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Proposal Package Guidance for Large-Scale Research Proposals, FY2022

This guidance is for authors who have been invited to submit a full proposal to the call for FY2022 Large-Scale Research (LSR) projects at EMSL, following review of their Letter of Intent.

Researchers preparing proposals are encouraged to contact or continue discussions with EMSL scientific staff regarding their research goals and resource needs. For help identifying the appropriate contacts, see the contacts identified in the LSR Proposal Call or contact User Services.

Creating and Submitting a Proposal

Proposals must be submitted electronically through EMSL's User Portal, starting March 1. The new NEXUS User Portal will not be available until that date. Details regarding the proposal format, attachments, and submittal process are unique to this call. Conforming to these instructions will be strictly enforced, and proposals that are not consistent with these instructions will not be considered.

Some proposal details are entered directly into the User Portal during submission, but the main scientific narrative, described in the Proposed Research section below, is uploaded as a PDF.

Participants

The participants indicated on your Letter of Intent will appear in the proposal form. You may add or modify participants for the full proposals.

Abstract

The abstract entered on your Letter of Intent will appear in the proposal form. You may modify the abstract text for the full proposal.

Proposed Research

The proposal form will request a description of the proposed research to be uploaded as a PDF. Instructions for this document are given below.

Proposed Research Document Formatting

  • 4-page limit. Pagination is required
  • 11-point fonts (or larger for headings). Captions, symbols, special characters, can have a font of less than 11 points.
  • 1-inch margins
  • No more than 5 lines of text within a vertical space of one inch
  • Single-column format for text
  • Adobe (.pdf) file format

Proposed Research Project Description

Describe your research plan for using EMSL resources. Visual materials and tables must be included in the 4-page limit. Suggested word counts are given for each section.

The abstract submitted on the web-based proposal form does not count against the four-page limit and should not be repeated in your Project Description.

The Project Description should be written at a level appropriate for someone familiar with your general area of research who is not necessarily an expert on the specific topic.

The Project Description should include the following sections:

  • Title. The project title must be brief, scientifically or technically valid, intelligible to a scientifically or technically literate reader, and suitable for use in the public press.
  • Specific Aims (~250 words). State the specific objectives of the research proposed (e.g., to test a stated hypothesis, create a novel design, solve a specific problem, challenge an existing paradigm or clinical practice, address a critical barrier to progress in the field, or develop new technology).
  • Mission Relevance (~100 words).  Clearly explain how your research addresses specific mission areas and advances the science pertinent to DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research, as well as EMSL's mission, and/or describe the value/impact of its economic or societal importance.
  • Background (~400 words). Provide a concise discussion of previous work to make clear what the research problem is, why you want to do this particular study, exactly what has been accomplished, and demonstrate why the studies need to be continued.
  • Approach or Work Plan (~1200 to 1500 words). Describe the work to be conducted at EMSL in the first year of the project, along with any preliminary, background measurements, or tests completed that validate the approach (include references where relevant and attach the full citations as an addendum). Identify which team member will be doing each portion of the work plan and demonstrate why your project requires EMSL resources and cannot be done elsewhere.
  • Regulatory compliance. Provide a brief description of how you are addressing any requirements that may be imposed by local, national, or international regulation for the use of any genetic resource in your proposal (for example, regulations issued under the Convention on Biological Diversity Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing). This requirement applies whether the use is for non-profit or for-project activities. If there are none, please state, “There are no regulatory requirements imposed on the samples used in this research.”
  • Computing Approach (required if Tahoma compute cycles are requested. 1-page maximum, in addition to 4-page limit). Provide details about the computational method or approach and software to be used. Provide details for the computing and data storage request using the Computing Resources Template (see Related Documents). There is no upper limit on node hours that can be requested, but the amount of time requested must be justified and tied to the scientific aims. If you have any questions regarding these requirements, please contact Jay Bardhan.

Appendices

The following appendices should be attached to your project description in a single document.

Appendix 1: List of References (required)

Each reference must include the names of all authors (in the same sequence in which they appear in the publication), the article and journal title, book title, volume number, page numbers, and year of publication. If the document is available electronically, the website address also should be identified. Proposers must be especially careful to follow accepted scholarly practices in providing citations for source materials relied upon when preparing any section of the proposal. While there is no established page limitation for the references, this section must include bibliographic citations only and must not be used to provide parenthetical information outside of the 4-page Project Description.

Appendix 2: CVs (required)

Attach abbreviated CVs (2-page maximum each) for the PI and each of the key investigators that would support the review of the team's qualifications for the research proposed.

Appendix 3: Active Collaborator List (required)

Provide a list of active collaborations that the PI and co-PI(s) have had in the past 2 years, using the Active Collaborators Template (see Related Documents). This may be identical to the list provided in the LOI.

Resources and Samples

The online proposal form will request details about EMSL resources needed. If you know specific instruments needed for the project, select them from the drop-down list and provide the requested sample details for each. If you do not know all the specific resources you will need, describe the type of measurements and analyses desired. The details you provide will help our staff determine which instruments will best serve your research goals.

The proposal form will also request safety-related details about any samples and equipment that you plan to bring to EMSL.

Contacts

For general inquiries: Alison Hatt, ajhatt@pnnl.gov, 509-371-7579

For detailed research questions: Refer to call announcement for scientific contacts.