Open Call: Schmidt Sciences – View – 2

Apr 6, 2026 | Awards & Funding, Faculty, Research

To: Science Faculty and Researchers
From: Office of Foundation Relations
Subject: Funding Opportunity

The Office of Foundation Relations is pleased to share this open call for Expressions of Interest from Schmidt Sciences. 

 

 

Overview

VIEW imagines that a water reanalysis will enable effective and equitable seasonal to multidecadal planning and decision-making for conservation, energy, food, and water security at regional scales; quantify the limits of sustainable water extraction; identify regions and ecosystems facing systemic risk within the coming decades; and address opportunities for a sustainable water future for everyone.

 

VIEW-2 is accepting EOIs that address one of the below targeted opportunities:

  1. Precipitation and Evapotranspiration (E-P). A comprehensive reanalysis for Earth’s freshwater should represent atmospheric and terrestrial processes in a robust and self-consistent data product and framework. Proposals that respond to this ambitious theme must go beyond the status quo towards reconciling atmospheric and terrestrial systems (e.g., bias correction, downscaling, land-atmosphere feedbacks etc.).
  2. Feedbacks and transitions: A comprehensive freshwater reanalysis should capture feedbacks in the hydrologic cycle, as well as regime shifts and tipping points. Existing water data assimilation systems have made progress towards linking processes (ex. coupled surface water and groundwater), but focused effort will be required to include even first-order feedbacks with sufficient accuracy and resolution globally. 

EOIs should place an emphasis on ideas and approaches that are synergistic with or complementary to VIEW-1 projects, with direct links where possible (see guidelines for project descriptions).

 

Eligibility

  • Research teams in university, national laboratory, institute, or agency settings 
  • Multi-institute research consortiums, with regional and global partnerships (strongly encouraged)
  • Teams which include industry and NGO partners

 

Award Amount & Terms

  • Open access: project teams will be expected to make results and methods as transparent as possible across the Virtual Institute, in accordance with FAIR principles
  • Up to $10 million over 5 years; smaller than $10 million are encouraged to apply

 

Timeline

  • May 22, 2026 EOI deadline 
  • Fall 2026 EOI Notification 
  • If invited, 60 days to submit a full proposal

 

Special Instructions

Please notify the Office of Foundation Relations if you are interested in applying to this opportunity and if you would like support in developing your proposal (fr@ucsc.edu). For additional support developing your proposal, you can send a request to the Office of Research Development, resdev@ucsc.edu. Within the Division of Social Sciences, please contact Ashlee Tews (ashleeac@ucsc.edu) to initiate notification and proposal support.

 

Call Sent: April 6, 2026

The Office of Foundation Relations is a unit of University Advancement. The FR team creates and maintains mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with private organizations, matching grant initiatives with educational and research programs and centers. FR supports faculty and staff to identify and approach these and other private foundations for funding, to assist in strategic positioning of the grant application, and to facilitate funder campus visits. For a list of recent funding opportunities, please visit the FR website. FR Calls for Funding.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact forde@ucsc.edu
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