General Guidelines - Regional Research Projects
Regional projects are intended to bring together investigators in the Northeast to target the areas and issues outlined in the Gulf of Maine Regional Ocean Science Plan. PI's from both the natural and social sciences are invited to address these issues in a manner that will provide information useful to decision-makers and to the citizens affected by those decisions. PI's should review the Regional Science Plan carefully to determine whether their research interests coincide with the goals of the Plan.
Funding and Project Duration
The Northeast Sea Grant Programs have set aside funds for regional projects, to be funded at $200,000 over two years. The PI is required to submit a project timeline as part of the proposal process.
Instructions for Proposal Submission
A Massachusetts researcher who wishes to act as either lead PI or Co-PI on a Regional Project must follow these steps in preparing his/her pre-proposal:
- Make contact with MIT Sea Grant Director, Professor Chrys Chryssostomidis to discuss the proposal and indicate your intention of submitting a regional proposal.
- If you have co-PI(s) from another Northeast state, submit the identical pre-proposal to the Sea Grant program in each state involved.
- Pre-proposals must be submitted to all Sea Grant programs on the earliest due date among those Sea Grant programs, as indicated in their RFPs. Pre-proposals should include all information in the submission guidelines and clearly indicate all co-PIs involved, Sea Grant programs involved, and budget information.
- Include a cover letter with the pre-proposal that identifies the other co-PIs, if any, and their Sea Grant program(s) that will receive the pre-proposal, the lead PI, and an indication that all co-PIs have spoken with their Sea Grant directors about the proposal.
- Each co-PI must submit their pre-proposal with the total aggregate budget for the project. No individual state budget is required.
- The Northeast Sea Grant program directors will review the pre-proposals for their responsiveness to the regional priorities of the Gulf of Maine plan, and for their potential benefit to the region.
- The regional pre-proposal will then be reviewed MIT Sea Grant's Joint Advisory Committee to assess merit and determine whether a full proposal will be invited.
Full Proposal submission and review process for regional proposals will be as follows:
- If a full proposal is invited, it will be reviewed by a panel of the Northeast Sea Grant directors.
- The full proposal, if accepted by the Directors' panel, will then be peer-reviewed according to the process established by the program of the lead PI's state program.
- Copies of the full proposal must be sent to all Sea Grant programs involved by the earliest due date among those Sea Grant programs, as indicated in their RFPs.
Please feel free to ask for advice or instruction at any stage of the process from Program Director, Chrys Chryssostomidis, 617-253-7131.
A researcher who wishes to apply for Regional Program funding must adhere to the deadlines given in the Proposal Schedule and follow the online instructions for preparing the Preliminary Proposal and the Full Proposal. Our online forms generally require that you write in Microsoft Word.
The Director may, at his/her discretion, remove a proposal from further consideration at any point in this process if an investigator has overdue obligations to the MIT Sea Grant College Program under a previous research contract.
