Frequently Asked Questions regarding OHHI Consortia Traineeship Program

Updated April 18, 2007
  • 1. Does a consortia application only refer to multiple institutions or can it be multiple departments (e.g. Biology Dept., Medical School) within an institution or multiple investigators within an institution?

  • 2. Is the only way to apply for more than one traineeship through a consortium? In other words, can three investigators within a single institution (like a University or College) apply for two or three related traineeships?

  • 3. Can the traineeships applied for by consortia include areas of research that are not related to one another, e.g. include both infectious disease and contaminants?

  • 4. For eligibility, there is a requirement for collaboration with NOAA Centers of Excellence or "other OHH-related programs within NOAA, and individuals in institutions of higher education or other non-federal institutions conducting or interested in OHH-related research". Does that include other NOAA facilities aside from the Centers of Excellence? How about collaborators with a current OHHI grant? What are the other OHH-related programs that are eligible?

  • 5. Is it better to be affiliated with a Center?

  • 6. Will people currently working with OHHI grantees be more desirable for consideration?

  • 7. The level of funding for both categories, doctoral trainees and postdoctoral trainees, is limited to $35K and $100K respectively. Do those amounts include the Finance & Administration (F&A) costs or do we add the F&A costs on top of those amounts? In other words, the guidelines state that those amounts include any institutional costs. Is the Institutional Indirect separate from these key numbers?

  • 8. Is NOAA accepting a charge for overhead? Or, will NOAA not pay any overhead?

  • 9. If a consortia of two institutions applies to the "Consortia for Graduate Traineeships in Oceans and Human Health" RFP, should it be submitted with one institution serving as lead and the other as a subcontractor to that institution, or should the two separate institutional proposals be submitted directly to UCAR but bundled together so that UCAR can make separate awards to each institution?

  • 10. Is each institution's respective standard indirect cost rate acceptable or does UCAR have a standard policy that limits the indirect costs that will be paid?

  • 11. Can the "institutional costs" described above include some monies for an administrator to do things like arrange travel and run the program?

  • 12. Can we include brief descriptions of possible existing grad student and post doc candidates in an Appendix?

  • 13. Can any monies be paid to our NOAA OHH Partners? For example, if the NOAA OHH Mentors want to come to visit an institution to meet with the student and/or mentor?

  • 14. Do we need to include the Biosketches of all the OHH Investigators who could be involved, including the NOAA OHH investigators, or just the PIs?

  • 15. Is there a format for the three-page Biosketch/CV?

  • 16. What sort of "institutional commitment" is expected beyond tuition match for graduate students at private institutions?

  • 17. How many trainees are allowed per year? Is it possible to have 3-5 people on a single traineeship application? Can traineeships be split up between people?

  • 18. Is the $1.75M per year or the total for 3 years?

  • 19. What will be the official .Start date.?

  • 20. Is the $35K paid to consortia or student?

  • 21. What are the rules for formatting?

  • 22. Would a mixed program (for example, two post-docs and three graduate students) receive equal footing in the application process as one focused exclusively on students or post-docs?

  • 23. Is it worth the time to apply if our consortium is not affiliated with a Center, if we are so removed from the OHH community?
    • 1. Does a consortia application only refer to multiple institutions or can it be multiple departments (e.g. Biology Dept., Medical School) within an institution or multiple investigators within an institution.
    Applications may be made by multiple departments or multiple individuals within an institution. In keeping with the intent of the RFP, a strong proposal will demonstrate participation from academia, NOAA and the public health or natural resource decision-making communities.

    The RFP states that the goal ... is to help develop a robust community of oceans and human health experts trained to work across the scientific disciplines and institutions necessary to understand the linkages between the oceans, human health, and well being; and to understand the importance of information about these linkages for resource and public health decision makers,. And that, "Participation is sought from institutions (or consortia of institutions) of higher education, research laboratories, state or local public health or natural resource agencies, or other organizations that are conducting or applying research in oceans and human health, to collaborate with a NOAA Oceans and Human Health Center of Excellence* or other OHH-related programs within NOAA, and individuals in institutions of higher education or other non-federal institutions conducting or interested in OHH-related research."

    * Refers to one of three Centers of Excellence: West Coast Center for Oceans and Human Health, Great Lakes Center for Oceans and Human Health, Center of Excellence in Oceans and Human Health at the Hollings Marine Laboratory

    2. Is the only way to apply for more than one traineeship through a consortium? In other words, can three investigators within a single institution (like a University or College) apply for two or three related traineeships?
    Multiple investigators within an institution can apply for multiple traineeships. Moreover, traineeships may be split: e.g., two full-time investigators or four half-time investigators, or a combination of full-time and less-than-full-time investigators. The limit is a maximum of five (individuals or cumulatively across several individuals) traineeships (Doctoral and Pos-Doctoral) per year, per consortium.
    3. Can the traineeships applied for by consortia include areas of research that are not related to one another, e.g. include both infectious disease and contaminants?
    Yes, traineeships may include areas of research that are un-related to one another, provided that the proposed research meets the requirements spelled out in the Scientific Scope. Please refer to the Scientific Scope in the Request for Proposals.
    4. For eligibility, there is a requirement for collaboration with NOAA Centers of Excellence or "other OHH-related programs within NOAA, and individuals in institutions of higher education or other non-federal institutions conducting or interested in OHH-related research". Does that include other NOAA facilities aside from the Centers of Excellence? How about collaborators with a current OHHI grant? What are the other OHH-related programs that are eligible?
    Yes, the other NOAA facilities (like NERR.s, Laboratories, etc.) are included in the eligibility requirement that investigators collaborate with NOAA Centers of Excellence or other OHH-related programs within NOAA, and individuals in institutions of higher education or other non-federal institutions conducting or interested in OHH-related research. Other institutions include: NIH, NSF, and other institutions conducting OHH-related research. Please refer to the Request for Proposals Website for links to the Centers of Excellence. Applications could be made with collaboration from current OHHI grantees, but the time frame should either be commensurate with the end of the grant, or the applicants must demonstrate other institutional commitment that will be sustained after the grant has ended.
    5. Is it better to be affiliated with a Center?
    All applications will be considered equally, commensurate with the application requirements.
    6. Will people currently working with OHHI grantees be more desirable for consideration?
    All applications will be considered equally, commensurate with the application requirements.
    7. The level of funding for both categories, doctoral trainees and postdoctoral trainees, is limited to $35K and $100K respectively. Do those amounts include the Finance & Administration (F&A) costs or do we add the F&A costs on top of those amounts? In other words, the guidelines state that those amounts include any institutional costs. Is the Institutional Indirect separate from these key numbers?
    As the announcement states: "Doctoral trainees should not exceed a maximum of $35,000 each per year ($105,000 over 3 years), including stipend, limited research and travel support, and any institutional costs. Postdoctoral trainees should not exceed $100,000 each per year ($300,000 over 3 years) including salary; research, laboratory and field costs; limited travel support; and any institutional costs."

    Both the direct and indirect (F&A) costs are included in the award.

    8. Is NOAA accepting a charge for overhead? Or, will NOAA not pay any overhead?
    Overhead rates are those rates approved by your institution.s cognizant Federal agency. The consortia institutions will deduct their indirect rate from the award made by UCAR. Indirect rates should be included in the overall cost of the proposal as a separate budget line.
    9. If a consortia of two institutions applies to the "Consortia for Graduate Traineeships in Oceans and Human Health" RFP, should it be submitted with one institution serving as lead and the other as a subcontractor to that institution, or should the two separate institutional proposals be submitted directly to UCAR but bundled together so that UCAR can make separate awards to each institution?
    There should be a lead institution, and the mechanisms for allocating funds after that is at the discretion of the consortium. Applications should be submitted in the way that makes most sense for accomplishing the work. If the proposal is accepted, further budget negotiations can take place to ensure optimum efficiency and conservation of resources.
    10. Is each institution's respective standard indirect cost rate acceptable or does UCAR have a standard policy that limits the indirect costs that will be paid?
    Yes, your institution.s indirect cost rate, as approved by your institution.s cognizant Federal agency, is acceptable.
    11. Can the "institutional costs" described above include some monies for an administrator to do things like arrange travel and run the program?
    Awarded funds should be spent to the best effect in order to build capacity in the area of Oceans and Human Health. Funds should primarily be spent on training students to enter this interdisciplinary field, and part of the proposal assessment will include the efficiency of training students for monies awarded. The proposal should be clear that any funds requested for things other than students or post-docs are necessary to enhance the likelihood of success of the overall endeavor. Applicants and institutions may also consider demonstrating institutional commitment through matching funds or providing other administrative support.
    12. Can we include brief descriptions of possible existing grad student and post doc candidates in an Appendix?
    Yes
    13. Can any monies be paid to our NOAA OHH Partners? For example, if the NOAA OHH Mentors want to come to visit an institution to meet with the student and/or mentor?
    No. Funds should be spent for the direct and indirect costs of training students and post-docs in the OHH field. NOAA and other Federal Agencies cannot receive funds under this mechanism.
    14. Do we need to include the Biosketches of all the OHH Investigators who could be involved, including the NOAA OHH investigators, or just the PIs?
    Biosketches of all investigators and partners should be included.
    15. Is there a format for the three-page Biosketch/CV?
    No, just 11-point font or greater with 1-inch margins, as required for the rest of the proposal.
    16. What sort of "institutional commitment" is expected beyond tuition match for graduate students at private institutions?
    This was intended to allow for creative ideas for demonstrating the commitment of the institutions involved to pursuing the field of oceans and human health beyond the life of these funds. Demonstrations of institutional commitment could include, but are not limited to: establishing curriculum or lecture series, offering a specialty or certification, developing laboratory or other research capacity, developing formal partnerships with public health or natural resource decision making institutions, etc.
    17. How many trainees are allowed per year? Is it possible to have 3-5 people on a single traineeship application? Can traineeships be split up between people?
    As stated in the RFP, "a consortium proposal may request a maximum of 5 traineeships (doctoral and/or postdoctoral combined) per year."

    Yes, a single traineeship may be broken up. While it was envisioned that these would be full time people, it is acceptable to consider portions of people that would cumulatively add up to the maximum of 5.for instance two (2)1.0 FTEs or four (4) 0.5 FTEs both of which would count for 2 trainees. In this case, the proposal should include the rationale and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed arrangement.

    18. Is the $1.75M per year or the total for 3 years?
    The total amount of available funding is $1.75 million, for all awards for all years.
    19. What will be the official "Start date"?
    1 August 2007.
    20. Is the $35K paid to consortia or student?
    All funds will go from UCAR to the Consortia institution(s) but are expected to be paid to the students through the plan laid out in the proposal.
    21. What are the rules for formatting?
    Refer to the Proposal Requirement on page 3 of the Request for Proposals document: 11-point font, 1-inch margins, 25 pages, etc.
    22. Would a mixed program (for example, two post-docs and three graduate students) receive equal footing in the application process as one focused exclusively on students or post-docs?
    Yes, all proposals are considered equally.
    23. Is it worth the time to apply if our consortium is not affiliated with a Center, if we are so removed from the OHH community?
    Affiliation with a Center is not required, but affiliation with other OHH-related researchers or programs is. Please refer to the Request for Proposals which states that "Participation is sought from institutions (or consortia of institutions) of higher education, research laboratories, state or local public health or natural resource agencies, or other organizations that are conducting or applying research in oceans and human health, to collaborate with a NOAA Oceans and Human Health Center of Excellence or other OHH-related programs within NOAA, and individuals in institutions of higher education or other non-federal institutions conducting or interested in OHH-related research."