The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) contains information about which WPO research programs are actively soliciting proposals as well as the ground rules and key deadlines for each funding competition. Since the number of competitions, funding availability for each program, and guidelines for proposals change from year to year, it is important for all potential applicants to carefully read the entire notice and its instructions for completing and submitting proposals.
How the Funding Process Works
We support the majority of competitively-funded research through an annual Notice of Funding Opportunity.
Eligibility Requirements
Please ensure your funding eligibility prior to submitting a proposal
Applicability to Federal Employees and Contractors: Federal employees may serve as co-PIs or co-Investigators but their salary costs are ineligible expenses to be covered by awards from the Notice of Funding. Any Federal applicant is required to partner with one or more eligible non-federal institutions who would submit the application for the competition through Grants.gov per instructions in Section IV.G “Other Submission Requirements.”
Eligibility also depends on the statutory authority that permits NOAA to fund the proposed activity. For the purposes of this funding announcement, contractors for the Federal government have the same eligibility restrictions as Federal employees.
About Costs Incurred by NOAA Federal Collaborators
Costs incurred by NOAA federal collaborators are eligible for funding through this NOFO only if they fit into one of the categories listed below. Further details are provided in the attached NOFO Information Sheet.
- Allowed: NOAA federal collaborator travel is only eligible in critical project-dependent cases, not including conference or workshop travel.
- Allowed: NOAA Federal funding may also cover project-critical equipment, indirect (overhead) costs for NOAA affiliate institutions, infrastructure, and testbed-related costs.
- NOT Allowed: Any other direct funding for federal institutions, including employee salaries or other costs not listed as eligible in Section III.A, will not be considered as part of this funding opportunity.
All funded investigators must assure and verify if requested that they will not be allocated for greater than 100% of their annual employment time should their proposal be selected for funding. NOAA will verify this requirement if the proposal is recommended for funding.
Our Funding Focus
Engagement Across the Weather Enterprise
Research selected and funded by WPO should promote a diverse and inclusive research environment and support and foster collaborations — within NOAA’s research laboratories and across the weather enterprise. The Weather, Water, and Climate Enterprise, also known as the Weather Enterprise for short, comprises of three main sectors that contribute to the science of weather and weather forecasting.
This includes academia, government, and America’s Weather Industry. Each sector plays a critical role in understanding, observing, forecasting, and helping warn communities of danger; and all are working together to build a Weather-Ready Nation.
Develop
engagement mechanisms with the U.S. private weather industry.
Enhance
two-way collaboration, coordination, and feedback between operations.
Support
community modeling efforts beneficial to both operational support and research questions.
Guide
collaborative efforts to include both operational and research priorities in planning phases.
Integrate
social and behavioral sciences in risk communication.
Increase
and foster diversity and inclusion in the sciences.
Role Definitions
Principal Investigator (PI): The project lead who is responsible for implementation of the project plan as written in the project narrative. Responsibilities include intellectual conduct of the project, financial responsibility, and compliance with progress and financial reporting. If it is a multi-institution project, these responsibilities will be shared with Co-PIs at each institution.
Lead Principal Investigator (Lead PI): The first investigator named on a proposal, who is the point of contact for the project. This is another name for the Principal Investigator.
Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI): A lead investigator at a different institution than the PI, who has equal responsibility and authority as the PI. They are responsible for progress and financial reporting for their institutions’ share of the project. A co-PI has more authority and responsibility than a co-investigator.
Co-Investigator (Co-I): This individual makes significant contributions to the project, but does not have overall responsibility and authority for the project.
Investigator: individual(s) with this title make contributions to the project and have no responsibility or authority for the project. When used in plural, it refers to the entire research team, regardless of rank or title.
Funding Decision Dates
Anticipated Awards in May 2024
Applications should use the recommended date defined in Section II.B of the Notice of Funding for a given competition as the start date for their proposed project.
Decisions are contingent upon the final FY 2024 appropriation to NOAA by Congress and the final allocation of funds to OAR and actions by NOAA Grants Officer.
Significant Congressional funding delays after the fiscal year begins may result in delays in the dates of both award recommendation decisions and the awards themselves and could result in awards offers not being distributed until after the proposed project start dates.
Proposal Deadline
The current proposal window for FY24 awards has closed. Please revisit this page for upcoming opportunities and deadlines in Summer 2024.
Have Questions?
Go through our step-by-step checklist to learn how to apply for funding.
Visit our Proposal GuideContribute to Funding Innovative Research
Grant proposal Reviewers
Participate in our Grant Review Process
Each NOFO that we publish requires a thorough peer review. If you’d like to serve as a reviewer (via mail or panel review), please sign up below. Signing up does not commit you to serve, nor will WPO be obligated to invite you to serve on a review panel or perform mail review. WPO chooses reviewers based on relevant expertise for each competition.
Fund your work with other NOAA Offices
Related Federal Funding Opportunities
Office of Science and Technology Integration- CSTAR
Engages researchers and students in applied research of interest to improve the accuracy and communication of forecasts and warnings for environmental hazards by applying scientific knowledge and information to operational products and services.
Science & Technology Integration Modeling Program
Supports a variety of National Weather Service modeling and research initiatives to improve weather forecasts by funding research projects to advance models and foster collaboration in the Weather Enterprise.
Climate Program Office
Supports U.S. national security, economic vitality, and public welfare by providing actionable climate information. CPO-sponsored projects provide actionable information to stakeholders in every region and sector of the nation’s economy.
Office of Ocean Exploration & Research
Uses unique capabilities to reduce unknowns in deep-ocean areas and provide high-value environmental intelligence to address science and management needs.
National Sea Grant College Program
Works to create and maintain a healthy coastal environment and economy through a federal/university partnership between the NOAA and 33 university-based programs in every coastal and Great Lakes state, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program
Provides and supports high quality global ocean observations and research to improve our scientific understanding and inform society about the ocean’s role in environmental change.
Ocean Acidification Program
Better prepares society to respond to changing ocean conditions and resources by expanding understanding of ocean acidification, through interdisciplinary partnerships, nationally and internationally.
Other Funding Opportunities
Disaster Supplementals, NOAA’s Small Business Innovation Research Program, and other funding mechanisms are available periodically through the Weather Program Office. To keep up to date on new announcements, sign up for our mailing list.
