A Principal Investigator wishing to submit a proposal through NGI should work with the sponsored programs office at his/her institution to submit the proposal package electronically to the Program Office. The complete proposal package should consist of the following:

• Cover Sheet


• Project Abstract Summary Form: The Project Abstract Summary succinctly describes the project in plain language that the public can understand and use without the full proposal. If the application is funded, your project abstract information (as submitted) will be made available to public websites and/or databases including USAspending.gov. An abstract must be included and should contain a brief description of the CI, research themes, and proposed activities. The abstract should appear on a separate page, headed with the proposal title, institution’s investigators, total proposed cost and budget period. The summary should be prepared to be readable to a broad audience and contain the following sections:
  • Project Name/Title
  • Primary Contact (name, address, telephone, fax, e-mail)
  • Primary Recipient Institution
  • Other Investigators (name, affiliated institution or agency)
  • Brief Project including objectives and intended benefits
  • Partners


• Results from Prior Research: The results of related projects supported by NOAA and other agencies should be described, including their relation to the currently proposed work. Reference to each prior research award should include the title, agency, award number, Principal Investigators, period of award, and total award. The section should be a brief summary and should not exceed two pages.


• Project Narrative (Description of Work Plan- Research Plan) to include the following:
  
  
  • Description of Work - Research Plan
    
    
    1. Introduction/Narrative - Information contained in this section of the proposal should provide background information and significance of the proposed research.
    
    
    2. Specific Aims/Milestones - Information contained in this section of the proposal should provide the proposed goals and expected outcomes. It should also show when the researcher expects to reach the proposed goals and outcomes.
    
    
    3. Timeline for Milestones (table showing the timeline for the milestones).
    
    
    4. Relationship to NOAA Goals - Information contained in this section of the proposal should show how the proposed research relates to the current NOAA Research Goals identified by the Cooperative Institute.
    
    
    5. Education Outreach Plans
    
    
    6. Description of Project Performance Sites - List facilities that may be used outside of the Cooperative Institute where research will take place that is directly related to the proposed research - this would not include consortium members.


• List of Senior and Key Personnel - Describe their specific role as it relates to the specific aims/milestones.


• Description of Data Sharing - Information in this section of the proposal shows how the final research data will be shared and with whom or explains why data-sharing is not possible at this time and the plan and timeframe for data sharing.


• Publication/Reference Review - Each reference should include the names of all authors in the same sequence they appear in the publications, the article title, the journal or book title, volume number, page numbers, and year of publications. While there is no established page limitation, this section should include bibliographic citations only and should not be used to provide parenthetical information outside of the Research Plan.


• Detailed Budget in Microsoft Excel Format (template)


• Detailed Budget Narrative


• Vitae (single-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins, two (2) pages maximum, per person) - Provide resumes of the Principal Investigator for the project and other key personnel critical to the success of the project. Ensure that resumes address qualifications relevant to conducting the proposed work. Publication lists should be limited to all publications in the last 3 years with up to five other relevant papers.


• Current and Pending Support - For each principal investigator, submit a list which includes project title, supporting agency with grant number, investigator months, dollar value, and duration. Requested values should be listed for pending support.

Accepted submission of data to the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information(NCEI) is one way to satisfy data sharing requirements; however, NCEI is not obligated to accept all submissions and may charge a fee, particularly for large or unusual datasets.

Environmental data and information collected or created under NOAA grants or cooperative agreements must be made discoverable by and accessible to the general public, in a timely fashion (typically within two years), free of charge or at no more than the cost of reproduction, unless an exemption is granted by the NOAA Program. Data should be available in at least one machine-readable format, preferably a widely-used or open-standard format, and should also be accompanied by machine-readable documentation (metadata), preferably based on widely-used or international standards.

Proposal submitters are hereby advised that the final pre-publication manuscripts of scholarly articles produced entirely or primarily with NOAA funding will be required to be submitted to NOAA Institutional Repository after acceptance, and no later than upon publication. Such manuscripts shall be made publicly available by NOAA one year after publication by the journal.

Questions related to the proposal submission process should be directed to Whitley Alford, NGI Program Administrator .