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The Gulf Research Program (GRP) is a grantmaking and science program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. It is funded by settlement money from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, not by appropriations, which changes how research offices should treat it: it is a private, nonprofit-run funder with its own call-by-call rules rather than a federal agency with a standing program announcement. This guide explains what the program is, what comes attached to an award, and how to read its opportunities page. Everything below is as described on the official National Academies pages on 2026-10-29; the program publishes new calls and changes statuses often, so confirm the current state there before planning a submission.
What it is and who runs it
The GRP describes itself as an independent, science-based program of the National Academies, founded in 2013 as part of the legal settlements with companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The about page states that the program was created with $500 million in criminal settlement funds. Its stated mission is to develop, translate, and apply science to enhance the safety of offshore energy, and to support the environment and the well-being of people in the Gulf region. The National Academies are private nonprofit institutions and are not part of the federal government.
Not to be confused with: funders in the Arabian Gulf states, such as the UAE ATRC ASPIRE awards, which are unrelated organisations.
The program organises its work around four themes:
- Offshore energy safety and the future of Gulf energy
- Health, resilience, and compounding disasters
- The environment and changing coastlines
- Education and the future workforce
Eligibility (summary, with the official source)
There is no single eligibility rule for the program. The about page does not state eligibility criteria and points readers to the opportunities listing; eligibility is set call by call on each opportunity’s own page. The only eligibility language on the opportunities listing on 2026-10-29 was for one call still in formation, which seeks proposals from nonprofit and community-based organizations with 501(c)(3) status that have existing environmental justice programs. Treat that as an example of how specific a call can be, not as a general rule.
Official sources: the program overview at nationalacademies.org/gulf/about and the opportunities listing at nationalacademies.org/units/GULF-GULFEO-15-04/opportunities. The about page lists separate contacts for grants, for fellowships and for general questions.
What it funds or requires
Funding types
The program’s pages describe several ways it funds work: research grants, large multi-institutional collaborations, innovation challenges, community partnerships, fellowships, outreach and capacity-building initiatives, and consensus studies and convenings. Fellowship programs named on the about page include the Science Policy Fellows and the Early-Career Research Fellows.
Data and publication requirements
Award terms are where a research office should look first, because they apply after the proposal is won. The about page states these obligations:
- Data. Data and information products produced with program funds must be made discoverable and accessible by submitting them to an appropriate repository. The program partners with GRIIDC for this, and grantees must provide links to publications associated with their data sets. See our entries on data repositories and data management plans for how to document this at proposal stage.
- Acknowledgment. Publications must acknowledge the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and cite the grant agreement number, which the page gives in the form 20000xxxx. Our guide to writing an acknowledgments section covers placement.
- Disclaimer. The program’s required disclaimer says the content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Gulf Research Program and the National Academies.
Application and compliance steps
Application mechanics are not uniform, so the steps below describe the order of work rather than a single form.
- Open the opportunities listing and identify the call by name and status label.
- Open that call’s own program page for its eligibility, application instructions and review information. Each opportunity has one.
- Confirm your institution matches the call’s eligibility language before drafting; calls can be limited to particular organisation types.
- Build the data plan and the acknowledgment and disclaimer wording into the proposal and project template from the start, using the requirements above.
- Route questions to the contact the about page lists for grants or fellowships. Our guide on how grant writing works from call to submission covers the general sequence.
Typical timeline phases
The opportunities page does not define its status labels, but the labels it uses show the lifecycle a call moves through. As listed on 2026-10-29:
- In Formation: a call is being developed (for example, the environmental justice STEMM leadership opportunity).
- In Review: listed ahead of acceptance of applications (for example, Resilience Education, Orphaned Wells, and the Environment and Energy Track early-career fellowships).
- Open until [date]: the label used for calls that are accepting applications. Read the date on the live page; do not rely on a date quoted elsewhere.
- In Progress: calls already underway (for example, Community-Driven Green Infrastructure and Crosscurrents Incubator).
- Awarded [date]: completed calls, shown with an award date.
The site’s filter also offers Accepting Applications, Preparing to Accept Applications, Active and Inactive; the page does not say how these map to the labels above. The Education Research Track of the early-career fellowship is described as pausing for 2026.
Common mistakes
- Treating it as a federal program. It is a National Academies program funded by settlement money, so federal agency assumptions about forms, portals and terms do not carry over. Read each call’s own terms.
- Assuming one eligibility rule. Eligibility is set per call; a call can be restricted to a type of organisation.
- Leaving data deposit until the end. The repository and publication-link requirement is stated on the program page, so budget time for it in the project plan.
- Omitting the grant number or disclaimer from papers. Both are required wording in publications.
- Relying on a deadline seen elsewhere. Status and dates change; only the live call page is authoritative.
Related programs
Opportunities listed on the official page on 2026-10-29, with the status label shown there. This is a snapshot; check the listing for the current state.
| Opportunity | Status label shown |
|---|---|
| Adaptive Capacities for Transformation (ACT) Initiative: Houston, Mobile, New Orleans | Open until [date] |
| Adaptive Capacities for Transformation (ACT) Initiative: Baton Rouge | In Progress |
| Resilience Education | In Review |
| Early-Career Research Fellowship: Environment Track and Energy Track | In Review |
| Gulf Offshore Legacy Oil and Gas Infrastructure: Orphaned Wells | In Review |
| Building the Next Generation of STEMM Leaders in the Field of Environmental Justice | In Formation |
| Community-Driven Green Infrastructure; Crosscurrents Incubator | In Progress |
| Science Policy Fellowships | Awarded September 1, 2026 |
For other fellowship and foundation routes, see the major early-career foundation fellowships compared and major private foundations that fund institutional research.
FAQ
Is the Gulf Research Program a federal agency?
No. It is a program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which are private nonprofit institutions and not part of the federal government. Its funding comes from Deepwater Horizon settlement funds.
Who is eligible to apply?
It depends on the call. The program overview does not set a general rule; each opportunity’s page states who may apply. One listed call, for example, seeks 501(c)(3) nonprofit and community-based organizations with existing environmental justice programs.
What does an awardee have to do with data and publications?
Submit data and information products to an appropriate repository (the program partners with GRIIDC), link associated publications, acknowledge the program with the grant agreement number, and include the required disclaimer that the content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the program’s official views.
Where do I find current deadlines?
On the opportunities listing and each call’s own page. This guide deliberately does not quote deadlines because they change.
Sources
- National Academies, Gulf Research Program, About: nationalacademies.org/gulf/about (checked 2026-10-29)
- National Academies, Gulf Research Program, Funding opportunities: nationalacademies.org/units/GULF-GULFEO-15-04/opportunities (checked 2026-10-29)
