|
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY For more information about the Office of Science, go to Office of Science |
To DOE National Laboratories LAB 07-30
Research and Development
SUMMARY: The Office of Nuclear Physics (NP), Office of Science (SC), U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE), hereby announces its interest in receiving proposals for
Research and Development (R&D) efforts directed at rare isotope beam capabilities. A
next generation facility for nuclear structure and astrophysics is under consideration to
address emerging research opportunities in low energy nuclear physics, and DOE is
sponsoring pre-conceptual R&D activities on next generation rare isotope beam
capabilities.
DATES: Full proposals submitted in response to this Announcement must be submitted
to the DOE Electronic Proposal Management Application (ePMA) system
( https://epma.doe.gov) no later than 8:00 p.m.,
Eastern Time, October 17, 2007, to be accepted for merit review and to permit timely
consideration for award in Fiscal Year 2008. It is important that the entire peer reviewable
proposal be submitted to the ePMA system as a single PDF file attachment.
Please see the "Addresses" section below for further instructions on the methods of
submission for the full proposal.
ADDRESSES: A complete formal FWP in a single Portable Document Format (PDF) file must be
submitted through the DOE ePMA system (
https://epma.doe.gov) as an attachment. To identify that the FWP is responding
to this program announcement, please fill in the following fields in the "ePMA
Create Proposal Admin Information" screen as shown:
* Please use the wording shown when filling in these fields to identify that the
FWP is responding to this Program Announcement.
Ms. Christine Izzo
DOE National Laboratories should submit using ePMA as instructed above.
Researchers from other Federal agencies and Non-DOE Federally Funded Research
and Development Centers (FFRDCs) should follow the format at
http://www.science.doe.gov/grants/fed_prop.html and submit the proposal as a CD and
two paper copies using the above address, by U.S. Postal Service Express Mail, any
commercial mail delivery service, or when hand-carried.
In the proposal package, include an extra copy of the one-page abstract.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Manouchehr Farkhondeh, Office
of Nuclear Physics, SC-26/Germantown Building, Office of Science, U.S. Department of
Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20585-1290; telephone:
(301) 903-4398; facsimile: (301) 903-3833; e-mail:
Manouchehr.Farkhondeh@science.doe.gov. Communications related to the formal
proposal should use "Program Announcement LAB 07-30 FORMAL" in the subject line.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DOE/National Science Foundation
(NSF) Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC) was charged with performing an
evaluation of the options for a next-generation facility in the United States for rare
isotope beam studies. The charge letter can be found at:
http://www.sc.doe.gov/np/nsac/nsac.html. Their report, which is expected in September,
will be posted at the same site. Additional information on rare isotope beam capabilities
are outlined in the 1999 NSAC ISOL Taskforce Report that can be found at:
http://www.sc.doe.gov/np/nsac/docs/ISOLTaskForceReport.pdf and the 2002 NSAC
Long Range Plan for Nuclear Science at:
http://www.sc.doe.gov/np/nsac/nsac.html.
Program Objective:
Community sponsored studies and workshops have identified a number of areas where
focused R&D and prototyping could enhance performance, reduce costs, and impact the
engineering and construction schedule risk for a next generation facility. Examples of
R&D studies aimed at a rare isotope beam facility can be found in the report of the 2003
Rare Isotope Accelerator R&D Workshop at the following website:
http://www.sc.doe.gov/np/projects/docs/2003-RIA_Report.pdf.
The proposed R&D should be generic and not site specific. Among the areas of potential
R&D topics are:
Applications requesting support for research and development in one or more of the areas
outlined above should indicate a separate task for each area. Applications may include
more than one task. For each task the application should address the goal of the effort; the
method or approach to be taken; a cost-breakdown of the effort; the workforce to carry
out the effort; the deliverable result of the work; and the performance, cost, or schedule
benefit for a rare isotope beam facility. Each task should describe a realistic schedule
which includes a minimum of one milestone per quarter. Applicants should note that they
will be required to report formally on a quarterly basis regarding R&D expenditures and
progress towards achieving the milestones and deliverables of the proposed effort.
Institutional contributions to the effort should be clearly indicated.
Collaboration
Collaborative research projects with other institutions, such as universities, industry, non-
profit organizations, and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers
(FFRDCs), including the DOE National Laboratories, are encouraged under this
Announcement. Proposals submitted from different institutions, which are directed at a
single research activity, should clearly indicate they are part of a proposed collaboration
and contain a brief description of the overall research project. However, each proposal
must have a distinct scope of work and a qualified principal investigator who is
responsible for the research effort being performed at his or her institution. If a
university is part of a proposed collaboration, the university must submit a separate
proposal that meets all the essentials stated above. It is highly recommended to include
on the first page of the proposal narrative a simple table listing every collaborating
institution/PI and the amount of funding requested by each. Further information on
preparation of collaborative proposals may be accessed via the Internet at:
http://www.science.doe.gov/grants/Colab.html.
Program Funding
It is anticipated that up to $4,000,000 will be available for awards to be made in Fiscal
Year 2008, contingent on the availability of appropriated funds. Proposals may request
project support for one year only. The number and size of awards will depend on the
number of proposals received and selected for award and the availability of appropriated
funds. DOE is under no obligation to pay for any costs associated with preparation or
submission of proposals. DOE reserves the right to fund, in whole or in part, any, all, or
none of the proposals submitted.
Formal Proposals
The research project description must be 6 pages per task or less, exclusive of
attachments and must contain an abstract or summary of the proposed research. All
collaborators should be listed with the abstract or summary. Attachments include
curriculum vitae, a listing of all current and pending federal support and letters of intent
when collaborations are part of the proposed research. Curriculum vitae should be limited
to no more than two pages per individual.
The instructions and format described below should be followed. You must reference
Program Announcement LAB 07-30 on all submissions and inquiries about this program.
GUIDE FOR PREPARATION OF SCIENTIFIC/TECHNICAL PROPOSALS TO BE SUBMITTED BY NATIONAL LABORATORIES Proposals from National Laboratories submitted to the Office of Science (SC) as a result of this program announcement will follow the Department of Energy Field Work Proposal process with additional information requested to allow for scientific/technical merit review. The following guidelines for content and format are intended to facilitate an understanding of the requirements necessary for SC to conduct a merit review of a proposal. Please follow the guidelines carefully, as deviations could be cause for declination of a proposal without merit review. 1. Evaluation Criteria Proposals will be subjected to formal merit review (peer review) and will be evaluated against the following criteria which are listed in descending order of importance: A. Scientific and/or technical merit of the project;
B. Appropriateness of the proposed method or approach;
C. Competency of the proposer's personnel and adequacy of the proposed resources;
D. Reasonableness and appropriateness of the proposed budget.
The evaluation will include program policy factors such as the relevance of the proposed research to the terms of the announcement, the Department's programmatic needs, and quality of previous performance. External peer reviewers are selected with regard to both their scientific expertise and the absence of conflict-of-interest issues. Non-federal reviewers may be used, and submission of a proposal constitutes agreement that this is acceptable to the investigator(s) and the submitting institution. Proposals found to be scientifically meritorious and programmatically relevant will be selected in consultation with DOE selecting officials depending upon availability of funds in the DOE budget. Funding under this Notice is limited to supporting research activities based in the U.S., though subcontracts with limited funding for collaborators outside the U.S. may be allowed with appropriate justifications. The selected projects will be required to acknowledge support by DOE in all public communications of the research results. 2. Summary of Proposal Contents
A complete formal FWP in a single Portable Document Format (PDF) file must be submitted through the DOE ePMA system ( https://epma.doe.gov) as an attachment. To identify that the FWP is responding to this program announcement, please fill in the following fields in the "ePMA Create Proposal Admin Information" screen as shown:
Fiscal Year: Proposal Reason: Program Announcement Number: LAB 07-30 * Program announcement Title: Research and Development for Rare Isotope Beam Capabilities * Proposal Purpose: Estimated Proposal Begin Date: HQ Program Manager Organization: * Please use the wording shown when filling in these fields to identify that the FWP is responding to this Program Announcement.
Ms. Christine Izzo 3. Detailed Contents of the Proposal Adherence to type size and line spacing requirements is necessary for several reasons. No researcher should have the advantage, or by using small type, of providing more text in their proposals. Small type may also make it difficult for reviewers to read the proposal. Proposals must have 1-inch margins at the top, bottom, and on each side. Type sizes must be at least 11 point. Line spacing is at the discretion of the researcher but there must be no more than 6 lines per vertical inch of text. Pages should be standard 8 1/2" x 11" (or metric A4, i.e., 210 mm x 297 mm). 3.1 Field Work Proposal Format (Reference DOE O 412.1A) (DOE ONLY) The Field Work Proposal (FWP) is to be prepared and submitted consistent with policies of the investigator's laboratory and the local DOE Operations Office. Additional information is also requested to allow for scientific/technical merit review. Laboratories may submit proposals directly to the SC Program office listed above. A copy should also be provided to the appropriate DOE operations office. 3.2 Proposal Cover Page The following proposal cover page information may be placed on plain paper. No form is required.
SC Program announcement title Name of laboratory Name of principal investigator (PI) Position title of PI Mailing address of PI Telephone of PI Fax number of PI Electronic mail address of PI Name of official signing for laboratory* Title of official Fax number of official Telephone of official Electronic mail address of official Requested funding for each year; total request Use of human subjects in proposed project:
Signature of official, date of signature* *The signature certifies that personnel and facilities are available as stated in the proposal, if the project is funded. Provide the initial page number for each of the sections of the proposal. Number pages consecutively at the bottom of each page throughout the proposal. Start each major section at the top of a new page. Do not use unnumbered pages and do not use suffices, such as 5a, 5b. 3.4 Budget and Budget Explanation A detailed budget is required for the entire project period and for each fiscal year. It is preferred that DOE's budget page, Form 4620.1 be used for providing budget information*. Modifications of categories are permissible to comply with institutional practices, for example with regard to overhead costs. A written justification of each budget item is to follow the budget pages. For personnel this should take the form of a one-sentence statement of the role of the person in the project. Provide a detailed justification of the need for each item of permanent equipment. Explain each of the other direct costs in sufficient detail for reviewers to be able to judge the appropriateness of the amount requested. Further instructions regarding the budget are given in section 4 of this guide. * Form 4620.1 is available at web site: http://www.science.doe.gov/grants/budgetform.pdf 3.5 Abstract Provide an abstract of less than 400 words. Give the project objectives (in broad scientific terms), the approach to be used, and what the research is intended to accomplish. State the hypotheses to be tested (if any). At the top of the abstract give the project title, names of all the investigators and their institutions, and contact information for the principal investigator, including e-mail address. 3.6 Narrative (main technical portion of the proposal, including background/introduction, proposed research and methods, timetable of activities, and responsibilities of key project personnel).
The narrative comprises the research plan for the project and is limited to If any portion of the project is to be done in collaboration with another institution (or institutions), provide information on the institution(s) and what part of the project it will carry out. Further information on any such arrangements is to be given in the sections "Budget and Budget Explanation", "Biographical Sketches", and "Description of Facilities and Resources". 3.7 Literature Cited Give full bibliographic entries for each publication cited in the narrative. 3.8 Biographical Sketches This information is required for senior personnel at the institution submitting the proposal and at all subcontracting institutions (if any). The biographical sketch is limited to a maximum of two pages for each investigator. To assist in the identification of potential conflicts of interest or bias in the selection of reviewers, the following information must be provided in each biographical sketch.
Graduate and Postdoctoral Advisors and Advisees: A list of the names of the individual's own graduate advisor(s) and principal postdoctoral sponsor(s), and their current organizational affiliations. A list of the names of the individual's graduate students and postdoctoral associates during the past five years, and their current organizational affiliations. Facilities to be used for the conduct of the proposed research should be briefly described. Indicate the pertinent capabilities of the institution, including support facilities (such as machine shops), that will be used during the project. List the most important equipment items already available for the project and their pertinent capabilities. Include this information for each subcontracting institution (if any). 3.10 Other Support of Investigators Other support is defined as all financial resources, whether Federal, non-Federal, commercial, or institutional, available in direct support of an individual's research endeavors. Information on active and pending other support is required for all senior personnel, including investigators at collaborating institutions to be funded by a subcontract. For each item of other support, give the organization or agency, inclusive dates of the project or proposed project, annual funding, and level of effort (months per year or percentage of the year) devoted to the project. 3.11 Appendix Information not easily accessible to a reviewer may be included in an appendix, but do not use the appendix to circumvent the page limitations of the proposal. Reviewers are not required to consider information in an appendix, and reviewers may not have time to read extensive appendix materials with the same care they would use with the proposal proper. The appendix may contain the following items: up to five publications, manuscripts accepted for publication, abstracts, patents, or other printed materials directly relevant to this project, but not generally available to the scientific community; and letters from investigators at other institutions stating their agreement to participate in the project (do not include letters of endorsement of the project).
4. Detailed Instructions for the Budget 4.1 Salaries and Wages List the names of the principal investigator and other key personnel and the estimated number of person-months for which DOE funding is requested. Proposers should list the number of postdoctoral associates and other professional positions included in the proposal and indicate the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) person-months and rate of pay (hourly, monthly or annually). For graduate and undergraduate students and all other personnel categories such as secretarial, clerical, technical, etc., show the total number of people needed in each job title and total salaries needed. Salaries requested must be consistent with the institution's regular practices. The budget explanation should define concisely the role of each position in the overall project. 4.2 Equipment DOE defines equipment as "an item of tangible personal property that has a useful life of more than two years and an acquisition cost of $25,000 or more." Special purpose equipment means equipment which is used only for research, scientific or other technical activities. Items of needed equipment should be individually listed by description and estimated cost, including tax, and adequately justified. Allowable items ordinarily will be limited to scientific equipment that is not already available for the conduct of the work. General purpose office equipment normally will not be considered eligible for support. 4.3 Domestic Travel The type and extent of travel and its relation to the research should be specified. Funds may be requested for attendance at meetings and conferences, other travel associated with the work and subsistence. In order to qualify for support, attendance at meetings or conferences must enhance the investigator's capability to perform the research, plan extensions of it, or disseminate its results. Consultant's travel costs also may be requested. 4.4 Foreign Travel Foreign travel is any travel outside Canada and the United States and its territories and possessions. Foreign travel may be approved only if it is directly related to project objectives. 4.5 Other Direct Costs The budget should itemize other anticipated direct costs not included under the headings above, including materials and supplies, publication costs, computer services, and consultant services (which are discussed below). Other examples are: aircraft rental, space rental at research establishments away from the institution, minor building alterations, service charges, and fabrication of equipment or systems not available off- the-shelf. Reference books and periodicals may be charged to the project only if they are specifically related to the research. a. Materials and Supplies The budget should indicate in general terms the type of required expendable materials and supplies with their estimated costs. The breakdown should be more detailed when the cost is substantial. b. Publication Costs/Page Charges The budget may request funds for the costs of preparing and publishing the results of research, including costs of reports, reprints page charges, or other journal costs (except costs for prior or early publication), and necessary illustrations. c. Consultant Services Anticipated consultant services should be justified and information furnished on each individual's expertise, primary organizational affiliation, daily compensation rate and number of days expected service. Consultant's travel costs should be listed separately under travel in the budget. d. Computer Services The cost of computer services, including computer-based retrieval of scientific and technical information, may be requested. A justification based on the established computer service rates should be included. e. Subcontracts Subcontracts should be listed so that they can be properly evaluated. There should be an anticipated cost and an explanation of that cost for each subcontract. The total amount of each subcontract should also appear as a budget item. 4.6 Indirect Costs Explain the basis for each overhead and indirect cost. Include the current rates.
|