On January 20, a new US president took office in Washington, DC. In the coming months the United States will face urgent challenges related to proliferation, arsenal modernization, and heightened nuclear risk, yet the new administration’s priorities on nuclear security remain largely unknown.
Given this uncertainty, Ploughshares Fund recognizes the need to move quickly to mitigate the associated risks and dangers and to enhance overall public awareness about them.
Accordingly, we invite proposals for novel or original projects that have the potential to address challenges and opportunities in nuclear security in the first 100 days of the new administration. Three issue areas have high priority: preserving the Iran deal; limiting unnecessary plans to modernize the US nuclear triad; and lowering the threat posed by the North Korean nuclear program. Projects may focus on the local and/or national level.
Project Criteria
- Budget of $10,000 or less
- Responds to an urgent need or takes advantage of an unexpected opportunity in nuclear security
- Advances one or more of the following goals:
- Scaling back US modernization and reducing the size of the US nuclear arsenal
- Supporting diplomacy with Iran
- Finding solutions to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and/or de-escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula
- Proposals that include emerging experts, grassroots approaches, or untapped voices are of particular interest
Application Process and Requirements
New and current Ploughshares Fund grantees are welcome to apply. If you are an existing grantee, new or augmented projects that meet the above criteria qualify for consideration.
Please send a brief (2 page maximum) description of your proposed project to rfp-pf@ploughshares.org by February 13, 2017. This should include project topic, activities that are specific and targeted with clearly defined objectives, budget, timeline, and participants/project implementers. Please include the phrase "Urgent Challenges and Opportunities" in the email subject heading.
Any questions should be directed to John Carl Baker: jbaker@ploughshares.org.
Photos: 4 Fasl Museum, Arak, Iran by Omid Jafarnezhad, Wikimedia Commons (cc); Z machine, Created to validate nuclear weapons models, Sandia Lan, Arizona, US; North Korea's submarine-launched ballistic missile fired on April 23, 2016, photo, released by North Korea; a B-52 Stratofortress is refueled in-flight April 2, 2014 over the Pacific Ocean near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Nathan Allen, public domain.
