BRC Call for Proposals

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Ames Laboratory   Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station
Plant Sciences Institute     U.S. Dept. of Energy EREN

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Deadline: April 2, 2002, 5 p.m. CST

I. General
II. Instructions
III. What, Where and When to Submit
IV. Evaluation and Review

I. General

A. Introduction
The Biorenewable Resources Consortium is a partnership dedicated to the development and utilization of agriculturally derived alternatives to petrochemicals and other nonrenewable fossil resources. Technology transfer to the private sector is a key component of our mission. Interdisciplinary research teams will develop new value-added products and new routes to bioenergy.

B. Mission of the BRC
The Biorenewable Resources Consortium is a partnership dedicated to the development and utilization of agriculturally derived alternatives to petrochemicals and other nonrenewable fossil resources. Technology transfer to the private sector is a key component of our mission. Interdisciplinary research teams will develop new value-added products and new routes to bioenergy.

C. Topics of Research
Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation should fit within the BRC mission. The preferred research topic areas are listed below. Successful proposals could include analytical methodology, separations technology, production and conversion technology and economic analysis integrated into the following areas:

Chemicals such as biodiesels, alcohols, and organic acids produced via biocatalytic, catalytic, and green chemistry technologies from crops, crop residues, and lignocellulosic materials.

Biopolymers and materials from crops and crop residues.

New crops and production methods designed in concert with biobased products development.

II. INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS

All proposals must contain the narrative information and forms described below. Proposals that do not follow these guidelines will be returned .

Proposals are to be submitted on standard 8-1/2" x 11" paper with typing on one side of the page only. Pages should have uniform one-inch margins, text should be double-spaced, and Times New Roman font, point size 12, should be employed. Figures and tables should be incorporated into the text. The maximum length of the proposal (parts A-H), will be eight pages.

If you have questions about proposal preparation, contact Dr. George Kraus (294-7794).

Required Content/Order of PROPOSAL NARRATIVE

Proposal Cover Page
The cover page must have the project title, research topic area, principal investigator name(s) and affiliation(s), total funding request, and applicable compliance issues or concerns.

A. Abstract (not to exceed 100 words)

B. Objectives

Clear, concise, and complete statement(s) of the specific aims of the research project.

C. Procedures

A detailed description of the proposed work in the sequence in which it will be carried out. This section, written as a precise work plan or statement of work (SOW), should include a discussion of the rationale behind the investigation, outline hypotheses to be tested, and clearly identify major challenges and anticipated results.

D. Justification

A description of how the proposed work is relevant to the mission of the BRC, and more broadly, to the needs of the DOE (http://www.oit.doe.gov/agriculture/). This section should discuss the significance of the problem and the importance of conducting the work in the near term. What is the relationship between this project and other projects ongoing in the PI’s laboratory?

E. Literature Review

This section should provide a summary of relevant literature with emphasis on its relationship to the proposed research, as well as a discussion of the relevancy of the work to future research. References to publications should be identified using bracketed numerals, e.g. [1]. Full citations should then be listed in sequential order at the end of this section in acceptable journal format.

F. Facilities and Equipment

A description of all facilities, including laboratories, available for use during the requested period of support. This section should include an itemization of major instrumentation and nonexpendable equipment that is available for use.

G. Collaborative Arrangements, Cost Sharing and Leveraging

Multi-investigator, multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional and/or industrial collaborations should be fully explained. This section should include a discussion of the benefits of the proposed teaming arrangement and the details of the 20% match from non-federal funds. This could include part of PI’s salary, industrial funds and contingent funding. What are the plans for leveraging the project beyond the project period?

H. Economic Analysis

This section should provide a rudimentary economic analysis of the proposed work. There should be a comparison with costs of relevant existing products or processes. What is the market size?

Appendices

A. Vitae
Curricula vitae are to be included for all key persons expected to work on the project, including principal investigators, senior associates, and other professional personnel, whether or not funds are sought for their support. Each vita should be limited to one page and should include a list of only the five most recent and relevant publications.

B. Budget
Applicants should provide a summary budget using the form at the end. In addition, nonexpendable equipment, materials and supplies, travel, publication costs/page charges, computer (ADPE) costs, and all other direct costs should be fully itemized for each of these budget categories.

C. Current and Pending Support – 1 page
PIs should provide a list of current and pending research support.

III. WHAT, WHEN AND WHERE TO SUBMIT

Six printed copies of the proposal, fully assembled and in the correct order (including cover page, sections A through H, and appendices), are required. The address for submission is:

BRC Competitive Grant Program
311 TASF

All proposals are due by 5 p.m. CST, April 2, 2002.

IV. EVALUATION AND REVIEW

A. Review and Scoring
With the goal of sustaining quality and relevance of the work performed by the BRC, a uniform procedure will be adopted for evaluating and selecting projects.

The BRC Task Force will constitute the internal review panel to evaluate proposals. This group will be aided by written reviews from an external panel of industry experts. The task force evaluations will guide the BRC Executive Committee in determining the final selections.

Relevance to mission of the BRC (20%)
Reviewers will be asked to identify the relevance of the proposed research to the mission of the BRC. The proposals should justify the work in sufficient detail to convince the reviewers of this relevance.

Technical approach and procedures (45%)
The Procedures section, presented as a work plan or statement of work, should be written in sufficient detail to permit the reviewers to judge the feasibility of conducting the proposed work and assess progress if continuation funds are requested. Hypotheses to be tested should be outlined, the technical approach and research methodology to be employed should be summarized, and major challenges and anticipated results should be clearly identified.

Teaming and Cost Sharing (15%)
Multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional teaming of scientists and engineers is a way to simultaneously promote scientific discovery and technology development. Accordingly, teams of researchers that will accomplish such synergism are required. Inclusion of researchers from the Midwest Consortium for Biobased Chemicals and Bioenergy (Illinois, Michigan State, Argonne National Laboratory, Purdue and the USDA facility in Peoria) as co-investigators will be viewed favorably. There is a requirement for 20% cost sharing. This should be defined.

Economic Analysis (15%)
The economic feasibility of the proposed project is directly related to the mission of the BRC. This must be documented in the proposal.

Leveraging (5%)
Plans for leveraging the project beyond the project period must be well thought out.

B. Review Schedule
The task force will be convened in April, 2002 to review proposals. After discussion and consideration of task force evaluations, BRC administrators will notify applicants of their status on or about April 30, 2002.

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Last updated: 3/28/02 mjg