Federal and University Partnership to Improve the Safety of Seafood from the Gulf of America

The Food and Drug Administration is soliciting applications for a cooperative agreement to support collaborative research on seafood safety in the Gulf of America, with an application due date of August 21, 2026. This is a single-source award available exclusively to the Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium/Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL); no other applicant types are eligible.

The FDA will commit up to $125,000 for fiscal year 2026, with one award not exceeding $125,000 in total costs (direct plus indirect). The initial award period is one year, with four additional years of continuation recommended and contingent upon satisfactory performance and federal appropriations availability, providing a maximum project period of five years at $125,000 per year.

The cooperative agreement requires substantial FDA programmatic involvement in collaborative research, education, outreach, international initiatives, graduate student internships, and facility sharing. Work is performed at Dauphin Island Sea Lab with FDA scientific, public health, and policy expertise provided by the Human Food Program's Office of Laboratory Operations and Applied Science and Office of Applied Microbiology and Technology.

Evaluation criteria include significance (maximum 10 points), investigator qualifications (10 points), innovation (30 points), approach (25 points), and environment. No cost share is required.

Applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov by 11:59 PM local time on August 21, 2026. Late applications are not accepted. Applicants must complete prior registrations in SAM, eRA Commons, and Grants.gov. The award is designated under CFDA 93.103 (Food and Drug Administration Research) and is subject to 2 CFR Parts 200 and 300, the HHS Grants Policy Statement, and cybersecurity requirements for recipients accessing HHS systems or handling personally identifiable or health information.