Competition for a Cooperative Institute for the Pacific Northwest and Polar Regions | NOAA OAR CIPO 2020 2006289

Opportunity Information: Apply for NOAA OAR CIPO 2020 2006289

The "Competition for a Cooperative Institute for the Pacific Northwest and Polar Regions" is a NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) funding opportunity to select a single lead institution to establish and operate a long-term Cooperative Institute focused on research and collaboration that advance NOAA's mission needs in the Pacific Northwest and in Polar regions. The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which typically means NOAA expects to be substantially involved in shaping priorities, coordinating projects, and working closely with the recipient and its partners rather than simply issuing a hands-off grant. The opportunity sits in the environment, natural resources, and science and technology research and development space under CFDA 11.432 and is offered by the U.S. Department of Commerce through NOAA.

At a high level, the institute is intended to function as an organized research enterprise that brings together NOAA and the external research community to tackle applied and strategic science problems that directly support NOAA goals. The scope is broad but clearly anchored in NOAA's core responsibilities: improving understanding and prediction of climate and weather, strengthening ocean and coastal science, and supporting resilient marine ecosystems and communities. The institute would be expected to create a portfolio of coordinated research projects and supporting activities that generate usable science products, tools, and data for NOAA operations, decision-making, and public services.

The scientific and programmatic focus areas named in the announcement cover much of NOAA's cross-cutting mission set. Key themes include climate change and climate variability, improved weather forecasting, and better understanding and monitoring of ocean acidification. The institute is also expected to contribute to marine ecosystem science and ocean observations, which can include observing systems, sensor and platform development, data streams, and interpretation of long-term environmental change. Fisheries assessments and aquaculture are included, pointing to work that supports sustainable seafood production, stock assessment science, ecosystem-based management, and related environmental interactions. Tsunami forecasting is another explicit component, indicating interest in hazards science, warning system improvements, and research that strengthens forecasting and risk communication. The opportunity further highlights earth system processes, suggesting integrated atmosphere-ocean-ice-land interactions, and it emphasizes environmental data management, underscoring the importance of data stewardship, access, quality control, and the workflows needed to turn observations and model outputs into usable products.

Beyond the physical and biological sciences, NOAA also calls out "human dimension research related to marine systems," which signals an interest in social science, economics, decision science, risk perception, community resilience, and the ways people and institutions interact with marine and coastal environments. The inclusion of Polar studies broadens the geographic and scientific reach to high-latitude systems, where rapid environmental change has global implications for sea level, climate feedbacks, ecosystems, and operational challenges. In practice, this combination suggests an institute designed to operate at the intersection of foundational research, applied analysis, and mission-driven product development, with NOAA needs guiding the work.

A major structural expectation is workforce development. The institute is explicitly tasked with supporting undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers through participation in research projects, with an eye toward training the next generation of scientists and building a pipeline of future NOAA employees. That typically implies structured opportunities for students and early-career researchers to work on NOAA-relevant problems, gain experience with operational data and modeling systems, learn best practices in data management, and participate in joint NOAA-university mentorship and collaboration.

From an administrative standpoint, the competition was categorized as discretionary and was expected to result in one award. The posted award ceiling is $300,000,000, which indicates the institute could be funded at a very large scale over an extended period depending on NOAA's program design and future appropriations. The opportunity was created on October 30, 2019, with an original closing date of January 6, 2020. Eligibility is listed as "Others" with additional clarification referenced in the full announcement, which commonly means the lead applicant may need to meet specific institutional criteria (often universities or nonprofit research institutions capable of running a multi-institution institute), potentially with partners and subawards.

In summary, this funding opportunity is about selecting one lead organization to run a NOAA-aligned Cooperative Institute that advances research, observations, forecasting, and data stewardship across climate, weather, ocean and ecosystem science, hazards like tsunamis, and Polar research, while also serving as a training hub for students and postdocs in NOAA-relevant science and careers.

• The Department of Commerce in the environment, natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Competition for a Cooperative Institute for the Pacific Northwest and Polar Regions" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.432.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 30, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 06, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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