Preparing and Submitting a CICOES Proposal
Process overview
CICOES-UAF can only process proposals for NOAA non-competitive funding, which is funding received without having to respond to a request for proposals (RFP). The basic steps to funding include:
Find a NOAA funder
Choose a funding pathway
Establish an agreement
Submit a proposal by the deadline
Find a NOAA funder
A funder is a NOAA colleague or Program Manager (PM) who agrees to fund the work. For more information on how to connect with a Program Manager, please contact Uma Bhatt.
Choose a funding pathway
Most funded projects result from direct networking with Federal colleagues in regional or national headquarters, understanding NOAA mission/needs, and meeting researchers at the NOAA Laboratories—PMEL, AFSC, NWFSC—that partner with this Cooperative Agreement (CI), via funding pathways:
Pathway 1: If you collaborate with NOAA colleagues who get a project funded internal to NOAA, they can include funds that would cover your work on the project. Then your colleague would serve as a PM and fund you through the CI to do this work.
Pathway 2: Your work is recognized by a NOAA PM, then a NOAA PM may approach you to do this work that would be funded through the CI.
Pathway 3: You identify a project that is critical for NOAA and you convince potential funders at NOAA that they need this done and to fund this work.
Pathway 4: A NOAA regional or national office identifies a critical need and reaches out to you to do a project. These may include time sensitive operational products that can be created quickly in response to an extreme event or political request.
Pathway 5: There are also rare occasions where NOAA will issue limited scope RFPs (e.g. Hurricane Sandy, ‘Omics) that are directed to one or more CIs.
Establish an agreement
To contribute a proposal, researchers will first establish an agreement with a NOAA PM before a proposal is submitted. This agreement must include:
Work to be performed. Scope of work must fall within one of the 9 CICOES research themes.
Period of performance in which the work is to be completed
Financial amount the NOAA PM is willing and able to fund
Required documents
Routing form
Abstract and statement of work
Budget and budget justification
CICOES-UAF questionnaire
Possibly additional documents, such as a CV—check with your PM
Submit a proposal by the deadline
First: Contact Uma Bhatt to communicate your plan to submit a proposal via the CICOES Cooperative Institute. Then work with your department-level proposal coordinator to complete the documents needed, using the CICOES templates provided by Uma.
We have very little flexibility on these due dates, as NOAA requires time to review, process, and fund all of these proposals. If you miss the deadline, we will try to submit the proposal, but cannot guarantee success.
If this timeline is too short or you are initiating potential collaborations with NOAA partners, all is not lost. There will be an opportunity to submit proposals in the fall for the next fiscal year.
Uma Bhatt, Associate Director, CICOES-UAF
Dr. Bhatt provides administrative oversight, connects NOAA scientists with University of Alaska research talent, explores new opportunities for CICOES-UAF, and actively participates in CI meetings.
Cierra Childs, Fiscal Programs Coordinator, CICOES-UAF
Cierra assists with CICOES-UW proposal preparation and submission, as well as post-award administration.
Contact Cierra Childs
Submit a multi-year proposal
You may submit a multi-year proposal, but only the first year may be funded at the full request amount. Award amounts for subsequent years are determined by NOAA.
The CICOES cooperative agreement ends on June 30, 2025; all projects must end by this date.
CICOES will seek a five-year renewal in the last year of this cooperative agreement.
About matching funds
Matching funds are required, but CICOES-UAF is covering the match commitment on your behalf. CICOES-UAF is ‘'matching," or waiving, F&A on all Task I activities.
In addition, CICOES-UAF is providing matching funds in the amount of 20% of the indirect cost recovery to be used for administrative costs, as well as support our graduate and undergraduate research competitions.
Fees, F&A rates, and "discounts"
Proposal fee / Task I Recovery Fee: 2.7% of the total project’s request. This fee is set and required by NOAA. It changes annually, though we don’t anticipate significant variations.
F&A rates: The F&A rates for the duration of the 5-year CICOES cooperative agreement are the rates that were in effect during the receipt of the award in FY20:
55.0% for research
38.5% for other sponsored activities
26.0% for off-campus projects, etc.
If renewed for an additional 5-year cooperative agreement, the F&A rates may change to the rates in effect at the time of that award.
"Discounts": Our funding is divided into three categories:
Task is where the revenue generated from the Task I recovery fee is deposited, and it is used to fund administrative support costs, as well as fund internal graduate research competitions. CICOES-UAF is waiving the F&A on all Task I activity.
Task II is for research done at a NOAA lab. As the work is done off campus, the use of the off campus F&A rate is applied.
Task III is for research done here at UAF. Depending on the work being done, the F&A rate will either be the research rate or OSA rate.