FY20 Dr Nancy Foster Scholarship Program

Agency: Department of Commerce

11.429 -- Marine Sanctuary Program

Archived opportunityLast Updated: May 13, 2026

Description

The Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program provides support for master’s and doctoral degrees in oceanography, marine biology, or maritime archaeology—this can include but is not limited to ocean and/or coastal: engineering, social science, marine education, marine stewardship, resource management disciplines—and particularly encourages women and members of minority groups to apply. Individuals who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, or citizens of U.S. territories, and are applying to or have been accepted to a graduate program at a U.S. accredited institution, may apply. Prospective scholars do not need to be enrolled in a graduate program at the time of application but must be admitted to a graduate level program in order to be awarded this scholarship. Scholarship selections are based on academic excellence, letters of recommendations, research and career goals, and financial need. Applicants must have a cumulative 3.30 grade point average to be eligible to apply and maintain a minimum cumulative and term grade point average of 3.30 for every term and for the duration of their award. Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarships may provide, subject to appropriations, yearly support of up to $42,000 per student (a 12-month stipend of $30,000 in addition to an education allowance of up to $12,000) and up to $10,000 of support for a 4-6 week program collaboration at a NOAA facility. Applicants can only obtain funding for the number of years they have remaining in their graduate studies when they applied for the Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program. For example, if you have already completed two years of your PhD studies, and you become a Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship recipient and indicate it will take you two additional years to complete your degree, you will only be able to obtain funds for the remaining two years of your graduate studies. Note that scholars are allowed one (1) one-year no-cost extension that must be requested at least 60 days before the end of the award and will need to provide a justification and a current budget.

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Completion of one (1) program collaboration is required for every doctoral scholarship award, with a second recommended, but not required. For master's degree level scholars, completion of a program collaboration is strongly recommended, but not required. The Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship funds cannot be used toward research costs.

Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program recipients will be required to participate in a mandatory NOAA Orientation Training to meet with the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries staff at a date and location to be determined in the summer of 2020. If scholarships have not been awarded before this training, recipients may be required to incur pre-award costs that will be reimbursed after award funds have been issued.

As a recipient of the Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program, you become a recognized member of the NOAA community. NOAA provides significant financial resources to help you pursue your independent graduate degree, as well as the staff expertise to assist you with your research along the way. Therefore, Dr. Nancy Foster Scholars must conduct some specific outreach efforts. To help increase diversity of future applicants, Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program recipients must give at least one presentation about the Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program to a diverse audience, such as undergraduate students at a minority serving institution, historically black colleges and universities, or other appropriate venue(s). All Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program recipients must also put together an outreach product (e.g., video, infographic) that communicates their scientific research in a way that the average viewer can understand it, its importance, and its relevance to the NOAA mission. Appropriate training in the creation of outreach products will be provided to all scholarship recipients.

Dr. Nancy Foster Scholars also participate in a program collaboration. This opportunity is designed to allow scholars to participate in research or other activities for four to six weeks at a field office of the National Marine Sanctuary System, or other NOAA program offices. Federal support for the program collaboration may be used toward allowable costs such as: travel to and from the NOAA facility, housing, per diem, laboratory costs, research vessel support, and consumables while conducting research at the NOAA facility. Scholars are required to provide their own health insurance coverage during the program collaboration. More details on allowable costs can be found in 2 CFR part 200, Subpart E – Cost Principles. If scholars choose to participate in a program collaboration during a specific year, they must notify the Program Officer by December of the academic year in which they intend to participate in the collaboration. Approval from the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is required prior to embarking on the program collaboration.

In order to have a competitive application for the Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program, it is recommended that you review the following bullets to assess whether or not you should apply for this scholarship.

1. Your research proposal aligns closely with NOAA's mission, with particular emphasis on meeting the science needs of the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. This is 20% of your application score.

2. Your financial need statement documents a strong financial need due to challenges, hardships, or other information through a compelling personal narrative. This is 25% of your application score.

3. You (likely) have exceptional letters of recommendation. This is 10% of your application score.

4. Historically, proposals that do not support the science needs of NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary System do not rank as high.

5. If you are in the last year of your Masters or Ph.D. program, it is not advised to apply for this scholarship.

Additional information about the scholarship can be obtained in the full announcement text of the Federal Funding Opportunity.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants

Miscellaneous

Other

Additional information

Only individuals who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, or citizens of U.S. territories, and are applying to or have been accepted to a U.S. accredited graduate institution to pursue a master's or doctoral level degree in oceanography, marine biology, or maritime archaeology—this can include but is not limited to ocean and/or coastal: engineering, social science, marine education, marine stewardship, resource management disciplines—are eligible for an award under this scholarship program. In addition, to be eligible to apply, applicants must have a cumulative 3.30 grade point average. Scholars must maintain a minimum cumulative and term grade point average of 3.30 for every term and for the duration of their award. If applicant does not maintain this grade point average, he/she will be placed on probation after the first term. If the grade point average is not brought up for that year, the recipient’s scholarship will be terminated. In addition, satisfactory progress must be made toward the completion of a thesis or dissertation. If it is determined that the scholar will not complete his/her thesis or dissertation prior to the end of the award, funding may be withdrawn.Individuals who already receive NOAA or federal funding from grants or scholarships for graduate school are not eligible to receive the Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship. If a student is willing to give up the other federal funding, then he/she is eligible to receive the award. Universities or other organizations may not apply on behalf of an individual. Prospective scholars do not need to be enrolled in a graduate program at the time of application but must be admitted to a graduate level program in order to be awarded this scholarship. Eligibility must be maintained for each succeeding year of support, and annual reporting requirements, to be specified at a later date, will apply. Individuals who are in their last year of graduate school are unlikely to receive this award.

Grantor contact information

Description

Send requests for information to fosterscholars@noaa.gov or mail requests to: Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries 1305 East West Highway 11th Floor, Room 11622 Silver Spring, MD 20910

Email

Work email address

fosterscholars@noaa.gov

Documents

File name	Description	Last updated
NOAA-NOS-ONMS-2020-2006239_Full_Announcement.pdf	Full Announcement	Oct 7, 2019 01:36 PM UTC

Link to additional information

Archived: January 5, 2020

Application process

This site is a work in progress. Go to www.grants.gov to apply, track application status, and subscribe to updates.

Award

$500,000

Program Funding

Expected awards

Award Minimum

$42,000

Award Maximum

Funding opportunity number:

NOAA-NOS-ONMS-2020-2006239

Cost sharing or matching requirement:

Funding instrument type:

Cooperative agreement

Opportunity Category:

Discretionary

Opportunity Category Explanation:

Category of Funding Activity:

Environment

Science technology and other research and development

Natural resources

Category Explanation:

History

Version:

Posted date:

October 7, 2019

Archive date:

January 5, 2020