USC Sea Grant preliminary proposal submission deadline: March 7, 2025 by 5:00 PM PT
USC Sea Grant full proposal submission deadline: June 23, 2025 by 5:00 PM PT
Only applicants who have submitted a letter of intent may submit a full proposal.
Overview of USC Sea Grant Funding Opportunity
The University of Southern California Sea Grant Program (USCSG) is soliciting preliminary proposals for research projects of one or two years’ duration beginning February 1, 2026. Projects should focus on topics pertaining to the “Urban Ocean,” USCSG's primary focus. University faculty and academic staff at California academic or research institutions are eligible to apply, and USCSG encourages interdisciplinary and inter-institutional projects.
USCSG's “Urban Ocean” research program supports projects directed at solving the particular problems associated with urbanization on and adjacent to the coastal zone. The program’s overall aims are to foster the use of sound scientific information to advance our understanding of coastal and ocean resources, to examine the ways we conserve and use these resources, and to support tools for evaluating issues and socio-economic trade-offs that comprise coastal decision making. USCSG works closely with funded researchers to ensure research results will have a broad reach to diverse California constituencies, with particular attention to communities in the Los Angeles region.
USCSG seeks proposals from the natural sciences, social sciences, and engineering of the highest quality and relevance to those strategic focus areas identified in the USCSG Strategic Plan for 2024-2027, which can be accessed
here. USCSG supports research, extension,
and education goals across four strategic areas: Healthy Coastal Ecosystems; Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture; Resilient Communities and Economies; and Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development. Interested applicants are encouraged to review the USCSG
websiteto learn about previously funded work and program directions.
USCSG anticipates funding up to six projects. Proposed activities may be one or two years in duration. Continuation of a project beyond the
first year is subject to demonstration of satisfactory progress by the project investigator. Project budgets will range from $10,000 to $65,000 per year, with the average approximately $50,000 for new research.
For this solicitation, USCSG requires a 50% funding match from non-federal funds. COAST is interested in facilitating CSU faculty members’ ability to apply to and be awarded funds from USCSG. The non-federal match requirement has long been identified as a significant barrier to CSU faculty members applying to USCSG. To reduce this barrier, COAST intends to provide up to $25,000 (not to exceed half of total match required) in match for CSU PIs who
- Serve as lead PI on a proposal or co-PI on a proposal led by a CSU PI (COAST will NOT provide match to CSU PIs on proposals led by non-CSU institutions); and
- Otherwise meet the eligibility requirements of the solicitation (COAST is unable to answer questions regarding eligibility; please contact USCSG directly).
Process for requesting matching funds from COAST
USCSG has a two-phase application process consisting of the submission of preliminary proposals followed by full proposals. Applicants are required to submit the preliminary proposal to USCSG by March 7, 2025, by 5:00 PM PT. Please submit your preliminary proposal to COAST ([email protected]) within 24 hours of submitting it to USCSG (no later than 5:00 PM PT on March 8, 2025).
Please notify COAST of your decision to submit a full proposal by June 1, 2025. COAST staff will provide a letter of commitment to the PI. The PI will then submit a full proposal to USCSG and will include the letter of commitment from COAST. The proposal will then be evaluated consistent with the proposal review and selection process described on the USCSG website. Please note that COAST will not be involved in this process.
CSU faculty who have received provisional match commitment from COAST must submit the following items to COAST by
5:00 pm on June 24, 2025:
- An exact and complete copy of the full proposal submitted to USCSG on June 23, 2025.
- A line-item budget and justification for the provisional match (see Budget guidelines section below).
These materials must be submitted through the campus' pre-award offices as a single PDF file emailed to
[email protected] by the stated deadline.
Proposals recommended for funding by USCSG
USCSG will select proposals for funding and notify COAST as needed. COAST will send a notice of award to the PI’s campus and will transfer the entirety of the matching funds via Interagency Financial Transactions (IFT). The campus will designate the location for the award financial management. This location may include an auxiliary, research foundation, and/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.
Budget guidelines
COAST match funding may be used only for CSU expenses. Eligible expenses include, but are not limited to, CSU faculty member reassigned time funding, academic year additional employment or summer salary; support for CSU students; equipment retained and controlled by CSU; and travel. Use the
Budget Template and follow the instructions below.
The funding for the COAST match originates from legislatively appropriated funds and is subject to CSU Executive Order 753/1000. As such, awards are not subject to campus indirect costs (facilities and administrative fees). Justified direct administrative costs are allowed. This value cannot exceed 10% of modified total direct costs (MTDC). The recipient campus assumes all responsibility for compliance with this provision.
Instructions for completing Budget Template
COAST match funding for the California Sea Grant Indigenous Fisheries and Aquaculture Program and the University of Southern California Sea Grant 2026 Biennial Funding Opportunity may be used only for proposals led by a CSU Principal Investigator (PI) and only for CSU expenses. Proposals can involve more than one CSU campus, and match may be distributed among them. Support for justified and normally allowable expenses may be requested as long as they clearly contribute to the completion of the project. Because all funding must stay within the CSU, subawards are not allowed. If more than one campus is involved, COAST will provide the funding to each campus directly.
The budget justification must be no more than two pages per campus. The amounts for each budget line item requested must be included in the budget justification as specified below. Indirect costs are not allowed, but direct administrative costs are. Contact COAST staff with any questions.
- CSU Senior Personnel: Unit 3 members may request support for academic year reassigned time, academic year additional employment, and/or summer salary. A request may include a combination of these categories.
- To request support for reassigned time (REASSN), use WTUs as the unit.
- To request support for academic year additional employment (ACAD) or summer salary (SUMR), use months as the unit.
- Non-Unit 3 members should request support in the ACAD column of the budget template and use months as the unit.
- Reassigned time funding is provided based on the system-wide Minimum Annual Rate for Assistant Professor/Lecturer B. For budgeting purposes, this rate is projected to be $2,563 per semester weighted teaching unit (WTU) and $1,709 per quarter WTU as of July 1, 2025. For academic years 2026-27 and beyond, use the rate listed here plus 3% per year. Budgets can be adjusted once the actual rate is determined.
- Reassigned time funding, if awarded, may not be deferred for use beyond the end of the initial award period. If CA/USC Sea Grant allows a no-cost extension (NCE), academic year additional employment and summer salary funding from COAST may be used during the NCE.
- Other CSU Personnel: Support for post-doctoral scholars, technical staff, students and other personnel may be requested. Use an hourly or monthly basis as appropriate.
- Fringe benefits: Fringe benefit costs may be included. For Unit 3 members, support for benefits associated with academic year reassigned time may not be requested. Support for benefits associated with academic year additional employment or summer salary may be requested.
- Student tuition and fees: Tuition and fees for students involved in the project may be requested. This amount is excluded from the calculation of modified total direct costs.
- Equipment: Support for tangible, nonexpendable items with a useful life of more than one year and acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit is allowable if the item is necessary to conduct the proposed activities and not otherwise reasonably available and accessible. Equipment must be of the type normally charged as a direct cost to sponsored agreements and acquired in accordance with organizational practice. Equipment is excluded from the calculation of modified total direct costs.
- Please provide a cost estimate for any piece of equipment costing more than $5,000. Cost estimate should be on letterhead from the vendor.
- Travel: Support for transportation, lodging, subsistence and other travel related expenses incurred by PIs, students and other personnel to conduct the proposed activities.
- Materials and supplies: Support for tangible, expendable items other than equipment necessary to carry out the project.
- Publication costs: Support for article publishing charges.
- Other: Support for other direct costs such as sample analysis costs, consultant fees, etc.
- Direct administrative costs: Up to 10% of modified total direct costs may be budgeted as direct administrative costs. Indirect costs are not allowed.
Amounts and expenses budgeted also must be consistent with the proposing organization’s policies and procedures and cost accounting practices used in accumulating and reporting costs.
Costs may not be incurred prior to the award start date. All funds awarded must be used for the specific purposes requested and approved and may not be converted to other uses without prior authorization.
For questions, please contact: