Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with the North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

The U.S. Geological Survey, a bureau within the U.S. Department of the Interior, is offering a cooperative agreement opportunity under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units program. The CESU network is a collaborative partnership involving federal agencies, academic institutions, and other organizations that work together to provide research, technical assistance, and education. This specific funding opportunity is designed for an affiliated partner within the North Atlantic Coast CESU and reflects the USGS mission to advance scientific understanding and provide reliable geospatial data to support national priorities. The purpose of this funding opportunity is to support research focused on developing the next generation of authoritative, semantically enriched GeoAI-enabled data infrastructures. The project aims to improve how hydrology and elevation data are integrated, interpreted, and shared. Core objectives include developing ontologies that provide machine-readable semantics for USGS The National Map data, expanding and aligning vocabularies across hydrological and elevation datasets, and validating these systems within a knowledge graph framework to enable advanced querying and analytical reasoning. Funding for this opportunity is limited, with a total program allocation of just under fifty thousand dollars and only one expected award. The project is anticipated to run for a one-year period, with a start date around October 1, 2026, and an end date around September 30, 2027. Funds are intended to support research activities such as data integration, ontology development, modeling, analysis, and dissemination of results. All expenditures must comply with federal cost principles, and indirect costs are capped under CESU guidelines at 17.5 percent. Eligibility for this opportunity is highly specific. Applicants must be participating partners in the North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit. These partnerships typically include universities, research institutions, and other organizations formally affiliated with the CESU network. Applicants must also demonstrate the capacity to conduct advanced geospatial research, integrate complex datasets, and produce peer-reviewed outputs. The cooperative agreement structure indicates substantial involvement from USGS personnel, including collaboration on research design, execution, and publication. The application process requires submission through Grants.gov and includes several mandatory components such as the SF-424 application form, budget documentation, project narrative, data management plan, and supporting materials like biographical sketches and current and pending support disclosures. Applicants must also maintain active registration in SAM.gov and Grants.gov. The proposal must clearly articulate the research problem, objectives, methodology, expected outcomes, dissemination plans, and timeline, along with a detailed and justified budget. Applications will be evaluated based on multiple criteria including the clarity and relevance of the research objectives, the technical approach and feasibility of the project plan, the reasonableness and justification of the budget, and the qualifications and past performance of the applicant team. Proposals are reviewed by USGS technical personnel and scored before final selection by a contracting officer. The submission deadline is July 5, 2026, and applications must be received by 11:59 PM Eastern Time. For questions or technical issues, applicants may contact the designated grant specialist via email.

Ensure strong alignment with USGS research objectives, clearly defined methodology, and justified budget linked directly to project goals; emphasize experience with geospatial data integration and prior research outputs