NOAA Weather Program Office (WPO) Funding Competition

NOAA Weather Program Office (WPO) Funding Competition is the annual grant program from the NOAA Weather Program Office that supports competitively funded weather research through Notices of Funding Opportunity. Each NOFO specifies which research programs are actively soliciting proposals, along with submission guidelines and key deadlines. Funding areas and availability change annually, so applicants must read each notice carefully.

The program supports researchers, universities, nonprofit research institutions, and other innovators across the Weather Enterprise. Award amounts vary by competition year and program area.

About The Funding Process - NOAA Weather Program Office Portfolio Analysis & Research Transitions REACH – WPO’s Open Science Tool SPARK – WPO’s Project Directory Tool Management and Administration Science, Technology, and Society Joint Technology Transfer Initiative Earth System Research and Modeling Earth Prediction Innovation Center Subseasonal to Seasonal Research Observations and Research Support Supplemental Appropriations Portfolio Analysis & Research Transitions Cross-Division Initiatives The Data Assimilation Consortium Explore FY25 Funded Projects W.

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S. Fellowship 2025 How the Funding Process Works We support the majority of competitively-funded research through an annual Notice of Funding Opportunity. The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) contains information about which WPO research programs are actively soliciting proposals as well as the ground rules and key deadlines for each funding competition.

Since the number of competitions, funding availability for each program, and guidelines for proposals change from year to year, it is important for all potential applicants to carefully read the entire notice and its instructions for completing and submitting proposals.

Please ensure your funding eligibility prior to submitting a proposal Applicability to Federal Employees and Contractors: Federal employees may serve as co-PIs or co-Investigators but their salary costs are ineligible expenses to be covered by awards from the Notice of Funding.

Any Federal applicant is required to partner with one or more eligible non-federal institutions who would submit the application for the competition through Grants. gov per instructions in Section IV. G “Other Submission Requirements.

” Eligibility also depends on the statutory authority that permits NOAA to fund the proposed activity. For the purposes of this funding announcement, contractors for the Federal government have the same eligibility restrictions as Federal employees.

About Costs Incurred by NOAA Federal Collaborators Costs incurred by NOAA federal collaborators are eligible for funding through this NOFO only if they fit into one of the categories listed below. Further details are provided in the attached NOFO Information Sheet. Allowed: NOAA federal collaborator travel is only eligible in critical project-dependent cases, not including conference or workshop travel.

Allowed: NOAA Federal funding may also cover project-critical equipment, indirect (overhead) costs for NOAA affiliate institutions, infrastructure, and testbed-related costs. NOT Allowed: Any other direct funding for federal institutions, including employee salaries or other costs not listed as eligible in Section III. A, will not be considered as part of this funding opportunity.

All funded investigators must assure and verify if requested that they will not be allocated for greater than 100% of their annual employment time should their proposal be selected for funding. NOAA will verify this requirement if the proposal is recommended for funding.

U.S. institutions of higher education, including in U.S. Territories U.S.-based commercial organizations State, local and Indian tribal governments in the U.S. U.S. non-profit organizations Engagement Across the Weather Enterprise Research selected and funded by WPO should promote diverse research environments and support and foster collaborations — within NOAA’s research laboratories and across the weather enterprise.

The Weather, Water, and Climate Enterprise, also known as the Weather Enterprise for short, comprises of three main sectors that contribute to the science of weather and weather forecasting. This includes academia, government, and America’s Weather Industry. Each sector plays a critical role in understanding, observing, forecasting, and helping warn communities of danger; and all are working together to build a Weather-Ready Nation.

engagement mechanisms with the U.S. private weather industry. two-way collaboration, coordination, and feedback between operations. community modeling efforts beneficial to both operational support and research questions.

collaborative efforts to include both operational and research priorities in planning phases. social and behavioral sciences in risk communication. Check Your Project Compatibility If you’re interested in getting your work funded through the Notice of Funding, consider submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI).

Letters of intent provide information to potential applicants on the relevance of their proposed project in advance of preparing a full application. It can save time, since full applications are encouraged only for Letters of Intent that are deemed relevant. WPO reviews the Letters of Intent against the program objectives and priorities of the relevant competition to address a project’s potential value to the weather enterprise.

PIs can request a short synthesis of the factors from the review leading to the recommendation.

The names of all PIs and co-PIs and their home institutions The NOFO competition to which the proposal is applying, and the competition priorities this project will address The planned outputs/products The planned outcomes/impacts/benefits The planned methodology and timelines The proposed starting and ending Readiness Levels, any proposed use of a NOAA Testbed or Proving Ground, and if a NOAA Transition Plan has been developed for earlier work on this topic The potential operational, commercial, or other end-user adopters of the project outputs A simple budget table to summarize the funding allocation The LOI should be no more than two pages in length and should include the items listed above.

Submit your Letter of Intent Check Your Project Compatibility If you’re interested in getting your work funded through the Notice of Funding, consider submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI). Letters of intent provide information to potential applicants on the relevance of their proposed project in advance of preparing a full application.

It can save time, since full applications are encouraged only for Letters of Intent that are deemed relevant. WPO reviews the Letters of Intent against the program objectives and priorities of the relevant competition to address a project’s potential value to the weather enterprise. PIs can request a short synthesis of the factors from the review leading to the recommendation.

Submit your Letter of Intent The name(s) of all PI(s), co-PIs and investigators, as well as each of their home institution(s).

The NOFO competition to which the proposal is applying, and that competition’s priority(ies) the proposed work will address Planned impacts/benefits/outcomes Planned methodology and timelines The proposed starting and ending Readiness Levels (RL), any proposed use of a NOAA Testbed or Proving Ground, HPC resources, and whether a NOAA Transition Plan has been developed for earlier work on this topic Potential operational, commercial, or other end-user adopter(s) of the project outputs A simple budget table to summarize the funding allocation The LOI should be no more than two pages in length and should include the items listed above.

Principal Investigator (PI): The project lead who is responsible for implementation of the project plan as written in the project narrative. Responsibilities include intellectual conduct of the project, financial responsibility, and compliance with progress and financial reporting. If it is a multi-institution project, these responsibilities will be shared with Co-PIs at each institution.

Lead Principal Investigator (Lead PI): The first investigator named on a proposal, who is the point of contact for the project. This is another name for the Principal Investigator. Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI): A lead investigator at a different institution than the PI, who has equal responsibility and authority as the PI.

They are responsible for progress and financial reporting for their institutions’ share of the project. A co-PI has more authority and responsibility than a co-investigator. Co-Investigator (Co-I): This individual makes significant contributions to the project, but does not have overall responsibility and authority for the project.

Investigator: individual(s) with this title make contributions to the project and have no responsibility or authority for the project. When used in plural, it refers to the entire research team, regardless of rank or title. Anticipated Awards in May 2025 Applications should use the recommended date defined in Section II.

B of the Notice of Funding for a given competition as the start date for their proposed project. Decisions are contingent upon the final FY 2025 appropriation to NOAA by Congress and the final allocation of funds to OAR and actions by NOAA Grants Officer.

Significant Congressional funding delays after the fiscal year begins may result in delays in the dates of both award recommendation decisions and the awards themselves and could result in awards offers not being distributed until after the proposed project start dates. 2-3 Months After Application Due Date Review of Applications takes place.

May 2025 Recommendation Decisions Recommendations are made to award projects proposed for each competition. One Month before Planned Start Date NOAA’s Grants Management Division makes formal award offers. The current proposal window for FY25 awards has closed.

Please revisit this page for upcoming opportunities and deadlines in Summer 2025. Go through our step-by-step checklist to learn how to apply for funding.

Contribute to Funding Innovative Research Participate in our Grant Review Process Fund your work with other NOAA Offices Office of Science and Technology Integration- CSTAR Engages researchers and students in applied research of interest to improve the accuracy and communication of forecasts and warnings for environmental hazards by applying scientific knowledge and information to operational products and services.

Science & Technology Integration Modeling Program Supports a variety of National Weather Service modeling and research initiatives to improve weather forecasts by funding research projects to advance models and foster collaboration in the Weather Enterprise. Supports U.S. national security, economic vitality, and public welfare by providing actionable climate information.

CPO-sponsored projects provide actionable information to stakeholders in every region and sector of the nation’s economy. Office of Ocean Exploration & Research Uses unique capabilities to reduce unknowns in deep-ocean areas and provide high-value environmental intelligence to address science and management needs.

National Sea Grant College Program Works to create and maintain a healthy coastal environment and economy through a federal/university partnership between the NOAA and 33 university-based programs in every coastal and Great Lakes state, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program Provides and supports high quality global ocean observations and research to improve our scientific understanding and inform society about the ocean’s role in environmental change.

Ocean Acidification Program Better prepares society to respond to changing ocean conditions and resources by expanding understanding of ocean acidification, through interdisciplinary partnerships, nationally and internationally.