FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

FY2023 MIT SEA GRANT CORE RFP

MIT Sea Grant provides competitive funding opportunities through our Core Request For Proposals (RFP) for Massachusetts university-based research scientists who seek to address marine issues in ways that benefit the Commonwealth.

We held an informational Open House on our FY2023 Core RFP on Thursday, January 27, 2022 to provide guidance for interested applicants (slides). Please email seagrantinfo@mit.edu for a recording of the presentation.

The full RFP may be viewed here. Contacting the MITSG Advisory Services Group to discuss stakeholder groups and outreach relevant to your proposal topic is also strongly encouraged prior to developing your proposal.

This is a unique RFP for MIT Sea Grant that is focusing on one-year scoping studies and/or small-scale pilot projects at a maximum of $100,000, with a 50% match requirement.

The topics for this year are as follows:

1. Scoping studies and/or small-scale analyses for coastal and/or offshore aquaculture and machine learning for fisheries management and the seafood industry. This topic is geared towards studies that answer the preliminary question ‘Can this research study be done?’, and is the initial step to exploring an innovative, cutting-edge research topic or emerging technology that could become the basis of a full research proposal. Proposals should focus on a specific region of Massachusetts coast (e.g., Boston Harbor, North Shore, South Shore) and Gulf of Maine.
2. Scoping studies and/or small-scale analyses for ocean acidification. The focus is on ocean acidification analysis in regions of the Massachusetts coast and Gulf of Maine where data gaps exist. Examples of potential regions include, but are not limited to, the North Shore, South Shore, and Buzzards Bay.
3. Scoping studies to enhance coastal resilience or mitigate marine debris. The focus is on current literature, research being performed, and other data sources in a specific coastal region to identify and categorize research questions that require immediate study. Proposals should focus on a specific region of Massachusetts coast (e.g., Boston Harbor, North Shore, South Shore) and Gulf of Maine. Projects types, including but not limited to meta-analyses, annotated bibliographies, or small scale and/or exploratory field trials are encouraged.

IMPORTANT DATES & DETAILS

RFP Open House: January 27, 2022
Deadline for eSeaGrant Registration: March 25, 2022 by 5:00 pm
Deadline for Letter of Intent Submittal: March 30, 2022 by 5:00 pm
Deadline for Full Proposal Submittal: May 25, 2022 by 5:00 pm
Blinded peer reviewer comments sent to Principal Investigators: July 8, 2022
Optional PI rebuttals due: August 12, 2022 by 5:00 pm
Technical Review Panel Meeting: Late September 2022
Principal Investigators notified of funding decisions: Mid to Late October 2022
Beginning of FY 2023 funding: February 1, 2023

Eligibility: All researchers from academic, research and educational institutions within the state of Massachusetts who are eligible to submit a proposal according to his/her home institution may apply.

Requested Funding: Budget requests may not exceed $100,000, and the project timeline must be performed between 2/1/2023 and 1/31/2024. A 50% non-federal match is required.

Submitting: Submittals are through eSeaGrant, our online proposal system. Please contact Mary Newton Lima, Research Program Coordinator (mnewlim@mit.edu) for access prior to March 25, 2022 in order to avoid missing the deadline due to technical issues.

Please view the full RFP here.