Earth System Science and Modeling (ESSM) Division FY25 Notices of Funding Opportunities

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

Q: Where can I find the NOFO documentation?

A: The individual program funding opportunities can be found at cpo.noaa.gov/funding-opportunities.

Q: Where do I register for an eRA Commons account?

A: https://public.era.nih.gov/commonsplus 

Q: Why do I need an eRA Commons account?

A: eRA Commons is the new grants management system being used by NOAA/DOC for tracking applications and managing and reporting on federally funded awards.

Q: Where can I find Applicant and Grantee Training resources for eRA?

A: Applicant and Grantee Training can be found athttps://www.commerce.gov/ocio/programs/gems/applicant-and-grantee-training. Recordings and presentations are available for the following topics:

•  Introduction to eRA and eRA Commons registration

•  Account Management for administrative users

•  Account Management for applications/recipients

•  Application submission and tracking

•  Award acceptance and post-award

•  Post-award and grant closeout

Q: How do I find my Congressional District?

A: Information on the applicant’s Congressional District can be found via https://grantsgovprod.wordpress.com/2017/06/21/how-to-find-your-congressional-district-for-the sf-424-form/.

Q: Where can I find information on eRA formatting requirements?

A: A list and detailed explanation of eRA formatting requirements can be found via https://grants.nih.gov/grants/how-to-apply-application-guide/format-and-write/format-attachments.htm.

Q: Do I submit my application via eRA Commons?

A: No, applications are to be submitted via https://www.grants.gov. You can then check the status of your application in eRA Commons and address errors or warnings.

Q: Where do I submit my application?

A: Applications are to be submitted via https://www.grants.gov.

Q: When are Letters of Intent (LOIs) due for ESSM NOFO competitions?

A: NOFOs have different deadlines for LOIs. The LOI due dates for each program are as follows:

•  September 18, 2024: AC4, ERB, COM, MAPP-Early Career Award

•  October 1, 2024: CVP

•  October 18, 2024: MAPP-Climate Change Projections

Q: How do I submit the LOI?

A: Programs have different instructions for submitting LOIs. Please reference the individual NOFO competitions for submission instructions.

Q: When will I receive a response to the LOI?

A: Responses to LOIs will be sent within 4 weeks of the LOI due date.

Q: Are LOIs required to submit an application?

A: No, LOIs are not required to submit an application, but PIs are strongly encouraged to submit an LOI prior to developing and submitting a full proposal.

Q: When are Proposals due for ESSM NOFO competitions?

A: NOFOs have different Proposal deadlines. The proposal deadlines for each program are as follows:

•  December 9, 2024: AC4, ERB, COM, MAPP-Early Career Award

•  January 17, 2024: CVP

•  January 10, 2024: MAPP-Climate Change Projections

Q: Will proposal applications received after the deadlines still be considered for funding?

 A: No.

Q: Can we submit a proposal to a competition as a private company in collaboration with a DOD laboratory which is not a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC)? Is this lab eligible as a sub-awardee?

A: Likely this is valid for a subaward, but email the program manager for specifics. We can send resources to any institution, but we cannot fund federal employee time.

Q: If I run into issues with the eRA system, who should I contact to resolve problems on the fly?

A: For eRA system/technical issues, we recommend working with your Institutional Representative/Signing Official to contact the eRA help desk (eraservicedesk@mail.nih.gov) for assistance. For basic inquiries, such as checking if an application was received, please reach out to the program official.

Q: If co-PIs are not receiving any funds, can they be listed as co-PIs?

A: You may run into a page limit issue, but it’s okay to list them as co-PIs. However, during the review this may raise concerns - for instance, will the co-PI have the available time to participate in the project if they are unfunded to do so?

Q: Are feds allowed to take travel funding even if they are not allowed to take salary? I know this is a restriction, e.g., on the ERB proposal.

A: Yes. Federal lead investigators who wish to apply to this opportunity must prepare a proposal according to the NOFO guidelines. Federal applicants’ budget items may include travel but not salary.

Q: For a NOAA OAR Lab, can the funding go to the lab and to, say, cooperative institute (CI) employees and/or contractors? And if the funding is going to NOAA and CI, who submits the proposal? And who would the PI be (i.e., a NOAA Fed or a CI associate?)

A: Yes. Either a CI or NOAA lead can be the lead PI on the proposal. Usually all of the funds go to the lab, which then sends the CI funds to the CI since the labs manage their associated CIs. It is up to the lab and associated CI how to designate PIs. Proposals submitted to our NOFOs through grants.gov cannot be associated with the CI award. They are associated with the University. If the CI employee submits through the university, the funds go to the university. Not the CI award. Proposals submitted by labs should follow the instructions for Federal applicants.

Q: If the multi-institution proposal is led by a University, but has a companion proposal from a NOAA lab, should the University proposal (1 of 2) go through grants.gov, and the NOAA lab proposal (2 of 2) go through email?

A: That's correct.

Q: For the LOI, are there specific budget details that need to be included, or will an outline/overview of the budget suffice (as in past years)?

A: An outline or overview of the budget will suffice for the LOI, but please include additional details as needed.

Q: If the lead PI is at a university, and a co-PI is at a CI (with unfunded federal collaborators), is a subaward required? Or can the lead PI and co-PI both submit duplicate applications, with the exception of budgets?

A: Duplicate applications (except for budgets) can be submitted, and a subaward is not required. Be sure to double check the rules with your individual institutions.

Q: If instrument costs are included in the proposal, am I required to stay under the funding limit per year, or per the full length of the proposal?

A: CVP’s competition information sheet states that proposals may exceed the budget maximum guidance with justification, such as instrument costs. Contact the associated program manager for additional questions.

Q: Where can I find the competition information sheets? I am unable to find the documents in Grants.gov or the CPO funding opportunities webpage.

A: The competition sheets can be found under each individual NOFO listed on the CPO funding opportunity webpage: https://cpo.noaa.gov/funding-opportunities/. From here, click on the NOFO link to be redirected to the specific NOFO webpage. Then scroll down the NOFO webpage to find the List of Competitions available under the NOFO, and select the corresponding Information Sheet. (NOTE: unlike in previous years, each individual program competition has a separate NOFO to apply to)

Q: Are non-profit research organizations eligible to apply for each program competition?

 A: Yes. Please be sure that your institution/organization is registered with grants.gov and the System for Award Management (SAM) at SAM.gov, and that it has a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). The UEI is the primary means of identifying entities registered for federal awards.

Q: How many proposals can one person be involved? And, are UK universities eligible to apply as PI?

A: You can be involved in as many proposals as seems feasible for your proposed level of effort (whatever that looks like for you). UK universities may apply as PI, but that institution would just need to make sure it is registered in grants.gov (which could take many weeks to set up so start this process early) and has a SAM ID in order to receive federal funds.

QUESTIONS FOR SPECIFIC COMPETITIONS

AC4: Urban Atmosphere and the Impacts of Climate and Air Quality Mitigation Strategies

Q: What is the maximum/minimum award amount?

A: Maximum is $750K/3 years. Minimum is $50K/year.

Q: Is there a preference for single or multi-chemical detection? How important is quantification?

A: No preference.

Q: Can instrument costs be included in an AC4 proposal? Are there any specifics/additional information regarding instrument costs?

A: Yes. However, there needs to be a cost comparison between lease vs purchase for instruments over $10,000 (if a purchase is required, that needs to be documented and explained in the budget narrative).

Q: Regarding the local stakeholders and decision-makers, would you consider local NWS/WFO as a potential stakeholder? Would you also consider local high/middle schools or school districts as a whole as potential stakeholders or local communities?

A: Yes to both. It's a pretty broad scope.

Q: Does NOAA provide high computational resources for the selected AC4 proposals? Many proposals may require intense computational needs (e.g., high-resolution atmospheric models).

A: NOAA does not provide these resources, but funds can be requested to support computing through this solicitation. Reach out to the program manager for more information.

Q: Is AC4 appropriate in subject and timing to propose measurements during AiRMAPS 2025? 2026? 2027?

A: Yes for 2026 and 2027. For 2025, it would require a conversation. It's a maybe.

ERB: Integrating Observations and Modeling for Process Understanding Relevant to Solar Radiation Modification Research

Q: Must the proposal have SRM research? For example, would a proposal focused on improving datasets that can be used for SRM be permitted?

A: The competition is motivated by the end goal of improving SRM simulations. So a proposal focused on dataset improvement may be relevant but it would depend on what exactly is proposed; submitting an LOI with more information may be the best way to answer this question.

Q: Are ERB proposals limited to the investigation in the stratosphere only?

A: No, ERB proposals may cover any relevant portion of the atmosphere, including the stratosphere and the marine boundary layer.

Q: Are there computing resources available? Will there be an option to submit an HPC allocation request form, similar to the Early Career Award MAPP competition?

A: There will not be an option to submit an HPC allocation request form. You will have to find your own computing resources but you may request computing funds as part of your budget.

Q: Are volcanic aerosols relevant?

A:Yes, if used as a natural analog for SRM.

COM, ERB, AC4: Leveraging Uncrewed Systems Data for Climate Applications

Q: Is there any type of data that is more favored than others? Is there any sort of rubric that we can apply to identify whether specific datasets are relevant to the program?

A: There is no specific UxS data that will be favored more than others. UxS data across marine, terrestrial, and aerial environments (from the deep ocean to the stratosphere, at regional or global scales) are relevant to the competition. There is no rubric available for identifying relevant UxS datasets at this time, but it is an overarching goal of the competition to improve the findability of UxS datasets.

Q: Can the project scope be primarily focused on the processing of already collected data?

A: Yes, the competition supports the analysis of existing UxS data, including improved QA/QC procedures, targeted metadata information, file format standardization, uncertainty quantification, synthesis studies, etc. The competition does not support the collection of new observations or the development of instrumentation.

Q: What does the funding mechanism look like?

A: Funded awards will be managed by the COM program, but all ESSM program funds are considered NOAA/CPO funds, so the funding mechanism is the same.

Q: Is it necessary to include both foci of the call, or is only one enough?

A: 1 is enough.

Q: Is there a strong preference for bringing together disparate datasets from uncrewed platforms, or is it okay to primarily work with one type of platform to pursue science questions?

A: It is okay to work with one type of platform, but I would encourage you to consider including a satellite/reanalysis/modeling component in conjunction with the UxS data, such as validating satellite retrievals, validating results from high-res models, assessing reanalysis products, etc.

Q: Do buoys count as uncrewed systems? For example, ice mass balance buoys.

A: Yes, buoys and drifting assets, in addition to remotely-controlled assets, are relevant to the competition.

CVP: Implementation of the Tropical Pacific Observing System (TPOS) Equatorial Pacific EXperiment (TEPEX-Central) Field Component 
CVP: Implementation of the Tropical Pacific Observing System (TPOS) Equatorial Pacific EXperiment (TEPEX-East) Field Component 

A: See CVP’s website for its program-specific webinar.

MAPP: Climate Change Projections to 2050: Information for Industrial Applications

Q: Can we only refer to publicly available SPEAR data, or can we request or refer to additional datasets that could come online? 

A: Additional datasets please! Ideally, proposals would use multiple datasets and include SPEAR as one amongst many. From the information sheet: "Proposals should include the use of data from NOAA’s SPEAR system in combination with other large ensemble and projection datasets in R&D projects" 

Q: Can we work with any stakeholder? Are there specific requirements for the types of stakeholders? 

A: We don't have specific criteria for the stakeholders. 

Q: Can I collaborate with two industrial partners who share similar needs?

A: Yes

Q: Regarding MAPP Climate Change Projections to 2050, are there preferred industries or stakeholders that NOAA wants to address? 

A: There is a description of the desired application spaces in the Information Sheet. A wide range of industrial applications are of interest. Here is the specific text from the information sheet: "A number of industries including finance and reinsurance, retail, and architecture and engineering, have been engaged with NOAA in recent years and are seeking integrated projections of climate risks to mitigate climate impacts on their operations.”

MAPP: Early career award for exceptional research in Earth System Model Development and Application

Q: Are postdocs at cooperative institutes eligible to apply for the MAPP program Early Career award? What if postdocs have received a faculty offer but have delayed their start?

A: Postdocs are not eligible for the Early Career award, but if a postdoc has received a faculty offer and has delayed their start, they could be eligible. Pending approval from that institution allowing them to apply for the award using their prospective faculty position. 

Q: Is there a limit on years after PhD graduation to be considered as early career?

A: Yes, 8 years after receiving your PhD by the full application deadline.

Q: What is the frequency of the MAPP Early career award?

A: We hope to request applications to this solicitation on a fairly frequent basis, pending Federal budget considerations. We are currently running this competition for the 2nd consecutive year and hope to maintain similar levels of frequency in the future if possible. 

Q: What is the total number of MAPP Early Career awards available this year, and how much is the total award amount and number of years per project? 

A: There would be one award available this year for the early career award. 300k/yr, 1.2M total for 4 years.

Q: Is there a requirement to use NOAA models + data, or can we use the MAPP Early Career call for development + application of other ESMs? Do we need to identify NOAA collaborators?

A: Yes, you would need to identify a NOAA collaborator and preferably co-develop your proposal with them. Your research should be geared towards NOAA mission areas and ideally utilize NOAA models and datasets. However, your research can also focus on other ESMs and datasets.