Call for Project Ideas-2023

Guidelines for Developing a Project Idea 

1. Introduction: Center for Regional and Rural Connected Communities (CR2C2) is planning to provide Research and Education Exploratory (REE) Grants. These competitive seed grants will be available to faculty, researchers, and professionals within the consortium to conduct projects on emerging concepts and novel approaches to addressing transportation challenges in rural and underserved communities. Work done under the REE Grants could potentially lead to new, larger-scale projects under MRIs in later years (subject to project performance, quality and impact of deliverables, and advisory board feedback). Project selection will be based on a multi-step peer-review-based process. As the first step, CR2C2 is calling for Project Ideas. The proposed ideas are expected to be aligned with the CR2C2 objectives and major research initiatives which can be found on the center’s website: https://www.cr2c2.com and USDOT RD&T strategic plan https://www.transportation.gov/rdtstrategicplan. 

A project idea can be submitted by researcher(s) and professional(s) within the CR2C2 consortium. The idea should be submitted by the project’s principal investigator. Upon review of the proposed idea, direct notification to the principal investigator will be made if a full proposal is requested. 

A total of $400k in funding is available, which will be awarded to the proposals that are submitted in response to the selected ideas.  100% cost-share commitment is required at the time of submission of the full proposal if the idea is invited for full proposal development. The recommended size of a project is $50k-$75k for each year for Single PI projects and $75k-$150k for each year for projects consisting of two or more PIs. Collaborative projects between multiple universities are encouraged. 

One of the awarded projects will be dedicated to equity and must be aligned with the objectives of the Equity 360 program of  CR2C2  or equity-focused research on technological solutions for rural transportation or increasing the involvement of underserved minorities in research, education, and technology transfer activities.

Project idea submission due date: August 31, 2023.

2. Project Duration: REE projects should be less than one year. However, if proposers are planning to submit an idea which will be longer than one year, the proposers should break it down into multiple phases, where the first phase is no longer than 1 year. In this case, Phase 1 is expected to be discussed in more detail, whereas later phases can be more briefly explained. Similarly, a more detailed budget is expected for Phase 1 and for subsequent phases a summarized  budget is sufficient. If awarded, the commitment is only for Phase 1. The proposers will have to submit a separate project idea and proposal during the next cycle for the subsequent phases should the proposers decide to continue the project.

3. Guideline for Development of Project Ideas 

The package should be submitted as a single PDF file and should include the following: 

• Cover Sheet: Prepare the cover sheet as an 8.5x11 standard-size page using Arial 12 font with one-inch margins. Color may be used if desired. The cover sheet does not count toward the 4-page limit that applies to the Written Response section described below. The following information should be included in the coversheet:

  • The title of the proposed project, 

  • Project duration

  • Requested amount

  • Desired start date

  • The name of the proposer, affiliation, phone number, and email address.

  • The name of the team members, their affiliations, phone numbers, and email addresses.

  • State whether any of the participating non-profit institutions of higher education is a Minority Institution.

  • [For research projects] The primary relevant major research initiative (MRI)  (refer to the center’s website: https://www.cr2c2.com)

• Project Idea Description (Maximum 4 pages): The description of the project idea should not exceed a total length of two (2) 8.5x11 standard-size pages, single-spaced, Arial 12 font, with one-inch margins. Color may be used if desired. For headers/footers and tables/figures,the font size may be no smaller than Arial 9. Arial Black is acceptable, but Arial Narrow is not.

The project idea description should include:

• Executive summary: Summarize the purpose of the project, proposed methods and/or activities, and anticipated outcomes. (Recommended length: 0.5 page)

• Problem Statement: Identify the research or education topic that the problem will address, and state why it is significant (Recommended length: 0.5 page)

• Project goal and objectives: Specify the objective expected to be achieved by the proposed project (Recommended length: 0.5 page)

• Novelty of the proposed work with respect to the state-of-the-the art and state-of-the practice: (Recommended length: 0.5 page) Explain how the project’s goals and/or objectives represent the state-of-the-art or state-of-the-practice as it pertains to transportation.

• Expected deliverables: (Recommended length: 0.25 page)

• Relevance to CR2C2 and DOT: (Recommended length: 0.5 page)

Explain how the proposed work is relevant to advancing one or more Center MRIs and how it addresses an issue of importance to the U.S. DOT RD&T Strategic Plan https://www.transportation.gov/rdtstrategicplan.  

• Potential stakeholders and technology transfer and collaboration plan (Recommended length: 0.25 page)

• Potential for development of early career of professionals and engagement of students: (Recommended length: 0.25 page) Explain the role of any early career professionals and/or students in the project tasks and/or activities.

• Potential for addressing equity through the project: (Recommended size: 0.25 page) Describe any elements of transportation equity that are likely to be addressed by the project.

• Diversity of the team: (Recommended length: 0.25 page) Describe the composition of the project team as it pertains to any following 5 elements of diversity: cultural, ethnic, gender, physical ability, or academic discipline.

• Proposed tasks and timeline: (Maximum one page) Identify the major milestones of the project and the expected time of completion for each within the project timeline. 

• Proposed budget and cost-share plan: (Maximum one page) Include a rough budget including the potential sources for matching funds. 

• Short Resumes: (Only for key personnel, no more than two pages per person)

The application should be submitted as a single pdf file with the size of less than 100 MB. The submitted file should follow the naming convention as Institution-PI Name-Brief Title (e.g., NCAT-Smith-Eval of AVS for Rural.pdf).

Project Ideas should be submitted via the submission link:  https://forms.gle/9VcvAKtE42Zr14Ap6 

Proposed ideas will NOT be accepted via e-mail.

4. Evaluation Criteria for Selection of Project Ideas 

Project ideas will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Innovation and technical merit (23%)

• Planned methodology (17%)

• Relevance to CR2C2 objectives and USDOT RD&T Strategic Plan (12%)

• Feasibility (14%)

• Team’s qualifications and resources, (10%)

• Potential for technology transfer (10%)

• Potential for professional development of Junior faculty and students (8%)

• Potential for addressing equity (6%) 

• Diversity of the team (extra 5%)

5. Tentative Timeline

• Call for Project idea: Aug 1, 2023

• Deadline for submission of Project Ideas: Aug 31, 2023

• Invitation for full proposal: October 10, 2023

• Deadline for full proposal submission: Nov 10, 2023

• Announcement of the awards: Dec 10, 2023

• Start date: Jan 15, 2024

6. Additional information

All projects funded under the CR2C2 grant must adhere to the following requirements:

• The Principal Investigator(s) must present their projects during the annual CR2C2 symposium.

• The Principal Investigator(s) will be responsible for providing quarterly progress/status reports on their project.

• The Principal Investigator(s) must present project results to an academic or professional group and submit the presentation to the CR2C2 for posting on the website. 

• The Principal Investigator(s) will be required to submit a detailed final report, which will be posted on the CR2C2 website.

• The Principal Investigator(s) will be required to submit any project data that is used to draw conclusions contained in their final report, if applicable. 

• The Principal Investigator(s) will be required to submit at least one paper (based on the CR2C2 funded project) to a peer-reviewed journal (e.g., Transportation Research Record, ITE Journal, IEEE ITS Journal,  etc.). 

• The project budget should include at least 5% of its total (Federal and non-Federal) on technology transfer and collaboration activities.