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Group Projects
2007 - 08
Pre-Project Kickoff
Objectives of Group Projects
 The objective is three fold:
gaining knowledge about a particular subject
working with a client to deal with an environmental issue
the process of working as a team and project management
 You gain experience:
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Applying knowledge and tools.
Developing analytical capacity.
Dealing with challenging issues rigorously and comprehensively.
Working in an interdisciplinary team.
Working to deadlines.
Managing, people, money, and time.
Working with clients.
Preparing and presenting professional reports.
Why Propose?
 You have a research question that you want to work on and that
fits the criteria for a Group project
 You want to interact with someone or some organization.
 You want the experience of writing a proposal.
 You want to have greater control over your group project destiny.
-Student proposers of accepted project are guaranteed spot on
project.
-No more than two guaranteed spots per project.
 You want to work on a project in specific area.
Preparing a Proposal
Thoroughly Review Request for Proposals (RFP) and sample proposal
on-line.
Identify a clear research question.
Write out paragraph or two describing your idea. Send to John Melack
and request a meeting to discuss and explore. He will help you hone
the idea and suggest a faculty sponsor and ,if necessary, a client.
See what proposals other students are working on to ensure that
there are not duplicative efforts or too many proposals being worked
on in a particular area.
What Makes A Good Proposal?
 Students are interested.
 Faculty are interested and have some expertise in the area of
exploration.
 Doable in terms of time, labor force, and known funding.
 Clearly defined, interesting question that is of reasonable
scope.
 Question requires multidisciplinary exploration.
 Current state of knowledge and the value of further exploration
well articulated.
 Clearly stated objectives
 Data needs identified and data are attainable.
 Methodological approaches described.
 Interested external clients.
Good Proposals
 A proposal may be good but still not selected!
 We may have too many proposals given the number of students.
 We may have too many in an particular area of specialization.
 We may not have an appropriate faculty member to advise it.
 Students and Faculty will have the opportunity to view
prospective proposals via an internal Bren web link.
It will
remain active until January 30th, 2008.
 In order for the Group Project Coordinator to post prospective
proposals, students must email [email protected] the
following information before January 30th, 2008:
 1) Name of Proposer (s)
2) Title (descriptive of the environmental science and
management problem to be solved)
3) Bren Faculty Sponsor who has participated in the
development of the proposal (if applicable)
4) Proposed Project (5-6 sentence synopsis)
5) Prospective Client
Advice (cont)
Read the literature to become knowledgeable about prior work and
methodologies.
Prepare draft of proposal following guidelines.
Have friend review it and edit it.
Make revisions.
Send draft to faculty sponsor to review (with at least week turnaround).
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Advice (cont)
Make revisions.
Send draft to external clients.
Set up meeting or phone call to discuss.
Make revisions.
Send final draft to faculty.
Make final revisions.
Submit.
NEED TO GET GOING NOW!
$$$
 Each group gets $1,300 plus up to $200 for printing costs
(automatically deducted).
 If you require additional money from the client be sure this is
made explicit and that you and the client understand the
University’s procedures for dealing with extramural funds. Talk
with John Melack, and he can direct you, as appropriate.
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The Pre-Project Process
 Fall Quarter
 Start preparing project proposal (if you wish).
 Winter Quarter
 Complete project proposals and submit by deadline (end of
Jan).
 Projects selected by committee (end Feb).
 Students convey their preferences (early March).
 Final assignments conveyed to students (mid March).
 Group Project Kickoff (mid March)
Group Project Information Link
http://www.bren.ucsb.edu/research/group_projects.asp