Application Deadline: June 9, 2025
SZNet is calling on passionate scientists and educators interested in planning and running a pilot study to collect data that help advance our understanding of subduction geohazards. Funds are available to run two 10-day long pilot studies, one in Cascadia during the U.S. summer of 2026 and the second in Chile in the austral Summer of 2027. These pilots should include a field and classroom component, aimed at collecting, compiling and/or processing data through an interdisciplinary lens to answer pressing subduction zone geohazard research questions. Projects that can help inform future activities such as the planned MultiHazard Array are particularly welcome.
Trip leaders are responsible for planning the scientific, research, and educational components of the pilot project with administrative support from the SZ4D office. Responsibilities include:
Developing a comprehensive field plan (field stops, data collection opportunities, materials and supplies needed, etc..),
Developing participant application criteria and participating in the selection process,
Leading the final group, in-person, during the entirety of the pilot project,
Participating in a scouting trip, if necessary. Pilot project preparation should include a planning trip for the field leaders to scout field locations prior to the pilot project. For the 2026 Cascadia pilot project, the scouting trip would occur in the US Fall 2025. The scouting trip for the 2027 Chile Pilot Project would occur in the Chilean summer/Fall 2026.
Funding is available to support the travel and participation costs of 20 to 25 people (field leaders included) for a week to ten-day long trip. The Cascadia and Chilean pilot projects are funded by SZNet through the National Science Foundation’s AccelNet program under award 2301732.
Why Get Involved?
The SZNet’s field trip and pilot project program provides an opportunity to:
Funds to support a pilot study, useful for building seed data for larger grants
Be at the forefront of innovative Subduction Zone research.
Work with an international, motivated group of scientists
Requirements for Applying
Include a cover letter (max 2 pages) outlining your project idea, including the tools and mechanisms by which it would be accomplished, making sure to highlight how your project idea links into the SZ4D Implementation plan or other SZ4D and SZNet activities or documents. In this letter, please specify which of the two timeframes/locations would best for your project idea, as well as who your organization team could potentially include. Projects that allow for interdisciplinary datasets to be generated that compare aspects of the two arcs will receive a higher ranking.
Submit a 2-page CV highlighting your position, research background, leadership experience and educational experiences.
The overall goal is to create two pilot plans that allow for comparison between the two arcs, so we would encourage strongly linking proposals with SZ4D and SZNet initiatives.
All documents received by June 9th will be reviewed by the SZ4D Executive and Steering Committee for recommendations to the SZNet Coordinating Committee with notifications of next steps sent out by mid-summer 2025. The review groups may iterate with the proposers to better align the proposals and teams with other SZNet activities and improve the comparisons between the two arcs as well as the interdisciplinary components.
