University of Vermont
Transportation Research Center - Spring 2011 RFP - AWARD INFORMATION

University Transportation Center (USDOT) – UVM Spires Initiative Research Grants
Issued April 29, 2011
Revised June 30, 2011
Updated August 25, 2011

Due dates:

A letter of intent with Proposal title, PI and co-PIs, estimated budget, research focus, and names and contact information for 3 external reviewers should be emailed to utcrfp.transctr@uvm.edu by August 1, 2011. Proposal title, PI and co-PIs, draft detailed budget (including full UVM indirects and cost share – see below should be emailed in pdf & excel format to utcrfp.transctr@uvm.edu by September 26, 2011. Full proposals will not be accepted from teams who do not submit this preliminary information. Full proposals are due as a single pdf and should be emailed to utcrfp.transctr@uvm.edu by October 24, 2011. The UVM File Transfer Service is recommended for submission. The TRC Routing Packet with approvals/signatures should be included in the pdf but the Routing Packet should also be attached as a separate file in excel format. OSP does not process these sub-grant budgets but department and dean signatures are still required as part of the routing process.

Background:

The TRC’s strategic plan to the USDOT UTC program outlines a plan to invest UTC grant funds in sub-projects led by UVM faculty to build foundational transportation research expertise in signature focus areas. Due to continuing resolutions of the Federal Transportation Bill, SAFETEA-LU, which provides funding for the UTC program, additional funds are available at this time for new sub-grants. UVM faculty or teams of UVM faculty (with budgets that may include sub-contracts to non-UVM entities) may submit transportation research projects in the UTC theme area of Sustainable Systems and Advanced Technologies for Northern Communities. In addition to describing how the work plan fits within this theme, proposers must describe how the work fits with at least one topic in both the TRC focus areas and the UVM Spires Initiatives listed below.

Extraordinary proposals, particularly those in cutting edge advanced research, may be considered even if they do not meet one of the TRC foci or UVM Spires. The burden is on the proposer to describe the merits of the work in the one page summary of the proposal (see below for proposal format).

Proposals that span multiple category areas are particularly desired.

Cost share:

All proposals must provide 100% or 1:1 non-federal matching funds as required by the USDOT UTC program. For every $1 of grant funds requested (total of direct and indirect) there must be $1 from a non-federal source. Very few types of federal funds can be counted as matching funds (the ones TRC are aware of at this point are VTrans SPR and LTAP funding). Proposers must document proof of cost share at the time of final proposal submission on October 24. It is recommended that you include your documentation of cost share with your September 26 budget in order to assist you in determining what is allowable.

Previous UVM UTC sub-grants have used the following sources as cost share:

1. Faculty academic year time
2. Private sector support (in-kind or cash)
3. Foundation funding
4. UVM discretionary or incentive funds including faculty professional development funds
5. Out of state tuition differential from the Graduate College, research credits and a portion of health care payments for full-time graduate students
6. Equipment & other supply type donations
7. “In-kind” indirect (i.e., indirect on UVM cost shared expenditures)

Budgets, reports and project start/end dates:

Projects start dates will fall between March 1, 2012 and June 1, 2012. Projects may be one year in duration but must have an end date no later than May 31, 2013.

Total funds up to $1M may be awarded within the program. Individual projects are expected to have total grant costs (direct and indirect, not including cost share) between $30K and $200K.

All sub-grant activities must follow the USDOT program requirements for UTCs. These requirements can be found at http://utc.dot.gov/about/html/provisions.html in the “General Provisions” document. Note that equipment purchases and foreign travel require preapproval from USDOT.

Proposers should work with their department’s financial administrators so they are able to submit full draft budgets in the TRC excel template to allow for a TRC preliminary review of the budget by September 26, 2011. Proposals submitted without valid budgets and cost share documentation will be eliminated from consideration without proposal review. The PI is responsible for routing of finalized proposals and budgets and they must be received to the TRC by October 24, 2011. The Office of Sponsored Programs is not involved with PI budget prep for this internal call for proposals program.)

Proposals from current TRC UTC sub-grant PIs and co-PIs that are delinquent in reporting (both technical and cost-share) requirements as of August 1, 2011 will not be considered. For awarded projects, a progress report is due to the TRC every semester. Failure to submit progress reports will affect availability of future year funding and PIs with missing progress reports cannot submit on any other UTC funding program. A final technical report in UVM TRC format is due 30 days after the project end date. The TRC requires a peer review of final reports before the final report is published. UTC reports must be provided to certain federal library and transportation databases. This submission will be handled by the TRC staff. Please plan budget and time in your proposal for these reporting requirements.

You are expected to be available upon request to make a limited number of presentations on your project to the external advisory panel or TRC stakeholder groups. Please plan budget and time for this obligation.

Papers and presentations stemming from projects funded within this program should include the following acknowledgement: “This work was funded {fully or in part} by the United States Department of Transportation through the University of Vermont Transportation Research Center.”

Proposal format:

Proposals will be reviewed by external reviewers including one member of the USDOT as required by the UVM UTC grant.

Full proposals are due as a single pdf and should be emailed to utcrfp.transctr@uvm.edu by October 24, 2011. The UVM File Transfer Service is recommended for submission. The TRC Routing Packet with approvals/signatures should be included in this pdf but the Routing Packet should also be attached as a separate file in excel format.

The following proposal format and page limits are required (templates including the budget sheet will be posted on the TRC webpage by September 1, 2011):

1. Title page: Proposal title, PI and co-PIs names and contact information, and an indication of which UVM and TRC focus areas the proposal falls into.
2. Abstract: 250 words describing the project which will be used for submission to the online USDOT and the TRB Research in-progress database if awarded.
3. Summary: A one page description of the motivation and significance of the research, the research objectives and how the work plan fits within the UTC theme, one or more TRC focus areas, and one or more UVM Spires.
4. Work plan: Up to 10 pages including background literature, data description, detailed work plan or tasks, summary of expected contributions, plans for dissemination and other proposal writing that will stem from the work.
5. Qualifications of the team: Up to 2 pages describing organizations, facilities and individuals who will undertake the work (2-page resumes including publications should be attached for all key personnel).
6. Budget and budget justification: A yearly budget including cost-share and indirects using the TRC template as well as text describing the intended expenditures.

   Budgeting for graduate student funding: Stipends of 20 hours per week at a funding level above the Graduate College TA rate (currently $15,500) will allow Graduate College payment of the student’s out of state tuition (if applicable), fees and a portion of their health insurance, which can be recorded as cost share for the project and used for meeting the 1:1 match requirement.  Students must enroll in a minimum of 6 credits per semester to receive their stipend and pay their in state tuition, fees and 1/4 of the health insurance from their stipend. The $15,500 rate would be considered low for UTC funded sub-grants unless in-state tuition and fees were also budgeted in the subproject and paid for by the grant on behalf of the student.  Other rates and models of funding graduate student work are allowable and may be set according to the standards in the faculty advisor's department. Proposers may consider the current TRC Scholar funding level of $28K for 12 months and 20 hours per week from which the students pay their tuition and fees directly.

7. Timeline: a project timeline in table or chart form should be provided. Text describing the timeline can also be provided if necessary.

Review process:

Reviewers will be asked to rate proposals using the criteria in the table below. An internal UVM committee will make funding decisions based on the reviews and the team’s record of past deliverables to the TRC in December 2011, in time to allow graduate student recruiting for late spring and summer 2012 project starts.

Revised Timeline (please see specific requirements detailed previously)

1. RFP issued April 29 2011.
   RFP revised June 30, 2011 based on USDOT UTC Program Update.
2. A Letter of Intent is required to be emailed as a word document to utcrfp.transctr@uvm.edu by August 1, 2011.
3. New details and forms on this RFP will be posted on the TRC website by September 1, 2011.
4. Draft budget is due by September 26, 2011.
5. Final Proposals are due by October 24, 2011.
6. Peer review fall 2011.
7. Final decision processes and announcements December 2011.
8. Graduate student recruiting January through March 2012.
9. Start dates March to June 2012 using CR funds.
10. End dates by May 2013.