Funding

IISG Core Proposals

IISG Core Proposals

IISG funds 2-5 projects during each two-year cycle. Requests for proposals are usually issued in December of even years for funding beginning 14 months later, in February of the following even year.

For a copy of recently issued RFPs, click here. To receive email notification of upcoming funding opportunities, email amcbride@purdue.edu with your contact information.

Required forms

Proposal Selection Process
Under National Sea Grant guidelines, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is required to follow the following procedure when selecting proposals for funding.

Preproposal Review: IISG begins the proposal selection process by requesting preproposals. Preproposals are screened by an internal committee appointed by the IISG director for their applicability to IISG topic areas, potential to impact management decisions, appearance of scientific rigor, and funding level. Preproposal selection is the only opportunity the IISG committee has to independently select proposal topics of most interest.

Peer Review: The second step in the research selection process begins with full proposal submission. Upon submission, full proposals are sent out for external peer review. Three to five reviewers are selected from universities, government agencies and research institutions. Reviewers must be selected from outside Illinois and Indiana to avoid conflicts of interest. Reviewers are selected for their technical knowledge of the proposal subject area and ability to evaluate the scientific merit of the work. Proposals that lack scientific rigor become apparent during this process. Click here to see a sample peer review form.

Expert Panel Review: After completion of the technical review, an expert panel is convened to evaluate the proposals in light of the technical reviews. The expert panel is made up of people selected by the Director and includes the National Sea Grant Office Program Officer. Members of the panel may not be from Illinois or Indiana or have any conflict of interest with any of the researchers. Panel members are usually senior scientists, department heads, agency directors, or in other high level positions. Panel members are asked to evaluate not only the technical merit of proposals, but the ability of the proposals to have an impact. The panel scores and ranks each of the proposals.

Funding Decisions: An IISG internal committee meets to make final funding recommendations based on the expert panel ranking and the research funds available. Recommendations are submitted to the National Sea Grant Office for approval. Upon approval, researchers are asked to submit any necessary final paperwork. This information is included in an Omnibus Proposal submitted to the National Sea Grant Office in November of each year. Projects start March 1 of the following year.