Submit Your Proposal to the Simpson Innovation Fund 2021

The David Simpson Fund for Innovation was established in 2014 on the occasion of David Simpson’s retirement to provide the IRIS Consortium with a source of unrestricted funds that the IRIS Board of Directors can designate to provide seed funding for new initiatives or activities, increase community outreach, or leverage development of new resources for Consortium programs.  

The Board is soliciting proposals for the use of Simpson Innovation Funds for one or more of the four potential areas: 

  • Supporting activities for student and early career scientists in seismology
  • Expanding international engagement and capacity building
  • Increasing visibility of seismology to the public
  • Developing interactions with industry

A formal proposal should be no longer than 4 pages in length. It should include

  • a description of the project and its potential impact on the target audience and current IRIS activities, including how the impact will be measured
  • the relevance of the proposed work to the goals of IRIS and the Innovation Fund, and why the proposed work is innovative,
  • potential longer-term funding sources,
  • a statement of work including deliverables and timeline, and
  • a budget.  

Proposals may be submitted by individual Consortium members or groups of members. These are not grants – the funds are designed to enable collaboration with IRIS to support the proposed activity. The goal of this solicitation is to develop new initiatives or activities which could lead to new directions for existing programs, and proponents are encouraged to think creatively and consider new possibilities.  Projects which could attract independent funding in the future are of particular interest.

We anticipate funding proposals generally in the $25-35K range, although proposals up to $70K will be considered. Budgets may include materials, travel, participant support, IRIS staff time, and other necessary costs. Up to 30% of the budget can be allocated to salaries for participants not employed by IRIS or an IRIS subawardee/subcontractor.  

Proposals should be submitted by September 17, 2021 to the Chair of the relevant IRIS Standing or Advisory Committee:

The Committees will review these proposals at their Fall meetings and may recommend up to 3 proposals to the Board of Directors for funding. Final funding decisions will be made at the November Board meeting.  

Additional information on the Innovation Fund can be found on the David Simpson Fund for Innovation page.

For information on potential programmatic budgets and costs, contact the appropriate IRIS Director or Directorate representative:

Download the David Simpson Fund for Innovation solicitation.