Overview

The Cooperative Agreement between your organization(s) and the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) calls for quarterly R&D performance reports which are the main source of information provided to the ATP. The content of these reports, as requested by ATP, is consistent with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A110, dated 11/29/93 ⁽¹⁾ . A suggested structure is outlined below and is designed to not be overly burdensome to your organization. This specific structure or format is optional, but the content is required. If your organization has its own format for such reports and all the requested information is provided, ATP will accept your format.

ATP relies on these quarterly R&D performance reports to monitor technical developments in projects. In addition, we use them in preparing quick-response derivative reports to Congress and Executive Agencies of the Government which oversee ATP. ATP policy prohibits release of these reports and limits internal distribution to those directly involved in management and administration of the specific cooperative agreement. Information abstracted from the reports by ATP will be cleared through your organization in advance of release by ATP. The report format outlined here provides for a systematic and logical structuring of key progress elements, and promotes tracking of developments. For each performance year, a core report is initially established, and subsequent reports simply update this core. Besides keeping the ATP Project Manager up to date on progress, these reports will provide a history of the project over its life.

Content

The quarterly R&D performance report should:

a) Identify project objectives, the initial "baseline" for tracking project developments, and milestones through the end of the current performance year;

b) Provide evidence that projects are attaining technical milestones necessary to meet the objectives of the original proposal;

c) Identify and explain changes in the composition, direction, or key personnel associated with the project;

d) Identify problems or special opportunities which are critical to the progress of the research, and areas which may benefit from consultation with specialists at NIST.

In the following sections, each element of the quarterly R&D performance report is discussed.

Project Objectives

The first section of each quarterly R&D performance report should state the overall technical goal of the project and list specific objectives. These should be drawn from the proposal with amplification as required to provide quantitative bases for success, or additional detail. The objectives should remain unchanged throughout the project unless results dictate a shift or major technical problems require re-planning a portion of the work. Changes should be addressed in the section entitled " Summary of Project Changes ."

Project Baseline

In order to contrast the state of the art before and after completion of each ATP project, establish a baseline to describe the status of key elements of the technology at the project outset. Define the baseline in the context of specific targets which are expected to constitute success, and are consistent with project objectives. These may include initial per-unit-costs, physical performance characteristics, or specific technical capabilities. If quantitative measures are not applicable, provide qualitative statements describing the state of the art at the time of project initiation. Identify any changes since the proposal was prepared. The ATP Project Manager will assist you in identifying appropriate baseline characterization as part of the project kickoff.

Technical Milestones

The quarterly reports should present appropriate milestones through the current performance year and relate the contribution of current year milestones to the overall project milestones. Current year milestones are generally presented and/or modified during the kickoff meeting, and subsequently extended as part of each annual review. The level of detail will depend on the nature of each project, and the concurrence of the principal investigator and the ATP Project Manager. A time line chart of the current year and the overall project milestones may be included in this section with clear identification of major decision points. Once established, this list of milestones with appropriate due dates should not be changed unless technical results or new opportunities dictate. Such changes should be addressed in the section entitled " Summary of Project Changes ."

Technical Progress and Impact

This section includes a discussion of technical progress for the specific performance quarter for each of the current performance year milestones identified in the preceding section. This is the heart of the quarterly R&D performance report, and will occupy the majority of the text. Sufficient discussion should be provided to allow an accurate assessment of progress, and identification of both successes and technical difficulties. Discussion of progress (and technical setbacks) should include implications for the overall objectives of the project. At the end of this section please identify the most significant technical advance to date in the project, and include a short discussion of its significance. Please list any patent applications as well as major equipment purchases.

Progress against milestones is to be keyed to each reporting quarter. This requires the identification of the reporting period (mm/yy to mm/yy) before each new field of reporting for each milestone. If no work is directed to a particular milestone for a given quarter, then this should be noted and appropriately dated.

Summary of Project Changes

In this section, succinctly summarize substantive changes in project planning, personnel, or execution which have occurred over the reporting quarter. These should be derived from the main elements of the report as this section is intended only as a summary. If approval of a change is being requested please note that specifically. All substantive changes to the technical scope of work or budget changes must be discussed in advance with the ATP Project Manager, who must recommend an amendment to the award by the NIST Grants Officer.

Quoting from Section 7. Prior Approval Requirements, of the ATP General Terms and Conditions which were part of your original award:

8. Prior Approval Requirements

The following change requests require prior written approval from the NIST Grants Officer:

a. Budget transfers among direct cost categories or between major technical tasks exceeding 10% of the total annual budget for each approved project year.

b. Capital expenditures in excess of $100,000.

c. Changes to key personnel (as identified in the application or as named in ATP Special Award Conditions).

d. Changes to the technical scope of work or the application focus of the technology.

e. Revisions to Ownership and/or Dissolution of Recipients (this includes everyone participating under a Joint Venture Agreement). This includes but is not limited to for example 1) when a company is acquired by a foreign company; 2) when only two for profit companies are participating in a JV and one of the for profit companies ceases participation; or 3) when the two for profit companies are acquired by another company or merge.

Therefore, in the event a Recipient requests prior approval , the Recipient must provide documentation of the Recipients intent to notify the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission of any changes in the JV including new members, substantial changes in scope of work, and/or deletion of members.

Problems and Opportunities

This section should provide a synopsis of technical problems which must be resolved as well as developing technical and business opportunities. Please also make us aware of areas which may benefit from consultation with specialists at NIST.

Business Issues

This section is for any business developments that have arisen since your last Business Report.

Upcoming Meetings

If you wish to set up a meeting at NIST, or to request the attendance of either or both of the ATP Technical or Business Project Managers at any meeting, you may use this section to make the request and to provide an overview of the meeting. It is often helpful to present a proposed project coordination meeting schedule for the year in this section, to note when subcontractors progress will be reviewed, when input from "commercialization units" may occur, etc. The meeting calendar could include formal or informal meetings of the project principals, or formal technical meetings where work which is related to the project is addressed. It should include a planned general time frame and expected location for the annual project review, which is to be scheduled during the last quarter of the project year (not the calendar year)

The requested format for the ATP Quarterly R&D performance reports is that of a sequential series of updates. Thus, each report is to contain the information submitted in the previous report(s) as well as that provided for the quarter of interest. Each quarterly report is intended to comprise 6-10 single spaced pages of new information. This means that the length of the report may grow to 25-40 pages by the end of the performance year, but each submission will usually comprise only 6 to 10 pages of original text. Because each quarterly report will include the previous information for the entire performance year, the last will provide a complete record of progress and accomplishments. If the 4th quarter report does not include the report of previous quarters, please provide a summary of the year's work.

If you wish to submit a more extensive report of technical progress for a given quarter, you may append it to the formal report. If there is no additional progress to report under a given heading, a statement to that effect should be included for the performance period. Please date all additions to the text file, and mark each page of the report "Proprietary."

There may be a need in the future to have an electronic copy of project quarterly reports. If an interim electronic copy is needed the program manager will request it directly, otherwise a single electronic copy of the reports at the end of the project year is sufficient. The file should be readable by WordPerfect 6.1 for Windows or Microsoft Word. ASCII text is also acceptable. Please mark all diskettes as "proprietary".

ATP Quarterly R&D Performance Report
Date of Summary:  mm/dd/yy

1. OMB Circular A110 can be found at www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/OMB/html/circulars/a110/a110.html.