Request for Proposals RFP 2026-2028
This Competition will open January 27, 2025
Texas Sea Grant periodically seeks proposals from investigators at ALL Texas universities and colleges. Others eligible include nonprofit, non-academic institutions; for-profit organizations; state, local and Indian tribal governments; and unaffiliated persons.
Awards will support community-engaged and outcome-oriented research that spans broad areas of natural, physical, social, behavioral and economic sciences and engineering; will improve the understanding, wise use and stewardship of Texas’ coastal and marine resources; and will generate substantial social, economic and environmental impacts in Texas.
Please review the Texas Sea Grant Strategic Plan 2024-2027 upon which, the RFP is based.
Timeline
LOI Webinar: February 7, 2025
- 9:00 AM CST – 10:50 AM CST: LOI Overview and Process;
- 11:00 AM CST – 11:30 AM CST: Introduction to TXSG-Extension Staff
LOI Due Date: March 3, 2025, 5:00 PM CST
LOI Notification Date: March 10, 2025
Full Proposal Workshop Dates: March 11 and 12, 2025
- Full Proposal Submission Process: 10:00 AM CST – 12:00 PM CST;
- TXSG Extension Staff Focus Area Meetings with PIs:
- March 12, 2025, 9:00 AM CST – 11:00 AM CST: Sustainable Fisheries & Aquaculture SFA;
- March 12, 2025, 1:00 PM CST – 3:00 PM CST: Resilient Communities & Economies RCE;
- March 12, 2025, 3:00 PM CST – 5:00 PM CST: Healthy Coastal Ecosystems HCE.
- TXSG Extension Team Office Hours through Friday, April 7, 2025.
- Mondays 3:30 – 5:00 CST PM: February 10 – 24, March 10 – April 7 (except March 3rd).
Full Proposal Due Date: May 5, 2025, 5:00 PM CST
Notice of Intent to Fund: August 22, 2025
Award Start Date: February 1, 2026
Award End Date: January 31, 2028
Frequently Asked Questions
Why isn’t Texas Sea Grant interested in funding research that includes modelling?
We do fund research that includes modelling and have a few active research projects now that include modelling.
What do you really want to fund?
Integrated research and extension projects that improve the understanding, wise use and stewardship of Texas’ coastal and marine resources, community-engaged and outcome-oriented research that spans broad areas of natural, physical, social, behavioral and economic sciences and engineering, policy, law and planning. Therefore, the most competitive research proposals will respond to one or more of the research priorities established for this RFP (see p. 2) and achieve one or more of the focus area(s) and goal(s) identified in the Texas Sea Grant Strategic Plan 2024-2027, and has a community-engaged end user identified.
What outcomes do you want to see?
We want to see outcomes relevant to your proposed research. Everyone project should result in peer-reviewed publications and should train students. These are the default outcomes. We want more than the default outcomes. See list of outcomes in the PPT.
Can I collaborate with someone from outside of Texas?
Yes. The PI must be from a Texas institution/organization. Collaborators can be from outside of Texas.
In the Letter of Intent (LOI) requirements you ask us to identify the Focus Area(s) from the Strategic Plan and to identify the research priority and then to describe the relationship to Texas Sea Grant Focus Area(s)/Research Priorities. Isn’t this redundant?
No. We need you to select the Focus Area and Goal from the Strategic Plan, and we need you to select the Research Priority established by the RFP. Then, we need you to describe in words how your proposed research project relates to the Focus Area, Goal and the Research Priority and how the research will achieve the goal selected. Why? The LOI purpose is to confirm content alignment of the PI’s selected Funding Priority with the TXSG RFP Funding Priorities and programmatic priorities; selection of Focus Area(s), goal(s) and Funding Priorities are required elements for both the LOI and Full Proposal and is one of the review criteria for Full Proposal (see page 6, Review Criteria: Relationship to Texas Sea Grant Priorities – the degree to which the proposed activity relates to focus area(s), goal(s) from the Texas Sea Grant Strategic Plan 2024-2027 and to research priorities identified in this RFP.
Why doesn’t Texas Sea Grant fund mini-grants? Other Sea Grant programs do.
Every Sea Grant program operates differently. Some years we receive a small amount of extra funds from the National Sea Grant Office for specific types of projects and we will give mini-grants when these funds come to us. In other years, we have had leftover funds from research projects that we funded but did not use all of their money and we have redistributed this small amount of leftover funds to new research projects. These mini-grant funds are typically called “program development” funds by the National Sea Grant Office and some Sea Grant Programs budget for these funds annually in their four year omnibus proposals/awards. Texas Sea Grant does not do this. Programmatic funds are not viewed as, counted as, nor coded as “research” in the National Sea Grant Office PIER reporting system and because state programs are required to spend 40-50% of their core federal funds on research, this can become problematic at evaluation time.
Resources
Texas Sea Grant Request for Proposals RFP 2026-2028
Access InfoReady link Texas Sea Grant RFP 2026-2028 Pre-proposal Phase
LETTER OF INTENT (LOI) TEMPLATES
FULL PROPOSAL TEMPLATES
Sea Grant 90-4 Multi-year Budget Template
OMB-approved Demographics Question
NOAA Grants Management Division’s Budget Narrative Guidance
NEPA REQUIREMENT
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law that established a national policy promoting the enhancement of the environment. All NOAA-funded research projects must comply with NEPA.
Proposals selected for funding will be required to submit an Abbreviated Environmental Compliance Questionnaire (AECQ), with inclusion of relevant, proper permits date requested or received status/copies addressed/enclosed, including those by partner institutions/subrecipients. The responsibility for acquiring permits lies with the funded PI; failure to secure permits will result in delayed receipt of funds with a special award condition placed on the pending award which requires satisfying, prior to the start of the project or that part of the scope of work.
AECQ Questionnaire – Step-by-Step Guidance – ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS UTILIZING THE PROMPTS IN THIS GUIDANCE
NSGO Abbreviated Environmental Compliance Questionnaire
AECQ Questionnaire – Fieldwork Example
AECQ Questionnaire – Labwork Example
AECQ Questionnaire – Socioeconomics Example
RFP Contacts
For questions about proposal development, submission and review or the InfoReady Proposal system, please contact Mia Zwolinski, Texas Sea Grant Associate Director, at mzwolinski@tamu.edu or 979-458-0449.