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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is focused on providing the essential and highest quality environmental information vital to our Nation's safety, prosperity and resilience. Toward this goal, the agency conducts and supports weather and climate research, oceanic and atmospheric observations, modeling, information management, assessments, interdisciplinary decision-support research, outreach, education, and partnership development. Climate variability and change present society with significant economic, health, safety, and security challenges and opportunities. In meeting these challenges, and as part of NOAA's climate portfolio within the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), the Climate Program Office (CPO) advances scientific understanding, monitoring, and prediction of climate and its impacts, to enable effective decisions. Within this context, CPO manages competitive research programs through which NOAA funds high-priority climate science, assessments, decision support research, outreach, education, and capacity-building activities designed to advance our understanding of the Earth's climate system, and to foster the application and use of this knowledge to improve the resilience of our Nation and its partners. CPO supports research that is conducted across the United States and internationally. CPO's climate research portfolio is designed to achieve a fully integrated research and applications program. We meet this objective through a focus on climate intelligence and climate resilience, in support of NOAA's goals.

The goal of this Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) is to support the education of K-12 students and the public so they are knowledgeable of the ways in which their community can become more resilient to extreme weather events and/or other environmental hazards, and become involved in achieving that resilience. Many U.S. communities are increasingly contending with issues related to preventing, withstanding, and recovering from disruptions caused by extreme weather and other environmental hazards (U.S. Department of Commerce FY2014-FY2018 Strategic Plan). These hazards include but are not limited to severe storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, heavy precipitation events, persistent drought, heat waves, increased global temperatures, acidification of the ocean, and sea level rise (Weather-ready Nation: NOAA's National Weather Service Strategic Plan 2011; Melillo et al., 2014). These extreme weather and climate events put stress on infrastructure, ecological systems, and the humans that live in the impacted places. U.S. communities can become more resilient to such events by exploring the hazards they face, assessing their specific vulnerabilities and risks, considering options, prioritizing and planning, and finally taking action (U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit). This process is typically performed by scientists and municipal planners, but in order for resilience to occur, other members of a community must have some understanding of the hazards they face and how to mitigate them, both at the individual and the community level.

Mercator-IPC Fellows work at Istanbul Policy Center (IPC), an independent policy research institute with global outreach located in the center of Istanbul. IPC's mission is to foster academic research and its application to policy making. The Center is firmly committed to providing decision makers, opinion leaders, academics and the general public with innovative and objective analyses of key domestic and foreign policy issues. IPC offers the Mercator-IPC Fellows access to a broad network of academics, civil society activists and decision makers as well as a unique platform for sound academic research to shape hands-on policy work. Likewise, fellows profit from Sabancı University's exceptional intellectual capital and vast reserves of scientific knowledge. Mercator-IPC Fellowships are available to outstanding academics and professionals who work in one of three thematic areas: | EU/German-Turkish relations | Climate change | Education In the 2014/15 round, at least six Mercator-IPC Fellowships are available for outstanding young academics and professionals who have significant prior work experience. The fellows will be expected to work on academic or practical projects at IPC. A Master's degree (or equivalent) is required for this position, but a PhD degree is strongly preferred. Projects which focus on the German-Turkish nexus are likewise preferred.  The 2014/15 fellowships begin September 1, 2014 and the deadline for applications is April 1, 2014.

The United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) announces an open competition for the support of projects through the Obama - Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative (OSI). Announced by the US and Indian governments, OSI aims to strengthen collaboration and build partnerships between American and Indian institutions of higher education. Accredited US post-secondary educational institutions meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 U.S.C. 501c(3) may submit proposals to support the program's goals of encouraging mutual understanding, facilitating educational reform, fostering economic development, and engaging civil society through academic cooperation with Indian post-secondary educational institutions.   Exchange activities may include but are not limited to curriculum design, research collaboration, team teaching, focused series of exchanges, seminars, among other activities. Activities should be designed to develop expertise, advance scholarship and teaching, and promote long-term ties between partner institutions.   Proposals in the following fields are eligible: Energy, Climate Change & Environmental Studies; Education & Educational Reform; Public Health; and Sustainable Development & Community Development.

The purpose of this Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) is to build capacity for environmental literacy in support of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) mission goals through a cooperative agreement with a non-profit organization. In order to further the efforts of the external community that supports NOAA's environmental literacy-related priorities, NOAA is seeking a partnership with a nonprofit organization with a mission of environmental education and/or conservation to work with NOAA to implement formal and informal education efforts, outreach, and professional development in support of environmental literacy. The successful applicant will be supported through a 5-year cooperative agreement with NOAA and should have significant experience supporting environmental literacy, as well as capacity to convene meetings and workshops, manage small-scale grants, and support program evaluation. Experience facilitating partnerships, developing education and outreach materials, and implementing educator professional development is also preferred. Specific activities will be determined collaboratively with NOAA and will further the efforts of the external community to build environmental literacy through informal and formal education. Projects will support NOAA's mission in the areas of ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather, and climate sciences and stewardship as defined by the goals of the NOAA Education Strategic Plan 2015-2035

The Misk Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aim to empower the youth and prepare them for success in the future knowledge economy. Great opportunities exist as technologies and industries advance faster than ever before. But disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, also present challenges. Industries will undergo major transformations and according to the McKinsey Global Institute, approximately half of all jobs today may be lost to automation across the developing and developed world. Moreover, major societal issues that face humanity, such as inequality and climate change, continue to spread in a complex manner. We are looking for new innovative ideas that transform teaching or school leadership to better prepare children with the 21st century skills they need to succeed in the future. Modern 21st century skills, such as problem solving, leadership, creativity, and adaptability, require a new active, student-centered system for learning. We seek ideas that better prepare teachers and school leaders to drive this new active 21st century system for learning.

In 2018, the foundation will award grants of up to $20,000 to support projects that enrich mankind's understanding of and concern for aquatic environments; increase understanding of sport diving physics and physiology and add to the scientific understanding of man's relationship and ability to survive in the underwater environment; and/or improve understanding of, and response to, hazards to humans and ecosystems related to climate change in coastal and ocean environments. Generally, the foundation will not fund overhead or other indirect expenses.