Synopsis of Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative
On 24 May 2010, BP committed $500 million over a 10 year period to create a broad, independent research program to be conducted at research institutions primarily in the US Gulf Coast States. The program will be known as the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI).On 15 June 2010, BP announced the names of the scientific experts who would form GoMRI s independent Research Board.BP, in consultation with the White Houseand the Governors of the five Gulf Coastal States,later expanded the GoMRI Research Board to 20 members by adding additional scientific expertise. The Research Board is responsible for preparing this and subsequent requests for proposals (RFPs), enabling an open and transparent peer review process, selecting proposals for funding, and reviewing annual progress for continuation funding. This RFP, designated RFP I, is devoted to the selection of Research Consortia for GoMRI Years 2 4 (1 June 2011 31 May 2014).
On March 14, 2011, BP and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (the Alliance is a non profit entityformed by the Governors of the five Gulf Coastal States) entered into the GoMRI Master Research Agreement (GoMRI MRA). The GoMRI MRA creates the structure for the GoMRI, the selection and distribution of grants from the GoMRI, as well as the funding, conduct, and oversight of research in furtherance of the purposes of the GoMRI. Any Research Consortium,research institution, or co investigator that receives funding, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, under the GoMRI is subject to and must comply with the terms and conditions of the GoMRI MRA.
The objectives of the GoMRI are to investigate the impacts of the oil, dispersed oil, and dispersant on the ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico and affected Gulf Coastal States in a broad context of improving fundamental understanding of the dynamics of such events, the associated environmental stresses, and the public health implications. The GoMRI will also develop improved spill mitigation, oil and gas detection, characterization, and remediation technologies. The ultimate goal of the GoMRI will be to improve society s ability to understand and respond to the impacts of petroleum pollution and related stressors of the marine and coastal ecosystems, with an emphasis on conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. Knowledge accrued will be applied to restoration and to improvement of the long term environmental health of the Gulf of Mexico.
The GoMRI is an independent scientific research program and is separate from the Natural Resources Damages Assessment process, and BP agrees that the participation of theAlliance in this Agreement shall not result in a credit against or defense to any claims for natural resource damages or assessment costs.
In general, the Research Consortia shall consist of Research Institutions in the Gulf Coast States, provided that Research Institutions outside of the Gulf Coast States may be members of or participate in partnerships with such Research Consortia, to the extent required to ensure the delivery of high quality scientific studies in fulfillment of the objectives and ultimate goal of the GoMRI.
BP provided GoMRI Year 1 (1 June 2010 31 May 2011) funds to Gulf Coast State institutions for rapid response studies in the immediate aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. Pursuant to this GoMRI, the remaining funds to conduct these studies are to be distributed to academic and research institutions ( Research Institutions ) primarily in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas (the Gulf Coast States ), which have formed or may form appropriate partnerships with Research Institutions based outside of the Gulf Coast States.
The purpose of RFP I is to select the research activities for GoMRI Years 2 4 (1 June 2011 31 May 2014) involving Research Consortia. For this solicitation, a Research Consortium is defined as having four or more institutions. The second RFP (RFP II) will focus on activities involving less money and less internal management than a Research Consortium; RFP II will be issued at a later date. RFP II will request proposals from individual or collaborative efforts involving a principal investigator (PI) and co principal investigators (co PIs) from up to three additional institutions and will be focused on the same research themes described in RFP I. RFP II will fund activities for GoMRI Years 2 4.
The annual funding level for all GoMRI activities is expected to be $50 million per year. The total funds available for distribution to Research Consortia through RFP I will be a minimum of $37.5 million per year. Four to eight Research Consortia will be selected, and funding for each is estimated to be between $1 million (minimum) and $7.5 million (maximum) per year. The total funds available for distribution through RFP II will be up to a maximum of $7.5 million per year; and funding for each is estimated to be between $100,000 (minimum) and $1 million (maximum) per year.
The GoMRI emphasizes interdisciplinary science and technology involving experts in physical, chemical, geological, and biological oceanography; marine biology; coastal and reef ecosystems, fisheries and wildlife ecology; public health; and associated development of physical, chemical, and biological instrumentation, advanced modelling, and informatics.
All activities selected for GoMRI funding will combine state of the art research with deep scientific knowledge of the ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico to create fundamental advances in understanding the interactions that occurred and continue to occur among the marine and coastal ecosystems, oil, and oil dispersants produced by the catastrophic loss of the DWH oil drilling platform. The success of the GoMRI depends on a combination of regional knowledge with regional, national, and international research innovation.
The deadline to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) was May 9, 2011 at 9:00 p.m. EDT. No proposal was accepted without an LOI.
The deadline to submit a proposal was July 11, 2011 at 9:00 p.m. EDT.
Click here to download/view the full RFP. (Adobe PDF)
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