Preparing a Competitive Proposal. Pat Burns, CIO Colorado State University Westnet Meeting Jan. 12, 2014

Transcription

1 Preparing a Competitive Proposal Pat Burns, CIO Colorado State University Westnet Meeting Jan. 12, 2014

2 My Perspective I will present my impressions, thoughts, strategies, tips, and tricks Guidelines not rules

3 Let s Have a Dialogue & Let s Have Fun

4 NSF CC*DNI Program Small schools specifically encouraged to apply Needs Capacity increase in campus LAN due to general growth and evolution Researchers need access to internal and external resources Consider partnering with a larger school that has 1) an HPC system, and/or 2) a digital repository. Re-architecture to aggregate research instruments, HPC, research file storage, etc. on a Research/Science DMZ

5 Discussion Are you keeping up with LAN and WAN bandwidth needs? Researcher needs on your campus for cyberinfrastructure? High-performance computing High-throughput computing Big data analysis Storage and preservation of publications, research data, especially for federal Open Government High-speed access to local and remote resources

6 Approach 1. RTFM Read the Fine Manual 2. Start early and manage your time 3. Identify what is most important 4. Assemble a good writing/advisory team 5. Devise a winning strategy 6. Organize the response EXACTLY as specified 7. Pay attention to the details 8. Short and sweet, with eye candy 9. Work closely with Sponsored Programs 10. Engage researchers 11. Emphasize research/science applications and why they need HPC/HPN 12. Follow institution/campus proposal submittal process 13. Other

7 1. RTFM Read the Fine Manual Read/highlight the request for proposal/solicitation Pay attention to details Due dates Approvals Page limits and fonts Content requirement/sections Reread it two or three times during proposal preparation

8 RTFM No! Yes!

9 Example Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI): Instrument Acquisition or Development PROGRAM SOLICITATION NSF

10 2. Start Early and Manage Your Time Notify Sponsored Programs (SP) early, and get in their queue It ll take 2-3 times as much effort/time as you will initially think Devise a Gantt chart of tasks, individuals (not teams) responsible, and timelines You can assemble teams, but identify only one person responsible for task delivery Hold co-pi s and co-authors to task delivery and deadlines Start Letters of Commitment early

11 Avoid

12 3. Identify What is Most Important Awards are based almost entirely upon scientific merit, supported by infrastructure If you can t find great scientific merit, fold up shop Sell the approach inside the institution

13 4. Assemble a Good Writing/Advisory Team Make friends, use bribery & social engagement Buy them lunch Ply them with beer, liquor, etc. Get them engaged and productive Focus on common cause for the betterment of the institution Use existing structures, e.g. faculty technology committee, faculty advisory committee, etc.

14 Work Together

15 5. Devise a Winning Strategy Yourself alone, to start Obtain input from the writing/advisory team Identify and resolve inconsistencies with your initial thoughts Seek input from university administration Articulate your winning strategy simply Write it on the board Revisit it periodically to ensure it is coming through in the proposal

16 A Winning Strategy

17 6. Organize the Response EXACTLY as Specified Number, organize and format your response EXACTLY in order as is in the solicitation Periodically review the solicitation to verify this

18 Organization Intermeshing

19 7. Pay Attention to the Details Write a comprehensive, complete section, for each and every item requested Usually, compose only one section at a time, from an outline carefully thought out Review each section at least twice Ensure ideas flow from section to section, as appropriate Spell and Grammar check Spell out all acronyms, and/or include a glossary of acronyms Have an unbiased editor/reviewer read

20 Details, Details, Details

21 8. Short and Sweet Making major points simply, understandably, and directly is usually much better than providing a lot of detail Shorter and more direct will generally be appreciated by the reviewers Do not fill full to page limit Use a larger font too

22 8. With Eye Candy (cont d) Management and Allocations Committee (MAC) PI Siegel, Chair Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Co-PI Burns, Chair Communications Infrastructure Committee (CIC) College Representatives Bioinformatics Institute Governance Structure Figure 5 LSA ISTeC CSU Cray Accounts Jan-11 Mar-11 May-11 Jul-11 Sep-11 Nov-11 Jan-12 Mar-12 May-12 Jul-12 Sep-12 Nov-12 Jan-13 Mar-13 May-13 Jul-13 Sep-13 Date

23 NSF Award Amounts - $188M Total 518 Total Awards Engineering - $95M Natural Sciences - $51M Natural Resources - $31M Agriculture - $3M Provost - $3M Vet. Med. & Biomed. Sci - $2M Health and Human Sci. - $2M Liberal Arts - $0.3M

24 ISTeC Cray Usage by College Nov. 2013: 495 Total Users Engineering Nat. Sciences CVMBS - 65 Nat. Resources - 29 Ag. Sciences - 26 Woodward - 20 Health&Human Sci. - 5 Business - 6 Liberal Arts - 4

25 Research Networks DYNES IDC FRGP Internet Dynamic VLANs 10 Gbps Wave B i S O N Border 2 Border 1 Research LAN DYNES Server & Storage, FDT 10 Gbps Research Connections (typ.) Core 2 Core 1 Figure 7 Proposed Upgrade Production LAN Commodity Users & Researchers (typ.) Campus Core Routing Cluster

26 9. Work Closely with Sponsored Programs (SP) Often their input is required They typically submit for the institution NSF Fastlane, they do the final submission Make friends with your SP representative Use enumerated lists or bullets rather than prose when responding to specific requirements or providing general information

27 10. Other Think like a reviewer Think check sheets have I covered all bases? Is my primary message Clear and apparent Resonant with solicitation requirements Ensure there is a management/governance plan Provide a timeline of major tasks Explain the budget in agency numbering/format Budget justification Data plan now required Campus network design now required

28 CSU Proposed Research Networks 3. DYNES IDC FRGP Internet 1. Dynamic VLANs 3 ea. 10 Gbps Wave B i S O N Research LAN 2. ~ 40 or 100 Gig? DYNES Server & Storage, FDT 3. Border 2 10 Gbps Research Connections (typ.) Border 1 Core 2 Core 1 5. ~ Production LAN Commodity Users & Researchers (typ.) Campus 100 Gig Core Routing Cluster 4. 04/08/14 CC-NIE Panel 28

29 Share CC-NIE Proposal

30 Feedback How useful was this? What was most useful? What was least useful? What would you like to hear more about? 01/12/15 Connecting the DOTS 30

31 Next Steps What next steps do you envision in this arena? 01/12/15 Connecting the DOTS 31