Project Selection Criteria
The best Sea Grant research projects combine scientific excellence and a focus on problems or opportunities of broad societal concern, such as resource management, public interest or industry application. Research projects are also judged on their scientific quality, the significance of their expected scientific contributions, and their national competitiveness.
The best Sea Grant education projects also focus on problems or opportunities of broad societal concern, such as resource management, public interest or industry application. Education projects must be innovative, objective and impartial and have potential as models or for long-term use. They require linkage of the information or programming to a strong science base and must consider the importance of the target audience and readiness of that audience to receive the information or programming.
All Sea Grant research and education projects are required to develop milestones and to meet several shared criteria:
- Importance of the marine resource/marine environmental need or opportunity that the project addresses;
- Potential for societal impact or to make a significant contribution to resource conservation;
- Appropriateness as a university-sponsored activity;
- Interaction with other projects and activities and potential for leverage of funds; and
- Capabilities of project team.