Application Procedures

Principal investigator must be a University of South Alabama faculty member to apply.

Alabama Center for Estuarine Studies (ACES) Regular Grant Proposals should be prepared as follows:

• Cover Sheet with Certification Page*
• Project Description (maximum of ten pages)
• Bibliography
• Budget Pages* (one for each year of the project plus a summary budget)
• Budget Justification (one page)
• Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae (maximum of three pages per principal investigator)
• Current and Pending Support*
• Quality Assurance Document (must be provided upon funding)
• Transmittal Sheet for Proposals** (must be provided upon funding)

Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) Proposals should be prepared as follows:

• Cover Sheet with Certification Page*
• Project Description (maximum of seven pages)
• Bibliography
• Budget Pages* (one for each year of the project plus a summary budget)
• Budget Justification (one page)
• Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae (maximum of three pages per principal investigator)
• Current and Pending Support*
• Quality Assurance Document (must be provided upon funding)
• Transmittal Sheet for Proposals** (must be provided upon funding)

Guidelines for Project Description.

In ten (seven for SGER) pages or less, provide a concise description of the following information:

Statement of problem
Goals and objectives, with justification
Methodology
Availability of needed equipment and support facilities
Schedule of work, including projected milestones

Guidelines for Budget Page:

Along with the budget pages, provide a summary justification (one page) of primary budget elements (e.g., personnel, supplies, equipment), the roles and responsibilities of personnel, and describe the availability of planned or potential matching funds.

Guidelines for Quality Assurance:

Prior to initiating studies, funded investigators will be required to submit to the Center a detailed Quality Assurance Plan which includes data quality objectives for each measurement or response variable. For more information regarding quality assurance planning, contact Mike Dardeau (251) 861-7527, the Quality Assurance Officer.

Fifteen copies of each proposal must be received in the office the ACES Administrative Assistant, Ms. Carolyn F. Wood, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, 101 Bienville Boulevard, Dauphin Island, AL 36528 on or before the deadline date.  Late submissions will not be accepted.

A Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) has been formed to review proposals and recommend funding priorities. Proposals will be reviewed (and ranked) according to the following criteria:

• Contribution to our knowledge of estuarine and nearshore science (20 Points)
• Relevance of project to targeted theme and geographic region (20 Points)
  Soundness of technical approach (20 Points)
• Qualifications of investigators(s) and appropriateness of facilities (20 Points)
• Innovativeness of approach (10 Points)
• Budget appropriateness and size (10 Points)
  

*Available as Microsoft Word or WordPerfect download or from Ms. Carolyn Wood at cfwood@disl.org, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, 101 Bienville Boulevard, Dauphin Island, AL 36528, (251) 861-7534.

Download Word Perfect Forms w/ budget sheet
Download MS Word Forms w/o budget sheet
Download MS Excel Budget Sheet only
Download PDF of Form
Download PDF of Budget

  **Available from Ms. Carolyn Wood or Office of Sponsored Programs, University of South Alabama, AD 200, Mobile, AL 36688, (251) 460-6456.