Proposals should be of sufficient length to concisely describe the activity as well as convey the impact and proposed costs. Proposals should be 1-4 pages, roughly proportional to the amount of funding requested and the complexity of the proposal. Small requests are encouraged as a means to develop subsequent, more extensive programs. Proposals should address the key relevant points below, but can be very brief. Those for small workshops can be 1 page. Travel requests, for example, can be two brief paragraphs identifying proposed topics of research to be discussed, and individuals with which discussions will be held.
Proposals should contain the following:
It should be recognized that the majority of IMMS funds are reserved for the support of graduate students at UCSB or LANL. These funds can also be used for the support of mentoring activities by LANL staff. Smaller amounts of funds are available to support research activities at LANL (by students, post-docs or staff) or at UCSB (by post-docs and staff). Consequently, research proposals that are aligned with ongoing LANL projects are most likely to have the greatest impact and contribute most significantly to the student education and thesis development. In such cases, the direct funding of UCSB personnel from these LANL projects may be possible, particularly for graduate students, and these opportunities should be identified.
Research topics should build on areas of mutual interest to UCSB and LANL. Projects that build on unique capabilities available at either institution (e.g., neutron scattering, high performance computing) are particularly encouraged. Research projects in any area of multiscale materials studies will be considered, but particular topics of interest at this time are:
The Directors will assist with identifying contacts for these projects and can provide assistance for proposal development. Shorter term projects (one-quarter to one-year), that can be subsequently extended upon demonstrated success, are of particular interest. Proposals for periods longer than two years cannot be considered at this point in time.
The body of the proposal should include:
The proposals will be evaluated for their technical and scientific merit, potential for stimulating UCSB/LANL collaborations, and their relevance to Los Alamos programmatic objectives by panels with representation from both LANL and UCSB. These panels will also be polled quarterly to identify arising strategic opportunities or desired development areas. Based on the recommendations of these panels, the Directors will allocate funding.
The LANL IMMS advisory panel consists of the following individuals:
In addition to the LANL Director [Edward Kober (Institutes Office): emk@lanl.gov], they can assist in the identification topics of interest and particular technical contacts.
The UCSB IMMS advisory panel will consist of representatives from the College of Engineering Dean’s office and representatives from the Departments of Materials, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, as appropriate to the technical area of the proposal.