Alaska’s Blue Economy Future (ABEF)
UAF’s Center for Innovation, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship (Center ICE) is soliciting proposals to advance innovations that would strengthen Alaska’s blue economy. This request for proposals (RFP) is a collaboration with the UAF Alaska Blue Economy Center (ABEC). This RFP is supported by the Office of Naval Research.
The blue economy refers to the sustainable development of marine industries including but not limited to fisheries, seafood processing, mariculture, tourism, transportation, and energy. These maritime industries will be a growing part of Alaska’s future economy. UAF -- including Center ICE, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (CFOS), and ABEC -- are poised to grow as the focal point for translating research that helps drive Alaska’s economic future in the maritime industries.
Center ICE will fund proposed projects that would advance innovations with the greatest likelihood of industry adoption. As such, proposals should describe not just the innovation and its proposed development but also the anticipated industry application and likelihood of adoption. Innovations may be no more than an idea or may be as far along as nearly ready for industry deployment. All innovations must contribute to a maritime industry.
This RFP is employing an accelerated timeline for proposal submission, proposal review, and project completion. Projects must be completed by December 31, 2021. If you have a project that would extend beyond this date (12/31/21), contact us about the possibility of bifurcating into two separate proposals. Center ICE will set up awardees’ account codes and will retain primary responsibility for reporting to the federal agency. The proposal process described below and the required three-page final report for this funding opportunity are relatively minor. Coordination of purchasing/procurement for funded projects will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Center ICE will retain all ICR generated from funded projects.
Who May Submit a Proposal: This funding opportunity is internal to the University of Alaska. All University of Alaska faculty, staff, and students are eligible.
Proposal Requirements: Each project proposal must have a title, lead investigator contact details, project start and end dates, and the name and contact information of the fiscal officer. Proposal narratives must not exceed 3 pages of size 12 font with 1-in margins; this does not include the budget. Proposal narratives must specifically address each of the following:
- How this problem is currently being addressed,
- How your innovation is novel, relative to existing solutions,
- A description of the work you will perform to develop your solution,
- How you propose to measure success for your project,
- A list of key personnel including a 1-3 sentence biography of each, and
- Acknowledgement that your department will not receive ICR associated with this project.
Project duration: Proposals will be accepted, reviewed, and awarded on a rolling basis. Therefore, applicants are encouraged to submit sooner than later. The project end date and deadline to submit expenses must be no later than December 31, 2021.
Budget and anticipated funding: Proposals should be accompanied by a budget request in the form of a line-item budget and brief budget narrative. Budgets must be at least $1,500 and at most $25,000.
How to submit: Proposals will be accepted starting immediately and awards will be made on a rolling basis until all funding is exhausted. Proposals do not need to go through a pre-award office but rather should be sent directly to centerice@alaska.edu.
All questions should be directed to Professor Peter Webley at pwwebley@alaska.edu. Center ICE’s purpose is to strengthen the culture of innovation and entrepreneurialism at the University of Alaska and to grow the pipeline of innovations with commercial potential. This RFP is supported by the Office of Naval Research and is a program of the Center for Innovation, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship (Center ICE).
