Sea Grant Fellowship Application

ANNOUNCEMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Federal Agency Name(s): Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce
Funding Opportunity Title: Fiscal Year 2015 National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A.
Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship
Announcement Type: Initial
Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-OAR-SG-2015-2003978
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.417, Sea Grant Support
Dates: Applicants must submit application materials by 5:00 p.m. local time on February 14,
2014 to eligible Sea Grant Programs. Contact your individual Sea Grant Program (see IV.A. of
the Federal Funding Opportunity for program contact information) for application information.
Selected applications from the sponsoring Sea Grant Program must be received and validated by
Grants.gov by the deadline of 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on March 31, 2014.
Funding Opportunity Description: This notice announces that applications may be submitted for
the 2015 National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship
(Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Program). Sea Grant anticipates funding not less than 30 selected
applicants, of which those assigned to the Legislative branch may be limited to 10. Each award
will be funded at a total of $56,500 in federal funding.

1

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT
I. Funding Opportunity Description
A. Program Objective
In 1979, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) National
Sea Grant College Program, in fulfilling its broad educational responsibilities and legislative
mandate of the Sea Grant Act to provide an educational experience in the policies and
processes of the Legislative and Executive Branches of the Federal Government for students
enrolled in graduate or professional programs that have an interest in ocean, coastal and
Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources, initiated
the Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Program. The Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Program
meets NOAA's Mission goal of "Protect, Restore and Manage the Use of Coastal and Ocean
Resources Through Ecosystem-Based Management."
B. Program Priorities
N/A
C. Program Authority
33 USC 1123(c) 4(F) and 33 USC 1127 (b)
II. Award Information
A. Funding Availability
Depending on FY2015 Congressional appropriations, the quality of applications, and
potential host office participation, Sea Grant anticipates funding not less than 30 selected
applicants, of which those assigned to the Legislative branch may be limited to 10. Each
award will be funded at a total of $56,500 in federal funding.
Awards are for one year (2/1/2015-1/31/2016) and cannot be renewed.
B. Project/Award Period
Awards are anticipated to start on February 1, 2015 and run for one year (12 months)
and cannot be renewed or deferred.
C. Type of Funding Instrument
The funding instrument will be in the form of a cooperative agreement to each individual
Sea Grant Program or Project that will support a selected Fellow. The Sea Grant Program or
Project receives and administers the overall cooperative agreement on behalf of each fellow
2

selected from their program. The award will be a cooperative agreement because of
substantial involvement by the Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Program Manager in mentoring
and hosting successful applicants.
III. Eligibility Information
A. Eligible Applicants
An eligible applicant is any student, regardless of citizenship, who, on February 14,
2014, is enrolled towards a degree in a graduate or professional program, that have an
interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions
affecting those resources. The graduate degree needs to be awarded through a United States
accredited institution of higher education in the United States or U.S. Territories.
B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement
No cost sharing is required.
C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility
This is a onetime fellowship opportunity. Applicants that have participated in the
fellowship in past years will not be eligible to submit an application.
Non-US citizens are responsible for obtaining the appropriate visa to allow them to work
in the Washington, DC area during the fellowship period.
IV. Application and Submission Information
A. Address to Request Application Package
Applicants enrolled towards a degree in a graduate or professional program in a state or
territory served by a Sea Grant program must request application materials and logistical
instructions from that program. The list of Sea Grant programs and contact information may
be found at: http://www.seagrant.noaa.gov/other/programsdirectors.html
Applicants enrolled towards a degree in a graduate or professional program in a state or
territory not served by a Sea Grant program must contact the Agency Contact listed in
section VII to obtain application materials, logistical instructions, and a written referral to a
Sea Grant program. This referral must be included in the application package.

B. Content and Form of Application

3

Applications must adhere to the provisions under "Required Elements" below. Failure to
follow these requirements will result in applications being rejected without review.
Required Elements - An application package must include:
(1) Two signed letters of recommendation, including one from the student's major
professor; if no major professor exists, a faculty person academically knowing the applicant
best may be substituted.
All applicants will be evaluated solely on their application package according to the
criteria listed in Section V. Therefore, letters of endorsement from members of Congress,
friends, or relatives will not be accepted.
(2) A personal education and career goal statement emphasizing the applicant's abilities
and the applicant's expectations from the fellowship experience in the way of career
development (1000 words or less). Placement preference in the legislative or executive
branches of the government may be stated; this preference will be honored to the extent
possible.
(3) Personal and academic curriculum vitae (not to exceed two pages).
(4) Copy of all official undergraduate and graduate student transcripts.
(5) Listing of classes and/or plans for spring 2014, summer 2014 and fall 2014 (not to
exceed one page).
(6) For applicants in a state or territory not served by an eligible Sea Grant program, but
applying through an eligible Sea Grant program, a written statement from the Sea Grant
Knauss Fellowship Program Manager referring the applicant to the most appropriate eligible
Sea Grant program must be included as part of that applicant's application package to the Sea
Grant program.
(7) Applicants for the 2015 Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship fulfill the data sharing
information plan requirement of section VIII. by including the completed, signed declaration
required in this section of the FFO.
Declaration.
I, the undersigned, declare, under penalty of perjury, that:
I understand and agree that I am aware of the data sharing stipulation policy applicable
to all NOAA Federal Funding Opportunities. This statement serves as my "Data/Information
Sharing Plan" insofar as it expressly states that no funds associated with this award will be
used for the collection or creation of any environmental information or data.

4

All statements and information in my application are true and correct at the time of this
application.
Executed on [insert date]: _____________________________
Print or type Name: __________________________________
Signature: _______________________________________________________
Failure to include the exact statement above, signed by the applicant, will result in the
application being disqualified.

Applicants are not required to provide answers to the NOAA NEPA Questionnaire in
their applications.

C. Submission Dates and Times
Eligible applicants must submit application materials by 5:00 p.m. local time February
14, 2014 to a state Sea Grant program. Applicants enrolled towards a degree in a graduate or
professional program in a state or territory served by a Sea Grant Program must submit to
that program. Other applicants must submit their applications to the Sea Grant program to
which they were referred to by the contact listed in section VII.
Selected applications from the sponsoring Sea Grant program are to be received and
validated by Grants.gov by the deadline of 5:00 p.m. EDT on March 31, 2014. Please note:
Validation or rejection of your application by Grants.gov may take up to 2 business days
after submission. Please consider this process in developing your submission time line.
Applications received after the deadline will be rejected/returned to the sender without
further consideration. No facsimile or electronic mail applications will be accepted. For
eligible Sea Grant program applications submitted through Grants.gov, a date and time
receipt indication is included and will be the basis of determining timeliness. Hard copy
applications will only be accepted if a Sea Grant program can justify in writing that internet
access is not available to them at the time of submission. Hard copy applications need to be
received at the National Sea Grant Office no later than the deadline of 5:00 p.m. EDT on
March 31, 2014. Hard copy applications received after the deadline will be rejected/returned
to the sender without further consideration. Hard copy applications will be date and time
stamped when they are received to establish timeliness.

D. Intergovernmental Review
5

Applications under this program are not subject to Executive Order 12372,
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.
E. Funding Restrictions
The Sea Grant program receives and administers the overall cooperative agreement of
$56,500 per student on behalf of each fellow selected from their program. Of this amount,
the eligible Sea Grant program provides $45,000 to each Fellow for stipend and living
expenses (per diem). Of the total cooperative agreement amount, the Sea Grant program
provides $9,000 to cover mandatory health insurance for the fellow and moving expenses.
Any remaining funds of the $9,000 shall be used for the fellow during the fellowship year,
first to satisfy academic degree-related activities, and second for fellowship-related
activities. Finally, up to $2,500 from the total $56,500 can be used to cover placement week
costs. Indirect costs are not allowable from the federal funds either for the fellowships or for
any costs associated with the fellowships, including the $2,500 budgeted for placement week
(see 15 CFR 917.11(e), "Guidelines for Sea Grant Fellowships").
F. Other Submission Requirements
Prior contact/arrangements made with possible host offices before the start of the
placement week will be cause for immediate disqualification from the process.
Application information may be obtained directly from Grants.gov. It may also be
obtained from the eligible Sea Grant program directors. The addresses of the Sea Grant
program directors may be found on Sea Grant's website
(http://seagrant.noaa.gov/WhoWeAre/Leadership/SeaGrantDirectors.aspx).

V. Application Review Information
A. Evaluation Criteria
At the state or territory level review, the evaluation criteria and weighting of the criteria
are as follows:
(1) Recommendations and/or endorsements of student (15 percent total):
Endorsement/content of the letter from the applicant's major professor, and the second letter
of recommendation.

6

(2) Academic record and statement of career goals and objectives of student (45 percent
total): Quality of the applicant's personal education and career goal statement (30 percent);
Strength of academic performance (15 percent).
(3) Additional relevant experience (40 percent total) related to: diversity of education,
extra-curricular activities, honors and awards, and interpersonal, written, and oral
communications skills. For the Knauss Sea Grant Fellowship Program, relevant experience
would be in marine or aquatic-related fields.
At the national review, evaluation criteria are identical to that at the state or territory
level, except that in criteria (1), the letter of endorsement from the sponsoring Sea Grant
program director will also be considered.

B. Review and Selection Process
At the state or territory level, a panel composed of three members, all from the eligible
Sea Grant program, will individually discuss each application based on the evaluation
criteria listed in section V.A. Following this discussion, an individual score will be provided
by each panel member. Once all applications have been discussed and scored, an average
score will be computed for each application. The top scoring applicants will then be
submitted by the eligible Sea Grant program to the National Sea Grant College Program for
the national review along with a signed letter of endorsement from the Sea Grant program
director. Each eligible Sea Grant program may select and forward to the National Sea Grant
College Program no more than six (6) applications based on the evaluation criteria. In
addition, up to six (6) additional applications may be submitted from graduate students
enrolled in universities within the District of Columbia by the eligible Sea Grant program
handling those applications.
For the national review, a review panel will be assembled to select the fellowship
finalists. The panel will include representation from the Sea Grant Association, the National
Sea Grant Advisory Board, and the current class of Fellows. Each panel member is assigned
applications to review before the panel meeting. During the panel meeting, panel members
will discuss each application based on the evaluation criteria listed in section V.A., as well as
the signed letter of endorsement from the sponsoring Sea Grant program director. Following
this discussion, scores for each evaluation criteria will be provided by panel members.
Awards will be made in rank order unless a proposal is justified to be selected out of rank
based upon one or more of the selection factors described in the next section. The selected
applicants will then be placed into either the legislative or executive group by the selecting
official based upon the applicant's stated preference, the application materials submitted, and
the individual comments of the panel members.

7

C. Selection Factors
The Selecting Official will award in order of average score unless the application is
justified to be selected out of rank order based upon any of the following selection factors:
1. Balance/Distribution of funds:
a. Across academic disciplines
b. By types of institutions
c. Geographically
2. Availability of funds
3. Program-specific objectives
4. Degree in scientific area and type of degree sought
The Selecting Official makes final recommendations for award to the Grants Officer
who is authorized to obligate the funds.

D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates
The competitive selection process and subsequent notification to the eligible Sea Grant
Programs will be completed by June 6, 2014. Funds are expected to be awarded by
approximately February 1, 2015, the start date that should be used on the Application for
Federal Assistance (Form 424) for successful applications.
VI. Award Administration Information
A. Award Notices
The National Sea Grant Office will notify, via e-mail, successful and unsuccessful
applicants by informing the eligible Sea Grant program through which the application was
submitted. This email will contain a written summary of the review panel comments. The
eligible Sea Grant program will, in turn, formally notify each successful and unsuccessful
applicant and forward the summary comments provided by the National Sea Grant Office.
The applications that are not ultimately selected for funding will be destroyed one year after
submission date.
To enable the use of a universal identifier and to enhance the quality of information
available to the public as required by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency
8

Act of 2006, to the extent applicable, any proposal awarded in response to this
announcement will be required to use the Central Contractor Registration and Dun and
Bradstreet Universal Numbering System and be subject to reporting requirements, as
identified in OMB guidance published at 2 CFR Parts 25, 170 (2010),
http://ectr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/textidx?c=ecfr&tpi=/ecfrbrowsw/Title02/2cfr25_main_02.tpl and
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/textidx?c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr170_main_02.tpl.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements
Administrative and national policy requirements for all Department of Commerce
awards are contained in the Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements
for Grants and Cooperative Agreements contained in the Federal Register notice of
December 17, 2012 (77 FR 74634). You may obtain a copy of these by notices by contacting
the agency contact(s) under Section VII, or by going to the website at:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html

The National Environmental Policy Act: As defined in Sections 5.05 and Administrative
or Programmatic Functions of NAO 216-6, 6.03.c.3, this is a fellowship project for which
there are no cumulative effects. Thus, it has been categorically excluded from the need to
prepare an Environmental Assessment.

Limitation of Liability: In no event will NOAA or the Department of Commerce be
responsible for proposal preparation costs. Publication of this announcement does not oblige
NOAA to award any specific project.

Unpaid or Delinquent Tax Liability: In accordance with current Federal appropriations
law, NOAA will provide a successful corporate applicant a form to be completed by its
authorized representatives certifying that the corporation has no Federally-assessed unpaid or
delinquent tax liability or recent felony criminal convictions under any federal law.
C. Reporting
Financial reports are to be submitted to the NOAA Grants Office and performance
reports (summary of accomplishments and activities) are to be submitted to the Sea Grant
Knauss Fellowship Program Manager. Financial reports are semi-annual and performance
9

reports are annual. Reports may be required to be submitted either electronically or in hard
copy. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 includes a
requirement for awardees of applicable Federal grants to report information about first-tier
sub-awards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY 2011
or later. All awardees of applicable grants and cooperative agreements are required to report
to the Federal Sub-award Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.FSRS.gov on all subawards over $25,000.
VII. Agency Contacts
Contact Chelsea Berg, Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Program Manager, National Sea
Grant College Program, 1315 East-West Highway, R/SG, Room 11876, Silver Spring, MD
20910; Tel: (301) 734-1085 E-mail: [email protected]
VIII. Other Information
Data Sharing Plan
Environmental data and information, collected and/or created under NOAA
grants/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 (2) years after the data are collected or created), except where
limited by law, regulation, policy or by security requirements.
1. Unless otherwise noted in this federal funding announcement, a Data/Information
Sharing Plan of no more than two pages shall be required as an appendix. A typical plan may
include the types of environmental data and information to be created during the course of
the project; the tentative date by which data will be shared; the standards to be used for
data/metadata format and content; policies addressing data stewardship and preservation;
procedures for providing access, data, and security; and prior experience in publishing such
data. The Data/Information Sharing Plan will be reviewed as part of the NOAA Standard
Evaluation Criteria, Item 1 -- Importance and/or Relevance and Applicability of Proposed
Project to the Mission Goals.
2. The Data/Information Sharing Plan (and any subsequent revisions or updates) will be
made publicly available at time of award and, thereafter, will be posted with the published
data.
3. Failing to share environmental data and information in accordance with the submitted
Data/Information Sharing Plan may lead to disallowed costs and be considered by NOAA
when making future award decisions.

10

Information on NOAA's Environmental Data Management Policy is available under:
http://www.corporateservices.noaa.gov/ames/administrative_orders/chapter_212/212-15.pdf

11