The National Sea Grant College Program was enacted by U.S. Congress in 1966 (amended in 2020, Public Law 116-221) to support leveraged federal and state partnerships that harness the intellectual capacity of the nation’s universities and research institutions to solve problems and generate opportunities in coastal communities.
This notice announces that applications may be submitted for the 2025 National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship (Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Program). The National Sea Grant College Program (Sea Grant) anticipates funding not less than 35 applicants, of which approximately 17 will be assigned to the Legislative branch. Application packages will each propose a total of $93,900 in funding. Detailed breakout of this funding is described in Section II.A and Section III.F of this announcement.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to reach out to the Sea Grant program in their state/territory at least one to two months prior to the state application deadline to receive application support and provide notification of intent to apply. Following student application submission, the student should allow sufficient time to schedule an interview with the eligible Sea Grant program at the program’s request.
North Carolina Sea Grant will nominate students from graduate or professional programs in marine and aquatic science or policy, regardless of citizenship. Students must be enrolled in a North Carolina academic institution at the time of application deadline.
Eligible students must submit application materials by 5:00 p.m. local time on February 15, 2024 to eligible Sea Grant programs.
Grants.gov announcement: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=350379
NC Sea Grant announcement: https://ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/john-a-knauss-marine-policy-fellowship/
Any student, regardless of citizenship, is eligible to submit to this opportunity if: (1) The student is enrolled towards a degree in a graduate program at any point between the onset of the 2023 Fall Term (quarter, trimester, semester, etc.) and February 15, 2024; (2) The graduate degree will be awarded through an accredited institution of higher education in the United States or U.S. Territories, and; (3) The student has an interest in ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources.
Application submission is through an application to the Sea Grant program in the state in which the student is earning their degree. If there is no Sea Grant program, a Sea Grant program will be assigned (see Section IV.D.)
Subject to the availability of funding, this announcement describes how eligible applicants should apply for the Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Program. Sea Grant anticipates funding not less than 35 applicants, of which those assigned to the legislative branch will be approximately 17. Application packages will each propose a total of $93,900 in funding. This includes base funding for each award at $76,400, of which $71,400 is to be used by the eligible Sea Grant program to cover the fellow’s salary/stipend and personnel expenses for the twelve months of the fellowship and $5,000 can be used to cover allowable expenses. Allowable expenses could include, but are not limited to, relocation prior to and following the fellowship, academic tuition, journal publication fees, academic- and fellowship-related travel, conferences fees, online trainings, and workshops. Applications should also include travel costs totaling $17,500, of which $15,000 will be budgeted for optional host office related travel and training and $2,500 will be budgeted for optional placement week expenses, which would be provided at the discretion of the National Sea Grant Office.
