The NSF Coastlines and People (CoPe) program supports large-scale, interdisciplinary research hubs dedicated to understanding and addressing the vulnerabilities and opportunities faced by coastal regions undergoing rapid environmental, social, and economic change. Unlike traditional single-investigator or discipline-specific awards, CoPe requires deep integration of natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, and community engagement to develop actionable strategies that help coastal populations adapt to hazards such as sea-level rise, intensifying storms, erosion, chronic flooding, ecosystem shifts, and infrastructure fragility. A core principle of the program is the co-production of knowledge through equitable partnerships with Tribal Nations, frontline communities, local governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders directly affected by coastal risks. 

CoPe-funded hubs often conduct research that includes climate and ocean modeling, hydrodynamic simulations, ecosystem monitoring, coastal engineering, social vulnerability assessment, risk communication, governance evaluation, and community adaptation planning. Because coastal systems are inherently complex socio-environmental systems, the program encourages methodologies that combine quantitative modeling with qualitative research, local and Indigenous knowledge, scenario planning, and participatory design. Many CoPe hubs also incorporate shared cyberinfrastructure, data-integration platforms, resilience metrics, and collaborations with regional or national observing networks. 

Eligibility is broad, encompassing U.S. universities, nonprofit research institutions, Tribal organizations, and qualified small businesses. For-profit entities may participate when their contributions advance fundamental scientific or engineering understanding rather than commercial product development. Competitive proposals must demonstrate strong intellectual merit, broader impacts, robust management plans, multi-institutional coordination, and meaningful engagement with communities whose resilience is at stake. 

Because CoPe hubs operate at regional and national scales, proposals undergo rigorous review and must clearly articulate vision, feasibility, interdisciplinary integration, and pathways for translating science into real-world resilience solutions. 

ScienceDocs Can Help 

ScienceDocs supports CoPe teams with integrated research-plan development, community-engaged methodologies, resilience-framework design, and full proposal preparation. 
Begin at https://www.sciencedocs.com/quotes/.