. Can we include supplemental figures with the Letter of Intent?

  • Yes, you may add 1-2 figures in a supplemental page after the Reference Section (if you have one). The Supplemental Figure page does not count towards page limits.

3. How do I know if there’s a lab or scientist at NCAR who aligns with my interests and proposal?

  • Navigating NCAR’s websites can be complicated, but you can start here.
  • Email us! We are more than happy to suggest individuals or labs based on your interests. Please note this process can take some time, so it may be several business days to provide an informative response.
  • On our staff page is a link to a PDF document that can help you get a better idea of the work being done at NCAR and the individuals who have worked with Innovators before, or who have expressed interest in collaborating with future cohort.

4. Do I need to establish a connection with an NCAR scientist or lab to write the Letter of Intent and apply?

  • No, it is not required to communicate with NCAR scientists or develop a collaboration with NCAR at the application / Letter of Intent (LOI) stage.
  • Once we receive your LOI, if NCAR collaborators are not identified, Innovator Program scientists will contact NCAR labs and NCAR researchers that we feel have overlapping, complementary interests. The LOI should emphasize the applicant’s research interests, the social science methodologies the applicant uses in their research, and the direction they want to take their research as an early career and interdisciplinary faculty. We will use the details in each LOI to find capabilities and expertise at NCAR that complement the research interests and proposed methods/approaches.
  • Each LOI will undergo an internal review process to determine selection for a full proposal. During that review process, the Innovator Program will try to identify possible NCAR collaborators if they are not already identified. If a connection is identified by Innovator Program staff, we will make the appropriate introductions between the applicant and potential NCAR collaborators.

5. If my research interests are not very close to any areas of research conducted at UCAR, do I have a lower chance to be awarded?

  • If your research focus and expertise is not a good fit for what NCAR is looking for in the next few years, you do have a lower chance of getting invited to a full proposal. However, it may not be easy to tell what planned projects are on the horizon at NCAR, so please submit an LOI and Innovator Program scientists will find out if NCAR labs and/or personnel have complementary interests, ongoing projects, or a research area they want to pursue that aligns with your ideas and background. 

3. Who will be reviewing my LOI?

  • Your LOI will be reviewed internally by Innovator leadership and the Core Science Team. (more information about these individuals on our staff page.)
  • External review process occurs after we determine a match. We’ll invite selected faculty to provide a full proposal and go through an external review process (2 people per application with SME within the proposed research). They will score based on 5 or 6 criteria. The highest scoring/best match will go into the internal review process to determine the awardees.

7. Will there be opportunity for feedback and modifications if invited to submit a full proposal? What if you identify a better NCAR fit for collaboration with the proposed project than we do? 

  • Yes. Feedback and modifications should be expected, as well as input from NCAR. After reviewing your LOI, it is possible that we will identify a different or additional collaborator. We will put you in contact with those researchers.

8. If our proposed topic for the LOI spans 2 of the areas of interest listed, is it allowed to propose engaging with multiple research areas? 

  • Yes. Please share your research ideas in the LOI even if they are across two seemingly different research areas.

9. Will the Innovator Program support a research project with its geographic focus outside the United States?

  • Yes, we are accepting applications/proposals with a geographical focus outside of the US as long as the methods, outcomes or lessons learned are transferable to US areas as well. Be sure to describe how they will transfer in your Project Description.
  • Projects that focus narrowly on a very specific location outside of the US (e.g. a city or local region) are unlikely to be competitive.

10. What are the requirements for the full proposal?

  • Faculty invited to a full proposal will receive detailed instructions.

Funding and NCAR visit Questions

1. Why does it say, "contingent upon funding" everywhere?

  • Every two years, the National Science Foundation (NSF) invites the Innovator Program to apply for funding to run the program. While funding for the Innovator Program is expected to continue, we will not know what level of support is possible until after the Summer of 2023. Thus, we will wait until NCAR has been invited by NSF to submit a proposal for Cohort 3 before inviting faculty to submit full proposals. We anticipate this to happen in August. 

2. Why are you asking for LOIs so far in advance of the start of the award?

  • Subawards have taken longer than anticipated to be set up with some universities; additional time between selection and the start of the program will ensure that subawards are in place by Fall 2023.
  • The long lead time also gives faculty an opportunity to recruit graduate students for the Fall 2023 semester.

3. How is funding distributed to faculty?

  • Through a subaward to your university. NCAR will provide each faculty member with $200,000 per year for two years.

4. Do subawards include indirect costs/overhead?

  • University indirect costs/overhead will be taken out of the $200,000 subaward. Thus, each year, faculty can expect to receive $200,000 minus their University’s cost for overhead/indirects. 

5. Are faculty and graduate students required to live in Boulder?

  • The Innovator Program requires faculty to spend at least 8 weeks in Boulder each year to foster collaborations with NCAR scientists and other cohort members. At least three of those weeks must be spent in Boulder during the summer (2024 and 2025). The exact time-frame for the first summer will be determined by January 2024, and in consultation with the selected faculty. The remaining five+ weeks can be spread out throughout the summer and academic year. The Innovator Program will host several activities (virtual or in person) during the summer months. Some of these events will require attendance by all cohort members. For example, attendance will be required at the PI workshop that occurs in Summer 2025 (date TBD). For extended stays, we welcome and encourage faculty and graduate students to bring their families to Boulder, if possible.
  • Prior commitments to summer conferences or summer field work will not exclude faculty from consideration.

6. What is the typical cost (per month) to rent a home in Boulder

  • $3,000-$4000 / month for a family home
  • ~$2,000 - $2,500 / month for a small apartment that would be appropriate for a graduate student
  • Surrounding towns such as Longmont, Louisville, Lafayette, Gunbarrel and Superior are within 30 minutes and may be priced lower than Boulder itself.

7. Do faculty need to use Innovator sub-award funds to cover student housing when visiting NCAR?

  • It is expected that the faculty will provide funding to cover the cost of living for themselves and their students during extended visits to NCAR. This funding can come from the subaward.
  • $2,500 / month should cover living and housing expenses in Boulder for most graduate students

Program Questions

1. What do you mean by “faculty awardees will connect with NCAR researchers and co-develop interdisciplinary and actionable research projects"?

  • The expectation is that faculty awardees will find NCAR collaborators for mutually beneficial projects that all parties are interested in pursuing. There will be time to get to know NCAR and your potential collaborators, and there is flexibility in this grant for your research ideas to be modified from what is proposed in the LOI or the invited proposal stage.

2. How much time should I expect to commit to the program throughout each year?

  • Innovator Program projects are year-round and may require more time from faculty than other grants of comparable size. Because these collaborations with NCAR colleagues cross disciplinary boundaries, the discussions that are needed to make meaningful connections often require additional time. Furthermore, there is the time commitment to visit NCAR over the summer, as detailed in the Funding and NCAR Visit Questions above.