noaa-sec-oed-2015-2004390 ffo report.pdf

ANNOUNCEMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal Agency Name(s): Office of the Under Secretary (USEC), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce

Funding Opportunity Title: National Ocean Sciences Competition for High School Students

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-SEC-OED-2015-2004390

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.008, NOAA Mission-Related

Education Awards

Dates: The deadline for full applications is 11:59:59 pm EDT on April 21, 2015 (note that Office of Education staff will only be available to answer questions until 5 PM EDT). Applications must be submitted online through Grants.gov; no hard copy or email applications will be accepted.

Grants.gov requires applicants to register with the system prior to submitting an application. This registration process can take several weeks and involves multiple steps. In order to allow sufficient time for this process, applicants should register as soon as they decide they intend to apply, even if they are not yet ready to submit their applications. Applications submitted through Grants.gov are automatically date/time stamped when they are validated and submitted to the Agency. PLEASE

NOTE: When submitting through Grants.gov, you will receive 2 emails. An initial email will be sent to confirm your attempt to submit an application. This is NOT a confirmation of acceptance of your application. It may take Grants.gov up to two business days to validate or reject the application and send you a second email. Please keep this in mind in developing your submission timeline.

PLEASE ALSO NOTE: As of December 2012, applicants using the newest version of Adobe

Reader XI may encounter an error that could prevent them from submitting their application through Grants.gov. To check whether you have a compatible version of Adobe Reader installed, visit http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support/technical-support/troubleshooting/verifying-adobe-rea der.html

To download a version of Adobe Reader that is compatible with Grants.gov, visit http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support/technical-support/software/adobe-reader-compatibilit y.html

Funding Opportunity Description: The goal of this funding opportunity is to expose high school students in the United States and its territories to the excitement of ocean sciences and related fields as well as careers in those fields through an academic competition and related activities.

http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support/technical-support/troubleshooting/verifying-adobe-reader.html http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support/technical-support/troubleshooting/verifying-adobe-reader.html http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support/technical-support/software/adobe-reader-compatibility.html http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support/technical-support/software/adobe-reader-compatibility.html

Projects should be 3-5 years in duration, address at least one of the goals of NOAA's Education

Strategic Plan, involve partnerships among academic institutions; other nonprofits, including free-choice learning venues; nongovernmental organizations; state, local and Indian tribal governments in the United States; and have an evaluation that both monitors the quality of the experience for the participants (be they students, teachers, or volunteers) but also the impact of the program on the participants. Partnerships with NOAA Programs and/or Offices and/or involve

NOAA scientists or other personnel as a resource are required, and partnerships with other Federal

Programs and/or Offices to help support program activities are also encouraged. The impact of the proposed project on the target audiences must be measurable during the award period. Although it is expected that the project's focal point will be a tiered academic competition with regional and national-level events involving approximately 2000 students annually, it should also provide additional learning experiences for student participants, their peers and their teachers, such as internships and field or laboratory research experiences. The project should also provide opportunities to connect students with scientists who can serve as mentors and introduce them to

STEM careers, particularly in the ocean sciences. The project should also demonstrate efforts to engage underserved and/or underrepresented student communities.

Proposed projects must be between three and five years in duration and have federal requests of

$1,500,000 to $2,100,000 for all years of the project with annual federal requests of no more than

$300,000 for Year 1 and $450,000 for all subsequent years.

We intend to make one award under this funding announcement and anticipate it will be made by

June 30, 2015. Under this scenario, the project funded under this announcement will have a start date no earlier than August 1, 2015.

FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

1. Overview:

NOAA provides support to improve ocean literacy among our Nation's citizens and to promote a diverse future workforce in ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather, and climate sciences, with the goal of increasing stewardship and informed decision making by and for the

Nation. This funding opportunity supports Science, Technology, Engineering and

Mathematics (STEM) education through a focus on ocean sciences and related fields.

Improving the public's ocean literacy, its awareness of the impact global environmental change has on our Nation's coastal and marine resources, and its understanding of how those resources are managed is critical to meeting the Agency's stewardship mission. To address this mission and to create a pipeline to meet future workforce needs, NOAA engages in and supports formal and informal education activities at local, state, regional, and national levels.

This solicitation supports Goals 1 and 2 of NOAA's Education Strategic Plan

(www.education.noaa.gov/plan), with a specific focus on:

*Outcome 1.2: Educators understand and use environmental literacy principles

*Outcome 1.3: Educators, students, and/or the public collect and use ocean, coastal, Great

Lakes, weather, and climate data in inquiry and evidence-based activities

*Outcome 1.4: Lifelong learners are provided with informal science education opportunities focused on ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather, and climate topics

* Outcome 2.3: A diverse pool of students with degrees in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and other fields critical to NOAA’s mission connect to career paths at NOAA and in related organizations.

The goal of this funding opportunity is to expose high school students in the United States and its territories to the excitement of ocean sciences and related fields as well as careers in those fields through an academic competition and related activities. The successful project will be 3-5 years in duration, address at least one of the goals of NOAA’s Education Strategic

Plan, involve partnerships among academic institutions; other nonprofits, including free-choice learning venues, nongovernmental organizations; state, local and Indian tribal governments in the United States; and have a robust evaluation that both monitors the quality of the experience for the participants (be they students, teachers, or volunteers) and also the impact of the program on the participants (see I.A.3 for additional guidance). Partnerships with NOAA Programs and/or Offices and/or the involvement of NOAA scientists or other personnel as a resource are required, and partnerships with other Federal Programs and/or

Offices to help support program activities are strongly encouraged. Although it is expected that the project’s focal point will be a tiered academic competition with regional and national events involving approximately 2000 students per year, it should also provide additional learning experiences for student participants, their peers and their teachers, such as internships and field and laboratory research experiences. The project should also provide opportunities to connect students with scientists who can serve as mentors and introduce them to STEM careers, particularly in the ocean sciences. The project should also demonstrate efforts to engage underserved and/or underrepresented student communities.

2. Target Audiences

The target audiences for this funding opportunity are high school students and their teachers in the United States, as recent evidence suggests that teens are a critical audience for engaging in global change issues (The Ocean Project, 2009, 2010 and 2011; Cone

Communications, 2006). There is also an interest in reaching groups traditionally underserved and/or underrepresented in Earth System science. To engage these groups, projects should incorporate what is known about best practices for working with teenage audiences and for broadening participation in STEM fields (e.g., BEST 2004; Levine, et al. 2009, The Ocean

Project, 2009, 2010 and 2011; Cone Communications, 2006). A listing of groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields can be found in the 2012 NSF Science and Engineering

Indicators Report at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/start.htm.

3. Project Evaluation:

Project activities should be evaluated for their effectiveness in meeting the proposed project goals and objectives as well as the goal of this funding program. Plans for formative and summative project evaluations should be well constructed and should use best practices for evaluating these types of projects. Discussion of formative and summative evaluations should be included in the project description and should also be reflected in the budget section.

Lastly, potential impacts of the project beyond the award period should be described.

Project evaluation should be handled by external professional evaluators or by internal staff who have significant experience with each type of evaluation and are not otherwise substantively involved with the project. Project evaluation should include assessment of changes in the target audiences' attitudes, knowledge, skills, and/or behaviors as a result of the activities undertaken. The impact of the proposed project on the target audiences must be measurable during the award period.

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/start.htm

To further inform the broad fields of K-12 and informal science education about what was learned from the project, applicants are encouraged to develop appropriate project dissemination strategies. These strategies should utilize a variety of mechanisms to engage community members in discussion of relevant best practices and how to integrate them into future efforts. This may or may not be best accomplished by attending and presenting at annual meetings of professional societies or publishing in professional journals. Project teams must provide summative evaluation reports to NOAA. If applicable, applicants may also post evaluation reports to www.informalscience.org and include any resulting instructional products and materials in the National Science Digital Library (nsdl.org) Science and Math Informal Learning Educators (SMILE) Pathway (www.howtosmile.org).

4. Characteristics of a Successful Project:

The successful project under this funding opportunity will exhibit all the following characteristics:

- Expose high school students in the United States and its territories to the excitement of ocean sciences and related fields as well as careers in those fields through an academic competition and related activities;

- Have an impact area involving a minimum of 20 U.S. states or territories and involve approximately 2000 or more students annually;

- Involve partnerships among academic institutions, free-choice learning venues, and nongovernmental organizations;

- Have partnerships with NOAA Programs and/or Offices and/or involve NOAA scientists or other personnel as a resource;

- Relate to NOAA's mission and focus on one or more of the goals of NOAA's Next

Generation Strategic Plan www.ppi.noaa.gov/ngsp/goals/: healthy oceans; climate adaptation and mitigation; and/or resilient coastal communities and economies;

- Address one or more of the goals and outcomes articulated in the NOAA Education

Strategic Plan (www.education.noaa.gov/plan);

-Incorporate appropriate NOAA assets related to ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather, and climate sciences (see Definitions I.A.6);

-Increase awareness of NOAA and NOAA resources among target audiences;

- Align activities and project content to the principles in: “Ocean Literacy: Essential

Principles of Ocean Sciences" (www.ppi.noaa.gov/ngsp/goals/:);

-Have clearly stated outcomes and objectives that are measurable and appropriate to the target audiences;

-Include a plan for robust project evaluation during the award period that will assess impacts on the target audiences (see section I.A.3, Project Evaluation for further guidance), with the proposed project impact being measurable during the award period. Projects are also encouraged to track changes in attitudes, knowledge, skills, and/or behaviors among target audiences;

-Share information on project impacts and design with NOAA and the appropriate broader science education communities;

- Include a plan to enhance the sustainability of the project by exploring additional financial support avenues, new partnerships and/or determining more cost-efficient ways to run the program.

Additionally, successful projects under this funding opportunity may exhibit the following characteristics where appropriate:

- Align activities and project content to the principles in:

--"Great Lakes Literacy: Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts for Great

Lakes Learning" (http://www.coseegreatlakes.net/downloads/brochure_GL_Literacy.pdf );

--"Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science"

(http://www.globalchange.gov/browse/educators );

--"Estuary Principles & Concepts"

(http://estuaries.noaa.gov/Teachers/Default.aspx?ID=180 );

-Reach high school students from populations traditionally underserved and/or underrepresented in Earth System science (see I.A.2, Target Audiences).

5. Award Dates and Mission Goal:

NOAA anticipates making one award under this announcement by June 30, 2015. The project funded under this announcement will have a start date no earlier than August 1, 2015.

This FFO meets three of NOAA's Mission Goals: Climate Adaptation and Mitigation, Healthy Oceans, and Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies

(www.ppi.noaa.gov/ngsp/goals/).

http://www.coseegreatlakes.net/downloads/brochure_GL_Literacy.pdf http://www.globalchange.gov/browse/educators http://estuaries.noaa.gov/Teachers/Default.aspx?ID=180

6. Definitions:

Earth System Science: an integrated approach to the study of Earth that stresses investigations of the interactions among Earth's components in order to explain Earth dynamics, evolution, and global change. (Source: NASA's Earth Observatory Glossary, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Glossary/index.php?mode=alpha&seg=e).

Environmental literacy: a fundamental understanding of the systems of the natural world, the relationships and interactions between the living and non-living environment, and the ability to understand and utilize scientific evidence to make informed decisions regarding environmental problems (Source: NOAA Education Strategic Plan, available at:

www.education.noaa.gov/plan).

Global change: changes in the global environment (including alterations in climate, land productivity, oceans or other water resources, atmospheric chemistry, and ecological systems) that may alter the capacity of the Earth to sustain life. (Source: Global Change Research Act of 1990, http://www.gcrio.org/gcact1990.html)

NOAA assets: resources, services, or sites that are used to support NOAA's mission and to communicate NOAA research, data, information, and knowledge to the public. These include education materials and programs, data sets and visualizations, subject matter experts, facilities, and managed natural resource areas. A partial listing of NOAA assets can be found at www.oesd.noaa.gov/grants/elg.html, under the "Resources" tab. A summary of NOAA programs and activities sorted by the state or territory in which they are based or focused is available at: www.legislative.noaa.gov/NIYS/. A summary of NOAA resources in various regions of the country is available at:

www.education.noaa.gov/Special_Topics/NOAA_in_Your_Backyard.html. NOAA assets incorporated into education materials can be found at www.education.noaa.gov.

Outcomes: the changes that show movement toward achieving ultimate goals and objectives - e.g., the number of persons who, as a result of their participation in a project, demonstrate changes in: awareness and knowledge of specific concepts and/or issues; interest in and/or attitudes toward certain issues, careers, or courses of action; and behavior or skills.

Outcomes may be changes that occur in the short term (e.g., knowledge, attitudes, skills and aspirations); medium term (e.g., practices and behaviors); or long term (e.g., social, economic, and environmental conditions). (Source: adapted from the Framework for Evaluating Impacts of Informal Science Education Projects (p.35, http://informalscience.org/documents/Eval_Framework.pdf).)

Outputs: the immediate results of an action (e.g., services, events, and products) that document the extent of implementation of a particular activity. They are typically expressed numerically - e.g., the number of educators involved in a capacity-building project or the number of professional development workshops held. (Source: adapted from the Framework for Evaluating Impacts of Informal Science Education Projects (p.35, http://informalscience.org/documents/Eval_Framework.pdf).)

Stewardship: an ethic whereby citizens value and participate in the careful and responsible management of air, land, water, and biodiversity to ensure healthy ecosystems for present and future generations of all life on Earth. Stewardship of the environment can include conservation, protection, regeneration, and restoration of natural ecosystems and incorporates the use of sustainable practices for human actions that impact these resources. (Source: NOAA

Education Strategic Plan, www.education.noaa.gov/plan)

7. References Cited:

BEST (Building Engineering and Science Talent). 2004. The Talent Imperative:

Diversifying America's Science and Engineering Workforce. San Diego, CA: BEST.

Cone Communications. 2006. Millennial Cause Study, The Millenial Generation:

Pro-Social and Empowered to Change the World. Available at:

http://www.conecomm.com/2006-millennial-cause-study

Levine, R., Gonzalez, R., and Martinez-Sussmann, S. 2009. Learner Diversity in Earth

System Science. Paper prepared for the National Research Council 2010 report. Available at:

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/NOAA%20Diversity.pdf.

The Ocean Project. 2009. America, the Ocean, and Climate Change. Available at:

http://theoceanproject.org/download-reports/

The Ocean Project. 2010. America, the Ocean, and Climate Change: Market Research

Findings FAQ: Youth. Available at:

http://theoceanproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/final_youth.pdf

The Ocean Project. 2011. America and the Ocean: Annual Update 2011. Available at:

http://theoceanproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/TOP_AmericaOceansUpdate2011_o nline.pdf

B. Program Priorities

Refer to I.A., Program Objective. There are no other program priorities for this announcement.

C. Program Authority

Authority for this program is provided by the following: 33 USC 893a, as amended by the

America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Reauthorization Act of 2010 ("America COMPETES Reauthorization

Act of 2010"), Pub. L. 111-358, sec. 302.

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

NOAA anticipates the availability of approximately $450,000 of Federal financial assistance in FY 2015 for this solicitation. One award in the form of a grant or cooperative agreement will be made. NOAA will only consider projects that have a duration of 3 to 5 years. The total Federal amount for all years that may be requested from NOAA for the direct and indirect costs of the proposed project shall not exceed $2,100,000 for 5 years. The minimum Federal amount that must be requested from NOAA for all years for the direct and indirect costs is $1,500,000. Applications requesting Federal support from NOAA of less than

$1,500,000 total or more than $2,100,000 total will not be considered for funding through this announcement. Additionally, annual federal requests cannot exceed $300,000 for Year 1 and

$450,000 for all subsequent years.

The amount of funding available through this announcement will be dependent upon final

FY 2015 through FY 2019 budgetary decisions. Publication of this notice does not obligate

DOC/NOAA to award any specific project or to obligate any available funds.

If an applicant incurs any costs prior to receiving an award agreement from an authorized

NOAA Grants Officer, the applicant does so solely at his/her own risk of such costs not being included under the award. The exact amount of funds that may be awarded to cover pre-award costs will be determined in pre-award negotiations between the applicant and

NOAA representatives.

Applications to renew an existing award will be accepted. Applications to supplement an existing award will not be accepted. Multi-year funding may be considered for programs or long-term awards where funding for the subsequent year(s) is anticipated but not provided at the time the initial award is approved and where the estimated budget for future funding periods can be forecast with some degree of reliability.

B. Project/Award Period

Applications must cover a project period of three to five years to be eligible for merit review. Start dates can be August 1, 2015 or later. The Applicant selected to receive funding may be asked to modify the project start date

C. Type of Funding Instrument

The application selected for funding will be funded through a grant or cooperative agreement under the terms of this notice. If the application is funded through a cooperative agreement, it will include substantial involvement of the Federal government which may include, but is not limited to, liaison activities between the grantee and NOAA personnel who are contributing expertise, research experiences, or internships to the project.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education, other nonprofits, and state, local and Indian tribal governments in the United States.

For profit organizations, foreign institutions, and foreign organizations are not eligible to apply, but may be project partners.

Federal and foreign government agencies are not eligible to receive Federal assistance under this announcement, but may be project partners, where the cost for proposed partner activities will be taken out of the partners own operating budget.

An institution may apply only once through this funding opportunity.

An individual may apply only once as a Principal Investigator (PI) through this funding opportunity.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

There is no cost share requirement. However, if appropriate, include in the budget narrative a description of any in-kind resources or equipment that will be provided as well as a description of any other funding sought or obtained that will be used as cost sharing to complement the funding sought from NOAA for this project. Reviewers will consider whether or not the project leverages additional funds or in-kind resources (see evaluation criterion (4), "Project Costs").

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

See sections IV. B. and C. below.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

Application packages are available through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov).

Grants.gov requires applicants to register with the system prior to submitting an application.

This registration process can take several weeks and involves multiple steps. In order to allow sufficient time for this process, applicants should register as soon as they decide they intend to apply, even if they are not yet ready to submit their applications. Also, even if an applicant has registered with Grants.gov previously, the applicant's password may have expired or their System for Award Management (SAM) registration (formerly Central

Contractor Registration [CCR]) may need to be renewed or updated prior to submitting to

Grants.gov. (Note that your CCR username will not work in SAM; you must create a new

SAM User Account to renew or update your registration.) Grants.gov will not accept submissions if the applicant has not been authorized or if credentials are incorrect.

Authorizations and credential corrections can take several days to establish. Please plan accordingly to avoid late submissions. For further information please visit the SAM web portal (https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/).

If any applicant has problems downloading the application forms from Grants.gov or uploading the application into the Grants.gov system, they should contact Grants.gov

Customer Support at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov.

B. Content and Form of Application

Each institution must submit their application through Grants.gov. Applications received after the published deadline (refer to IV.C, Submission Dates and Times) or applications that deviate from the prescribed format (refer to IV.B.1, Required Elements of Applications) will not be reviewed.

See the Office of Education's frequently asked questions site:

www.oesd.noaa.gov/grants/student_comp/faq_page.html for additional guidance during the preparation of applications.

1. Required Elements for Applications

FORM: The page margin on standard letter-size paper should be one inch (2.5 cm) at the top, bottom, left, and right. All pages should be numbered. The typeface should be standard

11-point size or larger and must be clear and easily legible. Color or high-resolution graphics, unusually sized materials, or otherwise unusual materials submitted as part of the application are allowed, but should be employed only when necessary for adequate description of the proposed project. All narrative sections of the full application should be single spaced and consist of the elements described in Section IV.B.1, under the “Content” paragraph.

CONTENT: Applications must include all elements (a) through (i) below; elements (j) and (k) are optional. Failure to provide this information in the required form and within prescribed page limits will result in the application being excluded from further review. Any non-requested elements submitted as part of an application package will be removed from the application prior to merit review.

(a) Required Forms. At the time of full application submission, all applicants must submit the following forms with signatures of the Authorized Representative of the submitting institution. (Note: submission through Grants.gov results in automatic electronic signatures on these forms.):

(i) SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance

(ii) SF-424-A, Budget Information, Non-Construction Programs. Be sure to breakout the 1st year and all subsequent years in Section B of the SF424A

(iii) SF-424-B, Assurances, Non-Construction Programs

(iv) CD-511, Certifications Regarding Lobbying

(v) SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (only if applicable; see instructions on form)

Only the versions of these forms available in Grants.gov are acceptable

(b) Title Page. We provide a recommended title page template available at www.oesd.noaa.gov/grants/student_comp/application_templates.html. The title page should identify the funding opportunity to which you are applying, the project's title, the names of the applicant(s), and the Principal Investigator (PI) and co-PI names, affiliations, complete mailing addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, and fax numbers. The PI listed on the title page should be affiliated with the institution submitting the application; individuals from partnering institutions may be listed as co-PIs. The proposed start and end dates for the project and requested budget should also be included on the title page. The title page should also contain an executive summary of the project that does not exceed 150 words; this summary should be a concise overview of the objectives of the project, the project activities, the location of the project, the expected outcome(s), and the rationale for the work proposed. Project summaries of applications that receive funding may be posted on program-related websites and/or sent to members of Congress.

(c) 15-page Project Description. The project description section must not exceed 15 pages and must follow the requirements in IV.B.1, Required Elements for Applications. Page limits are inclusive of figures and other visual materials, but exclusive of title pages, budget information, references, work plan/milestone chart, data sharing plan, resumes, description of

NOAA involvement, current and pending support, and letters of commitment. A template for the project description can be found online at www.oesd.noaa.gov/grants/student_comp/application_templates.html.

The proposed project must be described completely. The project description should clearly describe the project's goals, implementation, and management. It should provide a full justification for the project. This section should also include:

(i) The objective(s), expected outcomes (see definition in Section I.A.6), and an explanation for how the activities and expected outcomes support the goal of this funding program, the outcomes of the NOAA Education Strategic Plan, and the goals of NOAA's Next

Generation Strategic Plan, as described in section I.A;

(ii) Description of the proposed activities, including: all activities that will be undertaken and/or products that will be created; the need for those products or activities; and the process that will be used to develop, implement, and evaluate all activities and products.

Applications should clearly demonstrate how the proposed project is informed by best practices and should cite appropriate literature references that support the proposed approach.

(iii) A discussion of the project's geographic scale and target audience(s). The application should also describe any efforts that will be undertaken to engage underserved and/or underrepresented student populations and introduce them to STEM subject areas and associated careers, particularly in the ocean sciences;

(iv) A discussion of how the proposed project incorporates ocean, coastal, Great

Lakes, and/or climate sciences and reflects or addresses the Ocean Literacy, Great Lakes

Literacy, Climate Literacy, and/or Estuary Principles & Concepts as applicable;

(v) A discussion of the institutional profiles and capabilities of applicants and partnering institutions;

(vii) A description of how the project will incorporate NOAA assets into the project activities (see definition in Section I.A.6; for a partial listing of NOAA assets, see http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/grants/NOAA_assets.html);

(viii) A description of how the project activities will be evaluated for their effectiveness in meeting stated project goals and objectives as well as the goal of this funding opportunity. Also discuss who will carry out the evaluation, and, if the evaluator is part of the applicant institution, verify that he/she is not otherwise substantively involved in the project.

See Section I.A.3 for further guidance on project evaluation;

(ix) A description of the qualifications and capabilities of the personnel that will be involved in the project; and

(x) A description of how project results will be disseminated beyond the audience immediately involved in the activities of the project and how awareness and use of NOAA resources will increase.

(d) Description of NOAA Involvement in Project. Describe the involvement of any

NOAA partners in the project, including the personnel involved and the activities and tasks that they will undertake. If there is no NOAA partner, this must be clearly indicated on a separate page under a heading, "Description of NOAA Involvement in Project". There is no page limit for this element.

(e) Proposed Work Plan/Milestone Chart. In a chronological fashion, indicate the tasks to be completed by the applicant and other project partners, including specific project deliverables. Provide a timeline of major tasks and potential outcomes covering the duration of the proposed project, including project evaluation. The tasks should relate both to the budget and to the intended deliverables or activities. There is no page limit for this element.

Make sure milestones are broken out per year.

(f) Brief Resumes. For all Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-Principal Investigators

(co-PIs) listed on the title pages, provide resumes of no more than 3 pages per person that include a list of professional and academic credentials. Resumes of additional key personnel from applicant institutions and project partners are optional but recommended, as this will help reviewers to assess the applicants' qualifications.

(g) Current and Pending Support. Describe all current and pending Federal and non-Federal funding, including application(s) to this funding opportunity, for all PIs and co-PIs listed on the title pages of the application. The capability of the designated PIs and co-PIs to complete the proposed work in light of present commitments to other projects must be assessable. Therefore, please list the percentage of time the individuals have committed to other Federal or non-Federal grant-funded projects, and grant applications currently in review.

If any PI or Co-PI has no current or pending funding, this must be clearly indicated on a separate page under a heading "Current and Pending Support". There is no page limit for this element. A template for summarizing Current and Pending Support can be found online at www.oesd.noaa.gov/grants/student_comp/application_templates.html.

(h) Budget. Applications from each applicant must include a budget that contains both a detailed table and a narrative, in addition to the required official budget form (SF-424A). Both the table and the narrative should use the same categories as shown on the SF-424A form and be broken out by year.

The Budget Section should provide enough detail to allow Office of Education staff and the reviewers to evaluate the level of effort proposed by investigators and staff on a specific project. The overall budget must include all applicant expenses anticipated in order to realistically describe for reviewers what resources will be necessary to carry out the project.

When appropriate, the narrative and table must provide details on:

-Personnel salaries and fringe benefits (specifying the salary plus the percent of time and/or number of months devoted to the project for every individual to be paid by the project).

-Travel including per person and per trip costs for transportation, lodging, and meals.

-Equipment and supplies, if applicable.

-Contractual costs, such as anticipated sub-awards. If sub-contracts or sub-awards will be made to project partners or others, the same amount of budget detail provided for the applicant institution's activities (broken down by the categories shown on the SF-424A form) should be provided.

-Other costs, including printing, publications, evaluations, and communication expenses.

-Indirect costs, if applicable. If indirect costs are requested, indirect-cost-rate agreements should be included for the applicant organization. If an applicant does not have an indirect cost rate and wants to include indirect costs, the applicant has up to 90 days after the award start date to submit an indirect cost proposal or cost allocation plan.

Indirect-cost-rate-agreement documentation is not required for sub-awardees. Under 2

C.F.R. § 200.414 “Indirect (F&A) Costs,” any applicant that has never received a negotiated indirect cost rate may elect to charge a de minimis rate of 10% of modified total direct costs which may be used indefinitely. Costs must be consistently charged as either indirect or direct costs, but may not be double charged or inconsistently charged as both pursuant to 2

C.F.R. § 200.403 “Factors affecting allowability of costs.” If chosen, this methodology once elected must be used consistently for all Federal awards until such time as a cooperator chooses to negotiate for a rate, which the non-Federal entity may apply to do at any time.

Applicants should include funding for project evaluation in their budgets. While the costs for project evaluation may vary considerably, 10 to 20 percent of the total budget is a reasonable estimate of costs associated with a comprehensive project evaluation.

If appropriate, include in the budget narrative a description of any in-kind resources or equipment that will be provided as well as a description of any other funding sought or obtained that will be used as cost sharing to complement the funding sought from NOAA for this project.

See www.oesd.noaa.gov/grants/student_comp/application_templates.html for a budget narrative template and model and a budget table model.

There is no page limit for this element.

(i) 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. Environmental data are defined as recorded and derived observations and measurements of the physical, chemical, biological, geological, and geophysical properties and conditions of the oceans, atmosphere, space environment, sun, and solid earth, as well as correlative data, such as socio-economic data, related documentation, and metadata.

We anticipate that proposed projects under this funding announcement will not involve the collection of environmental data. If no data will be collected/created as part of the project, then this element of the application should consist of a single statement (on a separate page, under the heading "Data Sharing Plan") indicating that no data will be collected/created as part of this project. If an applicant's project does involve the collection of environmental data, the

PI should contact one of the Federal Program Officers to discuss the content and form of an appropriate data sharing plan. There is no page limit for this element.

(j) References Cited. If literature references are cited in the project narrative, then a

References Cited section should be included. Each reference should include the names of all authors in the same sequence in which they appear in the publication, the article title, publication or publication title, volume number, page numbers, and year of publication. While there is no established page limit, this section must include bibliographic citations only and must not be used to provide parenthetical information outside the 15-page project description.

If no references are cited in the application, this element of the application should consist of a single statement indicating that there are no references cited.

(k) Letters of Commitment. If substantive partnerships are described in the project description, letters of commitment should be provided. Letters of commitment are important for demonstrating the concrete involvement of project partners and are reviewed as part of the application. Partner institutions that will be participating in capacity-building activities are strongly encouraged to submit letters of commitment indicating their interest in the topic and format of the proposed program, their willingness to participate, and how the program complements their strategic priorities. Letters of commitment from applicants and project partners that demonstrate a commitment on the part of their institutional leadership to implement and sustain the proposed capacity-building activities should also be included.

(l) NEPA Questionnaire. The Office of Education has determined that applicants do not need to provide answers to the NOAA NEPA Questionnaire at this time.

(m) Unique entity identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

Each applicant is required to: (i) Be registered in SAM before submitting its application;

(ii) provide a valid unique entity identifier (e.g. DUNS number) in its application; and (iii) continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency. ITA may not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time ITA is ready to make a

Federal award, ITA may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant.

C. Submission Dates and Times

The deadline for applications is 11:59:59 pm EDT on April 21, 2015 (note that Office of

Education staff will only be available to answer questions until 5 PM EDT). Applications must be submitted online through Grants.gov; no hard copy or email applications will be accepted.

Late applications are neither reviewed nor considered for funding. Full applications submitted through Grants.gov will be accompanied by an automated receipt of the date and time of submission. For applications submitted through Grants.gov, there will be two automated email receipts sent to the application submitter with the date and time of submission (the first email confirms receipt, the second email confirms that there are no errors with your application submission and that it has been forwarded to NOAA for further processing). If both email confirmation receipts are not provided within two (2) days of application submission, contact the Grants.gov Help Desk and oed.grants@noaa.gov. PLEASE NOTE: It may take Grants.gov up to two business days to validate or reject the application. Please keep this in mind in developing your submission timeline. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that all required elements have been appropriately submitted before the deadline.

D. Intergovernmental Review

Applications submitted to this funding opportunity are not subject to Executive Order

12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.

E. Funding Restrictions

There are no funding restrictions.

F. Other Submission Requirements

Please refer to important information in Submission Dates and Times above to help ensure your application is received on time.

Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov APPLY (http://www.grants.gov).

Hard copy and/or email application submissions will not be accepted.

V. Application Review Information

A. Evaluation Criteria

(1) Importance and/or relevance and applicability of proposed project to the program goals (25%): This ascertains whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or relevance to NOAA’s Federal, regional, or local activities. The proposal should address how well the proposed project addresses NOAA’s stated objectives and priorities. Reviewers will evaluate:

• How well the proposed project meets the program objective described in I.A.

• How well the project is aligned with NOAA's Education Strategic Plan

(http://www.education.noaa.gov/noaa_educ.html) and the goals of NOAA's Next Generation

Strategic Plan (www.ppi.noaa.gov/ngsp/goals/);

• Whether the project will introduce high school students to STEM topic areas and associated careers related to the ocean sciences through an academic competition and related activities;

• The extent to which the project incorporates additional learning experiences for student participants, their peers and their teachers, such as internships and field or laboratory research experiences.

• The extent to which ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather and/or climate science topics are incorporated into the project activities and content;

• The extent to which the project will infuse the Ocean Literacy, Great Lakes Literacy, Climate Literacy, Atmospheric Science Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental

Concepts, and/or Estuary Principles & Concepts, if applicable; and

• The extent to which NOAA assets are utilized and NOAA entities and scientists and/or other personnel are involved in the project.

(2) Technical/scientific merit (35%): This assesses whether the approach is technically sound and/or innovative, if the methods are appropriate, and whether there are clear project goals and objectives. Reviewers will evaluate:

• The completeness and adequacy of detail in the project description including clearly stated goals and measurable objectives;

• The overall technical feasibility of the project, including whether the proposed project uses appropriate methods to achieve project outcomes and is likely to be implemented on the scale described;

• The likelihood the project will be implemented on a regional and national scale impacting 2000 or more high school students annually in at least 20 states;

• Whether and how the project staff and their partners plan to recruit student teams from underserved and/or underrepresented student populations;

• The likelihood of meeting milestones and achieving anticipated results in the time proposed; and

• Whether there are appropriate mechanisms to evaluate the project in meeting the anticipated outcomes, covering both the quality of the experience for the participants as well as the impact of the project on them.

(3) Overall Qualifications of Applicants (25%): This ascertains whether the applicant possesses the necessary education, experience, training, facilities, and administrative resources to accomplish the project. Reviewers will evaluate:

• The relevancy of the qualifications and demonstrated ability within their areas of expertise of the applicants, of key personnel who would receive funds from this program, and of key personnel of project’s partners;

• The applicant’s previous experience in managing educational programs that involve extensive partnerships in order to accomplish program goals;

• Whether there is a clear delineation of responsibilities of the project’s key personnel and whether there are adequate communication mechanisms in place for coordinating among project partners;

• The likelihood that the participating institution(s) have the appropriate resources to carry out the proposed activities and that applicant(s) have the ability to complete the proposed project successfully; and

• The extent to which the project partners are contributing meaningfully to the project, including articulation of activities in letters of commitment.

(4) Project Costs (10%): The budget is evaluated to determine if it is realistic and commensurate with the project needs and time-frame. Reviewers will evaluate:

• The adequacy of the proposed resources to accomplish the proposed work within the indicated time-frame;

• Whether the budget is sufficient for the scope of the evaluation planned;

• The extent to which the project leverages additional funds or in-kind resources to accomplish its goals; and

• The adequacy of detail in the budget narrative to allow an informed determination of how well all costs associated with the project are justified.

(5) Outreach and Education (5%): This criterion ascertains whether this project provides a focused and effective education and outreach strategy regarding NOAA’s mission to protect the Nation’s natural resources.

• The likelihood that the project will increase awareness and use of NOAA resources among target audiences; and

• How the outcomes and results of the proposed project will be disseminated to audiences beyond those participating directly in the project.

B. Review and Selection Process

Upon receipt of a completed application by NOAA, an initial administrative review is conducted to determine compliance with requirements and completeness of the application.

Minimum requirements, among other elements, include all of the following:

-Applicant is eligible to apply;

-Application was received on time;

-All required elements of the application are present and follow format requirements;

-The sum of the requested budget is no more than $2,100,000 and no less than $1,500,000 for all years of the project and annual federal requests do not exceed $300,000 for Year 1 and

$450,000 for all subsequent years; and

-Project duration is 3 to 5 years.

Applications that do not meet all of these minimum requirements are neither reviewed nor considered for funding

All applications that meet the eligibility and minimum requirements will be evaluated and scored by a panel of independent reviewers. Reviewers may be Federal or non-Federal experts, each having expertise in a separate area so that the reviewers as a whole cover the spectrum of applications received. The reviewers will score each application using the evaluation criteria and relative weights provided above. A rank order of all applications will be established by averaging the individual review ratings for each application. The review panel will not provide a consensus opinion. The Federal Program Officers (FPOs) will neither vote nor score applications as part of the review process. The FPOs will make their recommendations for funding based on rank order and the selection factors listed in the next section to the Selecting Official, the Director of NOAA Education, who is responsible for making final recommendations to the NOAA Grants Officer.

C. Selection Factors

The Selecting Official will select applications in the rank order established by each panel unless an application is justified to be selected out of rank order based upon one or more of the following factors:

1. Availability of funding;

2.…