Low-cost Seismometers from Geophones | USGS 17 FA 0203

Opportunity Information: Apply for USGS 17 FA 0203

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced a discretionary funding opportunity titled "Low-cost Seismometers from Geophones" under Funding Opportunity Number USGS 17 FA 0203. The assistance instrument is a Cooperative Agreement, which generally indicates that the USGS expects to have substantial involvement in the project activities (for example, collaboration on technical direction, access to expertise or facilities, coordination on deliverables, or joint work on project planning and reporting) rather than simply providing funds with minimal agency interaction. The notice is explicitly described as a non-competitive cooperative agreement, meaning the award is intended to be made without a standard competitive selection process, typically because the recipient and project scope are pre-identified or uniquely suited to meet a specific program need.

The opportunity falls under the "Other" funding activity category and is associated with CFDA (now often referenced through Assistance Listings) number 15.808, which corresponds to USGS-related assistance programming. The eligible applicant type is limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, so the intended recipient pool is state universities and similar public higher-education entities. This eligibility restriction suggests the project is oriented toward research, development, or applied technical work that aligns well with academic capabilities, such as instrumentation design, prototyping, validation testing, or field deployment in partnership with a federal science agency.

In terms of timing and administrative details, the opportunity was created on May 25, 2017, with an original closing date of June 5, 2017. The relatively short window between posting and closing is consistent with non-competitive or pre-coordinated agreements where the parties may already be in discussion and the application package is more procedural than exploratory. The stated award ceiling is $45,000, indicating a small, targeted project budget aimed at a focused scope of work, such as converting or adapting geophones into low-cost seismometer systems, evaluating performance, documenting build procedures, or producing datasets and guidance that can be used by the USGS or broader monitoring community. The listing does not specify the exact number of expected awards in the provided source data, but the non-competitive framing often implies a single intended award or a very limited number of awards.

Overall, this grant opportunity is a small-budget, non-competitive USGS cooperative agreement aimed at public universities to support work on creating or demonstrating low-cost seismometers using geophones. The key points for understanding it are the cooperative nature of the work (USGS involvement), the restricted eligibility (public/state-controlled higher education), the modest maximum funding amount ($45,000), and the short administrative timeline typical of non-competitive agreements.

• The Geological Survey in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Low-cost Seismometers from Geophones" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.808.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-05-25.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-06-05. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $45,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for USGS 17 FA 0203

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: