Translating Coastal Research into Application | NOAA OAR SG 2022 2007298

Opportunity Information: Apply for NOAA OAR SG 2022 2007298

Translating Coastal Research into Application is a NOAA Sea Grant funding opportunity (NOAA-OAR-SG-2022-2007298) designed to bridge the familiar gap between coastal research results and real-world use by the people who plan for, manage, and live with coastal risks. It sits within the broader National Sea Grant College Program, created by Congress in 1966 and updated in 2020, which focuses on building strong federal-state partnerships that draw on universities and research institutions to solve practical problems and create opportunities in coastal communities. In that same spirit, this opportunity is tied to the U.S. Coastal Research Program (USCRP), a multi-agency effort aimed at coordinating federal coastal research activities, strengthening academic coastal programs, encouraging collaboration, and, most importantly here, improving science translation so funded research actually becomes actionable knowledge.

The core purpose of the competition is to take findings from prior USCRP-funded research, especially research reflected in The Nearshore Report, and move those findings toward application through service delivery, decision support, and sustained engagement with end users. Instead of funding basic research questions from scratch, the emphasis is on translating societally relevant coastal and estuarine physical processes science into practical tools, services, workflows, or other forms of usable decision support that help coastal decision-makers and stakeholders improve resilience planning. Proposals are expected to respond directly to needs or gaps that have been identified by, or are clearly evident from, earlier USCRP projects. In other words, applicants should demonstrate they understand what has already been learned, where the remaining bottlenecks are (for example, data not being accessible, models not being packaged for practitioners, results not being trusted or tailored to local contexts), and how their project will remove those bottlenecks.

Projects must align with one or more of three thematic program areas: (1) long-term coastal evolution, which includes processes like shoreline change, sediment transport, and morphological change over time; (2) extreme storms, including the coastal impacts of major storm events and the information communities need to anticipate and recover from them; and (3) human and ecosystem health, recognizing that coastal hazards and management decisions intersect with both public well-being and ecological conditions. Across these themes, the opportunity stresses that producing actionable science requires integrating a broad range of stakeholder needs with coastal science, rather than delivering one-size-fits-all technical outputs. A key expectation is meaningful engagement with end users so the final products are accessible, equitable, and actually usable in real planning and decision contexts.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, the award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which typically implies substantial involvement or collaboration with the federal sponsor compared with a standard grant. NOAA anticipated roughly $4,000,000 total available under this competition, with about 20 expected awards and an approximate award ceiling of $500,000 per award. The opportunity is listed under CFDA 11.417 and falls under environment, natural resources, and science and technology/R&D-related activity categories. Eligibility is indicated as "others" with additional eligibility clarification referenced in the full notice, meaning applicants would need to confirm the exact eligible applicant types in the complete announcement materials.

Finally, the notice points applicants to supporting resources to shape competitive applications, including The Nearshore Report (as a key source for the research base this program wants translated), a USCRP story map that highlights previously funded projects (useful for identifying what has been done and where translation needs remain), and the Sea Grant General Application Guide, which provides practical instructions and tips for preparing and submitting an application package under Sea Grant processes.

• The Department of Commerce in the environment, natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Translating Coastal Research into Application" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.417.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 10, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 30, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for NOAA OAR SG 2022 2007298

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