Grants / Department of Commerce / Department of Commerce

NOAA-OAR-OER-2024-2007964: Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2024 Funding Opportunity

Closed Closed November 8, 2023 Opportunity NOAA-OAR-OER-2024-2007964 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of Department of Commerce notices from 2023.

• Award ceiling$1.0 million
• Award floor$75,000
• Total funding$3.0 million
• Expected awards10
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement, Grant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

Eligible applicants are U.S.-based institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations; U.S. state, tribal, territory, and local governments; for-profit organizations; and federal agencies that possess the statutory authority to accept funding for this type of work. Applicants from institutions that are part of the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute (OECI), which are the University of Rhode Island, Ocean Exploration Trust, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the University of New Hampshire, and the University of Southern Mississippi, are not eligible to apply as these institutions have an annual opportunity to apply for NOAA Ocean Exploration funding via the OECI. Personnel from the above-listed OECI institutions may still collaborate with an eligible U.S.-based applicant on a proposal as a subawardee, but not as a principal (lead) or co-principal investigator. Before proposals from federal agencies other than NOAA can be funded, applicants must affirm that their agency has legal authority to receive funds from another federal agency for this type of work in excess of their appropriation. NOAA and other federal agencies with this legal authority must agree to take FY24 funding for proposed projects (both one and two year projects) and allocate those funds in FY24 (i.e., between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024).Because this notice is not proposing to procure goods or services from applicants, the Economy Act (31 U.S.C. section 1535) does not provide this authority.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Ocean Exploration awards averaged $974,967; this notice allows up to $1.0 million per award.
• Most of the program's money (67% over five years) went to nonprofits.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

NOAA Ocean Exploration is soliciting proposals for ocean exploration-related projects under three themes. By supporting exploration, i.e., discovery through disciplined, diverse observations, NOAA Ocean Exploration seeks to advance our basic understanding of waters under U.S. jurisdiction. Projects under the ocean exploration and discovery and technology themes are restricted to waters under U.S. jurisdiction and should support national priorities such as those in the Strategic Priorities for Ocean Exploration and Characterization of the United States Exclusive Economic Zone (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/NOMEC_OEC_Priorities_Report.pdf) developed per the National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone (https://www.noaa.gov/nomec). Projects under the maritime heritage theme are not restricted to waters under U.S. jurisdiction. All projects should support at least one of NOAA’s science and technology priorities of uncrewed systems, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, ’omics, data, and citizen science (https://sciencecouncil.noaa.gov/NOAA-Science-Technology-Focus-Areas). For Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) funding, NOAA Ocean Exploration is soliciting proposals focused on any one of the following three themes: OCEAN EXPLORATION and DISCOVERY: Proposals should be in support of the NOAA Ocean Exploration mission to explore unknown or poorly known ocean areas, processes, and resources in waters deeper than 200 meters. Thus, NOAA Ocean Exploration is particularly interested in exploration of physical, chemical, and biological environments and processes within the oceanic water column in these deep waters. However, proposals for projects in shallower waters will be considered if they focus on exploration of tropical mesophotic environments. All proposals should be for work within waters under U.S. jurisdiction and describe how the work will address the thematic and geographic priorities for ocean exploration in the Strategic Priorities for Ocean Exploration and Characterization of the United States Exclusive Economic Zone. TECHNOLOGY: Proposals should feature application of new or novel use of existing ocean technologies or innovative methods that could increase the scope and efficiency of acquiring ocean exploration data and expanding its availability and use.

Category: Business and Commerce, Education, Environment, Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.