Four to Eight U.S. Research Consortia Being Created to Study Effects of Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill With Ten Year $500 Million Commitment

From The Foundation Center...

[For more information for this grant opportunity, click "Link to  RFP" at the end of this blog post].

Deadline: May 9, 2011 (Letters of Intent)

Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Offers Funding for Consortia to Study Effects of Oil Spill

The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Research Board has released a Request for Proposals to establish four to eight research consortia that will study the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010.

Funded with a ten-year, $500 million commitment from BP, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative is a broad, independent initiative targeting research institutions primarily in the U.S. Gulf Coast states.

The GRI Research Board is funding consortia in this initial RFP because some of the research will be so complex that it necessitates contributions by multiple institutions and multi-disciplinary teams. The research that will be conducted through these consortia will inform the scientific understanding of oil spill and dispersant impacts on ocean and coastal systems in the Gulf region.

The purpose of the RFP is to select the research activities for years two to four (June 2011-May 2014) involving research consortia. For this solicitation, a research consortium is defined as consisting of four or more universities, institutions, or independent organizations. In general, research consortia will consist of institutions in the Gulf Coast states, provided that research institutions outside the Gulf Coast region may be members of or participate in partnerships with such research consortia, to the extent required to ensure the delivery of high-quality scientific studies in fulfillment of the objectives of the GRI.

Proposals must address one or some combination of the following five topics: physical distribution, dispersion, and dilution of petroleum (oil and gas), its constituents, and associated contaminants (e.g., dispersants) under the action of physical oceanographic processes, air-sea interactions, and tropical storms; chemical evolution and biological degradation of petroleum/dispersant systems and subsequent interaction with coastal, open-ocean, and deep-water ecosystems; environmental effects of the petroleum/dispersant system on the sea floor, water column, coastal waters, beach sediments, wetlands, marshes, and organisms, and the science of ecosystem recovery; technology developments for improved response, mitigation, detection, characterization, and remediation associated with oil spills and gas releases; and fundamental scientific research integrating results from the other four topics in the context of public health. Each research consortia proposal is expected to develop and enunciate a clear plan to address any one of the targeted topics or a cross-disciplinary program of work involving a grouping of some of these topics.

Total funds available for distribution through the RFP will be a minimum of $37.5 million per year. Four to eight research consortia will be selected, and funding for each is estimated to be between $1 million (minimum) and $7.5 million (maximum) per year.

The GRI Research Board will issue a second Request for Proposals at a later date. Through that RFP, the research board will award grants focused on activities involving less money and less internal management than a research consortium. Grant recipients will be individuals or smaller collaborative efforts involving a principal investigator and co-PIs from up to three additional institutions working on the same research themes as described in this RFP. A maximum of $7.5 million per year will be available through the second RFP, with grants, on average, ranging from $100,000 to $1 million each per year for up to three years.

For complete program information and application materials, visit the GRI Web site.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP