APPLY TO BE A Knauss FELLOW
Timeline
Executive Summary
Resources
Eligibility
Stipend and Expenses
Reporting Requirements
How to Submit an Application
Application
Evaluation Criteria
Review and Selection Process
Deadlines
Contacts
TIMELINE
- Thursday, January 9, 2025, 2:00 - 3:30PM PT - National Fellowships Application Workshop (Register for the workshop here)
- Thursday, January 16 & Friday, January 17, 2025 9:00 - 5:00 PM PST - California Sea Grant Office Hours
- Wednesday, February 19, 2025, 5:00PM PST - Applications due from candidates to California Sea Grant
- Monday, March 17 - Friday, March 21, 2025 - Interviews
- Monday, March 24 - Wednesday, April 16, 2025 - Internal selection of state finalists/Notify finalists
- Wednesday, April 16, 2025 - Latest applicants will be notified if they have been nominated by California Sea Grant to move on to the national Sea Grant competition
- April - July - National Sea Grant Office Application Review
- July - Finalists notified
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Federal Agency Name(s): Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), National Sea Grant College Program (SG)
Funding Opportunity Title: FY 2026 Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship
Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-OAR-SG-2026-29505
Deadline: The deadline for application to California Sea Grant is February 19, 2025 5:00PM Pacific Standard Time.
Funding Opportunity Description:
The National Sea Grant College Program was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1966 (amended in 2020, Public Law 116-221) to support leveraged federal and state partnerships that harness the intellectual capacity of the nation’s universities and research institutions to solve problems and generate opportunities in coastal communities.
This notice announces that applications may be submitted for the 2026 National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship (Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Program). The National Sea Grant College Program (Sea Grant) anticipates funding not less than 35 applicants, of which approximately 17 will be assigned to the Legislative branch.
Application packages will each propose a total of $95,600 in funding (See “Stipend And Expenses” for more details).
Applicants eligible to apply through California Sea Grant should carefully review the online resources for the 2026 Knauss Fellowship and reach out to the program (sgproposal@ucsd.edu) or attend office hours if you have questions. Following student application submission, the student should allow sufficient time to schedule an interview with the eligible Sea Grant program at the program’s request.
RESOURCES
The National Sea Grant Office Resources
- Website with Information for Prospective Applicants
- Knauss Fellowship Overview
- 2026 Knauss Fellowship Student Guide - detailed guidance on eligibility, important dates, award information, where to apply, and application materials
- Student Applicant Guide to Sea Grant Fellowships - advice and tips on different aspects of a fellowship package.
- Knauss Fellowship Blog
- Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Recruitment Video
For more detailed information about host offerings, applications, selection and placement process in Washington DC, please visit the National Sea Grant College Program Knauss Fellowship Program public website and view the 2025 Executive host fellowship positions for reference only (2025 Legislative host fellowship positions list will be updated and linked when available).
California Sea Grant Resources
- California Sea Grant National Fellowships Application Workshop: Thursday, January 9, 2025, 2:00 - 3:30PM PT
- California Sea Grant will be hosting a workshop to support applicants in developing competitive application materials for national fellowships associated with California Sea Grant (e.g., 2026 Knauss Fellowship, 2025-2027 Coastal Management/Digital Coast Fellowship, 2024 NMFS-SG Fellowship). Register for the workshop here.
- Office Hours: Thursday, January 16 & Friday, January 17, 2025 9:00 AM- 5:00 PM PST.
- If you still have questions after watching the pre-recorded Informational Webinar above, and attending the Application Workshop, California Sea Grant will be hosting office hours to answer any questions you may have. To schedule a time to chat, visit the booking page here.
ELIGIBILITY
The following entities are eligible to submit to this opportunity:
Any student, regardless of citizenship, is eligible to submit to this opportunity if:
- The student is enrolled towards a degree in a graduate program at any point between the onset of the 2024 Fall Term (quarter, trimester, semester, etc.) and February 19, 2025;
- The graduate degree will be awarded through an accredited institution of higher education in the United States or U.S. Territories, and;
- The student has an interest in ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources.
Application submission is through an application to the Sea Grant program in the state in which the student is earning their degree. If there is no Sea Grant program, a Sea Grant program will be assigned by the Knauss Fellowship Program Manager. A written statement from the National Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Program Manager referring the applicant to the most appropriate eligible Sea Grant program will be provided to the applicant and must be submitted to the State Sea Grant program through which they are applying. Applicants whose state does not have a Sea Grant program should contact the National Sea Grant Office by e-mail (oar.sg.fellows@noaa.gov) or phone (240-507-3712).
The National Sea Grant College Program champions recruiting, retaining and preparing a dynamic workforce, and proactively engaging and serving the populations of coastal communities. Sea Grant is committed to building research, extension, communication and education programs that serve people with unique backgrounds, circumstances, needs, perspectives and ways of thinking.
Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility
- The one year fellowship will take place in the National Capital Region. Applicants must be prepared to relocate to the Washington, D.C. area. Non-U.S. citizens are responsible for obtaining the appropriate visa to allow them to work in the Washington, D.C. area during the fellowship period.
- Foreign nationals, dual citizens, and permanent residents please note: while this fellowship is open to all eligible students regardless of nationality, a significant number of participating federal host offices are unable to accept foreign nationals, dual citizens and permanent residents as fellows. This may significantly reduce the number of placement opportunities available to foreign nationals. While more offices are able to host dual citizens, there may be restrictions. Note: Foreign nationals are eligible for both the Executive and Legislative cohort.
- Applicants must be able to pass a federal background security check.
- Prior contact/arrangements made with possible host offices before the start of the placement week will be cause for immediate disqualification from the process.
For additional notes on eligibility, please visit the 2026 Knauss Fellowship Student Guide.
STIPEND AND EXPENSES
California Sea Grant receives and administers the overall cooperative agreement of up to $95,600 per student on behalf of each fellow selected from their program. This includes base funding for each award at $78,100, of which $73,100 is to be used by the eligible Sea Grant program to cover the fellow’s salary/stipend and personnel expenses for the twelve months of the fellowship and $5,000 can be used to cover allowable expenses. Allowable expenses could include, but are not limited to, relocation prior to and following the fellowship, academic tuition, journal publication fees, academic- and fellowship-related travel, conferences fees, online trainings, and workshops. Award packages will include travel costs totaling $17,500, of which $15,000 will be budgeted for optional host office related travel and training and $2,500 will be budgeted for optional placement week expenses, which would be provided at the discretion of the National Sea Grant Office. Fellows are expected to follow all federal laws for health insurance.
There is no guarantee that funds will be available to make awards, or that any application will be selected for funding. If an applicant incurs any costs prior to receiving an award agreement signed by an authorized NOAA official, they do so at their own risk of not being selected or of these costs not being included in a subsequent award. NOAA and DOC will not be responsible for any incurred project costs if this program fails to receive full funding.
The anticipated start date is no earlier than February 1, 2026 for the 12-month fellowship. The fellowship is to be completed by February 28, 2027. These awards cannot be renewed or deferred. Pre-award spending may be authorized 120 days prior to the start date of the award.
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
Fellows must submit a mid-year and a final performance report (summary of accomplishments and activities) to their Sea Grant program. Fellows must submit their mid-year report to their home Sea Grant program no later than six months from the start of the fellowship. Fellows must submit their final report to their home Sea Grant program within two weeks of the final day of the fellowship.
HOW TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION
The electronic files comprising your application must be submitted as PDFs using eSeaGrant, California Sea Grant’s online submission portal:
You will need to register for an account (click on the banner labeled “Register”) in eSeaGrant if you have not done so in the past year. You can change the randomly generated password once you log in successfully into the website.
FORMATTING: Please ensure electronic files are no larger than 6 MB. Only PDFs are accepted. Please make sure to include your last name in the file names for each section of the proposal (e.g., Smith_statement.pdf or Smith_cv.pdf). When naming the document please do not use apostrophes. Once submitted through the website, PDFs may not be edited. To change a PDF, it must be deleted and resubmitted.
IMPORTANT: To maintain confidentiality, letters of recommendation may be submitted directly from the referee to California Sea Grant through eSeaGrant and must be submitted by the application deadline to be considered. Please address letters to Dr. Shauna Oh, Director, California Sea Grant. Late submissions may lead to the rejection of incomplete applications. Candidates are encouraged to work with referees to meet the deadline.
For technical issues with submitting your application through eSeaGrant, or for electronic files larger than 6 MB please contact sgproposal@ucsd.edu.
Application deadline: February 19, 2025, 5:00PM PST
NOTE: THE ESEAGRANT PROPOSAL PORTAL WILL CLOSE AT THE DATE AND TIME STATED ABOVE, AND LATE APPLICATIONS (EVEN 1 MINUTE LATE) CANNOT BE ACCEPTED. IT IS THE APPLICANT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO GET ALL REQUIRED MATERIALS SUBMITTED BEFORE THE DEADLINE. WE ADVISE TO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION; WHEN ESEAGRANT EXPERIENCES HIGH USER TRAFFIC, YOU MAY EXPERIENCE PAGE LOADING DELAYS.
APPLICATION
Instructions for each element/section are included in the eSeaGrant online application form and are described in the 2026 Knauss Fellowship Student Guide. Please make sure to include your last name in the file names for each section of the proposal (e.g., Smith_cv.pdf).
**The applicant should redact all Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in the application materials prior to submission. PII that should be redacted from the application includes but is not limited to social security number, date of birth, student identification number (from transcripts), middle name, or other information which if lost, compromised, or disclosed without authorization, could result in harm, embarrassment, inconvenience, or unfairness to an individual. Do not include web links to external resources (e.g., LinkedIn, articles, blogs, etc.).
Academic Information
After starting an application in eSeaGrant (eSG), applicants will be asked to provide their academic information including university name, degree type, degree title, and graduation date. Applicants will also be instructed to upload a PDF (Suggested File Name: LastName_GradTranscript) of their graduate transcript. Unofficial copies will be accepted. The graduate transcript will not contribute to the application score but will be used to screen and check for eligibility of the applicant.
| Required Element | Suggested File Name |
| 1. Curriculum Vitae (2 pages maximum) The student should not include personal contact information or web links to external resources (e.g., LinkedIn, articles, blogs, etc.) | 1_LastName_CV.pdf |
2. Personal Education and Career Development Response (1530 words or less)
| 2_LastName_Personal.pdf |
3. Relevant Coursework and Future Year Plans (not to exceed one page single spaced)
| 3_LastName_Plans.pdf |
4. Two letters of Recommendation (Each letter should not exceed two pages single spaced and should clearly indicate the letter writer’s name and position.)
| 4_LastName_Rec_LetterWriterLastName.pdf |
| For applicants in a state or territory not served by an eligible Sea Grant program, but applying through an eligible Sea Grant program, a written statement from the Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship Program Manager referring the applicant to the most appropriate eligible Sea Grant program must be included. (National Sea Grant Office email: oar.sg.fellows@noaa.gov or phone: 240-507-3712) | LastName_Out_of_State |
Large Files
For electronic files larger than 300 MB, contact sgproposal@ucsd.edu to make other arrangements. Only Acrobat documents (pdf) are accepted.
Letters of Recommendation
Letters of recommendation may be submitted directly from the referee to California Sea Grant through eSeaGrant (directions for this are in eSeaGrant) and must be submitted by the application deadline to be considered. Please address letters to Dr. Shauna Oh, Director, California Sea Grant. Letter writers must include their name and title/organization in the letter.
Late submissions may lead to the rejection of incomplete applications. Candidates are encouraged to work with referees to meet the deadline.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
All applicants will be evaluated on their application package according to the application content. Evaluation Criteria used by the National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) may be found in the 2026 Knauss Fellowship Student Guide (pages 8 - 16). At the state level, the total application will be reviewed out of 105 points (removing points for the Director’s Letter). At the national level the total application will be reviewed out of 110 points. At the national review, evaluation criteria are identical to that at the state Sea Grant program level, except that in criteria (4), the letter of endorsement from the state Sea Grant program director will also be considered. The value of each section and subsequent subsection is outlined below and a point scale is provided for each section.
**The Knauss Fellowship is a learning opportunity. All applicants will be provided with BLINDED review comments. This will include reviews on the Letters of Recommendation. Applicants will not receive a copy of the letters.**
REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS
State level/individual Sea Grant Program Review:
An initial administrative review is conducted to determine compliance with requirements and completeness of the application.
After submission to the eligible Sea Grant program, and if the application meets the minimum requirements, the application will be reviewed at the eligible Sea Grant program level. A panel composed of a minimum of three members will individually discuss each application based on the evaluation criteria listed above.
Based on the panel discussion, each eligible Sea Grant program may select and forward to the National Sea Grant Office up to six applications from that program’s state/territory based on the evaluation criteria. In addition, up to six additional applications from each non-Sea Grant state/territory may be submitted by the eligible Sea Grant program handling those applications.
National Level Review:
An initial administrative review is conducted to determine compliance with requirements and completeness of the application.
For applications that meet minimum requirements, the application will be individually ranked based on the evaluation criteria listed above by individual reviewers.
The selecting official shall award in the rank order unless the application is justified to be selected out of rank order based upon any of the selection factors provided below. The selecting official shall make final recommendations for award to the grants officer who is authorized to obligate the funds and execute the award.
Selection Factors:
The Selecting Official shall award in the rank order unless the proposal is justified to be selected out of rank order based on one or more of the following factors:
- Availability of funding.
- Balance/distribution of funds:
- geographically
- by type of institution
- by type of partners
- by research priority
- by project types
- Duplication of other projects funded or considered for funding by NOAA/Federal agencies.
- Program priorities and policy factors.
- Applicant’s prior award performance.
- Partnerships with/Participation of targeted groups.
- Adequacy of information necessary for NOAA staff to make a NEPA determination and draft necessary documentation before recommendations for funding are made to the Grants Officer.
Funding Availability:
Subject to the availability of funds, the eligible Sea Grant programs will be notified of the competitive selection results for each applicant by the end of July 2025 and awards are expected to start February 01, 2026. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified by e-mail that their application was not recommended for funding after the final selection package has been approved by the NOAA GMD, which is expected in June 2025. After final selection and announcement of Knauss Finalists, the Selecting Official will place applicants into either the legislative or executive cohort. Selection of executive and legislative cohorts will be informed by finalists’ stated preference (solicited after the announcement of the finalist class), recommendations from the eligible Sea Grant program director and independent reviewers, as well as the selection factors.
Applicants that have been accepted as national finalists and/or become fellows are not eligible to apply again without the written permission of the NSGO Fellowships Manager, which will only be granted in response to exceptional life events. A national finalist is defined as an applicant who goes through the review process and is selected at the national level for the fellowship program. If alternates are selected, they are eligible for re-application if they withdraw prior to accepting a finalist position or are not offered a finalist position and would otherwise still be eligible to apply. Applicants are considered finalists until they are paired with a host office during the placement process.
DEADLINES
Applications must be submitted by February 19, 2025 5:00PM PST to the California Sea Grant Program in eSeaGrant.
By 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on April 16, 2025, State Sea Grant programs may select and forward to the National Office up to six (6) finalists according to a selection criteria comparable to that used by the National Office in the national competition.
CONTACTS
Science Integration Team
California Sea Grant