RIVER: Research Immersion through Visits and Exchange Relationships
Program Overview
The EARTH RIVER Program (Research Immersion through Visits and Exchange Relationships) supports short-term research visits among EARTH partner institutions to strengthen collaboration, accelerate research progress, and promote knowledge transfer across the ERC.
Graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and research staff may apply for travel support to conduct research activities at another EARTH core or affiliate institution. Applications may be submitted by an individual participant or on behalf of multiple participants traveling together to the same host institution. Applicants should describe how the proposed visit will advance their research, professional development, and contributions to EARTH. We encourage proposals that support multi-disciplinary research that will lead to coauthored papers, presentations, and proposals across institutions. Priority will be given to activities that establish new collaborations, develop specialized skills or expertise, provide access to unique facilities, equipment, or Testbeds, and advance EARTH research objectives.
Funding
RIVER awards of up to $5,000 per application are available to support short-term (i.e., one- to two-week) research exchange visits between EARTH institutions. Requests may include support for one or more participants traveling to the same host institution; however, all travelers and associated costs must be clearly identified and justified in the application. The maximum award amount is $5,000 regardless of the number of participants included in the application. Awards are provided on a reimbursement basis. Additional information regarding award administration and reimbursement procedures will be provided to award recipients. EARTH expects to support multiple RIVER exchanges each year. The number and size of awards may vary based on available program funds, the number of applications received, and the budgets requested by selected applicants.
Allowable Expenses
- Airfare and ground transportation
- Lodging
- Meals and incidentals (reimbursed at the applicable GSA per diem rate for the travel location, https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-a-trip/per-diem-rates)
- Accessibility accommodations necessary to support participation in the exchange
Unallowable Expenses
RIVER funds support travel and short-term research exchange activities only. Unallowable expenses generally include salaries, stipends, fringe benefits, honoraria, equipment, supplies, conference registration or travel, publication costs, travel for mentors or other non-participants, expenses covered by another funding source, travel for dependents or guests, entertainment, alcohol, personal travel expenses, fines, penalties, and costs incurred outside the approved project period. This list is illustrative rather than exhaustive, and additional restrictions may apply under institutional, NSF, and EARTH policies.
The requested budget should be developed in consultation with the applicant's home advisor and host faculty mentor. Applicants should seek cost-effective travel and lodging options and provide clear budget justification.
Awarded exchanges should generally be completed within six months of the award date unless an extension is approved by EARTH leadership.
Eligibility
Applicants must be graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, or research staff members at an EARTH core or affiliate institution. All applicants must have support from both a faculty advisor or supervisor at their home institution and a host faculty mentor at the receiving institution. For applications involving multiple participants, each individual requesting support must independently meet these eligibility requirements. Applicants are encouraged to identify a graduate student, postdoctoral researcher, or research staff member at the host institution to serve as a day-to-day mentor during the visit. RIVER applicants whose proposals are not selected are encouraged to revise and resubmit in future application cycles.
Application Requirements and Review Process
Applications will be reviewed quarterly by an EARTH review committee consisting of EARTH leadership and selected faculty members. Reviewers will evaluate applications using the following criteria:
- Alignment with EARTH: Relevance to EARTH's mission, research goals, and strategic priorities
- Collaboration Potential: Ability to strengthen collaboration among EARTH researchers and institutions
- Research and Professional Development Impact: Expected benefits to participants' research progress, training, and career development
- Feasibility: Appropriateness of the proposed activities, timeline, mentoring plan, and budget
- Expected Outcomes: Likelihood of producing meaningful research outputs, new capabilities, or long-term collaborative relationships
Funding decisions will also consider the availability of program funds and the reasonableness of the proposed budget. Preference may be given to applicants who demonstrate a clear need for in-person engagement, meaningful engagement and support from proposed mentors, and who have not previously received support through the RIVER Program.
Only complete applications will be considered. A complete application should include:
- Participant Information
- Proposal Narrative
- Budget and Budget Justification
- Home Institution Support Statement
- Host Institution Support Statement
Reporting and Knowledge Sharing
Recipients are required to submit a Post-Visit Report through the online form. Publications, presentations, and other products resulting from the program must acknowledge NSF support.
More information on the required materials can be found by clicking the menu below.
Required Participant Information should include:
- Lead Applicant / Primary Contact
- Name
- Role
- Home Institution
- Home Institution Advisor/Supervisor
- Host Institution
- Host Institution Faculty Mentor and Day-to-Day Mentor
- All other individuals requesting support through the application
Proposal Narrative should include:
- Proposed Host Institution and Mentors
Identify the institution to be visited, the faculty mentor involved, and the proposed travel dates and duration of the visit. - Research Activities and Objectives
Describe the specific research activities that will be conducted during the visit, the research objectives the exchange will help achieve, and any facilities, equipment, Testbeds, data, or expertise that will be utilized. Explain the roles of the home institution advisor, host faculty mentor, and day-to-day mentor in supporting the exchange. For group applications, describe the role of each participant and how each individual will contribute to and benefit from the proposed activities. - Need for an In-Person Visit
Explain why an in-person visit is necessary rather than virtual collaboration and why the proposed timing is important to the participant's research or professional development. Expected Outcomes
Describe the new skills, knowledge, or research capabilities participants expect to gain; the anticipated research products or accomplishments; and how the exchange will strengthen collaboration among EARTH researchers or institutions.
Examples of outcomes include joint experiments or measurements, shared datasets, coauthored publications and presentations, thesis or dissertation progress, joint proposal development, new research capabilities, and new collaborations across institutions.
Provide an itemized budget and brief justification for all requested expenses. For applications involving multiple participants, clearly describe how costs were estimated and attributed to individual participants, where applicable. The Budget Justification should provide a brief explanation of the requested expenses and how the costs were estimated.
A brief statement from the home faculty advisor confirming support for the proposed exchange and describing how the activities align with the participant's research and professional development goals.
A brief statement from the host faculty mentor confirming their willingness to host the participant(s), provide access to relevant facilities and resources, and support the proposed activities during the visit.
Within 30 days of completing the program, recipients must submit a post-visit report using the RIVER Post-Visit Report Template available on the RIVER program webpage. The report should summarize activities completed during the visit, skills and knowledge gained, research outcomes and accomplishments, new or strengthened collaborations, and planned next steps, including anticipated publications, presentations, proposals, or future collaborative activities.
Recipients are encouraged to share photographs and testimonials for reporting and program promotion and may be invited to present their RIVER experience at a future NSF ERC EARTH event.
Publications, presentations, and other products resulting from the program must acknowledge NSF support: "This research is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under award number EEC-2330175 for the Engineering Research Center EARTH.”
Upcoming application submission deadlines:
- November 30, 2026, 5:00 p.m. CT
- February 26, 2027, 5:00 p.m. CT
- May 28, 2027, 5:00 p.m. CT
- August 31, 2027, 5:00 p.m. CT
Applications should be submitted through the link below. Fillable PDF application templates are available to download.
Questions
Questions regarding the EARTH RIVER Program should be directed to Jessica Tami, ERC EARTH Research Project Manager at jltami@ku.edu