FY20 Dr Nancy Foster Scholarship Program | NOAA NOS ONMS 2020 2006239

Opportunity Information: Apply for NOAA NOS ONMS 2020 2006239

The FY20 Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program is a NOAA (Department of Commerce) graduate scholarship opportunity run through the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. Its goal is to financially support students pursuing masters or doctoral degrees in fields tied to the ocean and coastal environment, including oceanography, marine biology, and maritime archaeology, with room for closely related areas such as ocean or coastal engineering, social science, marine education, marine stewardship, and natural resource management. A major emphasis of the program is broadening participation in these fields, and the announcement specifically encourages women and individuals from minority groups to apply.

Eligibility is centered on both citizenship and academic standing. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or citizens of U.S. territories, and they must be applying to, or already accepted by, a graduate program at a U.S. accredited institution. You do not have to be enrolled at the time you apply, but you must be admitted into a graduate program to actually receive an award. Academically, applicants must have at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA to apply, and scholarship recipients must maintain a minimum 3.30 cumulative and term GPA throughout every term of the award.

Financially, the scholarship can provide up to $42,000 per student per year, subject to federal appropriations. That annual amount is described as a 12-month stipend of $30,000 plus an education allowance of up to $12,000. In addition, scholars may receive up to $10,000 to support a required (for most doctoral recipients) short-term collaboration experience at a NOAA facility lasting about 4 to 6 weeks. Importantly, the scholarship is designed to cover student support and educational expenses, not research costs, so applicants should not frame this as a research grant that pays for their thesis or dissertation expenses. Funding duration is limited to the remaining time in a student’s degree program at the time of application, meaning the program will not retroactively fund years already completed. The program also allows one one-year no-cost extension, but it must be requested at least 60 days before the award ends and must include justification and an updated budget.

A distinctive feature of the program is the NOAA collaboration and community engagement expectations. Doctoral scholars are required to complete at least one program collaboration (a second is recommended but not required), while masters scholars are strongly encouraged to do one but are not strictly required. These collaborations take place at a National Marine Sanctuary System field office or another NOAA program office and are meant to provide hands-on exposure to NOAA work, staff expertise, and real-world applications connected to sanctuary science and management. Collaboration funding can generally be used for allowable travel and living expenses and operational needs connected to the collaboration period, such as travel to and from the site, housing, per diem, certain lab costs, vessel support, and consumables while working at the NOAA facility, consistent with federal cost principles (2 CFR 200, Subpart E). Scholars must arrange their own health insurance coverage during the collaboration. Logistics also matter: if a scholar plans to do a collaboration during a particular year, they must notify the Program Officer by December of that academic year, and they must obtain approval from the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries before beginning.

Recipients are also required to engage in outreach that supports NOAA goals and helps diversify future applicant pools. At minimum, scholars must give at least one presentation about the scholarship to a diverse audience (for example, at a minority-serving institution or an HBCU, or another appropriate venue). They must also create an outreach product, such as a video or infographic, that explains their research in plain language for a general audience and connects it to the NOAA mission; the program indicates that training will be provided for creating these products. In addition, scholarship recipients must attend a mandatory NOAA Orientation Training to meet Office of National Marine Sanctuaries staff (scheduled for summer 2020 in this announcement). If awards have not been finalized by the time orientation occurs, recipients may need to cover some travel or related costs up front and then seek reimbursement after the award is issued.

Selection is competitive and based on several factors, including academic excellence, recommendations, research and career goals, and demonstrated financial need. The announcement highlights what tends to make an application strong: a research proposal that closely aligns with NOAA’s mission and especially the science needs of the National Marine Sanctuary System (listed as 20 percent of the application score), and a compelling financial need statement that clearly documents hardships or challenges through a strong narrative (25 percent of the application score). Letters of recommendation are also explicitly called out (10 percent of the score). The program notes that proposals not supporting sanctuary system science needs historically rank lower, and it cautions that students in the final year of a masters or PhD program are generally not advised to apply because the scholarship is intended to support remaining years of study rather than a nearly completed degree.

Administratively, this opportunity is listed as a discretionary funding opportunity and uses a cooperative agreement as the funding instrument (CFDA 11.429). For FY20, NOAA expected to make about four awards. The opportunity number is NOAA NOS ONMS 2020 2006239, it was posted October 7, 2019, and the original application deadline was December 6, 2019, with an award ceiling of $42,000 per year per student (plus potential collaboration support as described above).

• The Department of Commerce in the environment, natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY20 Dr Nancy Foster Scholarship Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.429.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 07, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 06, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $42,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for NOAA NOS ONMS 2020 2006239

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