Diverse Student Participation
When awardees are selecting students to be involved in the project, it is expected that PIs not only consider but actively recruit students from groups that have been historically excluded from marine and coastal science, including students who are Hispanic, Latina/o, Black or African American, Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native or a combination of ethnicities; noncitizens; female; LGBTQIA+; economically disadvantaged; veterans; and students with disabilities. Students of any race, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, immigration status, national origin, age, dis/ability or veteran status should be welcomed and encouraged to participate in STEM research.
Eligibility
All CSU faculty members and research associates (broadly defined) are eligible and encouraged to apply. All PIs must have PI status on their home campus. Applicants may be Lead PI on only one proposal but can be co-PI on other proposals. Applicants may be co-PI on multiple proposals. Priority will be given to full-time Unit 3 members. If the Lead PI is not tenured/tenure-track, a tenured/tenure-track faculty member from the PI’s campus must be listed as a co-PI. Students are not eligible to apply.
Anyone who meets any of the following conditions may NOT apply:
- Has an active GDP award. This includes any no-cost extensions (NCEs).
- Received a GDP award within the last 36 months but have not submitted a full proposal for external funding yet.
PIs who received a GDP award more than 36 months prior are eligible to respond to this RFP regardless of outstanding obligations or the outcomes of prior funding.
CSU staff and members of the COAST Executive Committee may be Lead PI or co-PIs but may not receive academic year reassigned time, academic year additional employment and summer salary support.
Award Conditions & Limitations
Justified and normally allowable expenses such as PI support (e.g., academic year reassigned time, academic year additional employment, summer salary), support for student assistants, supplies and services, and travel will be considered as long as they clearly contribute to proposal development. Funding for staff positions may be requested only if it directly contributes to the science itself. Funding may not be requested for staff positions for grant administration or clerical work. Funds may be requested for acquisition of capital equipment over $5,000 with a life of more than one (1) year with additional justification (see Additional Materials, item e). No cost-share is required.
Funding provided originates from legislatively appropriated funds. Funds will be transferred to the award recipient’s campus by Interagency Financial Transaction (IFT). Awardees will work with their campus accounting staff to designate the location for award financial management. This location may include the awardee’s college, department, or an auxiliary, research foundation, or corporation (hereafter referred to as auxiliary). If an auxiliary is designated for award financial management, the auxiliary will incur project expenses and then invoice the state side. Regardless of where awards are managed, they are not subject to campus indirect costs (facilities and administrative fees)1 or any other type of fee from any source.
Award recipients must develop full-length proposals to external funding agencies or organizations that will further COAST’s goals and objectives and/or make use of the COAST network. All funds awarded must be used for the specific purposes requested and approved and may not be converted to other uses without prior authorization. Work must be conducted between May 1, 2025, and October 31, 2026. A six-month NCE will be allowed with adequate justification and a revised budget. A NCE must be requested no less than 30 days before the award end date. Only one NCE will be allowed.
Individual applicants may participate in multiple proposals but may submit only one request for PI support in response to this RFP; multiple requests for PI support will disqualify all requests by that applicant.
Awards will not be given to individuals to write or complete manuscripts.
PI support
Reassigned time funding is provided based on the system-wide Minimum Annual Rate for Assistant Professor/Lecturer B. This rate is projected to be $2,563 per semester weighted teaching unit (WTU) and $1,709 per quarter WTU as of July 1, 20252. Funding for benefits for academic year reassigned time support will not be provided. Reassigned time funding, if awarded, may not be deferred for use beyond October 31, 2026.
Academic year additional employment and summer salary funding, if awarded, may be used after October 31, 2026, if requested as part of a NCE following the procedure described above and approved by COAST. Any PI support that is unused at the end of the award period (including a NCE period) will be forfeit and returned to COAST.
Appropriate taxes may be deducted from academic year additional employment and summer salary by the PI’s home campus. It is incumbent upon each applicant to determine if s/he can receive academic year additional employment or summer salary and the mechanism by which it will be paid BEFORE responding to this RFP. This information must be supplied in a letter as part of the application (see Additional Materials in the following section). NOTE: academic year additional employment and/or summer salary will be administered through the awardees’ Dean’s office and not the campus auxiliary/foundation/corporation/etc.
All funding described in this announcement is contingent upon COAST’s receipt of legislatively appropriated funds from the California State University.
Proposal Materials, Preparation & Submission Procedures
Proposals are due by Tuesday, September 10, 2024, 5:00 p.m. Pacific time. Proposals received after the deadline will not be considered.
Proposals must be routed through and reviewed by campus pre-award offices in accordance with standard campus procedures and policies. Preparation of this proposal should follow the same channels as all other proposals for extramural funding.
Proposals must be submitted through the campus’ pre-award office as a single pdf file to [email protected] using the Cover Pages (required for all proposals) and Principal Investigator Pages (if necessary) provided above. Proposals submitted directly by applicants will be returned without consideration.
Successful proposals will clearly demonstrate understanding and support of COAST’s mission, goals and objectives (
http://www.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/research/coast/about/Pages/about.aspx). The external sponsor to whom the full proposal will be directed must be identified and detail provided on the specific program to be targeted, the projected submission date, and evidence of sponsor interest in the research/educational project proposed. Delineation of the sources to which the PI(s) plans to apply for funding is an essential part of the application.
Proposals must be submitted using a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman, Arial, etc.), single spaced, and have margins of one inch on all sides. The following elements must be included:
1) Cover Pages
- One set of Cover Pages is required for every proposal (linked above).
- All information must be typed and the form must be included with the rest of the application materials in one single pdf file. All information is required.
- Provide the proposal title and specify the total amount of funding requested, number of CSU campuses involved, and whether funds are requested to develop a new proposal for external funding or to revise an existing proposal for external funding and resubmit it.
- Provide names and contact information for the Lead PI and any co-PIs.
- Identify the funding agency and solicitation or program that will be targeted and provide information on the planned full proposal.
- Provide name and contact information for Grants Office personnel submitting the proposal.
- Provide the names and contact information for three suggested CSU reviewers.
- These reviewers must be CSU faculty members or research associates and may not be from your home campus or anyone with whom there may be a potential conflict of interest.
2) Principal Investigator Support Pages
- One set of Principal Investigator Support Pages is required for each PI requesting academic year reassigned time, additional academic year employment or summer salary support (linked above). These pages are not required for PIs who are not requesting these types of support.
- More than one type of support can be requested.
- For either additional academic year employment or summer salary, use days or months as the unit time. Do NOT use weeks. Indicate the unit time: do not provide a number without a unit.
- If benefit support is requested for either additional academic year employment or summer salary, please include that cost in the Cost per unit time amount (please see item 6d below for additional detail on requesting benefits support).
- Provide the contact information and authorized signature for the PI’s Chair, Dean, Dean’s Resource Manager/Budget Analyst and Campus Pre-Award Officer.
- All information except signatures must be typed.
- Wet, digital and electronic signatures are acceptable.
- Signed forms must be scanned and included with the rest of the application materials in one single pdf file.
3) Project Summary
Provide a summary of the proposed activity no more than 300 words in length. The Project Summary should consist of an overview and a statement on the intellectual merit of the proposed activity. The overview should include a description of the activities that will result if the proposal is funded and a statement of objectives and methods to be employed. The statement on intellectual merit should describe the potential of the proposed activity to advance knowledge. If the proposal is funded, the Project Summary will be posted on the COAST website. The Project Summary is not included in the specific page limits detailed below.
4) Narrative
Page limits for each section of the narrative are provided below. Page limits include tables and figures, but they do not include the Project Summary, References, Cover or Signature Pages. Do not begin text of application on the Cover Page.
A strong proposal will clearly detail 1) the significance of the project; 2) how submission of a full proposal will be facilitated by the COAST award; and 3) the potential to attract significant external funding to sustain a long-term effort research program. The proposal should be written for reviewers who are not experts in the applicant’s specific field.
Please use the headings below to organize your narrative. Note that these elements comprise the evaluation criteria (point value provided in parentheses).
- Intellectual Merit and Need (50 points, 5-page limit): Describe in detail the proposed activity for which funding is requested. Within the context of previous work on this topic, describe the purpose of, need for, and originality of the proposed activity. Indicate whether this project breaks new ground or is part of continuing activity and describe the contribution this work will make to your discipline. Detail the nature of each participant’s contribution to the project and discuss how any collaborations increase the scope and significance of the proposed project. Proposals for work outside of CA must make clear how the work benefits CSU faculty members and students.
- Strategy for securing extramural funding (20 points, 1-page limit): Describe your intent and strategy for securing extramural funding.
- Describe in detail the funding agency and program you plan to apply to.
- Discuss how the proposed activity aligns with the targeted funding agency’s goals and objectives.
- Provide documentation of the sponsor’s interest in the specific project or type of project proposed, such as examples of recently funded projects similar in nature.
- It is highly recommended that you contact the program officer or appropriate personnel at the targeted funding agency to discuss your ideas and determine if your work is a good fit for the program. Please provide details of this interaction.
- If planning to submit an unsolicited proposal, demonstrate that the target agency has a track record of accepting unsolicited proposals of the type planned.
- If the targeted funding opportunity requires cost-match, the source of the match must be identified.
- Potential for Student Involvement (10 points, 1-page limit): Describe the nature and extent of involvement of undergraduate and graduate students in the project. Awardees are expected to welcome students of any race, ethnicity, color, religion, immigration status, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, national origin, age, dis/ability or veteran status.
- Implementation Plan (10 points, 1-page limit): Provide a work plan with a timeline that includes the specific activities the PI(s) will engage in during the award period. The plan should reference activities described in detail in the Intellectual Merit and Need section.
- References (no points, no page limit): Use the APA author-year format for in-text citations3 and any standard, consistent format for the reference list.
5) Budget and Justification (10 points)
- Use the GDP Budget Template to create a line-item budget (linked above). The template has three tabs: Year 1, Year 2 and Cumulative.
- For reassigned time, use the rates listed on the Award Conditions & Limitations section of this RFP.
- Provide a detailed budget justification. There is a limit of 2 pages per campus for the justification.
- A separate budget and justification must be provided for each campus requesting support.
6) Additional Materials
- A curriculum vitae (CV; 3-page limit) must be included for each PI. CVs should include a complete education history and appropriate research (including publications) and professional activities covering at least the last three years. NIH and NSF biographical sketches are good examples of what might be included.
- A list of all current and pending internal and external support for research/scholarship must be submitted for each PI.
- If academic year reassigned time funding is requested, a letter of support from the PI’s Department Chair must be provided indicating that the request 1) is justified for the activity proposed and 2) will be granted to the PI as specified in the proposal if the award is made. In the event that a faculty member and his/her Chair are both applying for an award, the faculty member’s letter should come from his/her Dean, with the same provisions.
- If academic year additional employment and/or summer salary is requested, a letter from the PI’s Dean must be provided 1) indicating that the request is justified for the activity proposed, 2) explaining the mechanism by which the salary will be paid (e.g., wages, special consultant agreement) and 3) detailing any fringe benefit costs that must be paid and the source from which they will be paid. Awards may be used to cover fringe benefit costs only if there is no other source available of funding. If fringe benefit costs are requested, the letter from Dean must explicitly state that no other source of funding is available.
- If requesting funds to acquire capital equipment over $5,000 with a life of more than one (1) year, justification must be provided. Specifically, the applicant must articulate how the capital equipment is integral to the development and submission of a full proposal for extramural funding (1-page limit).
- Requests for support to revise and resubmit existing proposals MUST BE accompanied by
- A copy of the declined proposal and the reviews (panel summary and individual reviews if applicable).
- A separate document describing reviewers’ criticisms and how those weaknesses will be addressed upon resubmission. Applicant(s) must very clearly articulate how GDP funding will facilitate a stronger, more competitive resubmission.
- Faculty members who have received prior funding through COAST within the last five years must include a report on the outcome of that funding using the Prior Funding Report Form (linked above).
Reporting
A progress report will be required nine months after the award period begins and another report will be requested following the end of the 18-month award period. Additional reports may be requested until the conditions of the award are satisfied. Reports must detail progress to date, success in meeting milestones identified in the original timeline, any problems encountered and plans for mitigating such challenges and adjusted timelines if necessary. COAST will provide progress report templates.
Within 24 months of the award date, award recipients are obligated to submit a full proposal to an external funding agency or organization that was generated at least in part as a result of the award. An electronic copy of the complete submitted proposal including all budgets must be provided electronically to Dr. Krista Kamer (
[email protected]), COAST Director. Submission of letters of intent, preliminary proposals and pre-proposals will not fulfill this requirement. Please immediately notify COAST staff when extramural funds are awarded as a result of this program either in whole or in part.
Acknowledgement of Support
The awardee is responsible for assuring that acknowledgment of COAST support is made in any publication (including web pages) or presentation of any material based on or developed under this award by them or their students. COAST should be referred to as CSU Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology (COAST).
Additional funding for this project
Awardees are required to inform COAST of any other CSU support (e.g., CSU-WATER, CSUBIOTECH, STEM-NET, ARI, any other CSU systemwide or campus-based support) secured before or during the award period that also supports these efforts.