icdp Proposal Preparation
...be ready by January 15
ICDP offers international science teams the opportunity to compete for funds to support drilling operations. About 3.5 Million USD are available each year. Calls for proposals will be announced regularly in the fall of each year. Announcements appear, for instance, in EOS, the weekly newspaper of the American Geophysical Union, and on the ICDP webpage.
For document templates check the ICDP Downloads page, Proposal Templates.
Proposal Writing Guidelines
Project ideas must first be submitted as so-called Pre-Proposal to receive a preliminary evaluation from ICDP by the Science Advisory Group SAG. Requirements for a Pre-Proposal are much lower than for a Workshop Proposal (check out our detailed guidelines). In case your idea fully meets all ICDP criteria you will receive valuable hints in a detailed assessment how to further develop it. The submission of a Pre-Proposal and its positive evaluation by the SAG is a prerequisite for submission of a Workshop Proposal. Submission of a Workshop Proposal without prior submission of a Pre-Proposal is only possible in justified exceptional cases and requires the prior approval of the SAG chairs. Any request to do so must be received by the SAG Chairs no later than October 15, three months prior to the ICDP submission deadline.
Requirements: max. 10 pages, Coversheet, CVs (all in a single pdf file with less then 10 MB)
Submission deadline: January 15
Proposal Writing Guidelines: PDF
Submit to: proposal.submission@icdp-online.org
A workshop proposal serves to acquire funding from ICDP to hold a workshop with an international science team that covers different fields of expertise to prepare a full proposal. An international workshop with open seats for interested scientists of different career levels is a prerequisite according to our rules. The submission of a Pre-Proposal and its positive evaluation by the SAG is a prerequisite for submission of a Workshop Proposal. Submission of a Workshop Proposal without prior submission of a Pre-Proposal is only possible in justified exceptional cases and requires the prior approval of the SAG chairs. Any request to do so must be received by the SAG Chairs no later than October 15, three months prior to the ICDP submission deadline.
Requirements: max. 15 pages, Coversheet, CVs (all in a single pdf file with less then 10 MB)
Submission deadline: January 15
Proposal Writing Guidelines: PDF
Submit to: proposal.submission@icdp-online.org
A mature full proposal is submitted to ICDP for funding of drilling operations and related action. The requirements are quite high (see guidelines). According to our comingled funding principle matching funds will be needed and the plan how to get them is an aspect of the proposal.
Requirements: max. 20 pages, Coversheet, CVs (all in a single pdf file with less then 10 MB)
Submission deadline: January 15
Proposal Writing Guidelines: PDF
Submit to: proposal.submission@icdp-online.org
ICDP panels may request proponents to submit an Addendum Proposal to a Workshop or a Full Proposal if only minor aspects need clarification. Therefore each aspect addressed in the assessment shall be thoroughly outlined in a cover letter. The addendum submission deadline is individual for each case and will be comunicated to the lead PI by the ICDP office.
Requirements: max. 10 pages, starting with a cover letter
Addendum Writing Guidelines: PDF
Submission deadline: PIs will be individually informed in written form by the ICDP office, usually to be submitted within 6 weeks
Submit to: proposal.submission@icdp-online.org
A L2S proposal is an option for projects that require scientific drilling at both onshore and offshore sites or at shallow marine sites for full achievement of the scientific objectives. It is jointly implemented by the ICDP and the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). Due to its complexity a L2S proposal has to follow strong guidelines that differ from the normal ICDP and IODP proposal guidelines (see L2S guidelines). For details see L2S Proposal Types.
| Files | Last Update | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ICDP Primer (v6, 2024) | 2024-09-19 | Best-practice handbook for conducting scientific drilling projects |
| 2 | ICDP Proposal Coversheet | 2024-09-19 | Document template |
| 3 | Preliminary Proposal: Guidelines | 2024-09-19 | Document template |
| 4 | Workshop Proposal: Guidelines | 2024-09-19 | Document template |
| 5 | Full Proposal: Guidelines | 2024-09-19 | Document Template |
| 6 | Addendum Proposal: Guidelines | 2024-09-19 | Document template |
| 7 | Land-to-Sea Proposal: Guidelines | 2020-11-30 | Document template |
| 8 | CV Template | 2017-03-21 | Document template |
ICDP Proposal Writing Support
ICDP is a proposal-driven program that invites teams of scientists from ICDP member countries to submit proposals in which drilling is required to achieve critical research goals. Have a look at our online workshop video on Youtube on how to support PI teams of upcoming proposals.
Checklist for high-ranked proposals
Please contact OSG before submission for any support or advice: proposal.submission@icdp-online.org
3 Proposal Evaluation Steps
Science Advisory Group (SAG)
Scientific Evaluation
Executive Committee (EC)
Program Management
Assembly of Governors (AOG)
Program Governance
Proposal Coversheet
On the proposal coversheet please provide an abstract of your project; a short summary of the specific scientific objectives, and how to reach those. List up to 4 Principal Investigators (PIs) and max. 10 co-Investigators (co-PIs) on the proposal coversheet. The list of person names given on the coversheet should be in the approximate order of involvement in the project. The most "invested" stakeholders should come first.