Center Proposal Development

Randolph Hall Vice Provost for Research Advancement

Why Pursue Centers?

 Impact Extends Beyond What You Can Personally Accomplish  New Types of Research, Crossing Disciplines, Linking Applications with Basic Research  Increase in Recognition, Reputation, Rewards  Ability to Reach Out Beyond Traditional Base (industry, government, students, community)  Support for Basic Infrastructure (labs, staffing, marketing)  Stable Funding Over Long Periods

Center Cautions

 Must be Satisfied with Role of a “Conductor”  Will Detract from Personal Research  Financial Responsibility  New Forms of Reporting (site visits, annual reports)  Must be Responsible for Performance of Fellow Faculty  Sponsor Can be Fickled and Arbitrary  Not for Everyone

Personal Background

• • • Program Manager, Systems Engineering, Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways Founding Director, METRANS transportation center at USC Principal Investigator CREATE Homeland Security Center at USC

Lessons Learned

 Begin with the vision  Build a team among people you can trust  Set highest standards for ethics and fairness  Make the tough decisions and accept the consequences  Reinforce the vision

What it Takes to Win

 Leadership  Top quality team, that works together  Vision and ideas  Organization and management  Responsiveness and clarity  Commitment  Leadership

Starting Point

 You, PI, Director, Leader  Vision • What center will be known for • • What it will contribute Unique and compelling theme/idea to tie it all together  Mission • How it will achieve the vision • Set of activities undertaken

Mechanics

 1. Team building  2. Organization Plan  3. Selection Process  4. Talk with your administration  5. Proposal writing  6. Budget creation  7. Broader impacts/outreach  8. Site visit

1. Team Building

 What skill mix is required by the RFP and by your vision?

 Multi-department?

 Multi-institution?

 Minority institutions?

 National laboratories?

 Industry and government?

 Special facilitiies

Competitive Assessment

 Where is strongest competition, and what will they propose?

 What weaknesses can USC exploit?

 What USC strengths can be applied to the problem?

 How can USC compensate for weaknesses with external involvement?

 “Shadow” the competition

Before going too far…

   Sketch the budget, see what you can afford • Administration: 10-20% • • • Education: 0-20% Outreach: 5-10% Funded projects: 50-75% – Pre-selected funded projects: 0-75% Assess realistic funding per investigator, and matching requirements, before inviting anyone Identify those skills that are needed to fulfill the vision

Picking the Members

       Open invitations are asking for trouble – will quickly lose focus Scientific reputation (build the quals) Satisfying diversity goals (individuals and institutions) Trustworthyness Team players Time and prior commitments (will they be present at site visit?) Special assets (facilitiies, familiarity with sponsor, matching funds)

Attracting Key Members

 Sell them on the vision – opportunity to be part of something important  Carefully considered financial commitments

Create Core Group

    Identify about 3-5 people who are core to the proposal – absolutely essential Clarify the role of each core member in the proposal and center – reach agreement, but avoid specific budget commitment at this point Begin meeting on regular basis to map out strategy and execute Based on the leadership you exhibit, make it clear that you are in charge

2. Organization Plan

 Director/PI (you) • Bottom line responsibility/final authority for entire center • Primary interface with sponsor and key advisory/steering committees • • Intellectual leader for entire center Typically 50% to 100% effort

Deputy Director(s)

 As needed, faculty member may be deputy director for defined areas: • • • Deputy Director for Education Deputy Director for Technology Transfer Deputy Director, or Research Lead, for Defined Research Concentration Areas, or Institutions  Do not burden center with too much administration

Staffing

     Sometimes, Managing Director ($100-$150k) • Project management, production of deliverables, budget oversight – should have broad technical understanding (often PhD), but usually not the idea generator Sometimes, Industrial Liaison ($100-$150k) Chief Financial Officer (level I to K) • Budgeting, payroll, financial reporting Outreach Manager (level H to J) • Publicity, events, brochures Educational Coordinator (level H, I) • Advisement, student programs, etc.

Other Staffing, Depending on Size

 Lower level support staff for administration  Research support positions

Committees

 Scientific Advisory Committee • Technical review of work  Industrial/Government Advisory Committee  Executive Committee (sometimes) • Participation in selection, review process • Set internal technical direction

Example Organization

Scientific Advisory Committee Managing Director Business Officer Outreach Manager Sponsor Director Faculty Project Leaders Scientific Advisory Committee DD for Education

Alternate Organization

Scientific Advisory Committee Business Officer Outreach Manager Sponsor Director Scientific Advisory Committee Faculty Project Leaders Research Leader 1 Faculty Project Leaders Research Leader 2 Faculty Project Leaders

3. Selection/Review Process

 How Will You Allocate Funds Among Projects & Review Work?

• • • • • • Role of initial participants Balancing “processes” versus “plan” Authority of PI to make decision Peer review of work & proposals Respond to sponsors priorities Sticking to the vision  Must be a good system for changing course

Peer Review System

     Create RFP for limited competition, with input from sponsor and advisory committees Publicize within USC, perhaps beyond USC (among partners or broadly) Send for reviews, either individual or panel Rank order, present back to advisory committee for strategic assessment & selection Review work before advisory committees, integrate into the process

Peer Review Merits

  • • • • Strengths • Can filter best quality proposals • • • Generally perceived as fair Attracts new blood Fairly easy to make corrections Weaknesses • Loss in your authority • Harder to integrate projects Bureaucratic and slow Difficult to push work toward particular needs Reviewers may be out of touch with priorities and may not be aware of past performance Proposal may be viewed as non-specific

Follow Master Proposal

 Build team with specific work plans at time the center proposal is submitted  Follow the plan, unless significant corrections are needed

Merits: Master Proposal

 Strengths • Builds continuity • • Team building Easier to integrate  Weaknesses • Can be hard to fix problems—sense of entitlement • • Not responsive to change Creates perception of insularity – hard to develop outreach/support in university

PI is in Charge

 Based on input from advisory committees, PI makes decision on whom to fund, what to fund, on annual or perhaps continuing basis

Merits: “PI is in charge”

 Strengths • Easiest to respond to changing priorities • • Builds coherency among projects Power to cut losses early  Weaknesses • Lose commitment among faculty • May make wrong decisions

Balanced Approach

 Percentage reserved for competitive programs  Percentage for original group of participants, subject to advisory committee review  Percentage at discretion of the PI

4. Talk to Your Administration(s)

 Begin with the vision: why it is important  Space Needs  Cost-share  Degree programs  Leveraging existing programs  Participation/support in proposal generation, site visit

Overhead Division

 USC Policy: Overhead is collected by the school that performs the work.

 OH on Administration, Education, Outreach, other central activities generally collected by the PI’s school.

 Individual projects generally established as satellites, with OH traveling to the recipient school

Types of Required Cost-Share

 Overhead reduction (often for foundations)  % of total cost  Tuition  NIH Salary Cap Starting point: each school participates equally in cost-share, in proportion to overhead received Deans will want to use soft cost-share as much as feasible (discussed later)

Space Commitment

 Center will likely need an office suite, and perhaps new labs.

 Space commitment for the center is normally met by the PI’s school  When this is impossible, or if center is independent of a school, space might be found through provost office (likely off campus)

Provost Office Role

 Advise and support site visits for major efforts  Identify persons to create budgets  Critique proposals, advise  Participate in site visits  Generate commitment letters  Cost-share on occasion (discussed later)

5. Proposal Writing

   Proposal should have a single author, the PI, with some input from others • • Consistency and coherency are essential Ensure that all elements are covered PI might be assisted by a professional proposal writer • • • • Assemble input from others Prepare graphics Stylistic, grammatical editing Packaging and formatting Other faculty can provide input for individual sections

PI Must Write these Sections

 Abstract, Summary  Introduction  Vision, Mission  Organization Plan  Conclusions

Proposal Writing Steps

      Parse the RFP – determine required sections and their order Determine which sections require input from others List key messages that will be reinforced Prepare initial draft vision statement or abstract (perhaps graphics) that explains the theme of the proposal Create schedule, allowing first draft at least 2 weeks before due date (longer the better) Write and revise

Communication with Co-authors

 Provide all high-level material: vision, key messages, information on organization, etc.

 Make a specific request • Exact topic • • • Use naming convention for file Length, format, due date May give budget range for topic, but avoid specific commitment

Processing Input

 Review for Quality – if poor, reject the participant  If good and needed, edit for style, grammar length  Assemble all components into single document  Write, Re-write, Review, Criticize, Input from Multiple Parties

6. Budget Creation

 You need help from a professional • Qualified to be business officer • Experience in proposal creation with multiple departments, sub-contracts, institutions, cost sharing, etc.

 The professional cannot do everything • All strategic decisions are yours  Do not delay, as it will be complicated

What to Tell the Budgeter

      Total dollars available, start date, end date Organization plan, with time commitments (%) for all central activities (admin, outreach, education, etc.) Other needed central expenses – gross $s (equipment, materials, travel, events, etc.) General budget guidelines, year 1 versus future years Dollar division among participating faculty and projects Any cost-share requirements

What the Budgeter will Tell You

 Aggregate budget  Split among budget categories (admin, outreach, project areas, etc.)  Whether you are in budget or not; whether to cut or add

Your Next Step

 Make budget adjustments, up or down, based on your priorities, commitments, and what it takes to win – iterate until budget is balanced

Once Budget is Balanced:

 Budgeter communicates with each faculty member who has a project (or an assistant), to prioritize the allocation of that faculty member’s budget.

 Specific budget may be requested for each – exact dollar amounts, exact durations – with specific deadline (do not allow any deviations at this point)

General Advice

 Don’t over specify the budget – use categories, rather than specific individuals, where feasible  Leave a cushion – must have some funds that can be moved as needed  Don’t over commit to participants – needs will change

Meeting Cost-share

 Soft Cost Share (these may prioritize existing allocations toward your center) • • • • Tuition Portion of academic year salary, paid by your school and devoted to research Some forms of staff support, for instance in education Sometimes fellowships  Hard Cost-share • New dollar commitments

Sources of Cost Share

    Your own lab, such as gift funds Your school or department External sources, such as companies or state government Provost office, when: • • • • Cost share is required Two or more schools Each school makes hard dollar commitment Strategic university priority

7. Broader Impacts Outreach

 NSF: How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning? How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)? To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks, and partnerships? Will the results be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding? What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society?

Diversity

 Broadening opportunities and enabling the participation of all citizens -- women and men, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities -- is essential to the health and vitality of science and engineering. NSF is committed to this principle of diversity and deems it central to the programs, projects, and activities it considers and supports.

Strategies

 Broad participation • Minorities, women as lead participants • Minority serving institutions  Include outreach plan in proposal  Strong role for industry/government  Education program

Example Education Activities

 High school outreach with community  Summer internship from minority institutions  Fellowship or RA program targeted at under-represented groups  Staff position focused on outreach

8. Site Visit: Goals

 Leadership  Teamwork  Commitment of the university  Responsiveness  Integration  All key members must attend, along with key administrators

General Structure

     PI makes key presentations, covering • • • Vision, mission, theme Management/organization plan Conclusions, summary Others present their own areas • • Education, Outreach, etc.

Faculty representing their areas Include outstanding students PI acts as the emcee throughout the visit, handling all questions, keeping event on time, on topic, etc.

Ensure commitment of all key participants to attend

Advance Planning

   Identify your presenters: they must be reliable and high quality Create presentation template, with graphics that reinforce the theme • • Generally, the first slide of each presentation should reinforce the theme, and where it is placed within entire proposal Should all have the same appearance Create slide graphics that can be incorporated in presentations

After Schedule is Created

    Notify each speaker • • • Allocated time (allow 50% of time for Q&A) Number of slides (about one per minute) Provide template, and mandate its use Give deadline for submitting all powerpoint slides, well in advance of site visit Identify date for dress rehearsal Use a staff person to coordinate event, arrange rooms, food, transportation, hotels, creating seating charts: accommodations should be good, but not excessive

Prior to Dress Rehearsal

 Edit all slides for consistency and content  Load on two computers (one back-up) + perhaps a jump drive  Verify that it works with the project that you plan to use  Send reminders

Dress Rehearsal

 All presenters should attend entire rehearsal  Do not short-cut, go through whole set of presentations  Critique each, look for short-comings and adjust  Ideally, presentation packet with final versions of presentations should be duplicated after the dress rehearsal – at this point you are locked in

Day of Site Visit

 Arrive early, be prepared with backup  Provide for sufficient staff support  Start on time  Actively manage all Q&A, directing questions as needed  Focus on decision makers  Show understanding, responsiveness, flexibility while sticking to the vision

Example Schedule: Site Visit

      Prior to notification: complete most advance planning (assume you will win) 2 months in advance: notification • Notify all team members, finalize date 2 weeks later • Distribute template, exact speaking guidelines • Finalize location, arrangements 4 weeks later • Deadline for submitting presentations 6 weeks later • First dress rehearsal 7 weeks later • Repeat rehearsals where needed, prepare all copied material

Example Schedule: Proposal

      Prior to announcement: team building, organization plan, vision 3 months in advance: announcement • Refine vision • • • Create high-level budget Speak with administration Create selection process 10 weeks in advance: • Finish proposal outline and distribute to team • Refine budget, detail central portion 6 weeks in advance • Achieve all needed administration commitments • Assemble first draft of proposal • Send budget guidelines to participants 4 weeks in advance • Distribute fully integrated proposal to team for review/comment • Finish complete draft budget 2 weeks in advance • Receive input from team, and revise proposal

Mechanics

 1. Team building  2. Organization Plan  3. Selection Process  4. Talk with your administration  5. Proposal writing  6. Budget creation  7. Broader impacts/outreach  8. Site visit

Final Thoughts

 Maintain focus: vision, leadership, team, organization  Plan, and provide a cushion  Get help on budget and packaging  Do not delegate big decisions; PI needs to take charge  Be careful on commitments: consider how center will actually operate if funded

Resources on USC Site

Example Presentation Materials