K. Barish

Kenneth N. Barish ……………

19 August, 2004

MRI RoadmapMRI Roadmap

NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) guidelines Submission procedure How should we proceed Decision, responsibilities, timeline

K. Barish

MRI guidelines (what do I know?)MRI guidelines (what do I know?) Maximum award is $2M Awards above ~$800K must be considered NSF wide 30% matching required (=> total max cost $2.6M)

– More matching does not help (could hurt)– Addition of 4 year colleges reduces matching but does not

increase total award. Proposal must stand alone

– Cannot rely on a perceived upgrade. This includes to RHIC or to the detector.

– Uncertainty of timescale for a 500GeV running may be a concern. $2M is not a typical award

– 300 awards for total of $75,000,000 ($250K average) Proposal cannot repeat something already funded by

NSF– If we include the nosecone we need to consider the possible

affect of NSF having funded the STAR endcap EMCal.

K. Barish

Submission informationSubmission information

Each institution is allowed only 3 MRI proposals» Institutions have internal competitions to select those

proposals

$2M is not a typical award» 300 awards for total of $75,000,000 ($250K average)

University internal deadlines are Nov or early DecProposal to NSF is due 3rd week of January.Decisions are made in ~6 monthsAll money is available at once

» Can be spent over several years» Mostly intended to buy piece of equipment. Trigger

projects have succeeded in the past (D0, I think), but it is a challenge.

K. Barish

Example: MRI process at UCR last yearExample: MRI process at UCR last yearNational Science Foundation

Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) Please note:  NSF MRI Program has a submission limit of three proposals per

institution.  Therefore, ORA has established the internal selection process detailed below to ensure UCR does not exceed the submission limit.  All faculty interested in submitting to the MRI program are asked to abide by the internal review deadlines.  For questions or more information on the internal review process, please contact MaryAnn Beaman in the Office of Research Affairs, x5535.

Preproposal (2-3 pages) to MaryAnn Beaman:  11/08/2003Vice Chancellor's Decision to Faculty:  11/22/2003NSF Deadline:  01/23/2003Award Amount:  $100,000 to $2 millionAward Period: Acquisition proposals - up to three years; development proposals - up to five yearsFull Announcement: http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf01171Website:  http://www.nsf.gov

Limit on Number of Proposals: An institution may submit up to three proposals to the MRI program.  An institution may submit up to two proposals for instrument acquisition. If an institution submits three proposals, at least one of the three proposals submitted must be for instrument development. However, two or all three proposals may be for instrument development. In addition, an institution may be included as a member of a legally established consortium submitting a separate proposal, clearly labeled as such in the proposal's title. 

Synopsis:  The Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) is designed to increase access to scientific and engineering equipment for research and research training in our Nation's academic institutions.

K. Barish

How to proceedHow to proceed

Define the scope of the MRIOrganization

» Who will be lead institution in submission?» Who will do what - what money goes to each institution? » What do we do about matching funds (does not need to be

cash)?– What matching funds can we expect from YOUR institution?– Foreign contributions?

Assignments and timeline» Decisions scope, organization, responsibilties - today» Complete majority of simulations – 1 month» Complete any R&D – 1 month» Begin serious writing – 1 month» University internal deadlines November or December» NSF proposal submission 3rd week of January

K. Barish

Decisions / Responsibilities / TimelineDecisions / Responsibilities / Timeline Scope of proposal (today)

– $1M muon trigger (700K+300K), at least one RPC Lead institution (today)

– UIUC Participating institutions (today)

– UIUC, ISU, UCR, Colorado, Kyoto, RBRC? (~$200K to each?) Matching funds (4 weeks) Responsibilities (start today, develop over next

month) Writing assignments (use MS Word) – 15 pages

Project summary (Ken, Matthias) 1pp Physics introduction (Ed Kinney, Naohito, Matthias, Ken) Simulations (Wei, Kazuya) Detector Hardware (Matthias, Naohito, Atsushi) Electronics, FEE + LL1 (John Lajoie, Chi?, Vince?) Budget / collaboration (Matthias, John Hill, Rich)