The call for proposals is open until 4 September 2026.
Following the introduction of the National Glider Instrument Park (PING) With the support of INSU, we are pleased to announce the launch of the call for proposals request for Glider support.
The following information must be included in your application via the CNRS project application tool https://noa.cnrs.fr/.
Important note on costs
- Cost of the mission : Regardless of the project sponsor’s background, the consolidated costs are calculated on the basis of the actual cost, based on the number of days the gliders are used. An “internal” co-payment is applied when the project sponsor is a member of PING.
- Co-funding : The applicant must detail the co-funding envisaged and/or already secured in the scientific proposal: the contribution requested from INSU or other funding bodies or agencies, with the funding potentially coming from local, regional, national or European sources. A summary of the funding secured and the funding applied for must be included in the «Co-funding» section.
For the year 2027, the PING will be able to support 14 months of glider operations, comprising 8 months of SNO observation activities (via the associated OSUs) and 6 months of “research” activities for French research laboratories within the PING (CEFREM, LOV, MIO and LOCEAN laboratories) as well as external ones.
The PING, supported by the CNRS-INSU, was set up to manage the gliders belonging to the multi-laboratory national fleet for use in scientific projects. Project leaders are required to provide:
- a deployment plan setting out the details of the «glider» mission (duration, sensors and desired sampling) and a scientific justification for the project describing the intended experiment (see below);
- a financial contribution in the form of a co-payment for the year 2027 of 6.6 or 12.6 k€ per month per glider (internal and external rates) for consumables and maintenance (with one month’s fixed costs per deployment), combined with staff and infrastructure costs where applicable (up to 44.3 k€ per month per glider);
- support throughout the duration of the project to assist PING staff with deployment, piloting and/or recovery operations;
- coverage of the cost of transporting the equipment;
- arrangements for any necessary missions (1–2 people from PING) to carry out deployment and recovery operations;
- if possible, a boat (ideally a Zodiac of at least 3 metres) for deployment and retrieval;
- emergency recovery arrangements (or contacts);
- an assessment of the risks of the aircraft being lost in the proposed area (maritime traffic, fishing, etc.).
It is best to contact PING (contact: fbourrin@univ-perp.fr) right from the drafting stage of the project, in order to clearly define the requirements and resources needed to carry out the intended task.