Funding & Proposal Information: 2018-2020 – SoI RFP

Funding & Proposal Information: 2016-2018

Request for Proposals 2018-2020 Competitive Research Program

LOUISIANA SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM
Two – Year Funding Period: February 1, 2018 -January 31, 2020

Request for Proposals 2018-2020 (printer-friendly copy)

Funding Cycle: Two–year funding period from February 1, 2018 to January 31, 2020. About $700,000/yr available for research projects.

Statements of Interest (SoI): SoI is required and due by 5 pm on Friday, March 3, 2017.

Full Proposals: Full Proposals will only be accepted if a SoI was submitted. Full Proposals due on May 22, 2017.

Sea Grant RFP Information Webinar: 

An information webinar will be January 25, 2017, from 1:30-3:00 p.m. CST to discuss the Sea Grant research funding opportunity. The webinar will also explain the use of the new eSeaGrant proposal submission system. The webinar will be recorded and a link will be posted on the LSG funding webpage.

Contact Information:

Proposal Process: Matthew Bethel ([email protected])
Budget Process: Judy Johnson ([email protected])
Proposal Formatting: Katie Lea ([email protected])

Louisiana Sea Grant College Program:
236 Sea Grant Building, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Ph: 225-578-6710

COMPETITIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM SUMMARY

Program Title: Louisiana Sea Grant 2018-2020 Competitive Research Request for Proposals

Synopsis of Program: The environmental crises of Louisiana’s deltaic plain—which includes the Mississippi River Delta and Chenier Plain—include some of the most challenging coastal issues in North America. With the highest rates of relative sea level rise in the world and exposure to a changing climate, coastal communities remain vulnerable to extreme events such as coastal flooding. This is occurring while our working coast contributes to the nation’s economy with the largest fishery (commercial and recreational) in the contiguous U.S., the nation’s largest supply of domestic energy, and is in the Top 10 largest port complexes (by tonnage) in the world.

This request for competitive research proposals by Louisiana Sea Grant (LSG) seeks to promote interdisciplinary solutions using university research to address complex and often interrelated ecological, economic, and social challenges that affect the state’s adaptation strategies. The magnitude of the challenges in this dynamic, and more recently disturbed, natural and social landscape requires that limited resources available to LSG be distributed utilizing practical and well-defined approaches that are linked to community engagement through our outreach program.

The landscape of coastal Louisiana is a natural laboratory for research given nearly 25 years of different restoration and protection projects, a highly engineered coastal landscape, an extensive observation network (e.g. CRMS, https://lacoast.gov/crms2/home.aspx), and communities facing different environmental and economic challenges. This research competition challenges the university community to develop integrated research teams to explore and discover innovative best management practices for more resilient ecosystems, fisheries, communities, and economies (see our focus areas).

Research projects within Louisiana’s coastal region should focus on discovery that integrates knowledge across disciplines that can be applied to one or more of three focus areas of LSG’s Strategic Plan that are eligible for the research competition: 1) Healthy Coastal Ecosystems; 2) Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture and 3) Resilient Communities and Economies. This RFP contains a listing of relevant research questions, and information about the format and timetable for submitting proposals. Proposals must have clear relevancy to Louisiana Sea Grant’s research priorities (see Research Priorities in section III of this document) and must include a clear outreach plan for disseminating the results to targeted audiences. All Louisiana public institutions of higher education and those independent institutions of higher education which are members of the Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges and Universities are eligible to compete under the Louisiana Sea Grant Competitive Research Program.

Louisiana Sea Grant is initiating a new program to support integrated research teams, while also continuing a limited investment in traditional research projects during this funding period:

  • Integrated Research (IR&E) and Engagement Project(s): This is a new research competition to fund research teams that build integrated approaches across social, engineering, design, and ecological disciplines that address the complex environmental and social issues affecting coastal Louisiana.
    • Contingent on the availability of funds, and quality of proposals, LSG anticipates funding up to four projects at the upper limit of $180,000 per award per year;
    • Teams should consider 3-4 researchers representing interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving;
    • Research teams are encouraged to support 2-4 LSG Graduate Research Fellowships per year of funding;
    • The research proposal must contain a clearly defined outreach program.
  • Core Research Projects: These are traditional research projects on issues currently affecting coastal Louisiana’s ecosystems, fisheries and seafood production, and community resilience. Core research proposals are projects that focus on one or more of the following three priority areas: (1) Healthy Coastal Ecosystems; (2) Resilient Communities and Economies; and (3) Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture.
    • Contingent on the availability of funds, and number of IR&E projects funded, LSG anticipates funding up to four projects at about $75,000 per award per year;
    • 1-2 researchers representing traditional approaches to problem solving;
    • Research teams are encouraged to support 1 LSG Graduate Research Fellowship per year of funding;
    • The research proposal must contain a clearly defined outreach program.

 Eligibility Information: All Louisiana public institutions of higher education and those independent institutions of higher education which are members of the Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges and Universities are eligible to compete under the Louisiana Sea Grant Competitive Research Program. Other institutions are encouraged to collaborate with university researchers by supporting internship opportunities for students that may be supported by LSG funds. Such persons and institutions may be listed as Co-PI of LSG research projects. Single investigators and multiple investigator research teams from different institutions are encouraged to apply. Louisiana Sea Grant encourages participation from the broad science and social science research community within Louisiana.

Only PIs that submit a Statement of Interest (SoI) will be eligible to submit a full proposal, but all investigators who submit a timely and complete SoI will be welcome to submit a full proposal regardless of the recommendation made following the SoI review.

SoI Preparation and Submission Instructions:

  1. Statement of Interest Preparation Requirements and Due Dates
    • SoI Submission: Required, due March 3, 2017, by 5:00 PM CST
    • Application Instructions: This solicitation contains specific instructions on the format and content that must be adhered to in each SoI. Failure to follow the instructions outlined in the full text below is grounds for rejection without review.
  2. Budgetary Information
    • Cost Sharing Requirements: 50 percent non-federal cost match is required for each proposal ($1 non-federal match for every $2 of Sea Grant funding). Principal Investigators are not required to document the source of the project match until submitting a full proposal.
    • Indirect Cost (F&A): Proposals from LSU use the off-campus rate of 26 percent MTDC. Proposals from other institutions should use their respective F&A rates.

Statement of Interest (SoI) Processing: Statements of Interest will be subject to external panel reviews. Statements of Interest that receive favorable reviews will be encouraged to submit a full proposal (although all investigators who submit a timely and complete SoI are welcome to submit full proposals). There is approximately $700,000 annually available for this research competition, which will fund a combination of IR&E and/or Core research proposals.

Principal Investigators Please Note the Following:

  • Funding of all proposals is contingent upon Louisiana Sea Grant’s allocation from NOAA in the FY2018 federal budget. Modification in the number of and funding for individual proposals may be made based upon the final omnibus budget to Louisiana Sea Grant from NOAA.
  • PIs must provide a strong rationale for how their proposed research will be applied to solving complex coastal issues of coastal Louisiana by affecting an informed public, design applications, strategic adaptations, policy and/or management decisions, and how that information will be communicated to end users.
  • Louisiana Sea Grant encourages Principal Investigators (PIs) to read this document carefully and direct questions concerning the RFP or eSeaGrant to the Louisiana Sea Grant Office or email early in the Statement of Interest development process (contact information listed in Section VIII).
  • LSG has implemented an online project management system called eSeaGrant. This system requires an applicant to register before submitting an SoI. You can register to use eSeaGrant at: www.laseagrantdb.org.