ppg - Office of Competitive Research Funds

COMPETITIVE RESEARCH GRANT (CRG)
PROPOSAL PREPARATION GUIDE (PPG)
April 2014
KAUST OFFICE OF COMPETITIVE RESEARCH FUNDS (OCRF)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Introduction
Pre-Submission Information
Proposal Review And Selection
Proposal Preparation
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4.1
4.2
4.3
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Proposal Format
Proposal Content
Supplementary Materials
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1.
Introduction
The Proposal Preparation Guide for Competitive Funding Programs (PPG) addresses the essential “how
to’s” for a Proposal that will be submitted in response to an OCRF issued Call for Proposals (CfP). Each
CfP will state the specific requirements for applying for awards which must be followed.
2.
Pre Submission Information
Applicants who wish to submit a Proposal for an active Funding Program Opportunity should first contact
the KAUST Office of Research Services (ORS) Pre-Award Administration staff at
[email protected], who are available to help with Proposal preparation, Proposal Budget
development, and compliance with Proposal submission requirements. General questions about OCRF
programs and award procedures and guidelines can be addresses by sending an email to
[email protected]
3.
Proposal Review and Selection
Proposals are evaluated based on merit review criteria specific to the Funding Program Opportunity and
are announced in the applicable CfP. In addition to the scientific review criteria for each Funding Program
Opportunity, KAUST leadership, in its sole discretion, may consider other factors as inputs to their funding
decisions. Following evaluation by Reviewers, the Vice President for Research makes recommendations
for funding to the President. Final decisions are made by the President. OCRF will notify each Applicant
and ORS of the funding decision and will provide feedback based on comments by Reviewers on their
Proposals to assist with future Proposal writing.
An Award may differ from the original Proposal based upon recommendation(s) of Reviewers or KAUST
leadership. Sometimes, KAUST leadership will “conditionally approve” or “conditionally reject” an Award,
pending resubmission of the Proposal with modifications or the Proposal Budget with revisions.
An Award Agreement must be executed prior to the commencement of Award activities. ORS is
responsible for negotiating and finalizing all Award-related agreements on behalf of each Awardee and
with external Collaborators, including the intellectual property terms and conditions based upon the type
of Collaborator and the nature of the research activities. Additional information can be found at the ORS
website, http://ors.kaust.edu.sa/Pages/Home.aspx, or by contacting the ORS Contracts team at
[email protected].
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4.
Proposal Preparation
4.1
Proposal Format
All Proposals must adhere to the following formatting guidelines:
Letter size (8½” x 11”) paper.
Margins of at least one-half inch (top, bottom, left, and right) for all pages.
Single spaced text on all pages.
Arial or Helvetica font in size 11 or larger; a symbol font may be used for special characters. A
smaller font may be used for Figures, Tables, and Charts but all included data should be clearly
legible.
e. Single column format.
f. Number all pages consecutively throughout the Proposal.
a.
b.
c.
d.
The CfP will state the applicable page limitations, and Appendices should not be used to circumvent the
prescribed page limits.
4.2
The Proposal Content
All Proposals will consist of the following major components: Cover, Proposal Narrative, and
Supplementary Materials. OCRF may require the use of standard templates to guide Applicants’
completion of Proposal requirements.
The Cover Component will be completed using standard templates for the ORS Proposal Approval Form,
which must be signed by the KAUST Lead PI, endorsed by the applicable KAUST Academic Dean,
signed by ORS; and Statement of Intent to Collaborate (if an external collaborator is involved).The
Statement of Intent to Collaborate must be written on institutional letterhead, signed by the Lead
Collaborator PI and Collaborator’s Authorized Institutional Representative (no exceptions), and is binding.
The Proposal Component consists of the OCRF Proposal Template and a Proposal Narrative. The
content of the main Proposal Narrative will be guided the CfP, and will include a Table of Contents. A
Proposal Abstract, not exceeding half a page, should summarize the Project or Event in a single passage,
concisely and accurately. It should be written in a style that is appropriate for a general scientific
audience and convey the purpose of the Project, the problem it attempts to address, the targeted
outcome(s), and the Project’s overall intellectual merit and broader impact.
The Proposal Narrative should provide sufficient detail for Reviewers to comment on the intellectual merit
and broader impact of the proposed ideas and activities. Peer reviewers would like to know: What is the
problem being addressed? What is the fundamental or applied significance? Where is the novelty in this
work? What has already been done? Where is the training of students in the project? What resources do
you need to complete the Project? How are you going to do the work? How will you know if you succeed?
What benefits could accrue if the Project is successful? For CRG Exploratory Proposals, also explain
why the proposed Project is appropriate for Exploratory funding is required.
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The methodology must be shown to be the best approach to meeting the Project’s specific objectives,
and that the research team has the requisite expertise to utilize the methodologies or to innovate new
ones. Innovation requires that barriers, imitations and challenges be identified and overcome and the
Applicant must identify alternative strategies, approaches and methods to be pursued if problems are
encountered.
The Project Management Plan tells Reviewers who is accountable to whom. It should clearly show who is
in charge of the Project with decision-making authority, who is assigned responsibility for specific Project
components, and who is responsible for the administrative management, fiscal management, and
communication.
All Key Personnel must be covered, including collaborations at organizations external to KAUST. External
collaborators (i.e., funded and unfunded, research institutions and industry, in-Kingdom) are generally
encouraged. When well-integrated into the Proposal, such collaborations will be viewed as assets,
especially when used to fill gaps in scientific expertise and facilities, to recruit faculty, and to recruit and
mentor students. If required, the Plan must describe the added value of the collaboration to the
accomplishment of the Project’s research goals and objectives, including their ability to complement or
leverage expertise with KAUST faculty and how the Project will be integrated and managed with the work
of the Collaborator. Finally, each Proposal must include a Mentoring Plan, which includes a description of
the student engagement, interdisciplinary mentoring and professional development activities that will be
provided to and for them.
A one page Project Management Plan is required. This should provide a high level overview of the
management aspects most relevant to the project being submitted.
4.3
Supplementary Materials
Specific Supplementary Materials (aka Supporting Attachments) may be required under a CfP to support
the Proposal, and these documents are described as follows:
a.
Biographical Information
The Biographical Information will be used by Reviewers to assess the research team’s
qualifications and competencies for their specific role in the proposed Project. Submission of
Biographical Information Template is required for each Key Personnel.
b.
Other Funded Awards and Projects
The KAUST Current and Pending Other Support (CPS) Form, which captures funded support
from all available funding sources (including PI baseline funding, Center Baseline funding, OCRFadministered competitive research funding, and external funding) must be completed for each
investigation. The form should also include pending applications to all funding sources.
c.
Data Management Plan
KAUST anticipates the generation of Data and significant Research Results from the Approved
Activities under an Award. Data Management Plans are used to compel forethought about how
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data generated by these activities will be classified, collected, shared, formatted, recorded,
documented, protected, stored, and archived.
d.
List of References Cited
The List of References Cited provides a complete listing of any references cited in the Proposal.
Please use ACS citation style, http://www.usciences.edu./library/help/citation-acs.asp,
consistently throughout the Proposal.
e.
Letters of Support
The Call for Proposals will state whether a Letter of Support is required. If not required, please do
not submit Letters of Support. If required, a Letter of Support must be (1) written on institutional
letterhead.
f.
Results of Prior K AUST Support
Results of Prior KAUST Support must be submitted if any PI or co-PI identified on the proposed
Project has received any KAUST funding in the past five years. This includes all CRG or FIC
funding without regard to whether the funding was directly related to the Proposal to be
submitted. Reviewers will be asked to comment on the quality of the prior work.
g.
Equipment, Facilities and Other Resources Sharing Plan
KAUST does not support funding under for new facilities, the alteration and renovation of existing
facilities, the purchase of Equipment in excess of USD$ 50,000 unit acquisition cost under
competitive research or Conference Support funding programs under or future faculty. The
Equipment, Facilities and Other Resources Sharing Plan includes narrative descriptions of
existing and shared resources and resource requirements (i.e., facilities, renovations, equipment,
expertise and personnel growth).
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