HPC Grant Pre-Proposal Guidelines

Pre-Proposal Requirements:

• A pre-proposal MUST be submitted PRIOR to the submission of a full proposal. Upon acceptance of a qualified pre-proposal, researchers will be invited to submit a full proposal. Any full proposals submitted without the prior submission of a pre-proposal will be ineligible for consideration.
• One pre-proposal per institution, per year will be considered.
• Researchers MUST pick and indicate a primary category (only one) into which their pre-proposal falls. The broadly defined categories (which align with ORNL’s science agenda are:
  • Neutron Science
  • Biological Systems
  • Energy
  • Advanced Materials
  • National Security
  • Supercomputing
  • Chemical Sciences
  • Nuclear Physics
• Pre-proposals MUST be endorsed and SUBMITTED by the institution’s ORAU member councilor. Submission by the councilor will constitute an institutional commitment to provide additional resources and/or financial assistance in support of the proposed research.
• Pre-proposals MUST be submitted to Cathy.Fore@orau.org by NOON EST (Eastern Standard Time) on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2009. Pre-proposals received after this time will be ineligible for consideration, and researchers will not be invited to submit a full proposal. [IMPORTANT NOTE: If you reside in a time zone other than the Eastern Time Zone, please note that your proposal will need to be submitted according to Eastern Standard Time.]
• Successful pre-proposals will:
  • Display significant scientific merit, with the potential to develop or expand the faculty member’s research program.
  • Briefly outline the makeup and planned use of student teams (i.e. graduate and/or undergraduate students)

Pre-Proposal Preferences:

Preference will be given to those pre-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.

Pre-Proposal Evaluation Criteria:

Pre-proposals should be an abstract of a full proposal and will be evaluated on the following key criteria:

1. Scientific merit

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

2. Faculty-student approach

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

3. Qualifications of faculty member

Pre-Proposal Format:

Pre-proposals must adhere to the following format:

• Document format—electronic document in portable document format (pdf)
• Paper size—8.5x11 inch, letter size
• Margins—1 inch top and bottom, 1.25 inches left and right
• Spacing—Single-spaced
• Font—Times New Roman, at least 10 point
• Page Numbers—numerated in footer
• Length—maximum of 3 pages for the technical summary of the proposed research (excluding title page and required or other attachments)
• File Name Format—[first initial][last name]-[brief institutional reference]-HPC.pdf (Example: BSmith-UGA-HPC.pdf); file name format should also be included in the footer.
• NOTE: Do not include PII—personally identifiable information—in the pre-proposal (i.e. SSN; dates of birth; personal, non-professional contact information, etc.)

Pre-Proposal Content:

The content of proposals must be as follows:

• Title Page including proposal’s title, name and institution of faculty member, submission month and year, and chosen primary category (1 page, not included in the technical pre-proposal page count of 3 pages)
  
  

  Example:
  
  High-Performance Computing Research Using High Performance Computing Resources at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  
  Bill Smith, University of Georgia
  
  September 2009
  
  Primary Category: Mathematics/Computer Science
  
  

• Proposed Research/Scientific Merit/Alignment with ORNL science agenda
  • See Full Proposal Format Guidelines for a detailed description of what should be addressed in an abbreviated way here.
• Faculty-Student Approach
  • See Full Proposal Format Guidelines for a detailed description of what should be addressed in an abbreviated way here.
• Qualifications of Faculty Member
  • If your CV or resume addresses (or can be updated to address) all of the following items, it is acceptable (and preferred) to reference your CV or resume as an attachment rather than duplicating the information in the body of the pre-proposal:
    • 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 any current memberships/activities in professional organizations.
    • List any awards or honors earned in the past 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 (not included in the total pre-proposal page count)
  • Faculty member’s CV or resume
  • Contact Information Form
  • Certification of Accuracy of Information Provided Form
  • Other supporting documents or references deemed pertinent by the faculty member

Pre-Proposal Submissions Guidance:

• Pre-proposals, completed forms, and other attachments MUST be submitted to ORAU electronically by the faculty member’s ORAU member councilor.
• The ORAU member councilor from the faculty member’s institution should review the proposal prior to submission. Submission of the proposal by the member councilor constitutes endorsement of and institutional commitment to the pre-proposal. If a councilor is unable to submit the pre-proposal from the councilor’s e-mail address, the councilor should send, in advance of the deadline, a letter of designation to Cathy.Fore@orau.org. with the name and e-mail address of the person who will be sending the information.

Refer all questions to and send completed pre-proposals and attachments to:

Cathy Fore
ORAU University Partnerships Office
P.O. Box 117
Mail Stop 29
Oak Ridge, TN 37831
Phone: 865.241.8158
E-mail: Cathy.Fore@orau.org