ANNOUNCING THE 2009-2010 VIRGINIA SEA GRANT

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) FOR

MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL RESEARCH

Two-Year Funding Period February 1, 2009 - January 31, 2011

Regional Research Preproposals due February 29, 2008

Full Proposals due May 19, 2008

The Sea Grant programs of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware seek proposals for regional research for the next funding cycle, February 1, 2009 - January 31, 2011. This Request for Proposals (RFP) contains a description of regional Sea Grant research opportunities and information about the format and timetable for submitting the Virginia component of mid-Atlantic regional preproposals and proposals. Sea Grant support is offered on an open, competitive basis. Preproposals and full proposals will be subject to mail and panel reviews. Successful full proposals are forwarded to the National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) for final funding approval. Inclusion of a proposal in the Virginia Sea Grant proposal package to the NSGO does not guarantee final approval or funding.

All applications for Sea Grant regional research funding through Virginia Sea Grant are initiated with the submission of a preproposal due no later than February 29, 2008 to the Virginia Sea Grant office. Virginia Sea Grant encourages Principal Investigators (PIs) to read this document carefully and direct any questions concerning the RFP to the Virginia Sea Grant Office (contact information is at the end of this document) early in the development of their preproposals.

This document does not include guidance for preproposals submitted in response to the core research program Virginia Sea Grant RFP. For information on this separate funding opportunity, please contact the Virginia Sea Grant Office or see the following website:

Regional Sea Grant Research

The Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Sea Grant Programs are jointly interested in coordinated research efforts that bring together researchers in all three states to address specific issues of regional priority. Research teams are required to contact their respective Sea Grant Program directors to discuss ideas and linkages prior to submitting a preproposal. Because funding is limited, we anticipate being able to fund only one regional effort for the 2009-2011 biennium.

Research Priorities

The DELMARVA Coastal Bays are a diverse and rapidly changing ecosystem shared by our respective states. Expanding pressures from population growth, changing land use and large-scale environmental shifts are impacting the natural resources and biogeochemical processes that sustain this fragile coastal ecosystem. The Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Sea Grant Programs are interested in regional proposals that address the following issues in the DELMARVA Coastal Bays:

  • Land Use Decisions and Water Quality Impacts. The programs encourage proposals that investigate how local to regional land use patterns and the decisions that led to them result in changes in nutrient, sediment or contaminant loads to the Coastal Bays and the impacts (positive or negative) thereof.
  • Socioeconomic Processes and Impacts. The programs encourage proposals that examine patterns and processes that underlie the changing demographics and economies of the Coastal Bays with a particular emphasis on how these shifts impact coastal dependent businesses.
  • Changing Shorelines: The programs encourage proposals that examine how changing shoreline use driven by population growth impacts ecosystem function and adaptation.
  • Climate Change: The programs encourage proposals that examine short to long-term changes in the Coastal Bays caused by climate driven factors including severe storms and episodic events, coastal inundation, sea level rise and biological impacts of temperature change.

Applicants are encouraged to develop a coordinated proposal that includes:

  • Research teams that employ multi-disciplinary approaches
  • PIs from MD, DE and VA if possible
  • Leveraging Sea Grant funds with other resources
  • Clear mechanisms for regional interaction and coordination

Separate preproposals conforming to local guidelines should be submitted by PIs from each state and routed following procedures appropriate to the home institutions and the relevant Sea Grant program. Preproposals from the collaborating scientists in the other states must also be included in the package.

The MD, VA and DE Sea Grant programs will coordinate the review of preproposals and provide feedback to the research team prior to requesting a full proposal.

Preliminary and Full Proposal Timetable and Content

Request for Proposals issued December 19, 2007

Preproposals due February 29, 2008

Preproposals reviewed, PIs notified Late March 2008 (approximate)

Full proposals due May 19, 2008

Final proposal selection August, 2008 (approximate)

Omnibus proposal to NOAA September, 2008 (approximate)

Funding cycle February 1, 2009 - January 31, 2011

Please submit one original, signed hard copy and 3 copies of the complete preproposal to the Virginia Sea Grant Interim Director, Dr. William DuPaul (complete contact information is at the end of this document) by February 29, 2008. In addition, please submit one electronic version of the complete preproposal (pdf or MS Word) to . Researchers should conform to the submission policies of their host institutions, particularly with regard to obtaining institutional endorsements and requirements for original signed signature pages.

Proposed projects should be for a 24-month duration. Funds are awarded on an annual basis. Virginia Sea Grant and NOAA require a mandatory yearly progress report to evaluate the project and assess whether sufficient progress has been made to warrant renewal of funding. All PIs must submit a final report at the completion of the project.

PIs must follow the instructions about preproposal format as explained in this document or risk preproposal rejection.

Each preproposal must include, in this sequence, the following:

  • Signed cover sheet;
  • Project summary form (90-2);
  • NOAA budget form 90-4;
  • Budget justification;
  • Body of the preproposal (four pages):
  • Problem statement;
  • Objectives;
  • Methods;
  • Anticipated benefits;
  • Performance measures
  • Outreach plan;
  • Facilities and equipment; and
  • Personnel description;
  • References;
  • Summary of accomplishments of previously funded Sea Grant projects;
  • Curriculum vitae, with updated publication list; and
  • List of current and pending support.

Use Helvetica (or Arial if Helvetica is not available) font type, size 11-point or greater. Use double spacing, left justified only, and one carriage return between paragraphs. All margins should be 1 inch. The body of the preproposal should be typed continuously (that is, do not start a new page for each new section). The end matter, including the Summary of Accomplishments of Previously Funded Sea Grant Projects, References, Curricula Vitae, and List of Current or Pending Research Support should each start on new pages and are not included in the 4-page limit required for the body of the preproposal.

The first page of the body of the preproposal should be numbered 1 and numbering should continue through the Curricula Vitae section. Please print your preproposal on a laser printer.

Explanation of Preproposal Components

Preproposals should present a succinct but sufficiently detailed synopsis of the project to allow evaluation of its relevance and the PI's qualifications. Preproposals are not letters of intent and are evaluated rigorously in a highly competitive process. Preproposals should include a description of the problem (question(s) to be addressed); rationale for the research; methodologies and tools to be used in the effort; benefits likely to be derived from the anticipated results; performance measures; and the outreach plan.

Signature Cover Sheet

Principal Investigators are responsible for routing the proposal through their campus' research administration and for obtaining all required institutional endorsements prior to submitting the preproposal.

Project Summary Form (90-2)

Use the project summary form (90-2) located online at Please limit the information under each heading to one short paragraph. Margaret Fonner (, 804-684-7797) will assist Virginia PIs with the required forms. Necessary information includes ICode, which corresponds to the grantee institution, and Affiliation Code, which is associated with each PI, Co-PI, and Associate Investigator. Project Number should be left blank.

Project Status is either "New" or "Continuing." Related and Parent Projects are NOAA funded projects and should be noted by grant number. Project Number is to be left blank. One to three Sea Grant Strategic Plan Classification Codes for the proposal topic may be used.

  • Key Words should not exceed five.
  • Objectives should summarize the objectives stated in the preproposal.
  • Methods should highlight methods necessary for conducting the research, such as standard models or techniques to be followed, specialized equipment needed, new or previously designed techniques resulting from other Sea Grant projects or related research.
  • Rationale must include statements describing the particular issue addressed by this project and how the project results will further the understanding of the issue and its relevance to problems in coastal and estuarine systems.

NOAA Budget Form 90-4

Use the project Budget form (90-4) located online at Separate budgets should be completed for each PI and Co-PI in each of the states. In addition, each set of PIs from each of the states needs a year 1, year 2 and summary budget sheet. Do not complete a summary budget that combines states, PLEASE keep each state’s budget separate.

Budget Justification

Please explain all planned expenditures

Matching Funds

A 50 percent match (e.g., a $100K budget must have a match of $50K) is sought on all Sea Grant proposals. Please contact the Virginia Sea Grant office if any questions arise about the eligibility of matching funds. Note that it is important to specify match contributions carefully to be able to demonstrate sources and amounts. Any match contributions identified by investigators are subject to federal audit that may result in additional costs to the institution. Match may be in the form of selected "in-kind" services or additional funds from a specified institution, agency, industry, or nonfederal program. No funds from federal agencies can be used as match.

Body of the Preproposal

The body of the preproposal is limited to four pages of double-spaced text. Use the headings in the sequence listed previously in this document and following the formatting instructions above.

  • Problem Statement - Indicate the specific problem addressed by the proposed effort and provide sufficient background information to allow a preliminary assessment of the relationship of the problem to the research questions posed in this RFP.
  • Objectives - State the objectives of the research effort as they would appear in a full proposal. If a multi-year effort is proposed, state the objectives for each year. Research hypotheses should be clearly stated.
  • Methods - You need not explain methods in detail. However, readers should be able to make a preliminary determination of the appropriateness of the proposed approach, including statistical analyses, for achieving the stated objectives.
  • Anticipated Benefits - Briefly explain the anticipated results and potential implications of those results in relation to Sea Grant program objectives.
  • Performance Measures - Explain briefly or in bullet form how your project may be measured against the most appropriate of the NOAA Performance Measures used to evaluate Sea Grant's accomplishments
  • Measure 1: Return on investment from the discovery and application of new sustainable coastal, ocean and Great Lakes products
  • Measure 2: Cumulative number of coastal, marine and Great Lakes issue-based forecast capabilities developed and used for management.
  • Measure 3: Percentage/number of tools, technologies and information services that are used by NOAA partners/customers to improve ecosystem-based management.
  • Outreach Plan - You are requested to describe briefly how the results of the study will be translated for end-users outside of direct scientific peers. Maryland Sea Grant has prepared a guidance statement that may be helpful to PIs ( Investigators are encouraged to contact the Virginia Sea Grant office to discuss potential outreach approach and audiences (including industry, policy-makers, the broad researcher community and the public). Discussions with Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program Staff are encouraged in the early stages of preproposal development. A list of Sea Grant Advisory personnel can be found at
  • Facilities and Equipment - List any facilities or equipment currently available and/or necessary for conducting the project. Give a justification for any equipment requested.
  • Personnel Description - List names of PI(s), senior technical staff, and students (if appropriate) and briefly outline their roles in the project.

References (not included in the 4 page limit)

List references on a separate page.

Summary of Accomplishments of Previously Funded Sea Grant Projects (not included in the 4 page limit)

Principle investigators who have been funded by Sea Grant since 2002 are requested to submit a one-page summary of the accomplishments of their previous Sea Grant funded research. Information on research findings and publications, outreach efforts and students supported as part of the research, should be highlighted in the one page summary.

Curriculum Vitae (not included in the 4 page limit)

Provide a 2-page (maximum) curriculum vita for each of the professional personnel. Include all applicable sections (Education, Experience, Research Interests, Professional Activities) and recent (post 2002) publications.

List of Current and Pending Support (not included in the 4 page limit)

This list specifies projects in which PIs are currently involved that are funded by Sea Grant and other agencies, or are under consideration for such funding. Please provide a brief explanation of any overlap between this proposal and any of those mentioned here.

Process Summary for Submitting Regional Research Preproposals and Full Proposals for Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Funding Cycle: 2009 - 2011

Note that this RFP is separate from the Virginia Sea Grant core research program RFP. Proposal submission schedule, format, content and priorities differ. Please follow instructions carefully.

Preproposals

1)PIs will submit preproposals to their individual Sea Grant program offices following their guidelines. Preproposals for mid-Atlantic regional research projects are due February 29, 2008.

2)Separate budgets should be completed for each PI and Co-PI in each of the states. In addition, each set of PIs from each of the states needs a year 1, year 2 and summary budget sheet. Do not complete a summary budget that combines states, PLEASE keep each state’s budget separate.

3)Maryland Sea Grant will be responsible for the review of the preproposals with support from DE and VA.

4)DE, MD and VA will each evaluate the external reviews and use their own review process to determine which preproposals will be invited forward.

5)DE, MD and VA Directors will discuss outcomes of their preproposal review process and determine which preproposals will be invited to go forward to full proposal.

6)Full proposals will be submitted to each program following the procedures listed below.

Full Proposals

1)Full proposals are to be submitted to state Sea Grant programs following their guidelines and procedures for proposal submission. Full proposals are due May 19, 2008 by 5 pm. Detailed instructions will be provided to PIs, including instructions on complying with federal grant application requirements in "Grants.Gov" and "Grants Online."

2)Separate budgets should be completed for each PI and Co-PI in each of the states. In addition, each set of PIs from each of the states needs a year 1, year 2 and summary budget sheet. Do not complete a summary budget that combines states, PLEASE keep each states budget separate.

3)Maryland Sea Grant will be responsible for the review of the proposal.

4)PIs for each state must submit an original, signed routing sheet with the full proposal to each state. For example, when the full proposal with all the budget sheets is submitted to Virginia it only requires an original signed routing sheet from the Virginia PIs and their institutions. The same proposal text is submitted to each Sea Grant program. It is only the original routing sheets that will differ among the states.

5)PIs must submit the full proposal, budget sheets with their original routing sheet (and any other items required by Sea Grant or the institution) to their respective Sea Grant programs by their program’s full proposal deadline.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your Sea Grant office.

Depending on funding constraints and reviewers' comments, PIs may be asked to revise their budgets and scope of work. In the interest of developing the best possible program, PIs may be asked to consider various modifications of a proposed study or to consider ways in which one effort might better complement other proposed efforts. Collaborations, either within or among campuses or institutional programs, are encouraged. Investigators will be expected to discuss the implications of the anticipated results of their research with the Virginia coastal and marine community. For example, researchers should consider potential outcomes of their research beyond the scientific benefits. The leveraging of funds is also encouraged through the development of joint initiatives with industry via other funding sources such as Small Business Innovation Research (see information at for the NOAA SBIR program) or other appropriate state partnership programs.