2016-17 CALL FOR FULL PROPOSALS-Final

FLORIDA SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM

Priorities & Funding Opportunities for 2016-2017

 

Call for Full Proposals for Applied Research Projects Deadline: May 29, 2015 (4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time)         This document is in three sections: A. Funding and Proposal Information B. Priorities for Applied Research Projects C. Statement of Interest Guidelines                   For electronic access to this document: April 14 to May 29, 2015 archive.flseagrant.org

 Science Serving Florida’s Coast

Florida Sea Grant is a university-based program that supports research, education and extension to conserve coastal resources and enhance economic opportunities for the people of Florida. We are a partnership between the State University System of Florida, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Florida’s citizens and governments.

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FLORIDA SEA GRANT RESEARCH COMPETITION

Criteria to Qualify for a Review

To have your Research Proposal considered in this review process, ALL of the following criteria must be met. Proposals that do not meet ALL of these criteria will be returned without a review and will not be considered in this biennial applied research competition. There will be no exceptions.

1. All required materials identified in the RFP must be submitted to the online system on or before 4 PM on May 29, 2015.

2. The proposal must clearly indicate that the Principal Investigator has worked with a specific end-user in order to develop a research project that is applied and relevant to a focus area and priority identified in section B of this RFP. Professional colleagues are not end-users. An end-user is an industry or agency partner that makes use of a research product to address some coastal or ocean issue. We require evidence in the form of a letter from the end-user as defined above, as to how they will ultimately use the new information, tools, models or other products of the research program. Having the end-user as a co-investigator on the proposal is one suggested approach. Another approach is to have end-users as an advisory board for the project. We do recognize that projects funded by Florida Sea Grant last just two years, have limited funds, and may be just one step towards answering the question or solving the problem identified by the end-user, however, working with the end-user ensures that the research we support is moving the issue towards resolution.

3. The Principal Investigator must have documented expertise in the specific area of proposed research.

4. The project must include full or partial funding for at least one student who is being mentored by the Principal Investigator, and that student must be actively contributing to the project as part of his/her Thesis, Dissertation, or undergraduate research.

5. The proposed research must clearly address one or more of the priorities identified in section B of this RFP

6. An individual can be a PI, Co-PI or Associate Investigator on just ONE proposal (across all categories described in this RFP).

7. ONLY investigators who submitted statements of interest and received review comments back are eligible to submit full proposals. Investigators who were encouraged by the panel to submit full proposals are the main target of this RFP, although, if you had a statement of interest that was reviewed but you were not encouraged, a full proposal can still be submitted. Historically, such proposals have not received funding.

OVERVIEW

This is a solicitation for Full Proposals for two-year coastal and ocean applied research grants.

• Priorities identified in Section B were developed from page 13 of the 2014-17 Florida Sea Grant Strategic Plan, and address four focus areas: Healthy Oceans and Coasts; Safe and Sustainable Seafood; Sustainable Coastal Communities and Economies; and Hazard-Resilient and Climate-Ready Coasts.
• This is an open state-wide competition for any Principal Investigator at any of the universities in Florida who can meet the seven previously described ‘criteria to qualify for review.’
• Proposals must be strong in scientific or professional merit, rationale and end-user engagement, and also meet the criteria in section 8 below.
• The maximum Florida Sea Grant award is $200,000 for two years, with no more than $100,000 in each individual budget year.
• A 50% non-federal dollar match is required – i.e., $100,000 match if $200,000 of federal funds is requested.
• We intend to fund approximately 10 research projects, including one special project co-funded with the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation [details below] and one Technology Transfer project [details below], if high quality proposals that meet the intended objectives are received in those two new areas. Projects of the highest scientific merit and strongest end-user engagement will be selected. A review panel of experts from outside of Florida will determine which projects will be funded. Florida Sea Grant does not make this decision.
• For the FSG/GHOF lionfish project, the $50,000 per year contribution of the GHOF is the required match.

PURPOSE

This document describes the process to apply for Florida Sea Grant funding for two-year applied research projects beginning in Spring 2016. It provides an overview of the Florida Sea Grant proposal and review process, defines priority areas, and presents guidelines for the preparation of the full proposal.

A. Florida Sea Grant Funding and Proposal Information 2016 – 2017

 

1. Sea Grant Funding Cycle

Florida Sea Grant research projects are normally funded for two years. Thus, projects proposed should be for the period February 1, 2016 to January 31, 2018.

Key dates, starting with writing of your full research proposal:

2015  

April 14              RFP for Full Proposals from Faculty who Submitted a Statement of Interest and were Encouraged to Submit

April 14-May 28  Full Proposals Written

May 29               Full Proposals Due by 4 PM (no late proposals will be accepted)

June-July           Peer Review Conducted

August 7            Technical Panel Meets to Review Full Proposals

August 14          Faculty Notified if Proposal is Successful

September 3      Faculty Letter Response to Peer Reviews Due

October 1           Omnibus Florida Sea Grant Proposal Submitted to National Sea Grant Office, NOAA

2016     New projects start. The date when funds are released depends on when they are provided by NOAA.

2. Research Proposal Described

The research proposal clearly identifies a topic relevant to coastal and ocean needs in Florida and the nation and provides sufficient detail for reviewers to discern the technical and practical merits of the project. It describes the need for the research and explains in detail the approach that will be taken to address that need, solve the problem, answer the question. It includes a rationale, approach, end-user participation and expected outcomes and impacts.

The 15 page (maximum) Research Proposal format and a one-page biographical data form for each investigator are described and included in this document. The page limit includes tables, figures and references, but does not include budget pages and biographical data forms of investigators.

3. Participation

Any Principal Investigator who submitted a research statements of interest and meets the aforementioned ‘criteria to qualify for a review’ is eligible to apply. Funded projects will be selected based on the degree to which they address Florida Sea Grant’s stated priorities, their scientific merits and active participation by an end-user in the private sector, a government agency, or a coastal community. Principal Investigators may be employees of universities, agencies, non-profits or private corporations. Regardless of where they are employed, however, they must meet the ‘criteria to qualify for a review.’ Because we are by nature a college program, one of our criteria is support of students. For principal investigators not employed by a university, an effective way to address this criterion is to team up with a faculty member at one of Florida’s many universities.

Investigators may participate in just ONE Florida Sea Grant full proposal (being listed as either Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator or Associate Investigator counts as participation). Reminder: you can submit a full proposal to Florida Sea Grant in response to this RFP and also apply for a regional project under the separate South Atlantic Regional Resilience RFP, however, investigators can only be listed on one research proposal in response to this Florida RFP.

4. Size of Grant Award

The maximum two-year award that Florida Sea Grant will provide is $200,000, with a maximum of $100,000 in each budget year. For each Sea Grant dollar, a 50% matching fund commitment is required (i.e., if you request $200,000 of federal dollars, you must have $100,000 of non-federal match).

For 2016 and 2017, the anticipated amount (assuming the current federal appropriation) of annual research funding available will be approximately $950,000. At the $100,000 level, this would fund up to 8 regular research projects, one technology transfer project and one GHOF/FSG lionfish project.

5. Student Involvement Is Essential

Sea Grant is a college program and student participation in Sea Grant funded research is essential. Florida Sea Grant’s goal is to ensure that 25% of its research funding supports students (and their associated costs) who are working within a project.

6. Review Criteria

In order for your Research Proposal to be sent out for a review, ALL seven of the criteria listed on page 2 of this call for proposals must be met. Research Proposals that do not meet ALL of the criteria will be returned without a review and will not be considered in this biennial research competition.

Peer review is the responsibility of the Florida Sea Grant College Program (Director). Oversight of the peer review process is the responsibility of the National Sea Grant Office (Program Monitor). For full Research Proposals, Florida Sea Grant will obtain peer reviews from three experts outside the state of Florida. Reviews will be evaluated by a visiting panel of broadly experienced out-of-state scientists recognized for both their disciplinary and program leadership experience. They will review and recommend the projects that we will submit for funding to the National Sea Grant Office with our omnibus proposal in October.

Research Proposals must focus on the priorities identified in Section B of this document or they will not be reviewed. The full proposals are more comprehensive and detailed versions of the statements of interest that were reviewed in the first round of this funding cycle. Three equally-weighted criteria will be used by reviewers and panel members to evaluate full proposals (except for Technology Transfer Proposals – see below).

A. Scientific Merit — the degree to which the proposed project is innovative and will advance the state of the science or discipline through rigorous state-of-the-art research

B. Users, Participants and Co-Sponsors — the degree to which users or potential users of the results of the proposed project have been brought into the planning of the project, will be brought into the execution of the project, and will use results. Researchers must work with end-users to develop relevant proposals.

C. Expected Results, Applications and Benefits — the degree to which the completed project is expected to create new commercial opportunities, improve technological and economic efficiency, promote environmental sustainability, or improve management decisions, in Florida or possibly nationally.

The panel will consider reviews that rate proposals based on these criteria. Panel deliberations ensure that we fund only technically excellent and issue-oriented research that engages end-users AND to ensure (where possible) that projects are distributed across multiple focus areas of our Strategic Plan.

7. NOAA Data Sharing Requirement (effective for all new NOAA funded research projects)

Environmental data and information collected and/or created under NOAA grants and cooperative agreements must be made visible, accessible, and independently understandable to general users, free of charge or at minimal cost, in a timely manner (typically no later than two years after the data are collected or created), except where limited by law, regulation, policy or by security requirements.  The new requirement has two basic parts: (1) environmental data generated by a grant project must be made available after a reasonable period of exclusive use, and (2) the grant application must describe the plan to make the data available.

To comply with this new requirement the Principal Investigator must comply with the process described below and explain how the data and metadata will be provided. Funds may be budgeted in the project proposal for this task.

Process for Providing Environmental Data and Information: Upon completion of the Florida Sea Grant funded project, the PI must provide Florida Sea Grant with electronic files containing all environmental field data collected during the project, as well as metadata that provide sufficiently detailed and easily understood information for another person to make use of the data and information. Files can be provided in the most appropriate form (e.g., Excel spreadsheet). Florida Sea Grant will hold the data on a secure server, and only after two years have passed will we provide the data to a third party who provides us with a written request for those specific data. This requirement applies only to routine field data on environmental conditions. It is not presently required in the case of controlled experimental data or models. In the case of those data, publication of the results in a peer-reviewed journal meets the intent of the NOAA data-sharing requirement.

Note: When you publish a research journal article, book or book chapter based on your Sea Grant funding, this statement must be included in the acknowledgements section and a copy of the paper or chapter must be provided to Florida Sea Grant.

This publication was supported by the National Sea Grant College Program of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Grant No. NA 14OAR4170108. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of these organizations. Additional copies are available by contacting Florida Sea Grant, University of Florida, PO Box 110409, Gainesville, FL, 32611-0409, (352) 392.2801, archive.flseagrant.org.

8. Submitting Your Research Proposal:

Research Proposals must be submitted online through the Florida Sea Grant website http://seagrant.ifas.ufl.edu/CallForProposals/proposalsubmission/ proposalsubmission/. WE DO NOT ACCEPT PROPOSALS SUBMITTED BY EMAIL OR AS HARD COPIES. Please read and follow directions carefully.

Deadline for receipt is May 29, 2015 by 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (No extensions)

All questions:

Jackie Whitehouse
Executive Secretary
jhw04@ufl.edu
(352) 392-5870 – Office
(352) 294-0754 – Direct
Website: archive.flseagrant.org

B. Florida Sea Grant College Program Priorities for 2016 – 2017

For the 2016 – 2017 funding cycle, Florida Sea Grant is: (1) funding regular state research projects; (2) co-funding a specific project where half of the funds will be provided from an outside source identified below; and (3) funding one Technology Transfer Award. Your full proposal will automatically be considered for the category you selected when you submitted your statement of interest. Note: you may only be a PI, co-PI or Associate Investigator on just ONE Florida Sea Grant project across all three categories.

(1) Priorities for Regular State Research Projects, classified as FSG/Regular Research.

• Develop and evaluate new fisheries (finfish, sponges, lobsters, shrimp, oysters etc.) management strategies that incorporate effects of fishing, fisheries management options and/or environmental conditions on coastal fish populations.
•  Develop and test new planning and policy tools to foster safe and sustainable public and commercial access to and use of waterfronts and waterways.
•  Develop new approaches to enhance the efficiency, product diversity, environmental benefits, safety, sustainability or cost-effectiveness of commercial aquaculture or wild-caught seafood.
•  Provide a coastal community with new information that allows them to assess the economic, engineering, environmental or quality of life consequences of storms, sea-level rise and changing rainfall and runoff on the coastal zone.
•  Develop and test user-friendly tools and models to guide interactive decision making by communities, toward becoming more resilient to coastal hazards.

(2) Co-Funded Research

We will fund ONE research project with 50% of the funds coming from Florida Sea Grant and 50% from the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (GHOF). GHOF funds may be shown as non-federal match on the proposal. Principal Investigators must work with commercial fishermen in this project, and obtain quantitative information that documents the efficacy of different methods of commercially harvesting lionfish, including traps. The research must address efficacy of the methods from both a commercial harvest perspective and from the perspective of benefits provided to the reef habitat – i.e., effectiveness in removing lionfish from the habitat and impacts to the habitat from the harvesting method. Co-funded research is classified as FSG/GHOH Lionfish. In addition to the expert review panel, experts from the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation will help to select the project that is funded in this special category. As always, to be selected for funding a project must meet standards of excellence in regard to its technical attributes, potential for desired outcomes and engagement with end users. If no projects meet the standards in this category, an additional regular research project will be fully or partially funded instead.

(3) Technology Transfer Project

We intend to provide funds for one project where research has reached the point where a new tool, technology, model or other device is ready for transfer to the private sector for commercial production. The selected project must deliver a product that helps address one of the coastal and ocean issues identified in our strategic plan (for example, in 2014-15 we are funding a project that is transferring a new device for strengthening shingled roofs from the university to the private sector) and there must be evidence that the technology transfer can occur in two years. For these projects it is essential that the private sector end-user be a co-investigator on the grant proposal, and that the approach that will be taken for technology transfer be clearly identified with a timeframe that ends with commercial production. All of the general guidelines for Research Proposals apply to Technology Transfer Awards. These technology proposals will be sent out for peer review and then evaluated by a panel of leaders from the private business sector in regard to the likelihood of a successful outcome in the two year time-frame. Technology Transfer research is classified as FSG/Technology. As always, to be selected a project must meet standards of excellence in regard to its technical attributes, potential for desired outcomes and engagement with end users. If no projects meet the standards in this category, an additional regular research project will be funded instead.

Review criteria for Technology Transfer Projects

1. Technical Merits of the Proposal – to be determined by three outside expert peer reviews.
2. Evidence that the research has reached the point where a new tool, technology, model or other device is ready for transfer to the private sector for commercial production – to be determined by panel of business leaders.
3. Evidence that there is a private-sector partner a co-investigator actively working with the investigators on the project – to be determined by a panel of business leaders.
4. Clearly identified approach to all allow technology transfer in a two year time frame – to be determined by a panel of business leaders.

C. Guidelines for Preparation of Research Proposals for Funding
by Florida Sea Grant, 2016-2017

INSTRUCTIONS: Proposals MUST BE SUBMITTED ONLINE through the Florida Sea Grant web site archive.flseagrant.org using the “Call for 2016-2017 Florida Research Proposals” link. You are allowed a maximum of 15 single-spaced pages for the project narrative including tables, figures and literature citations, but not counting budget forms, the explanation of NOAA data sharing and biodata forms. Use 11-point font, New Times Roman. Figures, images, mathematical notations and symbols, and tables must be embedded within the proposal narrative. From the Florida Sea Grant website, download and use the Microsoft Word formatted worksheet to prepare your Research Proposal. Convert the completed proposal to a PDF file using Adobe Acrobat, and use the “upload” button on the Florida Sea Grant web site link “Call for 2016-2017 Florida Research Proposals” to submit your proposal. NO EMAIL OR PAPER COPIES WILL BE ACCEPTED BY THE FLORIDA SEA GRANT OFFICE. FULL PROPOSALS RECEIVED AFTER 4 PM ON MAY 29, 2015 WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR REVIEW, AND THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS GUIDELINE. We are not responsible for the internet being down or other things happening in the last hours or minutes before the deadline. In the past, researchers have not been able to meet the deadline for these and other unexpected reasons, so we strongly encourage submittal before May 29.

Prior to submitting your Research Proposal you will navigate to the submission process web page and be required to enter the Project Title, the Principal Investigator, the Co-principal Investigator(s), the Associate Investigator(s), and the Proposed Budget into the Sea Grant web site project entry form. Once you have completed the project entry form and submitted your proposal you will receive a proposal number which you and your project associates will use to submit your biographical data sheets (discussed below).

The following represent elements of a full Research Proposal. Each element should be prepared, proofed and saved. Please combine elements 1–5 and 7-8 into a PDF file, 6 into one PDF, in the order listed below:

1. Signed Title Page
2. Project Record Form
3. 90-4
4. Budget Justification
5. Proposal Narrative Sections (15 pages including references)
6. Biographical Data Sheet(s)
7. Letters of Support, etc.
8. Cost-sharing letter

A. SIGNED TITLE PAGE: Investigators and the responsible university research or grants office must endorse this. (University of Florida faculty need additional signatures.)

B. PROJECT RECORD FORM (90-2): The project record form follows the title page and is not numbered. This form is very important in the review process. We suggest completing it as the final step in writing the proposal to concisely summarize what is stated in the text. Please follow the instructions given below.

PROJECT TITLE: Project titles should be carefully constructed to give as much information as possible about the project in not more than two lines (about 16 words, preferably less). Consider always that there will be people who will judge the content of a program from scanning a list of titles. The title should be specific, descriptive of the activity, and clearly indicate subject and anticipated outcome.

DATES: (1) The revision date is the date you prepared this document, (2) initiation date is 2/1/2016, and (3) completion date is 1/31/2018.

PRINCIPAL, CO-PRINCIPAL, ASSOCIATE INVESTIGATORS: Names of the Investigators (last name first, full first name and middle initial) whose efforts are significant to the success of the project.

AFFILIATION: The academic affiliation of each investigators, e.g., FAU Ocean Engineering, FSU Biology.

OBJECTIVES: This section should state concisely what the investigator intends to do. Stated objectives should enable comparison later to project results. NOTE: Be specific and brief. State the overall project goal, and then the individual objectives.

METHODOLOGY: Describe the methods to be used, including the proposed spatial and temporal extent of any field sampling, the modeling approaches to be used, experimental design and statistics. Be specific, concise and limit this section to one paragraph.

RATIONALE: This section should make a concise statement of why the issue or opportunity is being addressed. Research projects need not promise to fully solve a problem, but it should be shown that it is a logical step towards a solution. Long involved background statements should be avoided. End users must be identified. For Research to Application projects, please describe how the end-user is involved and will apply the results within the two-year time-frame.

IMPACTS: Describe the potential benefits/impacts to science, management and/or industry. This can include new products, processes for industry; tools, policies, technologies and information for improved decision-making/ecosystem management.

PARTNERS: List any partners that will be working with you on the project and describe their role.

DATA SHARING PLAN: Principal investigator must state that he/she will provide Florida Sea Grant with electronic files containing all environmental field data collected during the project, as well as metadata that provide sufficiently detailed and easily understood information for another person to make use of the data and information, if applicable.

C. BUDGET FORM(S) (90-4): Complete one budget page per year of the project, and one cumulative budget page for all years of project. Please follow the instructions given below. Note that you also need to prepare a budget justification that explains the budget (see below). Note: budget pages need to be completed for each investigator if at different institutions.

Instructions for Preparing Budget Pages: Please note – the cumulative budget page will summarize Year 1 and Year 2 automatically. Therefore, you should not need to enter any information on the cumulative budget page.

All expenditures listed in the budget must be in compliance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circular A-21 on cost accounting standards. OMB circular A-21 states that administrative and clerical salaries and other general office supplies will be charged as indirect costs. For more information on circular A-21 please contact the contracts and grants office of your institution. Any variation from OMB circular A-21 will be the sole responsibility of the grantee institution.

Please be informed that no budget justification information is to be put on the budget form 90-4. Each line item of your budget needs to be justified in the budget justification narrative that is prepared (See separate instructions, below in this section).

1. The Budget year line should have a number after the word year representing the particular year of the project Budget, i.e. Budget Year 1, Budget Year 2, or Cumulative Budget.
2. The Grantee Institution line – Line 7 Column C – is for the name of the primary principal investigator’s institution, e.g., University of South Florida.
3. Principal Investigators line: Should contain the name of primary principal investigator who is responsible for this project. If there is more than one you may list them as well. e.g., J.C. Porter/T.W. Day.
4. Duration/Months: The number of months this budget period is for. e.g., 02/01/05–07/31/05 = 6 months, the number 6 will go into that space.
5. The Grant Project Number is assigned by Florida Sea Grant.

Lines A1a through line A2h:

6. Column E: The Number of People involved with each line item

7. Column F: Cumulative Man Months committed by all individuals identified in the line item.

8. Column G: Sea Grant Funds represents the amount of federal funding you are requesting from Sea Grant.

9. Column H: This is the amount of Match Funding that you and your institution will provide. One dollar of matching will need to be provided for every two dollars of federal funding received. Any form of pass-through federal dollars cannot be used as matching funds.

10. Each salary line item will require a justification on the Budget Justification page. (See instructions below.) For line A2h you may type in your own description on the 90-4.

11. Line B: Fringe Benefits, represents the cumulative amount for all employees.

12. Line C: Each item must be separately identified and justified in the budget justification page of the grant.

13. Line D: Expendable Supplies and Equipment. You must break down the cost of your expendable supplies in the budget justification, by category.

14. Line E 1+2: Travel. The cumulative costs for domestic and international travel will need to be shown separately. Make sure in your justification that you identify each trip that will take place and report its cost separately. Identify the cost for each category of expenses for each trip (e.g. flights, hotel, mileage, etc.).

15. Line F: Publications. Make sure that the cumulative cost of this line has been justified in the budget justification page of the grant.

16. Lines G 1-9: Other Cost. Some of the major components of the other cost section have been identified for you. Make sure you justify each line item in the justification section of your proposal. Two lines have been left blank so you may write your own description. Misc. is not considered a valid description; if you use the caption Misc. make sure it is for a small amount and break down the cost of these items in your proposal budget justification section.

17. Line TDC: The total direct cost line is the sum of all the direct project costs identified by the Grant Budget Period.

18. Line MTDC: This is the Modified Total Direct Cost line. The amount that goes here is the amount of direct costs that will have University Indirect Costs (IDC) assessed.

19. Line IDC: Indirect Cost – Enter your IDC percent in the appropriate column and on its corresponding line. Multiply the MTDC line for each column by the IDC % that applies to each line in that column. Please note there is a line called “Other IDC” if you feel your IDC calculation does not fit the budget form enter the amount of IDC required for each column and explain it in the Budget Justification. The indirect cost will vary from institution to institution depending on what was negotiated between the federal government and your institution. The amount will not always be the same as the total direct cost line.

D. BUDGET JUSTIFICATION: Instructions for completing the budget justification section of the proposal appear below. Remember, the budget proposed in the Statement of Interest must not be exceeded in the Full Proposal. This section must be detailed enough to satisfy university and federal fiscal staff. Each line item in the budget will need to be justified. Note: Do not over-match; matching funds need be only 50% of the Federal request, no more. Please include a copy of your current IDC rate agreement and the fringe rate amount identifying what is included in the fringe rate.

The proposal Budget Justification should track directly with each line of the 90-4 budget form, giving item-by-item justifications for expenses. It is important to explain the items listed on the budget form. Tell major duties of personnel and percentages of time for graduate students (e.g., “Laboratory Technologist I – This employee will be a 1/3 time appointment and will perform the following duties.) Although students are appropriate and significant components of Sea Grant projects, federal funds cannot be spent on student expenses for class work or thesis manuscript-related activities, such as word processing, after the research is finished.

Each piece of capital or permanent equipment must be listed separately along with the cost, a brief description, and the purpose of each item. Include a lease vs. purchase analysis for each item requested. Capital equipment and office or general equipment must be approved by the federal office before purchasing or leasing. Construction funds and purchase or repair of vessels and vehicles are not eligible for Sea Grant funding but prior approval of rental for vessels or vehicles may be obtained from the agency. Rates per hour or trip and estimated number of hours needed should be given.

For travel, give the formula for deriving the proposed amount (e.g., number of miles X rate per mile to some destination so many times a year). Remember to include estimated airplane fare or mileage allowance rate, per diem, lodging and or food and incidental rates and number of days and personnel. This information is required for each trip, including location if possible.

Do not include costs for reprints or publication page charges. Manuscript, illustration preparation costs are allowable.

Consultants must be justified as essential to the project, not just convenient. The Federal office must also approve them in advance based upon this justification. Rates and estimated number of hours should be stated. Biographical Data Sheets must also be included for consultants. Florida Sea Grant will give preference to projects that make use of students rather than technicians or consultants to conduct the work.

The Budget Justification also should include a description per line of each source of matching funds, particularly from user groups. Institutional matching funds should be distinguished from those obtained from participating users. Institutional matching funds are in-kind items such as faculty salaries and overhead, operating expenses on campus, etc., while extramural funds are so-called hard dollars, represented by actual dollars given to the project, labor supplied, etc. In the review process, extramural matching funds are an advantage as they demonstrate end-user commitment. Note: matching funds on the budget form should not exceed the 2 federal dollars to 1 non-federal dollar ratio.

E. PROPOSAL NARRATIVE SECTIONS: Use no more than 15 pages of single-spaced 11 point New Times Roman font for this narrative, including embedded tables, figures and the list of literature citations.

PROJECT TITLE: Please make this succinct and explicitly reflect both the (1) scientific aim and (2) anticipated application and intent of the project.

INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE: This section needs to address both the scientific rationale for the project, and quantify from a practical standpoint that the issue is a high priority. Identify the specific priority from section B that you are responding to with the research proposal. Describe using quantitative information the issue, the magnitude of the situation or opportunity, and the relevance of the issue or problem to Florida, regional, and national needs. Describe why this topic important and what makes the project innovative. Projects that ultimately contribute to environmental, social and/or economic sustainability of the coast or ocean fare best. For Technology Transfer Projects, this is the section where you will explain the need for the new product, tool or technology and how it will be used in a way that addresses a priority ocean or coastal issue in Florida.

GOAL AND OBJECTIVES: In one sentence, concisely state the overall goal of the proposed project. Then, please number and list the objectives. Do not list methods or say the aim is to “get a better understanding.” Proposals must state objectives in a way that enables measurable comparison to expected project results. Be realistic and do not list too many objectives.

PROJECT DESIGN: Describe in detail the overall project design. If a hypothesis is being tested, state the hypothesis. Explain how it will be tested. Describe specific methodology and major aspects such as the spatial and temporal scale, controls, replication, sampling, surveys, selection of models, calibration, validation, etc. If the project involves developing new policies, tools, or technologies explain clearly how their effectiveness will be evaluated. Describe how this work would add to the body of knowledge in your discipline. What is the national significance of this idea? Include literature references. For Research to Application projects, describe the various elements of the implementation procedure. For Technology Transfer Projects, explain in as much detail as possible the steps that will be taken by your team, working in partnership with the private sector end-user, to achieve a successful transfer of technology to commercial production in the two-year time frame.

PARTICIPANTS AND CO-SPONSORS: Identify the industry, agency, or other participants. Describe their role (e.g., matching funds, vessel time, personnel, etc.). Proposals should explicitly identify extramural co-sponsors and clearly describe their commitment to funding and participation. For all proposals: to be considered for funding, you must specifically identify the end-user and you must include a letter with the proposal from that end-user (one or more) where they explain how they have been involved in the development of the project and how they will ultimately benefit from the results. We understand that it sometimes takes many years for research projects to have impacts – however, the end user can identify that the project is taking an appropriate step towards a defined outcome. For Technology Transfer Projects we expect that the letter from the end-user will tell us specifically, from their perspective, how the partnership will happen in order to have a technology transfer occur in the two year time-frame.

STUDENT PARTICIPATION AND SUPPORT IS MANDATORY: A core element of the Florida Sea Grant mission is education and we expect that research funds will support students. At least one student must be supported (wholly or in part, with a match from your institute) on the grant and we will give preference to projects that support multiple students over those that use funds to pay salary of technical support staff, post-doctoral associates, faculty members, or consultants. In this section briefly explain the role that the student will play in conducting the proposed research.

ROLE OF INVESTIGATORS: For projects with more than one investigator, explain the specific role of each co-PI, associate investigator and collaborator.

EXPECTED RESULTS, APPLICATIONS AND BENEFITS: In turn, in distinct parts of the text, describe the expected (1) scientific/academic and (2) applied outcomes of the project. If the objectives are attained, how would the problem to be solved create new commercial opportunities, improve technological and economic efficiency, improve management decisions, etc., and also advance this field of scholarship? What Florida, regional or national impact is envisioned? For Technology Transfer Projects, explain how the new product will benefit the economy or safety / quality of life of coastal residents.

LITERATURE CITED: Provide complete reference information, per your disciplinary reviewed literature format but always including title of article (e.g., author, date, title, journal, pages). Up-to-date citations are expected.

F. FLORIDA SEA GRANT BIOGRAPHICAL DATA SHEET: Unless there is a change in Investigator status you may attach the biographical data sheet that you completed for the Statement of Interest. Please complete the one-page (maximum) form for each principal and associate investigator. This will help to evaluate qualifications and past performance, consistent with stage of career development.

G. LETTERS OF SUPPORT, ETC. You may append letters of support or additional materials.

H. COST SHARING LETTER

SUBMITTING THE PROPOSAL

Submitting a proposal to Florida Sea Grant can now be accomplished electronically via the following web-link (http://seagrant.ifas.ufl.edu/CallForProposals/proposalsubmission/). You must submit your proposal using Florida Sea Grant’s on-line submittal system by 4 PM, May 29, 2015, or earlier if possible. Please note that none of the proposal preparation expenditures are to be charged to any current Sea Grant project.