Each of the six (6) published WPO FY25 NOFOs do not specify a page limit for Letters of Intent. Historically, Letters of Intent have been two (2) pages in length. We encourage applicants to follow this precedent even in the absence of a page limit provided in the NOFO language. 

We cannot advise on what may or may not improve your chances in a competition beyond the information provided in the NOFO itself. Information regarding Letters of Intent for each of the six (6) WPO FY25 Funding Opportunities can be found in the Application and Submission Information (Section IV.E) of each specific NOFO announcement referenced at the beginning of this document. This is the extent of guidance we are able to provide applicants. 

We are unable to extend this timeline, Letters of Intent (LOIs) must be submitted by 5:00pm eastern on October 2, 2024.

Each LOI must be submitted through either the smartsheet form at https://tinyurl.com/FY25WPOCompetition, or by email to oar.wpo.nofocompetition@noaa.gov.

There is no limit to the number of unique LOIs that may be submitted by a single applicant. This information can also be found in section IV.E title “Letters of Intent” of each competition.

All 3 registrations are not needed for LOI submission because LOI submission occurs outside of the grants.gov system.  Each LOI must be submitted through either the smartsheet form at https://tinyurl.com/FY25WPOCompetition, or by email to oar.wpo.nofocompetition@noaa.gov.

The evaluation criteria for eligible full proposals submitted to each of the six (6) WPO FY25 Funding Opportunities can be found in Section V. Application Review Information of each specific NOFO announcement referenced at the beginning of this document.

Please refer to Section II.A titled, “Funding Availability” within each of the six (6) WPO FY25 Funding Opportunities, which lists the anticipated number of projects to be funded.

It is recommended that an LOI is submitted to only one competition, and the WPO programs may then provide guidance if the project appears better suited to a different one.

In addition to the response that follows, please see use the below references for further information regarding the eRA system requirements and accounts.

Each of the six (6) WPO FY25 Funding Opportunities contains eRA information under Section III.K. “Other Submission Requirements”.  

A “Tips and Tricks for Successful eRA Submissions” document has been posted by the Department of Commerce Office of the Chief Information Officer website with more information regarding eRA application submissions (link: https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/files/tips-and-tricks-successful-era-submissions ).

While applications must be submitted in grants.gov, applications will have to pass both grants.gov and eRA system checks for successful submission. Prior to registering with eRA Commons, applicant organizations must first obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov. Organizations can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their full SAM and Grants.gov registrations; however, all registrations must be in place by time of application submission. The eRA Commons system requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application (see Section III.K. “Other Submission Requirements” for more information). In order to successfully submit a proposal through eRA, the PI listed on the application materials must have an eRA Commons account, and that Commons account must be (1) affiliated with the applicant organization and (2) hold the PI role within that organization. There will be several places in the application itself where the PI’s username will need to be included. Failure to register in eRA Commons and to include a valid, affiliated PD/PI Commons Username in the specified places will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application.  

For further technical assistance or questions regarding the eRA system, please visit the eRA Help Desk website (link: https://www.era.nih.gov/need-help ).

We cannot answer that question for your organization.  Please confirm with your organization. 

Proposal applications are submitted on Grants.gov. After applicants submit in grants.gov, the applications are  sent on to the eRA system. This action occurs between grants.gov and the eRA system, applicants do not submit their proposals into eRA.

After submission to Grants.gov, the PI listed on the application will receive an email notification from the eRA email address era-notify@mail.nih.gov. This email will either confirm a successful submission to eRA or list errors and warnings associated with the application. Errors must be addressed, the application must be resubmitted via Grants.gov, and an email received by the listed PI indicating a successful submission to eRA for an application to be successfully received by NOAA. We highly encourage all applicants to build in sufficient time for a successful submission. Failure to pass the 2-step validation process by both Grants.gov and eRA before the NOFO submission deadline will result in your application being rejected.

A “Tips and Tricks for Successful eRA Submissions” document has been posted by the Department of Commerce Office of the Chief Information Officer website with more information regarding eRA application submissions (link: https://www.commerce.gov/ocio/files/tips-and-tricks-successful-era-submissions ).

Yes, the FY25 NOFO Webinar presentation was recorded. The slides and recording are available on the FY25 NOFO webpage in the section titled, “FY2025 NOFO Webinar – NOAA Central Library”.

Yes, this presentation was recorded. The slides and recording are linked on the FY25 NOFO webpage.

Section III. A “Eligibility information” of each program specific FY25 NOFO chronicles the eligible entities who may participate in the FY25 Funding Opportunities. 

The following entities are eligible and encouraged to participate in this funding opportunity: any public or private corporation, partnership, or other association or entity or any State, political subdivision of a State, Tribal government or agency or officer thereof. Non-NOAA federal agencies and their personnel are not permitted to receive federal funding under this competition; however, federal scientists and other employees can serve as uncompensated partners or co-Principal Investigators on applications. Federal labs and offices can also make available specialized expertise, facilities or equipment to applicants but cannot be compensated under this competition for their use, nor can the value of such assets be used as a match. If any applicants requesting funding are ineligible, the application(s) will be rejected without review.

Additional questions regarding eligibility should be sent to oar.wpo.nofocompetition@noaa.gov.

In Section 2 of the FY25 General Information Sheet, it reads “For the purposes of this funding opportunity, employees of NOAA-affiliated Cooperative Institutes (CIs) shall be treated as employees of their affiliated universities. Applications should be submitted by the university on behalf of the CI, and any funding awards will be made directly to the university.” Refer to the FY25 General Information Sheet for more details. Additional questions regarding CIs should be sent to oar.wpo.nofocompetition@noaa.gov.

The published WPO FY25 NOFOs do not include a JTTI competition. The NOFOs’ intent is to support research that advances the science priorities detailed in the six (6) WPO FY25 Funding Opportunities. If there is a project for which you are able to write a proposal that aligns with and advances the priorities listed in the published FY25 NOFOs as referenced above, then we would encourage you to submit it.

Please reference Section [insert number] titled, “[insert title]” in each of the six  (6) WPO FY25 Funding Opportunities for the funding limit description. This amount varies across the different NOFOs. Any proposal that exceeds the stated per-project or per-project-per-year funding limit for a competition will be rejected and not reviewed.

We cannot comment on whether it is a positive or negative beyond the language in the NOFO to which you are applying. Applicants may address more than one program specific science priority for the competition to which they apply. Program priorities for each of the six (6) WPO FY25 Funding Opportunities can be found in the Program Objectives section (Section I.B.) of each specific NOFO announcement referenced at the beginning of this document. 

This competition is for applicants external to federal agencies. All entities detailed under Section III.A are eligible to submit proposals to the published WPO FY25 Funding opportunities.

Please reference each of the six (6) WPO FY25 NOFOs for the funding limit description. This amount varies across the different NOFOs. Any proposal that exceeds the stated per-project or per-project-per-year funding limit for a competition will be rejected and not reviewed.

Applicants may submit proposals to multiple competitions if the proposals are on different topics and the Lead PI is eligible for each competition. However, duplicate work with different federally-funded projects is not permitted. If NOAA determines identical or predominantly identical proposals have been submitted to more than one competition, the one that was first submitted to Grants.gov will be accepted by NOAA for consideration, and all others will be rejected without review. NOAA funding decisions for any given submitted proposal will not be contingent upon funding decisions of any other separate submitted proposal unless it is clearly identifiable as part of a multi-institution project.

A section Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility is required for each proposal. Applicants should articulate how the proposed project furthers their institution’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. The purpose of this section is to encourage increased involvement in WPO’s research and development of a diverse range of participants. This may be accomplished through recruitment of a diverse team, partnerships with diverse and/or underrepresented institutions, identification of broad societal benefits, and any other initiatives that build the capacity of and materially foster a diverse and inclusive research team and environment.

Proposals are judged based on the priorities in the NOFO, and the information sheets build upon those.

No-cost extensions are permitted in certain circumstances at the end of the award period as long as no new work and no new funding are required. An extension may be requested near the end of the award, and the Program Manager will work with you if it is necessary.