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Now accepting proposals, GEO Mountains Small Grants Programme 2024–2025

18.04.2024

The Global Network on Observations and Information in Mountain Environments (GEO Mountains) is a Work Programme Initiative of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), co-led by Mountain Partnership member the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) and the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR-ISAC). GEO Mountains connects research and mountain observations networks to enhance the discoverability, accessibility, and usability of data and information pertaining to environmental and socio-economic systems in mountain regions worldwide.

In this context, and thanks to the support from the Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (SDC) via the Adaptation at Altitude Programme, GEO Mountains is launching a second small data grants call (2024–2025) for projects that explore mountain monitoring, data, and information, with priority given to projects focused on the following mountain regions: Andes, Central Asia, East Africa, the Caucasus, and Hindu Kush Himalaya.

As 2025 is the UN-declared International Year of Glaciers' Preservation (IYGP2025), GEO Mountains encourages proposals that align with the themes of the IYGP2025 as potential contributions to that observance. GEO Mountains especially welcome proposals that explicitly address key observation gaps, including data and information on the human dimensions of deglaciation and the societal impacts and adaptation needs associated with the cryosphere in a changing climate.

Depending on the quality and merit of the proposed projects, GEO Mountains expects to support up to two projects per region, with a contribution of up to CHF 10 000 per project available on a competitive basis. Project duration can be up to one year, and all projects should conclude no later than 30 September 2025. Below is a (non-exhaustive) list of the types of projects that could be supported:

Compilation and development of databases, programmes, and/or tools to describe, access, visualise, combine, analyse, and/or apply geospatial datasets corresponding to mountain regions
Mountain data rescue or digitisation projects, with sharing / publication of the resultant digital data for online access (e.g. via Zenodo or similar open data repository)
Curation and preparation of novel mountain datasets for publication or sharing online and/or in peer-reviewed data journals (e.g. ESSD, Scientific Data, etc.)
Mountain data evaluation or inter-comparison projects
The integration of various types of mountain data with with numerical models (data driven, physics-based, or hybrid) or scenarios to answer key scientific, practical, or policy-relevant questions
Education, training, or capacity development activities related to the data lifecycle (including campaign planning, infrastructure specifications, data collection, data transmission, quality assurance, documentation, storage, and sharing). Contributions to the MRI's Mountain Observatories or Unified High-Elevation Observation Platform (UHOP) concepts are particularly encouraged.

All projects should follow the principles of Open Science to the greatest extent possible. Read and download the full call document - further details on eligibility and funding conditions are provided in the Annex: General Eligibility and Funding Conditions.

Proposals must be submitted via the online submission form. Please ensure all the requested information is provided. Incomplete submissions will not be evaluated. Deadline for proposals: 3 June 2024, midnight (23:59) CEST.

Visit the GEO Mountains website for more information and to submit a proposal.

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