National Academies' Gulf Research Program Opens New Funding Opportunity To Advance Safety Culture In The Offshore Oil And Gas Industry

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently announced it will award up to $10M through a new funding opportunity to support research projects that will advance understanding and facilitate improvement of safety culture in the offshore oil and gas industry.

“As part of its Safer Offshore Energy Systems Initiative, the Gulf Research Program is working to spur innovation and support research that will help reduce and manage risks associated with offshore energy systems,” said Kelly Oskvig, program officer for the GRP. “Our focus with this opportunity is on understanding and measuring safety culture, which would provide data and promote research that can lead to a series of step changes across the industry.”

The funding opportunity was developed based on priority research areas identified during two GRP-sponsored workshops held in 2018 to pinpoint specific and implementable research that could help improve process safety within the offshore oil and gas industry. A National Academies workshop, “The Human Factors of Process Safety and Worker Empowerment in the Offshore Oil Industry”, was organized to explore best practices and lessons learned from other high-risk, high-reliability industries. A second workshop, conducted by the Society for Petroleum Engineers, brought together industry experts to identify research gaps in offshore operations from exploration through production that, if filled, could result in safer offshore development.

Applications have two stages: a required letter of intent is due Feb. 13, 2019, by 5 p.m. ET; a full proposal is then due April 17, 2019, by 5 p.m. ET. In the fall of 2019, awards will be announced and made to projects lasting up to 36 months.

For more information, visit www.nationalacademies.org/gulf/grants.

About The Gulf Research Program (GRP)
The National Academies' Gulf Research Program is an independent, science-based program founded in 2013 as part of legal settlements with the companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. It seeks to enhance offshore energy system safety and protect human health and the environment by catalyzing advances in science, practice, and capacity to generate long-term benefits for the Gulf of Mexico region and the nation. The program has $500M for use over 30 years to fund grants, fellowships, and other activities in the areas of research and development, education and training, and monitoring and synthesis. For more information, visit www.nationalacademies.org/gulf.

About The National Academies of Sciences
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. The Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln. For more information, visit www.nationalacademies.org.