Letters of Support

NEON can provide researchers and educators with letters of support to accompany proposals that include the planned use of NEON resources. Please note that researchers typically do not need letters of support for using publicly available NEON data and resources off the data portal or website. All NEON data are downloadable from the NEON data portal along with protocols and other supporting documentation. 

The temporary changes to NEON operations associated with COVID-19 may affect collaborative efforts involving Research Support/Assignable Assets and using NEON infrastructure. For more information, please see announcements in Observatory Status webpage. 

Requesting your Letter of Support

First, ensure you are requesting the correct type of letter: 

  • If your proposed research project requires access to NEON infrastructure, collaboration for research assistance, or work within NEON plots or the tower airshed, you must fill out the appropriate Assignable Assets form. Examples include an AOP remote sensing survey for your own research, deploying an MDP, on-site sampling or experiments within the permitted NEON area, or other work outside the standard day-to-day operations of NEON. Assignable Assets forms should be submitted at least four weeks prior to your deadline. Learn more. 
  • If you are looking for a letter of support for requests of NEON Biorepository samples/specimens, please complete the request form on the NEON Biorepository at ASU page.  
  • If your proposed research project includes the collaboration of the a scientist working on the NEON program, you should be in contact with them regarding collaboration and the necessary budgetary information prior to filling out this form. Please begin working with the scientist at least four weeks before a proposal deadline on any budgetary issues.

For other types of letters of support, you may request your letter by submitting the form below. Please allow a minimum of two weeks for us to process your request and send you a letter. 

Request Form

Please provide the following details on what NEON resources you would like to use as described in your proposal. All fields denoted with * are required for form submission.

If seeking collaboration with scientists working on the NEON program, please include their names and expected number of hours included in the proposal. You should already have directly contacted the individual scientist(s) regarding the collaboration.
If you propose visiting or working at any NEON sites, please include a list of the four letter codes or site names. Find the full list of codes/names on the Field Sites list webpage.
Provide a short description of the scope of work that you propose using NEON resources.
When and for how long do you propose to use the resources.

Please provide the following information regarding your project.

Enter which funding program this proposal is part of (e.g., CAREER, EAGER, etc). Please also provide the URL of the funding call.
This should match the title you will be submitting your proposal with as we will use this in the letter. If you change your proposal title after submitting this form, it is your responsibility to notify us of any needed changes.
Please include appropriate salutation (Dr., Ms., Mr.).
Please note that the Principal Investigator will received the confirmation email that this form has been submitted, even if a Requestor Email is provided.
If correspondence regarding this letter of support/collaboration should go to someone other than than the PI, please include their name here.
Please include the date you need this letter by.
Standard NSF Format *
Does your Letter of Support/Collaboration require the standard NSF template language?
Is there a required format or letter template for this proposal solicitation that needs to be used? If so, please upload a template.
One file only.
2 MB limit.
Allowed types: txt, odf, pdf, doc, docx.
No other documents are required for a letter of support/collaboration, however, if you need to include any supporting materials please combine into a single document and upload here.
One file only.
10 MB limit.
Allowed types: txt, odf, pdf, doc, docx, xls, xlsx.

If you have any questions regarding Letters of Support/Collaboration to please contact us.