Eligibility

Award Conditions & Limitations

1. One Cover Page is required for every proposal (linked above).
2. 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, specify the total amount of funding requested, and list the proposed project start date.
• Projects must be initiated July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2026.
• The proposed start date must be three to eight weeks from the date the proposal is submitted to COAST.
• Projects may be up to 12 months in duration.
• ​Provide names and contact information for the Lead PI and any co-PIs. 
• Provide name and contact information for Grants Office personnel submitting the proposal.
• Provide the names and contact information for three suggested 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. 

1. One set of Signature Pages must be completed for each department with one or more PIs requesting funding (linked above). These pages should not be completed by departments with PIs who are participating in the proposal but are not requesting funding.
• ​​Provide the proposal title, amount of funding requested and PI name(s) and contact information. The PI(s) must sign the form. 
  
• ​If there is more than one PI participating from the department, please cut, paste and complete the PI section as needed.
• Note: the amount may be less than the total amount requested if PIs from different departments are each requesting funding.  
• Please contact Kimberly Jassowski ([email protected]) if you need help modifying the form.
• 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.

1. ​Urgency of the Request (1-page limit): Explain the need for short-term funding within the next 12 months. Explain why the proposed work must be initiated in the next three to eight weeks.
2. Intellectual Merit and Need (3-page limit): Describe in detail the proposed activity(ies) for which funding is requested. Describe the purpose of and need for the proposed activity, including a well-developed rationale and a strong scientific basis with clear research questions. Indicate whether this is a new activity or augments existing work. Clarify the nature of each participant’s contribution to the project making clear how the collaboration, if applicable, will increase the scope or significance of the proposed project and its contribution to the discipline. Proposals for work outside of California must make clear how the work benefits CSU faculty members and students. 
• ​​The activities described in this section should be reflected in the Implementation Plan. 
3. ​Potential for Student Involvement (1-page limit): Describe the nature and extent of involvement of undergraduate and graduate students in the project.
1. ​List the number of undergraduate and graduate students that will participate in the project and indicate whether or not they are already working with you (i.e., “in your lab”). 
• ​​If you will be recruiting new students to work on this project, describe your strategy for actively recruiting 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+; first-in-family; economically disadvantaged; veterans; and students with disabilities.
2. Describe in detail your strategy(ies) for making students from historically excluded groups feel included and supported during their participation in this project. 
• ​Please note that simply saying you mentor students from diverse backgrounds is not sufficient. We are specifically interested in HOW you mentor students whose backgrounds differ from yours. What culturally-aware mentoring practices do you employ? 
3. See Ahmad AS, Sabat I, Trump-Steele R and King E (2019) Evidence-Based Strategies for Improving Diversity and Inclusion in Undergraduate Research Labs. Front. Psychol. 10:1305. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01305​ and Chaudhary VB, Berhe AA (2020) Ten simple rules for building an antiracist lab. PLoS Comput Biol 16(10): e1008210 for information and examples.  ​
4. ​Implementation Plan (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.
   
5. ​References (no page limit): Use the APA author-year format for in-text citations² and any standard, consistent format for the reference list. ​
   

1. Use the Rapid Response Budget Template to create a line-item budget (linked above). 
   
2. Provide a detailed budget justification. There is a limit of 2 pages per campus for the justification.
3. A separate budget and justification must be provided for each campus requesting support. 
   

1. A two-page curriculum vitae (CV) 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.
   
2. A list of all current and pending internal and external support for research/scholarship must be submitted for each PI. 
   
3. 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 the Dean must explicitly state that no other source of funding is available.
   
4. 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.