HPC Grant Proposal Guidelines

Full Proposal Requirements:

(Note: a pre-proposal must be submitted for a full proposal to be considered. For more information, go to Pre-proposal Guidelines)

• Proposals will be awarded through a competitive, peer-review process.
• One faculty proposal 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 resources or financial assistance in support of the proposed research. If a councilor is unable to submit the 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.
• Full proposals MUST BE submitted to Cathy.Fore@orau.org by noon EST on Monday, Dec. 7, 2009.
• 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).
• include the qualifications of the proposing faculty member.

Full 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.

Full Proposal Evaluation Criteria:

Proposals 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

Full Proposal Format:

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 inch left and right
• Spacing—Single-spaced
• Font—Times New Roman, at least 10 point
• Page Numbers—numerated in footer
• Length—Maximum of 10 pages (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.
• Attachments—Resumes, CDs, References, Required Forms, Letters of Support, etc. should be included as attachments, NOT included in the page count of the proposal.
• NOTE: Do not include PII—personally identifiable information—in the proposal (i.e. SSN; dates of birth; personal, non-professional contact information, etc.)

Full 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, not included in the total proposal page count)
• Executive Summary/Introduction (1 page)
• Proposed Research/Scientific Merit/Alignment with ORNL Science Agenda (6-8 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. Please indicate the specific computing resources needed, specific staff types needed and estimated number of machine hours needed. For machine hours needed, indicate:
    • Processor hours (or total connect time multiplied by the number of processors used)
    • Gigabytes of local storage
    • Gigabytes or terabytes of mass storage for archiving purposes
  • 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 (1 page):
  • 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.
• Qualifications of Faculty Member:
  NOTE: 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 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 all 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 total proposal page count)
  • Faculty member’s CV or resume
  • Contact Information Form
  • Certification of Accuracy of Information Provided Form

Full Proposal Submissions Guidance:

• Proposals, completed forms, and other attachments must be submitted to ORAU electronically as PDF files 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 proposal.

Refer all questions to and send completed pre-proposals, 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