What is the Ocean Technology Transition Program?

The IOOS Ocean Technology Transition Project (OTT) is an ongoing, multi-year effort to transition prototype ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes observing, product development, and data management technologies to sustained operations in a stepped, parallel, and scalable process that includes stakeholder engagement from industry, government, academia, and others invested in the monitoring and assessment of the nation’s ocean and coastal regions.

Sustained or Operational mode is defined as the actual application of the technology in its final form and under mission requirements, ideally via commercialization of new technologies. OTT technologies include hardware and software platforms, sensors, and data management resulting in improved ocean information supporting decision making for the coastal, ocean, and Great Lakes’ environments.

What are the Project priorities for the Funding Opportunity?

In FY 2026, the U.S. IOOS Office, in conjunction with the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), will accept applications to accelerate the transition of advanced coastal, ocean, and Great Lakes observing technologies to operations mode. Technologies which support developing and improving observation, sensors, and information capabilities for chemical, biological, and physical parameters at multiple spatial and temporal scales to monitor changing conditions in the oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes will be considered.

The NOPP facilitates partnerships between Federal agencies, academia, and industry to advance ocean science research and education. Through this collaboration, Federal agencies can leverage resources to invest in priorities that fall between agency missions or that are too large for any single agency to support, and partnerships may include non-government sectors. Specific areas of interest under this funding opportunity include, but are not limited to:

1. sensors for physical, biological, or chemical parameters, especially low-cost or accessible ocean technology (AOT) sensors
2. use of cloud-based technologies and platforms and the use of AI for analysis and QA/QC
3. use of novel autonomous vehicles/platforms
4. Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) sensors and sensor platforms including deployment of sensors on new platforms
5. Environmental DNA (eDNA) samplers and systems to improve the efficiency of sample collection, e.g. using CTDs, onboard processing, and deployment of sensors on new platforms
6. sensors for ocean acidification related measurements
7. High Frequency Radar (HFR) use impact and metrics, development, and improvement
8. novel data management, analytics, and integration to improve service delivery to customers

Who can apply?

Eligible funding applicants for this competition are industry, institutions of higher education, non-profit and for-profit organizations, and State, local and tribal governments. Federal agencies or institutions and foreign governments may not be the primary recipient of awards under this announcement, but they are encouraged to partner with applicants when appropriate.

If an applicant has a partner(s) who would receive funds, the lead grantee will be expected to use subcontracts or other appropriate mechanisms to provide funds to the partner(s). If a partner is a NOAA office or laboratory, the IOOS office will transfer funds internally.

Funding will not be awarded to continue projects previously funded through the Ocean Technology Program.

Applicants should note that paying for transportation, travel, or other expenses for any Federal employee are unallowable costs.

How much funding is available and what is the limit for a proposal?

In FY 2026 - 2029 it is estimated that up to $7.5 million will be available from the U.S. IOOS Office. Multiple awards are anticipated, subject to availability of funds, in amounts up to $400,000 per year for up to three years. The number of awards is anticipated to range from approximately three to five, and will be adjusted based on availability of funds.

What Readiness Levels should proposed technologies have already reached?

OTT utilizes NOAA’s Readiness Levels (RL) ontology (NOAA Administrative Order 215-105A) to assess the maturity of R&D projects from research to operation, application, commercial product, or service, (Note: NOAA's Readiness Levels are similar to the Technology Readiness Levels developed by NASA) and embody the same concept for quantifying the maturity of research. RLs are used as a systematic metric/measurement system that supports assessments of the maturity of a particular IOOS technology, and enables a consistent comparison between different types of technologies. OTT specifically focuses on transitioning technology from RLs 5 through 7 to RL 8; in effect transforming the innovative research developed externally from this Program into operational elements of IOOS or other parts of NOAA. Applicants are asked to identify the RL of the technologies with which they are working. Each applicant’s application should state clearly how the applicant determined that their proposed technology project is at an appropriate RL level for this funding opportunity.

Will NOAA would claim my intellectual property?

In an attempt to be direct and concise, NOAA does not have a stake in any non-Federal entity's IP. Whether it is SBIR, or a formal CRADA, IP is specifically protected to benefit the non-Federal entity. The SBIR program further provides additional protections for the small business because they are developing products and services under that program that has direct legislative protections for their trade secrets and IP. While NOAA staff are certainly "in the know" about the small business IP, we keep that information tightly controlled.

In the instance of your NOFO, while it is possible NOAA may someday choose to purchase a license from that small business concern leveraging its IP, NOAA does not acquire, take, or otherwise own any sort of part of their IP.

Is there an offline template of the LOI that can be shared?

No template but the questions are:
Email
Description of the project
PI Name
PI Email
Transition PI Name
Transition PI Email
Financial Contact Name
Collaborating IOOS Regional Association (RA)
IOOS RA Contact Name
IOOS RA Contact Email
Project Topic Area
Name of LOI file to upload.

I wanted to clarify the eligibility requirement stating that applicants “must include partners from an IOOS Regional Association (RA) to qualify.” Would our lab be considered ineligible without an RA partner, even if the project otherwise aligns strongly with the FOA and has current NOAA support?

It sounds like you already have strong NOAA connections. You are not required to fund [an RA partner], but collaboration or coordination with them is required.

Customer Commitment: You must demonstrate that there are specific operators or customers committed to the long-term, integrated use of the technology. How do we demonstrate this? With a letter of commitment?

This could be via being a co-PI, serving as the Transition Manager or via a letter of commitment.

Applicant organizations must complete and maintain three registrations to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. These registrations include SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons. We have SAM and Grants.gov memberships but just applied to eRA Commons a few mins ago. What is the acceptance does not come in in time?

eRA registration typically takes 2-4 weeks. If you have already applied, registration should be completed well before the deadline. If you run into any issues, please contact the eRA Commons help desk.

What are the questions on the form for submitting an LOI?

The questions in tbe form are:
Email
Description of the Project
PI Name
PI Email
Transition PI Name
Transition PI EMAIL
Financial Contact Name
Collaboration IOOS RA
RA Contact Name
RA Contact Email
Project Topic Area
Name of the LOI file to upload

Is there an FAQ for this opportunity? I found the FY23 FAQ on the website but did not see one for this year yet.

https://ioos.noaa.gov/2026-ott-funding-opportunity-faqs/

Does each submission need to focus on a specific technology or could it center broader tech transition programming that will support multiple technologies?

Needs to focus on a specific technology or at least a closely related suite of technologies. We are not supporting technology transition programs. Those kinds of efforts are better suited for our Ocean Accelerator Program.

Do the technology/technologies to be supported need to be named in the proposal or could they be determined after the award?

Technologies need to be named.

Who is the Transition Manager? Does it need to be a person from NOAA or the regional association?

The Transition Manager can be anyone who is willing and able to coordinate the transition - i.e. work with researchers and the eventual operator and lay out a plan to get from research to operations. An RA could provide one, the eventual operator could be the Transition Manager, or the Transition Manager could be an interested NOAA partner.

If the RA role is to not be a transition manager then what would the role be for the RA?

Outreach would be a good role. Future user engagement would be another. Data management might not be quite so important in these projects as in, for example, COMT projects. Our goal is to have true RA participation by making sure proposers contact an RA with enough lead time to define roles.

Can a non-US citizen be the Transition Manager?

Yes.

Can the PI and the Transition Manager be the same person?

They could be one and the same, though it would be a bit unusual. One option a number of projects for another IOOS funding opportunity used was to have the Transition PI be from the IOOS Regional Association you are collaborating with.

Can there be more than one Transition Manager?

Yes.

Do both the scientific PI and transition PI have to be from a university, non- or for-profit, or state/local/tribe governments? Would a scenario where the scientific PI is from a University is the primary award recipient, but the transition PI is a partner from NOAA. Is that okay?

Absolutely. The Transition PI being Federal would be just fine. The caveat being that an OTT grant cannot pay federal salaries or travel.

Is the Transitional Principal Investigator a role for a NOAA team member?

It can be but there is no requirement that the Transition PI be a NOAA employee.

Can the scientific PI be different than the lead PI? And if so, can the scientific PI be a federal employee?

Yes and yes.

What is meant by the requirement to have a technology transition partner? We have a company that is partnered with the university to commercialize the technology as well as potential technology end users. Would it be more compelling for the proposal if one or the other of these was the transition partner?

Both options would be good Transition partners. The goal of OTT is to get research developments over the gap to operations - be that a commercial company or any other potential operator of the device/system.

How should these people be involved? Should there be a Project Steering Committee or should these partners be people using the technology in a test?

People using the technology would probably be more representative of operators than a Steering Committee though a committee could include users. Either is acceptable as long as there is participation by folks who are planning to use the technology.

Does "the team must include partners from at least one IOOS Regional Association, academia, and the private sector." mean must be at least one from each category?

No. An IOOS Association partner is required. The rest are optional.

Are foreign entities such as Universities or companies eligible to submit a proposal?

Yes. There would probably be additional paperwork if we were to fund you covering liabilities, limitations etc. You would need to have an IOOS Regional Association as a partner and transition manager.

How should we make contact with an IOOS Regional Association to be a partner in a proposal?

See https://ioos.noaa.gov/about/regional-associations/ for links to all the IOOS Regional Associations.

Would it be within NOAA policy to have both PIs or Co-PIs from the same institution?

It is entirely fine to have PI and co-PIs from the same institution.

If an RA member is a PI on the proposal, is a letter of support from the RA also necessary?

A pro forma letter of support would be wise.

Are there any restrictions about an organization being part of multiple LOI/Proposals? The two proposed projects would be conceptually different from each other.

There is no problem with an organization being on two LOIs/ proposals.

I'm wondering if multiple applications are allowed per organization?

They may apply twice but we are very unlikely to fund two proposals from the same submitter.

Can the Lead Principal Investigator serve as Transition Principal Investigator at the Letter of Intent stage

Yes

Can a Scientific Principal Investigator be identified and onboarded within the first 60 days of the award period?

No. The scientific PI (or lead PI) needs to be identified as a part of the proposal.
"To ensure that research leads to practical and valuable management outcomes, proposals must include a minimum of two investigators, a Scientific Principal Investigator and a Transition Manager/Principal Investigator."

Can the collaborating Regional Association field be listed as "pending - partnership in discussion" at the Letter of Intent stage?

Yes. But please be sure to contact an RA and establish a true relationship well before submitting the full proposal.

Is there a way to see the researcher profiles within these RAs to be able to identify the correct set of people?

I would go to the web pages for the RA you are interested in. Every set of pages is different.

Can you provide guidance on the specific RAs to include in a project.

Looking at the web pages for the various RAs is your best bet. Basic guidance would be to submit an LOI by the 27th of April.

Can you clarify if the IOOS RA Contact Name and Transition PI Name are the same people from the same RAs? Or they must be different people from the RA?

They are frequently the same, but can be different if needed.

To be eligible, it indicates: You must include a partner from at least one IOOS Regional Association (such as CARICOOS or GCOOS) and provide a Letter of Support from them. How do we find contacts at these organizations?

Google "IOOS regional associations."

Is RA partnership required at the LOI stage, or only with the full application?

Ideally at least say what RA you think you would work with.

What is the envisioned role of this Transition Manager?

To champion the project with potential operational users. To write the Transition Plan. Maybe, to help guide the project based upon knowledge of the technical landscape.

Would this person's role be restricted to the timeframe of the project, or is this a person you envision being around beyond the project to continue disseminating the technology transition?

Ideally continuing as a champion of the project beyond the end of the OTT funding.

If the RA partner is not the transition partner, but rather works on outreach, do we also need to provide an external transition partner?

you need an internal or external Transition Manager who is focused on the transition of the technology to a future operational user.

Are you looking for specific source fort a ransition Manger (i.e., from NOAA, industry, DoW)?

Whoever will best get your development out into the operational world.

Do we need to have the Transition Manager identified at the letter of intent stage?

Ideally yes but not an absolute requirement.

Would our lab be considered ineligible without an RA partner, even if the project otherwise aligns strongly with the FOA and has current NOAA ONMS support?

Per the NOFO "Applicants to this topic must include partners from an IOOS Regional Association (RA) to qualify. The participation of an RA should be described in a Letter of Support and the RA providing the letter should be contacted no later than three weeks before the submission of the proposal to allow for sufficient coordination. Additional partners are encouraged, e.g., industry, academia, government, (including Federal, State, local, and tribal) and other private sector partners (including Non-Governmental Organizations and Foundations)."

What is the NOAA policy regarding any IP that is developed through OTT work?

We are awaiting an answer on this from the NOAA legal department.

Our policy stipulates in no circumstances would we ever share any indirect rates to anyone outside of the US Government. In the past we sent a version to the prime with the backup with indirect and fringe rates directly to the US Government in this instance, NOAA.

Yes. You can send a version to the prime with the backup with indirect and fringe rates sent directly to NOAA.

Can we submit proposals focusing on improving a model forecasting platform?

While a modeling focused proposal is not precluded, our focus with this round of OTT is much more on observation technologies as opposed to modeling.

Do we need to go "fully operational" as part of the transition plan?

You need to have a plan to become operational but do not need to be fully operational by the end of the grant. While operational is our goal, we realize there are many elements of becoming fully operational that may affect final timing and deployment.

What is needed in section 5 “Proposal Narrative and Milestones Schedule” of the project description?

It is the Statement of Work which describes the details on the work that you plan to conduct. It is not part of the Attachment.

What's the difference between a "budget description" and a "brief narrative justification"?

Budget description and a brief budget narrative are the same. The budget narrative or brief budget description explains in a clear and concise manner the costs in each category, and which items will be covered by the cooperative agreement. The Budget Description is a much shorter version while the Budget Narrative is a complete narrative and justifications.

Although the budget narratives/justifications + tables for the 424a's are mentioned here, the text says to include in the "Budget Justification Attachment" ...which I'm guessing is in the appendix?

Please include the budget narrative or justification, budget tables for the SF424As in the Budget Justification Attachment.

It sounds like the budget and justification are required in two different sections (proposal narrative AND appendices).

The proposal narrative describes what is the proposed work for the project and has a 10 page limit. The budget narrative is separate from the proposal narrative and it provides detailed narrative justification for each project budget expense.

Are either of these part of the 10-page limit of the "proposal narrative."

The budget narrative section described in Paragraph 12 is not part of the Proposal Narrative and Milestones Schedule 10 page maximum requirement. The detailed budget should not exceed 10 pages.

When the solicitation refers to "12. Proposal Narrative and Milestones," is this referring to the entire proposal submission (the sum of all parts)?

The Proposal Narrative and Milestones includes the description of the project work (goals and objectives, background, who is your audience, work plan, who benefits, and provides a milestone schedule) that your organization plans to propose. The Narrative has a 10 page limit.

The Budget Narrative (Paragraph 12) is the proposal's budget narrative which is NOT a part of the Proposal Narrative and Milestones. The detailed budget should not exceed 10 pages.

Can we include federal salaries in our budget?

In most circumstances no salary or fringe benefit payments may be made from NOAA grant funds to support Federal employees. While the level of effort required for the research project must be allowed by the employing agency as part of the individuals' official duties, salary and fringe benefit costs associated with an individual participating in an official capacity as a career, career-conditional, or other Federal employees (civilian or uniformed services) are not allowable.

"Applicants to this topic must include partners from an IOOS Regional Association (RA) to qualify. The participation of an RA should be described in a Letter of Support...." The statement indicates on one hand that the applicant must include a partner from an RA and on the other that "the participation of an RA should be described". Are those the same thing? To me, a partner is a member of an RA, whereas the participation of an RA seems to indicate the need to get the RA itself involved. Essentially, is it an individual or the association that must partner?

The proposal must include a letter of support from an RA describing the participation of the RA in the project. The form of the participation should be determined in consultation with the RA. The participant could be the RA as a whole or a representative identified by the RA.

Can one apply for grants prior to 501(c)(3) status?

This program seeks projects that are already at Technology Readiness level 5 or 6 - https://orta.research.noaa.gov/support/readiness-levels/ . It is unclear from your message whether you actually have a working prototype being tested. You also would need to have an IOOS Regional Association partner and also a plan for transition to a final operator.

The NOAA Small Business Innovation Research program - https://techpartnerships.noaa.gov/sbir/ - might be a better place for you to consider. Another option is the accelerators under the NOAA Ocean Enterprise Accelerators program - https://ioos.noaa.gov/ioos-in-action/accelerators/

Are CI Indirect Costs or is Overhead allowed?

Assuming the CI has a negotiated indirect cost these could be included.

What costs, if any, can be covered for federal staff? Can any federal travel, expenses, or salary be paid for labs with or without CIs?

We do not pay Federal salary or expenses.

Is it possible to transfer funds from an agency/institution to federal lab (for either federal salary or CI personnel at the lab)?

A Federal entity cannot be the lead for a proposal. A project can cover CI salary, which would go to the host University for the CI.

Can funding be sent internationally to places beyond Federated States of Micronesia and similar?

No

Can an organization submit for more than one project? If so, should each project have its own separate application?

Yes and yes. Be aware that we will not fund more than one project from an organization.

Could the technology originate from a non-US company?

Yes. But it would need to be something not subject to export controls etc.

Would a project to develop a unique ROV capacity be considered for funding?

Your ROV idea is probably too early in the development process for this funding announcement. This program seeks projects that are already at Technology Readiness level 5 or 6 - https://orta.research.noaa.gov/support/readiness-levels/ . It is unclear from your message whether you actually have a working prototype being tested. You also would need to have an IOOS Regional Association partner and also a plan for transition to a final operator.

The NOAA Small Business Innovation Research program - https://techpartnerships.noaa.gov/sbir/ - might be a better place for you to consider. Another option is the accelerators under the NOAA Ocean Enterprise Accelerators program - https://ioos.noaa.gov/ioos-in-action/accelerators/

Is IOOS looking to fund the development of Platform-as-a-Service?

We do not fund the development of platforms and we focus on observations rather than standalone data management. We do fund the advancement from TRL5 or 6 at least two technology readiness levels. We are more focused on the use of technologies to accelerate operationalization.
The Ocean Technology Transition (OTT) program serves as a "bridge to operations." It takes mature, already-tested marine observing technologies (often at Technology Readiness Level 5: TRL-5) and provides longer-term support (up to 3 years) to bring them to operational readiness (TRL-7/8) for integration and use by the ocean observing community. OTT focuses on demonstrating real-world effectiveness and ensuring widespread adoption and commercialization of these specific, proven technologies.