Faculty Funding

Florida Sea Grant supports the work of scientists and researchers in a wide variety of disciplines from institutions around the state. Current funding opportunities are listed below.

2020 Florida Sea Grant Program Development Competition

Call for Projects Supporting Coastal and Ocean Science and Outreach

This opportunity is now closed.

Download a PDF of this request for proposals.

Florida Sea Grant (FSG) is pleased to announce the recurrence of its small grants program supporting collaborative science and outreach projects oriented to coastal and ocean priorities.

Program Development (PD) funds allow Florida-based investigators to address timely coastal and ocean issues. PD funding also may support research, technology transfer via workshops or other venues, pilot studies or demonstrations essential to coastal user groups. Program Development projects are of short duration, lower budget and yield a definitive result, specifically tied to the circumstances that motivate the project.

Proposals must be for less than $10,000 in FSG funds. With available funds, FSG anticipates supporting up to 20 of these projects equally distributed among three types of projects, described below. Before submitting, applicants are encouraged to contact FSG to determine the merit of the project.

Important Dates

Competition closes: August 17, 2020
Proposals evaluated: August 17-September 1, 2020
Notice of proposal selection: September 15, 2020
Project start date: No earlier than October 1, 2020
Project end date: No later than December 31, 2021

Note: Projects cannot exceed 12 months.

Types of Applicants/Investigators Sought

Type 1: *Florida Sea Grant work action groups (WAGs) – do not require institutional approval at this stage.

Type 2: *University of Florida-affiliated investigators – do not require institutional approval at this stage.

Type 3: Non-University of Florida investigators – require institutional approval at this stage.

*Institutional approval will be required of projects accepted for funding.

Due to limited funding, individuals may only submit one proposal as the PI. In addition, individuals may be listed as co-PI or associate investigator on only one other proposal. Due to the nature of these small grants the establishment of large collaborative groups of investigators is not encouraged.

Project Categories

In addition to listing the project Type , described above, PI’s should be prepared to briefly describe how their proposals (1) address one of the following three categories; and (2) relate to an FSG strategic planning priority, as described below.

Projects that rank highly in technical merit, potential for impact and engagement, but also support Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), will be prioritized. This can be done by (a) engaging researchers or participants from underserved universities and/or, (b) supporting projects oriented towards helping underserved populations or communities.

Category 1. Pilot Research Study

Funding in this area is aimed at nurturing seed projects that develop the basis for capturing larger extramural support from another source. Or, these grants may explore an emerging area of potentially greater future Sea Grant involvement. This category is not meant to support new research, nor be a component of an ongoing long-term research project.

Category 2. Short-term / Urgent Need

Projects under this category address a timely phenomenon (e.g., address a pressing social, environmental or industry need).

Category 3. Demonstration / Technology Transfer

These projects will provide audiences / end-users with first-hand experience with newly developed technologies or existing proven technologies in a manner that results in them adopting new policies, using new models, methods or tools, or incorporating the project results into decision-making.

Project Priorities

Proposals must address at least one of the following program priorities amended from the Florida Sea Gant 2020-2022 Strategic Plan.

Healthy Coastal Environments

Conduct research and outreach to address impacts from altered water quality and HABs on estuaries and their ecosystem services.
Develop and test innovative new approaches for managing and restoring coastal habitat, especially approaches that increase habitat resilience to storms and sea level rise.

Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture

Develop or apply models, tools or outreach for sustainably managing fisheries resources or more effectively protecting at-risk species.
Develop new tools, technologies and/or outreach products to support cost-effective, sustainable aquaculture and the harvest, processing and sale of wild aquatic products.

Resilient Communities and Economies

Address socio-economic impacts resulting from Florida harmful algal blooms (HABs).
Quantify the efficacy of new and existing approaches for increasing the resilience of coastal communities to HABs, extreme weather, storm surge and sea level rise.

Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development

Develop or implement education/Extension programs related to one of the priorities identified above (e.g., volunteer-based citizen science, trainings, and/or educational engagement with an important stakeholder group).

Proposal Elements and Instructions

Please provide, in a single pdf file, the scope of work and project budget. Use 5-pages or less of single-spaced narrative, maximum, for Narrative Sections 1-10: Narrative Section 11 (biographical data) does not count towards the 5 page limit. Use standard size type (at least 11-point).

NARRATIVE SECTIONS: Please write consecutively as paginated text and proofread carefully. Narrative sections 1-10 must be completed in 5 pages, or less.

PROJECT TITLE: Please make this succinct and explicitly reflect the intent of the proposed project.
PROJECT INVESTIGATOR(s)/WAG: Please indicate applicant status: Type 1, 2 or 3, as described above.

PROJECT CATEGORY: Please indicate the category that best describes your proposed project: Category 1, 2 or 3, as described above.
INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE: Using quantitative information, describe the problem or opportunity at hand. This section should document the magnitude of the situation, and the relevance of the issue or problem to Florida and to Florida Sea Grant priorities. Present pertinent literature.
GOAL AND OBJECTIVES: In one sentence, concisely state the overall goal of the proposed project. Then, number and list the objectives. Proposals that state objectives in a way that illustrates a logical flow and enables measurable comparison to expected project results and benefits will fare best in review. Be realistic and do not list too many objectives.
PROJECT DESIGN: Please describe the overall project design and the methods to be applied. For a research project state the hypothesis. How will the hypothesis be tested? Describe specific methodology and major aspects such as controls, replication, sampling, surveys, etc. If you are proposing a meeting, publication or demonstration, describe the stakeholder engagement process design. Provide a table or list of key project activities and milestones.
PARTICIPANTS AND CO-SPONSORS: Identify the specific technical or lay interests (e.g., agency, industry, NGO) that would participate in or be affected by such a project, if applicable.
EXPECTED RESULTS, APPLICATIONS AND BENEFITS: Describe, if applicable, how the project will facilitate larger extramural support from other funding sources (category 1). For projects that address categories 2 and 3, describe the social, environmental or economic outcomes of the project. How will these benefits be determined and quantified? If applicable, try to orient this description around one or more of the following benefit types that are tracked by the National Sea Grant Office.

- - Aquaculture and cost savings
    - Researching and developing best practices to improve decision-making
    - Helping research, development and technology transfer
    - Working with, collaborating with or training companies to improve their production, safety or efficiency
  - Community resilience
    - Community preparedness and hazard response
    - Adaptive policy and planning
    - SLR and climate modelling
    - Engineering mitigations for storms, flooding and SLR
  - Ecosystem enhancement
    - Type (options: mangrove, wetland, dune, coral, oyster, invasive, fisheries, artificial reefs)
    - Water quality
    - Harmful algal blooms
    - Flood protection
    - Conservation and management
  - General revenue and cost savings
    - Provide research and information to improve business
    - Increase production-based technology
    - Avoid environmental costs
    - Providing services to save money
    - Increasing business cost-savings
    - Connecting businesses with buyers
    - Raising buyer awareness
  - Jobs, business support and creation
    - How many businesses were created?
    - How many businesses were supported?
    - How many jobs were created?
    - How many jobs were supported?
  - Environmental Literacy or Workforce Development
    - Calculate attendee cost to travel and participate in the workshop or training, recognizing that these learning events may be impacted by COVID-19.
    - Calculate the value of the attendee’s time based on the mean or a conservative hourly wage. Note: Presently, the National Sea Grant Office does not accept the value of the time given by volunteers.

LITERATURE CITED: Provide references per your disciplinary reviewed literature format.
BUDGET DESCRIPTION: Briefly explain what you are requesting funds for and provide an approximation of those costs. A more detailed budget will be required for projects selected or funding. IMPORTANT: The federal dollar matching requirement is waived for these Program Development projects.
BIOGRAPHICAL DATA: Please append a one-page CV for the Principal Investigator, and for each co-PI and associate investigator(s). The CV should substantiate the investigator(s) expertise (academic background, experiences, publication’s) in the area of the proposed project.

Review Process

Proposals are principally evaluated by FSG program directors, and on occasion, by members of our Advisory Council to establish merit and relevance to Sea Grant priorities. External peer review may also be sought from experts in the discipline.

Evaluation Criteria:

- 10 points: Quantification of the issue and rationale
- 10 points: Fit with FSG strategic plan priority(ies)
- 20 points: Project objectives, design and technical merit
- 15 points: Budget and milestone appropriateness for 12-month projects
- 15 points: Engagement with end-users and partners
- 20 points: Expected results, applications and benefits
- 10 points: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Project Implementation

All principal investigators will receive notification of the competition results. An award notice will be sent to the principal investigator if a project is to be funded. IMPORTANT: There will be some additional paperwork to complete should the project be selected for funding.

A final technical report is due on the last day of the project. Please allow time for this. Technical reports are to be submitted using FSG’s online activity reporting system (OARS). Toward the end of the project, FSG reporting guidelines will be sent.

A final fiscal report of expenditures and cost sharing, if applicable, is due one month after the completion date.

Submittal

Please email the completed application, formatted according to Proposal Elements and Instructions section above, to Dr. Nancy Montes (nancymontes@ufl.edu) by August 17, 2020.

Contacts