Second special call for quick response proposals: COVID-19

Almost seven months have passed since we released our first special call for quick response research on COVID-19. Since that time, over 215,000 people have died in the United States and more than one million have perished worldwide. Children's education has been disrupted, local businesses are shuttered, and countless lives have been upended. As the public health and social impacts of the pandemic continue to unfold, it is vital that researchers continue to collect data to help inform the ongoing response and emergent recovery efforts.

With the support of the National Science Foundation, the Natural Hazards Center is now accepting proposals for a second special call for quick response research on COVID-19. Awards will be in the $2,000 to $5,000 range, and this call will accept proposals across four main areas:

1. Population groups, organizations, and social institutions
2. Societal issues, impacts, and recovery
3. Compound hazards and cascading disasters
4. Research networks, methods, and ethics

Interested applicants should review the Research Agenda Setting Papers prepared by the CONVERGE COVID-19 Working Groups for Public Health and Social Sciences Research. These Working Groups—which involved over 1,000 researchers from across six continents—have identified a number of pressing research questions in the four topical areas identified in this special call. Proposals to collect perishable data will be accepted until November 11, 2020, at 5:00 p.m. MT. All proposals will be evaluated simultaneously at the close of this application window. Funding notifications will be sent to all applicants no later than December 7, 2020.

Before submitting your proposal, please read the program guidelines. The link to submit a proposal can be found in the left menu and at the bottom of the page. All applicants are encouraged to complete the CONVERGE Training Modules and to review the CONVERGE Extreme Events Research Check Sheets prior to submission.

The Quick Response Research Award Program is a National Science Foundation-supported initiative that provides funding to help eligible researchers collect perishable data after a disaster. The program promotes social science and interdisciplinary innovation in disaster research. Graduate students, researchers new to the field, and interdisciplinary teams are encouraged to apply. Please contact Jennifer Tobin, Deputy Administrator of the Natural Hazards Center, at haz.research.awards@colorado.edu with any questions about this special call for proposals.