Proposal Selection Process - Overview
The proposal process is initiated in January of each year when the Request for Preliminary Proposals (RFP) is distributed. Project work begins on February 1 of the following year. The rules governing NOAA/Sea Grant deadlines are strictly enforced and the contents of proposals must be complete by the dates given in the Proposal Schedule.
A three-step process has been established for evaluating and selecting proposals:
Step One
Preliminary proposals submitted by deadline are reviewed by the MIT Sea Grant Faculty Committee, the Sea Grant State-Industry Advisory Council, and by senior staff of the MIT Sea Grant College Program. Principal Investigators whose projects would make the best contribution to the overall MIT SG Program are encouraged to write a full proposal. In the past, about half of those submitting preliminary proposals went on to submit full proposals.
Step Two
Full proposals are distributed for extensive peer review. The reviewers' comments (blinded) are made available to the Principal Investigators for response and rebuttal.
Step Three
The full proposal, reviewers' critiques, and the PI's responses are submitted to a panel of reviewers with expertise in the research area of the proposals. The panel meets in September for extensive discussion and to give its final recommendations. The Director, with the concurrence of the Program Monitor and giving due consideration to the Panel's recommendations, selects the proposals to be included in the MIT Sea Grant College Program Omnibus Proposal. The Omnibus is submitted in October to the NOAA Office of Sea Grant for review and acceptance. Funding authorization is finalized within 60 days and Principal Investigators are informed of the result. Based on previous experience, we expect about one-half of the full proposals to receive funding.
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.
