Proposal Guidelines

Proposal Requirements:

• Proposals will be awarded through a competitive, peer-review process.
• Two faculty proposals per institution, per year will be considered.
• Proposals must be endorsed and submitted by the institution’s member councilor. Submission by the councilor will constitute an institutional commitment to provide the resources or financial support described in the proposal.
• Successful proposals will:
  • display significant scientific merit, with the potential to develop or expand the faculty member’s research program.
  • detail the makeup and planned use of student teams (i.e. graduate and/or undergraduate students).
  • display institutional commitment (i.e. potential institutional funding for additional students).
  • include the qualifications of the proposing faculty member.

Proposal Preferences:

Preference will be given to those proposals that:

• Include a faculty-student team spending time (summer) in Oak Ridge working with ORNL’s HPC resources.
  (This program has been designed to be consistent with other faculty-student team research programs; and ideally, grants awarded would provide funding for faculty-student teams to spend the summer in Oak Ridge, Tenn., working with ORNL’s HPC resources. However, while we have a preferred, notional approach, we will also entertain proposals that reflect faculty-student teams working with ORNL’s HPC resources in another manner.)
• Demonstrate alignment with ORNL’s cross-cutting science agenda requiring HPC capabilities and a need for ORNL staff collaboration.

Proposal Evaluation Criteria:

Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria and with the following weighted importance applied:

1. Scientific merit (60%)

• Scientific significance (40%)
• Potential to develop or expand faculty member’s research program (10 %)
• Alignment with ORNL’s cross-cutting science agenda requiring HPC capabilities and a need for ORNL staff collaboration (10%)

2. Faculty-student approach (15%)

• Makeup and planned use of student teams with graduate and/or undergraduate students (10%)
• Research performed in Oak Ridge at ORNL during the summer (5%)

3. Institutional alignment/commitment (10%)

4. Qualifications of faculty member (15%)

Proposal Format:

Proposals must adhere to the following format:

• Document Format—Microsoft Word or portable document format (pdf)
• Paper size—8.5×11 inch paper
• Margins—1 inch
• Spacing—Single-spaced
• Font—Times New Roman, at least 11 point
• Length—Maximum of 25 pages
• File Name Format—[first initial][last name]-[brief institutional reference]-HPC.doc or pdf (Example: BSmith-UGA-HPC.doc or pdf)

Proposal Content:

The content of proposals must be as follows:

• Title Page including proposal title, name and institution of faculty member, submission month and year (1 page)
• Executive Summary (1 page)
• Introduction (1-2 pages)
• Proposed Research/Scientific Merit/Alignment with ORNL Science Agenda (6-12 pages):
  • Describe the objectives and scientific significance of the research you propose to perform.
  • Describe how the proposed research will utilize ORNL’s high-performance computing capabilities and staff. If you know, please indicate the specific computing resources needed and specific staff types needed.
  • Describe how the proposed work will align with or expand your plan for research.
  • Describe how your proposed research will contribute to or complement ORNL’s cross-cutting science agenda (Optional as a preferred criteria. Alignment with ORNL’s science agenda is preferred but not required.).
• Faculty-Student Approach (2-3 pages):
  • Indicate whether you envision teaming with student(s) (graduate or undergraduate) in your proposed research and whether you plan to perform the research in Oak Ridge at ORNL during the summer. (While a faculty-student team approach is a requirement, faculty-student teams performing research in Oak Ridge at ORNL in the summer is preferred, but not a requirement.)
  • If you envision a faculty-student team, identify your student team member(s), their qualifications to perform the research and their citizenship. Briefly explain why you have selected them and why they will be a good match for the research you will be performing. Describe how long and in what capacity you have known them. List classes in which you have taught them.
• Institutional Alignment/Commitment (1-2 pages):
  • Describe how the proposed research aligns with your institution’s commitment to scientific discovery requiring high-performance computing capabilities.
  • Explain how your participation in this program will benefit teaching and research activities at your home academic institution (i.e., new course, new curriculum, new research project).
  • Describe if and how your institution is willing to make a commitment to your proposed research beyond what is provided for by this program (i.e. provisions for additional funding, students, etc.).
• Qualifications of Faculty Member (2-3 pages):
  • Indicate the highest degree you have received, your field of study, the institution granting the degree(s), and the date(s) of degree(s).
  • Indicate your current academic rank or position.
  • Describe the knowledge, skills and abilities that you will bring to this research.
  • List an current memberships/activities in professional organizations.
  • List any awards or honors earned in the last five years.
  • Describe your research experience including current research (with funding levels and sponsors for all external research grants) and past research, as well as other research interests you have that you may not be working on currently.
• Attachments
  • Faculty member’s curriculum vitae
  • Contact and Demographic Information Form
  • Certifications Form

Proposal Submissions Guidance:

• Proposals, completed forms, and other attachments should be submitted electronically to ORAU as Word documents or pdf files by the faculty member’s ORAU member councilor by 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19, 2008.
• The ORAU member councilor from the faculty member’s school should review the proposal prior to submission. Submission of the proposal by the member councilor constitutes endorsement of the proposal and institutional commitment.

Refer all questions to and send completed proposals and attachments to:
hpcgrant@orau.org