June 2, 2014 Call for Proposals: CENTER FOR ENERGY ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY MOVING TOWARD A LOW CARBON ECONOMY The Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy (CEEPP) provides objective information and analysis for energy policies at the local, state, national, and international levels. The Center s goals are: To evaluate the economic costs and benefits of developing state, regional and national energy resources and integrating them into society. To develop effective policy to maximize the economic welfare achieved from such activity, balancing economic, environmental and social considerations. To build a research infrastructure to solve the economic challenges of energy development and policy-making in the state, region and nation. These goals are accomplished through research studies and programs sponsored and initiated by the Center, and through ongoing and active engagement with policy-makers, industry and academia. RESEARCH FOCUS AREAS: The CEEPP is actively soliciting research proposals that consider some aspect of the theme, Moving toward a low carbon economy. Topics can include the economic aspects of new technologies, transition fuels, impacts on traditional fuels, renewable energy, etc. Any topic can be proposed as long as it is justified within this theme, but all proposals must adhere to the criteria of the proposal set forth below. AWARD AMOUNTS: Total funds available for this call for proposals is $148,000 in 2014-2016. Funds will be available beginning after awards are announced in July 2014. A minimum of three projects will be funded. Proposed projects may be one or two years in length. ELIGIBILITY: Project proposals are solicited from any unit on the University of Wyoming campus; however, the proposed project must include economic and policy relevance with respect to energy and energy development and with reference to the theme of the RFP. 1
PROPOSAL GUIDELINES: All project proposals must address the following elements in 10 pages or less using single spacing, 12 point Times New Roman font and 1 inch margins: 1) The motivation of the project, the project purpose, and the goals it aims to achieve. 2) A description of the methodologies the proposed work plans to employ in achieving the project purpose and goals. This should also include a description of past work the proposed project builds upon, including how the proposed works extends previous activities or results in a significant way. 3) The timeline of the project, including a project flight-path of realistic and measurable achievements and when they will occur. Projects may begin any time after July 1, 2014 and all projects must end no later than June 15, 2016. 4) A description of how the proposed work is relevant with respect to the CEEPPS s goals. 5) Details of any industry, organization, government or other partnerships to be created or involved in the project, including any presentations or project outcomes anticipated to sustain these partnerships in return for resources provided by partners. These outcomes may also be identified in the timeline of project milestones anticipated in part (2) above. Proposals that achieve the goal of creating industry, government or other relationships with CEEPP will be given special consideration. 6) A complete budget and budget justification for all budget categories. Proposal budget should be submitted by completing the attached budget form and budget justification form. The following budget constraints apply: a. Budgets must detail expenditures by fiscal year. b. Training and educational activities and expenses must be justified on the basis of their relevance to the project goals, and how they achieve planned project milestones. c. Budgets may include researcher salary and travel; however, awards will favor those proposals that focus expenditures on student support and activity. d. Research Assistants will be provided through the Department of Economics and Finance, where four PhD candidates will be available. Assignment of graduate assistants will be determined after awards are made and will be selected to support research efforts. Each GA consists of $25,000/year including tuition, fees and stipend. e. Budgets may also propose to support students outside of the Department of Economics and Finance; however, justification must be made with respect to skills or opportunities that require outside-department support. 2
f. Project proposals may not exceed $50,000/yr. in requested support, including student support. Project proposals may request funds for up to two years but all projects must end by June 15, 2016. 7) A description of the educational opportunities and activities the proposed project will generate, with specific training or educational activities and benefits they create for students or the general public. Projects that lead to PhD dissertation research are preferred. 8) A description of any past CEEPP funded work, including the funding level, involved personnel, successes achieved, papers published, citations, conference presentations, student outcomes, press reports, partnerships or benefits and accomplishments associated with the project. a. Researchers receiving outside salary support through other campus energy initiatives (i.e. Engineering Cluster Funding) will not be allowed salary funding through CEEPP as such cross-subsidization is prohibited. EVALUATION CRITERIA: Research awards will be determined by an external review committee based on the proposal merit, relevance to the RFP theme, and with respect to the following criteria and guidelines. Proposals must justify how they achieve some or all of the following criteria: 1) Scholastic/Academic Excellence: Proposed projects will be evaluated based on their anticipated contribution to the current state of knowledge in the research area. a. Evaluated by research output, articles, conference presentations and citations. 2) Economic Impact: Proposed projects will be evaluated based on their anticipated contribution to economic development direct economic development is favored over indirect economic development. a. Evaluated based on activities or partnerships that create direct economic opportunities and value. For example, activities may create intellectual property, business practices, management systems, etc. that directly enhance the economic benefits of a resource or production system, or create a product with which to enhance the economic benefits of a resource. Projects creating such benefits that propose to partner with agencies, organizations or firms outside the campus should show evidence of such partnerships, including letters of support or descriptions of involvement in the proposed project. b. General economic impact or market evaluation that creates indirect economic benefits that do not directly generate economic benefits can also be proposed i.e. market analysis resulting in theoretical information that creates economic benefit when applied. 3) Policy Relevance: Proposed projects will be evaluated based on their anticipated contribution to policy development proposed projects should attempt to inform or solve an economic policy problem at the state, 3
national, regional or international level. Direct relevance to policy-making, as described below, is preferred. a. Evaluation based on policy relevance does the project address a known policy issue and does it offer specific policy actions or research to alleviate or inform the problem? Does the proposed work promise to quantify possible policy tradeoffs or otherwise intend to better inform policy-makers? b. Evaluation based on government or other policy-making partnerships or associations does the project demonstrate the potential to approach a problem or question and develop an answer or possible solution mechanism, or to better identify and inform policy-makers of potential actions, avenues or tradeoffs that might be considered in a given policy area? Projects creating such benefits should show evidence of such partnerships, including letters of support or involvement in the proposed project. 4) Interdisciplinarity: Proposed projects will be evaluated based on interdisciplinary activities they create and foster. Since energy economics is interdisciplinary by nature and because much advancement, especially in applied areas, occurs at the frontiers and intersections of involved disciplines, projects will be evaluated on their ability to further interdisciplinary research. a. Projects will be evaluated based on their meaningful inclusion of researchers from different disciplines, and demonstration of combining skills and methods from these different disciplines to address or solve a common problem. b. Projects will be evaluated on the aspects of interdisciplinary knowledge they intend to foster and produce. 5) Educational Impact: Proposed projects will be evaluated based on potential educational opportunities and activities they foster and create. a. All proposed projects will be evaluated on the educational opportunities they create for students and the general public. 6) Previous Funding: It is the intention of CEEPP to support new research opportunities; however, applicants previously-funded by CEEPP are not prohibited from applying for funds. If researchers previously-funded by CEEPP wish to apply for these funds, evaluation of past performance may be a factor in determining an award under this request for proposals. a. Previous CEEPP support must be documented, including project goals and successes, including any evidence of external funding or partnership generation. 7) Matching Funds: The intent of this request for proposals is to fund research that supports the mission of CEEPP as well as leverage external funding opportunities. Preference will be given to proposals that demonstrate and specifically identify either an existing or a subsequent external funding opportunity. The following external funding scenarios will be considered: a. Intent to seek matching funds from an external source. 4
b. Use of award as seed funding for pre-proposal research with the intent of submitting a full proposal to an external entity. All projects proposed will address how they attempt to achieve all or some of the goals described above. It is understood that some projects may have specific relevance to disciplinary advancement while others may be focused on creating economic or policy benefits. Projects need not address all of the above goals, only those relevant to the project proposed; however, greater relevance to the CEEPP mission will improve chances of funding. Proposed project descriptions should clearly articulate the purpose of the project and how that purpose aligns with the goals of CEEPP. PROJECT ACCOUNTABILITY: All funded projects will require the Principal Investigator to provide the Center Director and the School of Energy Resources with quarterly progress reports due within 15 days of the end of each quarter (October 15, January 15, April 15). The final quarterly report will be a comprehensive annual report and will be due June 1 of each year. All quarterly and annual reports shall detail the following: Project progression relative to proposed work Timeline or flight-path Papers published and released Students engaged in the work Seminars attended and/or presented at, and other professional training Industry or sponsor relationships All expenditures incurred to date with expense justification Projects must also submit a final project report describing milestones achieved, and project outcomes with respect to each of the criteria relevant to the project and with respect to the goals of the original proposal. Any requests to revise the project budget, resulting in movement of $1,000 or more from one budget category to another, require prior approval from the Center Director. Projects that fall behind proposed timelines will be required to justify such outcomes, and continued delays may result in early termination of the project, at the discretion of the Center Director. Project award winners will be required to present their funded work and project outcomes in the Department of Economics and Finance Brownbag Seminar Series no later than one year after funding. Strict adherence to accountability standards is expected of all funded projects and those that do not meet accountability standards will be terminated. CONDITIONS OF AWARD: CEEPP funding commitments are made for a period ending no later than June 15, 2016. The recipient of a CEEPP award will return any unused funds to CEEPP after the project end date. A CEEPP award may be revoked in whole or in part should the Principal Investigator cease to be a University of Wyoming employee during the grant period. 5
Publications resulting from CEEPP-sponsored research shall acknowledge the CEEPP and the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources with the following statement: This project was supported by the University of Wyoming Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy and the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources. SUBMISSION DEADLINE: All proposals must be received by June 27, 2014 by 11:59 pm MST via upload here. Proposal submission is completed by first filling in the application form online and then uploading the proposal to the website. All proposals are to be submitted electronically as a single Abode PDF file. Excel budget sheets and budget justification must be included in this file. Principal investigators will receive an e-mail message verifying that the proposal has been successfully submitted. Proposals received after the deadline date and time, as documented according to each proposal s upload and online submission time stamp, will not be considered for funding. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS FOR LATE SUBMITTALS. AWARD NOTIFICATION: Applicants will be notified of the status of their proposal no later than close of business on Friday July 11, 2014. For additional information, questions, or clarification, please contact CEEPP Director Rob Godby at rgodby@uwyo.edu or (307) 766-3843. For questions regarding online proposal submission, contact Abby Scott at the School of Energy Resources at amell@uwyo.edu or (307) 766-6896. ATTACHMENTS: Budget Template (Excel spreadsheet) Budget Justification (Word document) Proposal Evaluation Form 6