Competitive Academic Agreement Program (CAAP)

PHMSA launched CAAP in 2013 to provide funding for academic research and provide tomorrow’s pipeline safety workforce with an early opportunity to contribute safety solutions. PHMSA is working to drive innovation by funding projects that can deliver cutting-edge research and/ or technology for the safety of the Nation’s 2.6-million-mile pipeline transportation network.

In its first two years alone, CAAP has provided more than $1.5 million dollars to student researchers at the undergraduate, graduate and PhD levels. PHMSA typically opens applications every spring and awards 5 or more research proposals every fall.  Thanks to additional appropriated funding from Congress, PHMSA tripled the available award amounts to $300,000 from $100,000 in 2015, plus a 20% cost sharing by university partners on each project.  Awards cover research projects up to 3 years in duration.

The cooperative agreements are competitively selected, and the number of awards depends on the quality of submissions and budget limitations. PHMSA prioritizes projects based in part on their potential to deliver preliminary pipeline safety findings (e.g., validating a thesis or theory’s proof of concept) that can be further investigated through PHMSA’s core research program or later CAAP project.

• Calling College and University Researchers in STEM! The pipeline transportation sector needs your input;  get tips on How to Submit a Superior CAAP Application for funding today.

CAAP Awards

Annual summaries and project information are available here.