GDNP UARC

Center of Excellence for Homeland Security in the Arctic

I would like to invite you to participate in an internal call for preliminary proposals (2-3 pages max) relating to both research and education/workforce development, as part of a collaborative effort at UAF to answer a brand new RFP for a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Center of Excellence (COE) for Arctic Security. The intent of the UAF submission is to have UAF act as the lead institution for this Arctic Center of Excellence, working directly with partner communities, agencies, and institutions to fund and support projects from teams, like yours, that align with DHS mission goals in the Arctic (see attachment for said Mission Goals). The opportunity for you and your team is to potentially be one of the preliminary projects funded as part of this Arctic Security Center of Excellence

******There is a short window for these proposals, with initial submissions due Friday, May 19, 2023. Once reviewed internally, you may be asked to revise some of the content to directly reflect connections to DHS Goals and Objectives; the COE writing team will help you with this, but be aware, it may happen.*******

This DHS RFP seeks projects focused in two key areas, 1) Research and 2) Education & Workforce Development. Research Proposals should be no more than 3 pages in length, while Education & Workforce Development Proposals are limited to 2 pages in length. Projects may seek up to $300K per year, for 2 years, INCLUDING OVERHEAD, with the potential to extend projects out to 5 years. Further requirements for each of these proposal types are linked below. If you are interested in proposing a larger idea, consider breaking those ideas into Phases, focusing on what you can do in Phase 1 while alluding to additional Phases in the future if necessary.

Each proposal should aim to connect to the needs of DHS agencies, such as the US Coast Guard (USCG), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Customs & Border Patrol (CBP), etc. If you’re unsure how to connect to those mission areas, please reach out to us (emails included below). Additionally, for UAFs contribution, we’re seeking proposals that specifically help agencies to address climate related challenges and concerns, integrate the coproduction of knowledge in their approach, and help to serve the many communities of Alaska. 

We have summarized the key components of these two proposal pathways in the follow documents:

Research Proposals (3 pages):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RD_UK6F5IPnpMxaYelm_LKlbgpQbvBa0oEjpamRpDds/

Education & Workforce Development Proposals (2 pages):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yRHWsAetN9dHeWOwhQaBQIFAFmU-iMe34_GgwWkx8mA/

For more detailed information, the full proposal is available here: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347575

If you have questions about how to connect your proposal ideas to specific Agencies, Themes, Goals, or Strategic Objectives (as outlined in the documents), please reach out to me Jessica Garron (jigarron@alaska.edu), or contact Helena Buurman (hmbuurman@alaska.edu) or Alec Bennett (apbennett@alaska.edu). I know the turnaround time on this is short, but this could be an exciting opportunity for UAF, our Alaska, and the Arctic research community. We’re looking forward to your participation.