The NOAA Weather Program Office (WPO) is currently accepting proposals for the FY25 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). This year’s NOFO will fund approximately six projects, totaling up to $12.8 million per year, to support the following program objectives and priorities: 1) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBES), 2) Testbeds, 3) Observations, 4) Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) forecasting, 5) Air Quality Research and Forecasting (AQRF), and 6) VORTEX-USA. Each competition is published on grants.gov.

The grant opportunities for the FY25 NOFO can be viewed here. Additional FAQs about the competition have been posted below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Letters of Intent

Is there a page limit for Letters of Intent?

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. 

Is it critical to submit a LOI? Does it improve your chances or just provide a gauge on whether or not your proposal meets the priority guidelines?

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. 

The timeline for LOI is 2 weeks, can we have 4 weeks to do so?

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

Where do I go to submit an LOI?

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

Is there a limit on how many LOIs a person can lead in a given competition?

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.

Are all 3 registrations needed for the LOI submission, or just the full proposal?

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.

Will the quality (or outcome) of the LOI affect the review of the main proposal?

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.

How many proposals do you expect to fund for each competition, particularly relative to the number of encouraged LOIs?

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.

If you have a project that spans multiple competitions' priorities, can you submit an LOI to multiple competitions to help find the best fit?

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.

eRA Commons

Who needs an account on eRA Commons?

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 ).

If we already have an eRA account, does that imply that our organization already has a SAM.gov Unique Entity Identifier?

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

Do we submit full proposals/applications using eRA or Grants.gov?

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 ).

For the new eRA accounts needed for the FY2025 NOFO proposal process - do all named PIs and co-PIs need to have an account with eRA Commons, or just the lead PI on the proposal?

While applications must be submitted in grants.gov, applications will have to pass both grants.gov and eRA system checks for successful submission. As part of that, 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 NOFO 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 your reference, there is a “Tips and Tricks for Successful eRA Submissions” document on the 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). 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).

 

General Questions

Was the WPO FY25 NOFO webinar recorded & can it be made available to registrants?

Yes! You may access the recording on the NOAA Central Library YouTube Channel here.

Could you please advise where I can download that webinar slides?

You can access the slides used during the webinar on the WPO NOFO Webpage. The webinar recording can also be access on the same page or on the NOAA Central Library YouTube Channel.

Are private companies/corporations allowed to submit a proposal?

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.

Are NOAA CI employees treated as federal contractors and subject to the same applicant eligibility restrictions as federal employees?

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.

Do you plan to release a separate funding opportunity for JTTI? Can JTTI proposals be submitted to this NOFO?

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.

Will a proposal be rejected if the costs are higher than the funding limits for the competition to which we submit?

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.

Is it a positive or negative if we address more than one priority?

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. 

Is this intended for internal (government) applicants or external (academia, CIRA, etc.)?

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.

Will a proposal be rejected if costs are higher than the funding limit?

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.

May applicants submit full proposals to more than one competition?

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.

Do proposals need to focus only on the priorities directly in the NOFO, or does it also need to address priorities in the supplemental documents?

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

Are awards from this competition allowed to request no-cost extensions?

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.

Are these funding announcements an opportunity to expand our current projects to the next readiness level(s) or are there funding announcements entirely new projects?

The NOFO’s intent is to support research that advances priorities detailed in the announcement. If there is a project for which you are able to write a proposal that builds from prior work and aligns with the priorities listed in this FY25 NOFO then I would encourage you to submit it.

Will NOAA directly purchase cloud computing or will the cooperative institute (i.e. CIRES) be responsible for that. Should we indicate computing cost on the proposal budget?

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”.

Is higher education institution eligible for applying for this grant? The solicitation doesn't specifically mention higher education institutions.

Yes, your institution is eligible for applying for this grant, on both competitions if you have proposals that cover both areas.

Are PIs required to collaborate with WPO when preparing the proposal?

No, a NOAA collaborator, especially for a lower RL project, is not necessary. However, if a NOAA collaborator is identified, including a NOAA collaborator is welcomed.

Could you please direct me where I can find the list of funded proposals that are relevant to NOAA testbed?

Funded FY22 WPO proposals relevant to NOAA Testbeds can be found at the following link: https://wpo.noaa.gov/fy2022-notice-of-funding-awards/.

Can you let us know the range of RL (readiness levels) that the HWT component of the FY25 Testbed NOFO Testbed Funding announcement will solicit?

Per Section I.A “Testbeds Program Objectives” of the Testbeds NOFO, “Projects that are most appropriate for the five testbeds generally fall in or near the “demonstration” level of technical maturity, i.e., readiness levels of about 5 through 8 during the duration of the project.”

For multi-institute application, if the proposal is awarded, will other institutes receive subawards from the leading institute or will other institutes be submitting a proposal along with the leading institute with funding going directly from WPO to all participating institutes?

Both institutions need to submit their own proposals along with their own budget forms through grants.gov when submitting the full proposals by Dec 2. The proposal itself from both institutions should be identical but needs to be submitted separately. Please make sure EACH institution follows the NOFO requirements when you submit the full proposal.

Are Institutions of Higher Education (public and private) eligible to submit to the FY25 NOFO?

Yes, IHE, Institutions of Higher Education are eligible to apply to the FY2025 WPO SBES NOFO.

Do unfunded federal collaborators need to sign any kinds of forms?

Unfunded federal collaborators are not required to sign any kind of forms. The only exception is in the case of any projects proposing to work with Testbed(s) listed in the Testbeds NOFO. In this case, the Testbeds Information Sheet under the Competition Contact Information Section lists the appropriate Testbed Points of Contact who should complete the Testbed Collaboration Form. Please see Section IV.D.3 “REQUIREMENTS FOR NOAA FEDERAL COLLABORATORS” in WPO’s FY25 NOFOs for more information.

Regarding the funding announcement for JHT/HOT projects, is there a minimum funding limit?

The Testbeds NOFO, which includes HOT priorities, states in Section II.A “Funding Availability” that the maximum funding limit per project per year is $300K. There is not a minimum funding limit per project per year. Rather please ensure that your proposed project stays below the funding limit per year of $300K.

Regarding Priority OBS-1: Would proposals to expand weather buoy surface observations to vertical profiles in the upper ocean and marine atmospheric boundary layer using mitigation vehicles be welcome or discouraged? Also, what would be the funding mechanism for a joint proposal between NOAA CI and a private company? CIs usually charge very high OHs for their contracts to outside.

We cannot advise on potential research topics for our NOFO. If you feel that your research idea aligns with Observations priority 1, I would encourage you to submit an LOI by 5:00pm ET October 2nd to receive feedback on whether or not your proposed research is encouraged or discouraged to apply. To your second question, a joint proposal with a NOAA CI and a private company can be submitted as a multi-institutional proposal. Another option would be for the NOAA CI to utilize the subaward route. Please refer to Section IV.D (page 9) within the NOFO for more information on multi-institutional proposals and subawards as these two mechanisms have varying requirements for proposal submission.

Given that we were encouraged to submit the proposal to CTB, should I submit a revised proposal based on the FY25 NOFO specific information and deadline on December 2, 2024?

Based on the program priorities detailed in WPO’s NOFOs, I encourage you to determine if your proposed work is relevant to one or more the priorities. If so, then you are welcome to submit a revised proposal based on the NOFO specific information and deadline on December 2, 2024.

Can we add/revise Co-PI(s), senior personnel beyond what was listed in the LOI? We will of course keep the same PI. Additionally, by how much can we deviate from the proposed budget in the LOI? The specified ceiling (yearly and total) in your email today is higher than we had originally understood from the NFO, which may allow us to bring in more expertise and resources and put together a very strong proposal for the scope proposed.

Yes, you can add/revise Co-PI(s) and/or senior personnel beyond what you listed in your LOI. Your proposal must adhere to the per-year-per-project totals as outlined in Section II.A. of the NOFO. It is okay if the final proposal amount differs from what was proposed in your LOI, as long as it still falls within the NOFO-specified limit.

Please provide guidance on applicants eligibility to submit multiple projects. I will be a co-PI on a project led by the University at Albany (lead PI Silver) but the only investigator from Mississippi State (so the PI for MSU). I would also like to submit a proposal on a different topic as the lead PI. Both proposals would be submitted to the SBES competition, but they would be very different proposals.

You are allowed to be listed in any role on multiple proposals–even those submitted to the same competition–as long as the proposals are on different topics, as noted in Section IV.J. of the NOFO.

For the WPO SBES Competition for FY25, we will have unfunded federal collaborators listed on our proposal, and I took note of the need for ''explicit pre-approval to the PI to be identified as a contributor to the proposed project.'' To formalize this pre-approval, I could not find any additional information on the letters of support within the NOFO information.

  1. Am I correct in assuming a Letter of Support is needed from each collaborator? (they are Meteorologist-in-charge at different NOAA/NWS weather forecasting offices)
  2. Do the letters of support need to follow a specific format?

Per Section IV.D.3. of the NOFO, “”proposals including a federal co-PI, co-I, or collaborator who is requesting funding should included a signed Request for NOAA Federal Support.”” Unfunded federal collaborators are not required to sign any kind of forms.  For the FY25 WPO SBES NOFO, can NOAA please confirm that this means that the maximum funding limit per project per year remains $250,000, as stated on page 7 of the NOFO The award ceiling for the FY25 SBES competition is a maximum of $250,000 per year for a total maximum budget of $500,000 over the maximum 2 year project/award period. Please reference Sections II.A. and II.B. for additional information.

My team and I were hoping to receive some guidelines on the letters of support. Particularly:

  1. Is there any limitation in terms of length, content, style, ... that we should comply with (for example, the NSF has a prescribed language for letters and does not allow content that implies endorsement of the project by the letter writer)?
  2. Also, Section F of the NOFO instructions states ''''Letters of support (if needed)''''. Is the need left to the team to decide? Or are there specific cases where such letters are expected by NOAA?

Thank you for your question about the FY25 WPO SBES NOFO, per Section IV.D.3. of the NOFO, “”proposals including a federal co-PI, co-I, or collaborator who is requesting funding should include a signed Request for NOAA Federal Support”” form (which can be found on grants.gov in the “”Other Supporting Documents”” folder). Unfunded federal collaborators are not required to sign any kind of form. To your first question, yes, there are limits. If you have a federal collaborator who is requesting an allowable expense (see Section III.A. for more information), they should complete the “”Request for NOAA Federal Support”” form.

Are we allowed to include overhead costs for using Federal Facilities by a University Employee to the FY25 WPO Testbed proposal?

If institutional indirect (overhead) charges are included in the budget, the applicant must have an approved negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement and must include it as a part of the application package. Any NOAA Laboratory overhead costs at this pre-agreed-upon rate (such as those required of affiliated NOAA Cooperative Institutes) may be requested as part of the proposal’s budget. All eligible funding requested by a NOAA federal laboratory, to cover overhead or otherwise, will count against the maximum total project cost as specified for the competition (Section II.A), and the proposed project-total cost must not exceed that limit. Please note, requested costs for NOAA federal laboratories (excluding indirect overhead costs) must not exceed 20% of the project total cost. The request for these funds will be considered by the WPO Program Manager and, if approved, will be provided directly to the NOAA federal laboratory if the proposal is selected. If this proposed funding is not properly and clearly documented, the application may be rejected without review. If a federal employee from a NOAA Lab is intended to be a NOAA Federal Collaborator and listed on the title of the proposal as a co-PI, co-I, or collaborator, the proposal should include a signed Request for NOAA Federal Support. Please reference Section III.A for a list of allowable and non-allowable expenses, and Section IV.D.3 for additional guidance regarding NOAA Federal Collaborators.

I submitted an LOI for this proposal and was encouraged to submit a full proposal. Can I make minor changes to the title of my proposal for the full submission based on feedback from LOI reviewers and potential NOAA collaborators, or does the title need to remain the same as in my LOI?

Yes, you can change the title of your proposal as long as it does not dramatically change the goals and objectives that your LOI described.

Can a federal employee be included as an expert consultant in the proposal and be compensated with fees for their time, given that federal salaries cannot be funded through this competition?

While you are welcome to list federal collaborators on your project, they cannot receive salary expenses or consultation fees in exchange for their time. Please see NOFO Section III.A. for a more detailed description of allowable costs that may be requested by NOAA federal collaborators.

Is the revised $500,000 award ceiling an annual budget limit or a total project amount? The NOFO dated September 13 lists the yearly limit as $250,000, but the update on October 17 raised the ceiling to $500,000.

The award ceiling for the FY25 SBES competition is a maximum of $250,000 per year for a total maximum budget of $500,000 over the maximum 2 year project/award period. Further information can be found in the NOFO announcement (Section II.A. and II.B.) and its supplemental materials on grants.gov.

Can NOAA Scientist be lead PIs on LOI submissions?

Federal employees are not able to serve as PIs for this competition. More information about how federal employees are able to engage in this competition and their eligibility can be found on page 8 of the SBES NOFO in Section III.

Are project collaborators required to complete any forms if they are not requesting funding support?

If your federal collaborator is unfunded, then there is no form to complete. Eligible Federal collaborators requesting funding will need to complete the ”Request for NOAA Federal Support” form.

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