The Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) program, managed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Biological Sciences under the Division of Environmental Biology, supports decadal projects aimed at advancing knowledge in evolutionary biology, ecology, and ecosystem science. These projects require extended time-series data to address long-term scientific questions. Research areas include evolutionary processes, interspecific interactions, population and community dynamics, ecosystem feedbacks, and the influence of climatic and environmental cycles over long periods. Proposals must focus on topics supported by one of the three clusters: Ecosystem Science, Population and Community Ecology, or Evolutionary Processes. Marine ecological research is excluded, except for studies on evolutionary dynamics of marine populations or communities.

The LTREB program supports projects for an initial five-year period, with the opportunity for renewal for a second five-year term to complete a decadal research plan. Each proposal must include two essential components: a decadal research plan and core data. The decadal plan must outline long-term research questions that cannot be addressed with short-term data and justify the need for continued data collection over ten years. Core data, on the other hand, must comprise at least six consecutive years of recent data collected by the research team, forming the foundation for new hypotheses and continued research.

Eligible applicants include institutions of higher education, such as accredited two- and four-year colleges and universities in the United States, and non-profit, non-academic organizations like museums and research labs associated with educational or research activities. Proposals can be submitted via Research.gov or Grants.gov, and collaborative proposals must be submitted through Research.gov. There are no restrictions on the number of proposals per organization or per principal investigator (PI).

Proposals must include specific sections such as the decadal research plan, a description of core data, and plans for continued data collection. Budget requests are capped at $600,000 for a five-year period, with allowable funding for up to one month of salary per year for senior personnel, data management infrastructure, and undergraduate student support. Renewals must address progress made toward the decadal plan, demonstrate data availability to the broader community, and outline future research activities.

Proposals are evaluated based on NSF’s two standard review criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. Additionally, LTREB-specific criteria include the strength of the decadal research plan, the quality and continuity of core data, and the potential for long-term contributions to ecological and evolutionary sciences. Renewal proposals are further assessed on progress made during the initial award period and plans for completing the decadal objectives.

Awardees are required to ensure their data are shared broadly, using community-standard digital repositories to allow future access and reuse. Annual and final project reports must be submitted via Research.gov, detailing accomplishments, data sharing compliance, and broader impacts achieved throughout the funding period.