NWS Cooperative Projects Request for Proposals and Proposal Instructions

2009 RFP

The Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET) announces its 2008 Outreach Program Request for Proposals (RFP) for Cooperative Projects, which are described below along with proposal submission requirements. The first draft of the NWS Cooperative proposal is due to the appropriate NWS region by 26 January 2009. The final version must be submitted to the COMET Outreach Program by 23 March 2009. We anticipate funding four projects. (Applications for the smaller COMET Partners Projects are accepted at any time until funding runs out.) Funding is contingent on the NWS receiving their budget approval which is expected sometime in or after March 2009.

1. Description of Program

NWS Cooperative Projects promote broad research activities involving a university department or program working closely with one or more NWS offices (including WFOs, RFCs, and National Centers). University participants may include undergraduate and/or graduate students and several faculty and/or research associates (see budget restrictions).

Important features include:

• Truly collaborative research—the NWS office(s) must play a significant role in the research (this is the most common reason proposals are rejected)
• May be 1 to 2 years in duration
• Cost competitive
• Researchers who have a Cooperative Project that is ending must submit new proposals. The proposal can be for follow-on work related to the new project, but should not be for unfinished work in the original project (unless unusual circumstances exist).
• If the university is currently funded by the NWS through a Cooperative Institute or the Collaborative Science Technology and Applied Research (CSTAR) program, the work in the COMET proposal should be significantly different or a significant enhancement to the currently funded work and should be clearly identified as such in the proposal
• We cannot fund proposals from NCAR or government labs or support costs associated with their collaboration on proposed projects. They may participate as unfunded partners.

2. Suggested Collaboration Subjects

Examples of collaborative, applied research activities include, but are not limited to, those that:

• Facilitate or improve the use of new observing systems, as long as enhancement of a specific forecast process is a part of the proposal. Proposals simply to gather new data will not be accepted.
• Improve understanding of an important local mesoscale forecasting problem
• Improve forecasting on a regional or national scale
• Create case studies or new data analysis techniques with wide application and usefulness in teaching, research, and operational forecasting
• Bring together students, operational forecasters, educators, and national or local experts in forums designed to share information (workshops, conferences, etc.)
• Improve decision assistance services for specific user communities and the general public
• Involve the use of local domain modeling, especially those employing the workstation version of the WRF model
• Assess the societal impacts of and responses to forecasts and warnings, including information on forecast uncertainty

The NWS has identified the following topic areas as having the highest priority for research (NOTE: the list is in no particular order, see the NWS Strategic Plan):

3. Budget

Cost effectiveness is an important consideration in the review process. Recent annual awards have averaged about $33,000, with a range from about $23,000 to $40,000.

A budget summary sheet must be provided for each year of the proposed project. The first column lists annual expenses for the university, beginning at the start of the project. Funding is expected by 1 June 2008, and your budget can reflect a start date any time thereafter. However, it is possible that funding can be delayed or cancelled, depending on congressional budget approval. The second column itemizes NWS funds (not provided by COMET) broken down by fiscal year (which starts on 1 Oct.). A separate budget page should be submitted for each year (and additional pages if necessary to cover the end of the NWS fiscal year).

The following items can not be funded in NWS Cooperative Projects:

• Faculty salaries in excess of two months per budget year
• Journal publications with an NWS co-author (costs will be paid directly by the NWS and should be indicated on the NWS budget sheet)
• Computers and related hardware (unless special circumstances exist and the request is approved by the COMET director)
• Foreign travel (requests for exceptions must include justification for the proposed trip and must be approved by the COMET director)

Contributions by the university are taken into consideration in the review process. Consequently, institutions are encouraged to document any cost-sharing or cost reductions, such as the use of off-campus overhead rates, waiving of overhead, donations of faculty time or facilities, etc.

The following items will be funded by the NWS and should be listed under the NWS column:

• NWS computers and related hardware
• Travel for NWS or other federal employees
• Journal or preprint publication charges for papers co-authored by NWS employees
• NCDC data (free to the NWS)

Estimated NWS staff hours per fiscal year must be included on the NWS budget column. This number is used to evaluate the involvement of the NWS office(s) in the proposed project. Any additional contributions provided by the NWS should also be documented.

A copy of the contracting language is available here. We recommend that your contracts office review this page during the proposal process and identify any major discrepancies your institution and UCAR may have (attach separately to proposal). This will help shorten the contracting process if your project is selected.

4. Proposal Format

Your proposal should be approximately 10 to 15 double-sided pages (not including items 1, 5, 6, and 7 below). The proposal must contain the following components, assembled in the order listed:

1. NWS Endorsement Letter: Obtained from the Scientific Services Division (SSD) Chief of the appropriate NWS Region or the NCEP Principal Scientist (for NCEP proposals).
2. Cover Page: Signed by the appropriate university and NWS officials. Attach additional sheets for NWS signatures if more than one NWS office is involved.
3. Proposal Summary Page
4. Main Proposal:

   • Statement of Work: Describe the proposed project, objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes.
   • Task Description: Summarize the tasks to be conducted and describe the work that each of the participants (NWS and university) will perform. NOTE: Proposals are usually rejected when the participation of the NWS office(s) is minimal. Merely providing data is not considered a significant NWS role.
   • Schedule: Provide a schedule for each year of the project.
   • Expected Benefits: Discuss the benefits to both science and operational forecasting. Describe how the proposed project addresses NWS priorities, the added value it will bring to forecast office operations, and to what extent results may be transferable to other forecast offices. Describe any products or forecasting tools that may be developed as part of the project and any training that will be conducted to ensure they are used by forecasters. Explain how the results will be disseminated to forecasters and the larger meteorological or hydrological communities, as well as the educational community and others who may benefit.
   • Budget: In addition to the budget form(s), provide a short explanation of the budget. Describe university and NWS contributions to the project. Provide justification for any unusual budget requests.
5. Curricula Vitae: Please limit to two pages for each person.
6. NWS Checklist: Completed by the NWS SSD Chief or NCEP Principal Scientist.
7. University's Indirect Rate Agreement: Include the most recent copy from the cognizant auditor.

5. Review Criteria

NWS Cooperative Projects are awarded on the basis of a competitive review process. The review panel consists of two NWS representatives, two university faculty or researchers, and two members of the COMET staff (the Outreach Program manager and a meteorologist or hydrologist). The reviewers rate each proposal using the following categories:

• Extent to which the project meets NWS priorities (20 points)
• Extent to which the project meets Outreach Program objectives (20 points)
• Technical and scientific merit (20 points)
• University commitment as indicated by resource contributions (10 points)
• Commitment of NWS office(s) as indicated by resource contributions (10 points)
• Cost effectiveness (10 points)
• Education/training and outreach activities (10 points)

After discussing the proposals, the review panel submits its recommendations to the Director of COMET and the Chief Scientist (NWS Office of Science and Technology), who make the final decision on awards.

6. Submission Procedures for NWS Review

All proposals must go through a preliminary review by the regional NWS SSD Chief in which the participating NWS office(s) is located. The NCEP Principal Scientist will review projects involving collaboration with any of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). Draft proposals are due to them by 26 January 2009. They will suggest revisions and work with you to resolve any problems. Once the SSD Chief or Principal Scientist is satisfied with the proposal, the regional director will provide the endorsement letter.

7. Submission Procedures for COMET Final Review

The deadline for submission of final proposals to the Outreach Program is no later than 23 March 2009. We prefer that all of the proposal pieces, including those provided by the NWS region, come in one package. It is the responsibility of the principal investigator(s) to ensure that complete and properly assembled proposals are received by the Outreach Program no later than 23 March.

The complete proposal package should include one unbound original arranged in the following order:

• NWS Endorsement Letter
• Signed Cover Page
• Proposal Summary Page
• Main Proposal including Statement of Work, Task Description, Schedule, Expected Benefits Discussion, Budget Summary Page, CVs
• University's indirect rate agreement
• NWS Checklist

The package must also include nine, bound, double-sided copies of the first four items listed above (i.e., no NWS checklist and no indirect rate agreement).

The proposal and copies should be submitted to the Outreach Program manager:

Dr. Victoria C. Johnson
Outreach Program Manager
UCAR/COMET
P.O. Box 3000*
Boulder, Colorado 80307

*For Fed-Ex: 3450 Mitchell Lane Boulder, Colorado 80301 Tele: 303-497-8361

*For UPS: 1850 Table Mesa Drive Boulder, CO 80303 Tele: 303-497-8361

8. For More Information

Please contact Vickie Johnson by telephone at (303) 497-8361 or e-mail at outreach@comet.ucar.edu.