Call for Proposals: Unidata Community Equipment Awards

Under sponsorship from the National Science Foundation, the Unidata Program Center (UPC) announces the 2004 Unidata Community Equipment Awards solicitation, described below, along with the proposal submission requirements. The deadline date for submitting proposals to be considered for funding in FY 2004 is February 27, 2004. Notification of award status will be made by early April, 2004. A total of $100,000 is available for awards this year. Proposals for amounts ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 will be considered.

• Description of Unidata Community Equipment Awards
• Proposal Review Criteria
• Proposal Format
• Submission, Notification, and Accountability

Description of Program

The primary purpose of the Unidata Community Equipment Awards is to encourage new members from diverse disciplinary backgrounds in the geosciences to join the Unidata community, and for existing members to continue their active participation so as to enhance the community process. We will accept equipment proposals from academic institutions engaged in teaching and research in the geosciences for the deployment of Unidata-supported systems. Applicants are encouraged to get assistance with hardware requirements for their proposed activity by contacting the UPC at egrants@unidata.ucar.edu.

It is the intent of this award program to assist institutions wishing to participate actively in the Unidata community; to assist those who have participated actively in the past but need system upgrades to meet the standards currently recommended for deploying Unidata systems; and to assist organizations from disciplines outside of the atmospheric community who can provide important and relevant datasets and tools to the Unidata community at no cost.

Small institutions, institutions that have not previously submitted proposals to this program, and institutions outside Unidata's traditional atmospheric sciences community are especially encouraged to apply.

 Proposal Review Criteria:

It is important to emphasize that the overall quality of the proposal, including professional presentation of the narrative detailing how the proposal addresses the following criteria, will be an important factor in the evaluation by the review panel.

1.       Intellectual or technical merit of the proposed work. Using Unidata technologies, the proposed effort makes an important contribution to advancing knowledge and understanding within the Earth sciences.                 

2.       Contribution to Unidata community capabilities. Equipment will be used to develop concepts and software that contribute to the enhancement of the community capability.

3.       Broadens the Unidata community scope and capabilities.  The effort makes available tools for datasets which would be meaningful to the current Unidata community as well as disciplines outside of atmospheric sciences.

4.       Enhanced participation in the IDD. Proposed equipment will enhance the group’s ability to participate in the IDD and thus serve a broader community purpose.

5.       Commitment to participate actively in Unidata's community-based support efforts: including but not limited to active participation in mail and web-based forums which exist for the purpose of sharing information about dataset and tool usage. Act as expert user in web-based forums relating to a variety of topics.

6.       Contributes to the advancement of technology: proposal shows emphasis toward a particular technological advancement that it is working to deploy and share with the broader community.

7.       Contribution to education. The activity contributes to local and/or community education efforts in the Earth sciences by providing new approaches to classroom and individual instruction.

8.       Contribution to research. The equipment request encompasses an activity that shows potential for enhancing and contributing to local and/or community-based research programs, or the equipment supports innovative and significant research.

Special Criteria for 2004 Awards

Proposals will be judged first on the above-referenced criteria. Proposals that meet these basic criteria will be given additional consideration by the review panel if they include any of the following components: 

Integrated Data Viewer (IDV). The activity expands the use and visibility of the IDV as a core application for teaching and/or research.

Thematic Realtime Environmental Distributed Data Servers (THREDDS) initiative. The activity provides access to data sets using THREDDS technologies.

Unidata will accept proposals that include funds for hardware, software, and related indirect cost overhead. This program does not provide funds for staff time, travel, or other costs not outlined here. Proposals must demonstrate that the equipment request is technically sound with respect to equipment selection and integration with existing local systems. Faculty and staff involved in managing the hardware and Unidata systems must be committed to obtaining, managing, and maintaining the proposed equipment and Unidata-supported tools as described in the proposal.

3. Proposal Format:

Including all of the sections below, Community Equipment Award proposals are typically 5-10 pages. Proposals must contain all components listed below and be assembled in the order listed:

A. Cover Page: Signed by the appropriate university official, for example, the Dean or the contracts officer.

B. Project Summary: A brief summary of the project and how the proposer intends to use equipment funded through this award program.

C. Project Description:

• Describe details of the equipment requested, and what part it will play in meeting the relevant criteria, above.
• Describe how equipment requested will help to meet the overall goals of the project.
• Discuss the benefits to research and/or education, and the added value that this project will bring to the Unidata community at-large.
• Discuss the relationship of the proposed system to the existing computing facilities, both departmental and institutional;
• Discuss the percentage of the departmental computing resources that the proposed system comprises; and the relationship of the proposed equipment to the department’s overall plan for computing capabilities.

D. Budget:

• Provide a short explanation of the budget (budget justification). Describe any university contributions to the project (such as PI time, system administration time, co-sponsorship, computer time, and partial or total waiver of indirect costs).
• In a line item budget, show all key elements of cost as well as line-item detail for proposed purchases.
• Proposals should be for a minimum of $5,000, but no more than $25,000.
• Cost sharing by the department or university is encouraged but not required.

E. Project Milestones:

• Provide information about how soon equipment will be purchased after award, and when it will be deployed as part of the broader project objective.
• Describe any dependencies that may alter the project goals and deadlines (for example, new space must be acquired or altered before a system can be installed).

4. Submission, Notification and Accountability

Please submit ten paper copies and one copy saved on CD or diskette in either PDF or MSWord Format.   Proposals should be received at the UPC no later than February 27, 2004. To ensure fairness, proposals arriving after the deadline will be returned without review. Please ensure that proposals are mailed on time to be received by this date. Also, please ensure that all materials are included in your submission

Proposals will be evaluated by a panel consisting of community members and Unidata staff. Selection of successful proposals will be made by community members serving on the panel. Once decisions are made, the Unidata Director will notify the outcome of the proposal review to all applicants. Reviewers' comments will be distributed to successful and unsuccessful proposals alike. Funds will be distributed to successful applicants by a sub-contract award process, and recipients will be responsible for purchasing the equipment.

Within a year of receiving equipment funds, recipients will be required to submit an article to the UPC describing how they have used the equipment, impact on education and research, lessons learned, etc. Articles will be used for publication either in the Unidata newsletter, or on the Unidata website (at our discretion). The intent is to encourage others to participate in the Unidata community and the Equipment Awards program by showing the benefits of participation, as well as ensuring compliance with the original intent of the awards. Failure to submit the requested article will result in ineligibility for future funding.

Please send ten copies of your proposal to:

Unidata Program Center
ATTN: Community Equipment Awards
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307

Overnight Mail Address:

Unidata Program Center

c/o Joanne Graham

1850 Table Mesa Drive

Boulder, CO  80350

Resources:

Please see our FAQ section to find answers to specific questions you might have about the Unidata Community Equipment Awards.  If you have still have questions, email us: egrants@unidata.ucar.edu

Links to examples of previously successful proposals:

1.  A proposal to share data with the entire Unidata community.