Funding Opportunities

Below are current research-funding opportunities from Maryland Sea Grant for principal investigators. Expired opportunities are included for reference.

Graduate fellowships: Look here if you are a graduate student seeking information on fellowships.  Principal investigators seeking to fund graduate fellows on their research projects can obtain information in our funding application materials about how to do so.

Current Funding Opportunities

Start-up Funding / Program Development Awards

Maryland Sea Grant (MDSG) focuses on supporting translational watershed, coastal, and marine science that can inform broad audiences in the Chesapeake Bay region and Maryland's coastal areas. MDSG has the ability to support small, targeted grants that come under the general category of Program Development awards. These awards are given to help support important start-up efforts or to offer strategic support to emerging areas of importance. Program Development funds are designed to stimulate and foster small-scale innovative projects that will eventually lead to submissions for larger grants from a variety of sources. Also, these funds may be used to support workshops and educational opportunities that connect marine and coastal science to diverse audiences. 

FY2024 National Aquaculture Initiative 

Subject to the availability of funding, Sea Grant anticipates $5,000,000 to $6,000,000 will be available for research projects and programs that will develop and refine methods, protocols, techniques, and/or strategies to enhance the production of one or more life stages of aquaculture species (described below) with the overall goal of improving the efficiency, output, and profitability of commercial coastal, marine, or Great Lakes region aquaculture businesses. Projects that focus on the following aquaculture categories and organisms in both marine and freshwater are eligible for this competition and include: microalgae and macroalgae (seaweed), molluscs, crustaceans, ornamentals, baitfish, finfish species for food production, misc. invertebrates.

Other Funding Opportunities from Our Partners

National Sea Grant Office

Sea Grant is the primary university-based program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that supports coastal resource use and conservation. Its research and outreach programs promote better understanding, conservation, and use of America’s coastal resources. In short, Sea Grant is “science serving America’s coasts.”

Federal Government Grants 

Grants.gov is the source to find and apply for federal grants. In particular, federal funding opportunities for all grants and fellowships supported by the National Sea Grant College Program can be found through the searchable database at grants.gov.

Expired Funding Opportunities

These past funding opportunities, now closed, resulted in numerous research projects funded by Maryland Sea Grant. We offer these descriptions as a reference about our funding interests, cycles, and history.

2024 Biennial Research Competition

2022-2023 Omnibus Research Competition

Marine Finfish Aquaculture: Juvenile Production Technologies - 2022

Early Stage Propagation Strategies for Aquaculture Species - 2022

Search our database of projects funded through these solicitations.