LABORATORY DIRECTED

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

FY-16CALL FOR PRE-PROPOSALS

Introduction and Guidance

Contents

Schedule

General Call Information

Summary:

Research Areas:

Eligibility:

Selection Process:

Guidance for Application Submittal:

Guidance for Preparing the Pre-proposal Application Form

Technical Evaluation Criteria (Full proposals)

Appendix A. Sample Pre-Proposal Form

Introduction & GuidancePage 1

FY 2016 LABORATORY DIRECTED

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

CALL FOR PRE-PROPOSALS

  • Pre-proposals must be submitted electronically via the LDRD Electronic system at
  • Full instructions for the Call can be obtained electronically at the LDRD Google Site.

Schedule

Activity / Date
Issue call for pre-proposals / April 30, 2015
Pre-proposals submitted by PIs / May 21, 2015
Management review of pre-proposals / June 11, 2015
Full proposals submitted by PIs / July 9, 2015
Technical review of full proposals / August 6, 2015
Management review of full proposals / August 20, 2015
NE-ID Concurrence of continued and new starts / September 30, 2015
Authorize FY-16 projects / October 1, 2015

General Call Information

  • This is a call for pre-proposals. The purpose of the pre-proposal phase is to provide potential principal Investigators (PIs) the opportunity to briefly articulate an idea and have management review for interest, prior to investment of time and effort to write a full proposal.
  • There is a MS Word pre-proposal template that can be obtained from theLDRD Google Site ( When completed, the template must be uploaded via the electronic system which can be accessed at Pre-proposals do not require your manager’s signature, but please make certain you address all items in the form. Additional information on completion of the form can be found under the “Guidance” section of this call.
  • The bulk of the FY-16 LDRD call will address traditional needs that support mission areas as they have in the past. New for FY-16 are two additional portions of the call that address laboratory wide strategic, crosscutting needs.

Summary: The FY-16LDRD call for pre-proposals solicits creative research approaches to address current and future challenges in key DOE mission areas. All INL staffare eligible to submit.Within this call, an emphasis is placed on addressing challenging problems at the intersections of three broad focus areas: Advancing Nuclear Energy; Securing & Modernizing Critical Infrastructure; and Enabling Clean Energy Deployment. Within these broad focus areas are several challenges to be addressed as shown below.

Researchers are strongly encouraged to submit ideas that have applicability across directorates and that involve multi-disciplinary teams. At this time, the FY-16budget for LDRD research is planned for approximately$20M

The INL continues to emphasize collaboration with universities, including the NUC/IUC universities.Collaborative projects mayhave some advantage relative to those without a university component.

Research Areas: Research needs for theFY-16call have been defined by theAssociate Laboratory Directors (ALDs), Initiative Leaders, and the Deputy Laboratory Director for Science and Technology. Each need area is identified as an LDRD investment interest for a mission area within the laboratory and is described in detail in mission area specific locations in Section II of this call. Proposers may either click on the need area to go directly to details, or find details manually in Section II of this call if desired. Need areas for FY-16 are as follows:

  1. Primary Laboratory Directed Research and Development
  • ADVANCING NUCLEAR ENERGY
  • Ensuring long-term reliability of light water reactors and spent fuel storage
  • Nuclear Science User Facilities capabilities
  • FuelsR&D
  • Transient Testing Capabilities
  • Fuel Cycle Material Recovery
  • Rapid translation of innovation to nuclear industry
  • Methods, Tools, and Concepts for Utilization of Existing INL reactors and other Experimental Facilities
  • Facilitate deployment of nuclear systems in the modern energy context
  • Advanced Reactor Designs and New Safety Paradigms
  • Methodologies & Toolsfor Validation
  • Advanced Modeling & Simulation of Integrated Energy Systems
  • Additional INL NUC Call
  • Peaceful and secure use of nuclear technology
  • Nuclear Nonproliferation
  • SECURING & MODERNIZING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
  • Critical infrastructure protection at the nexus of controls, cyber, wireless
  • Critical Infrastructure Protection
  • Homeland Security
  • Wireless National User Facility (WNUF)
  • Delivering innovative products that enable defense, intelligence and public safety
  • Probabilistic Risk Assessment and Related Methods
  • Defense systems
  • Mission Support Center
  • Advancing environmental security and sustainability
  • Environmental Stewardship

  • ENABLING CLEAN ENERGY DEPLOYMENT
  1. Clean Energy Generation and Integration
  1. Accelerated deployment of next generation transportation systems
  2. Sustainable Transportation
  3. Advanced sustainable and efficient manufacturing for U.S. competitiveness
  4. Advanced Manufacturing
  1. FY-16 Laboratory wide crosscutting strategic area
  • REFORMING THE ENERGY VISION INSPIRED
  1. Laboratory wide – development of transformational concepts
  • EXPLORATORY RESEARCH, RAPID TURNAROUND

Specific information on requested research can be found in Section II of this call.

Eligibility: To receive funding, the principal investigator must be a full-time or part-time INL employee. PIs are not required to have a Ph.D. University researchers are encouraged to be actively involved in generating ideas as members of the research team, or as co-investigators.

Background: Established formally in 1985 (as Exploratory Research and Development), the LDRD program allows each laboratory director the discretion of selecting a limited number of research and development projects to exploit creative and innovative concepts that will increase the laboratory’s ability to respond to current and future DOE missions and objectives. The LDRD program provides a means of fostering research and development to encourage maximum scientific and industrial progress.

LDRD research is governed by DOE Order 413.2B ( which outlines the goals of the program. These goals include:

  • Enhancing the INL’s ability to address current and future DOE missions;
  • Fostering creativity and stimulating exploration at the forefront of science and technology;
  • Enabling and enhancing the technical vitality of the INL;
  • Serving as a proving ground for new research; and
  • Supporting high-risk, potentially high-value research and development.

LDRD research must include one or more of the following characteristics:

  • Advanced study of new hypotheses, new concepts, or innovative scientific and engineering solutions to technical problems;

  • Experiments and analyses directed toward “proof of principle” or early determination of the utility of new scientific or engineering ideas, technical concepts or devices; or
  • Conception and preliminary technical analyses of experimental facilities or devices.

Projects should be directed toward "proof of principle" or early determination of the utility of a new scientific or engineering idea. LDRD projects are limited to a maximum of 36 months funding. Rapid turnaround LDRD projects are intended to address less well-developed ideas and will generally be limited to a maximum of 12 months.

Organization: The FY-16LDRD Call for pre-proposals is organized into two sections and one appendix.

Section I: Contains the Introduction and instructions for completing the pre-proposal application.

Section II: Contains subsections with specific information from each investment interest area

Each subsection contains a brief explanation of the challenges or objectives of that investment interest area, and the management review criteria that will be used to determine which researchers will be asked to write full proposals.

  • Appendix: Appendix A is a sample copy of the pre-proposal form that must be completed and submitted electronically. Please download the electronic version from the LDRD google site or the LDRD Electronic System.

Selection Process: Pre-proposals will be selected by management based on the management criteria identified in each section of the call, and full proposals will be requested from those investigators whose pre-proposals most closely match management needs. Once full proposals are submitted, they must pass technical review. The timeline for submission of full proposals, and the timeline for the technical and management review of full proposals is in the schedule found at the beginning of this call.

Partnerships: The INL LDRD programencourages research partnerships with faculty from universities, especially those that are part of National University Consortium (NUC) or the Idaho University Consortium (IUC). Proposals that have university collaborations may be given preference in the selection process. NUC universities include: MIT, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Oregon State, and the University of New Mexico. IUC universities include Boise State University, Idaho State University, and the University of Idaho.

Resources: Several resources are available to LDRD researchers. The INL Research Library can perform literature searches and provide copies of journal articles. Literature search requests can usually be handled over the telephone at 526-1185 or by .

Guidance for Application Submittal:

  • Submittal Process: There is an electronic system to submit your pre-proposal. The web address is You may view the call information without logging in, but must log in to be able to upload your proposal.
  • Pre-proposal Page Limit: 2 pages.

Guidance for Preparing the Pre-proposal Application Form

Title: Provide a clear and concise title. Avoid references to specific applications of the technology in the title. Do not use acronyms in the title.

Research Areas: On the pre-proposal application form, indicate the area you are submitting your pre-proposal to: 1) Laboratory wide crosscutting strategic, 2) Laboratory wide development of transformational concepts, or 3) Primary Laboratory Directed Research and Development – for this area, select from the drop-down menu the specific area within the R&D call that you are proposing to.

Technical Abstract: Please address each of the following bullets. Be clear, but concise. This information will be provided to the appropriate manager(s) for review prior to requests for full proposals.

  • Clearly state your objective or hypothesis: Briefly describe the technical goals and significance of the proposed research and the significant deliverables.
  • State concisely the importance of the research described and how the proposed R&D addresses the needs stated in the Call and why/how it addresses the INL strategies.
  • Describe what your team will do. Identify the team members and/or collaborators and describe how their combined expertise and experience enables them to do the proposed work. Include both internal and external members of the team by name and institution if possible.
  • Describe the technical benefits/improvement to the state-of-the-art.
  • Describe the logic of the technical approach, including any new or novel techniques so their merit can be evaluated. Explain the innovation of the work in terms of the state-of-the-art in this field.

Potential INL Benefits: Please address each of the following bullets. Be clear, but concise.

  • How will INL directly benefit from the proposed work?
  • Identify potential sources of and opportunities for follow-on funding
  • State if and how the work supports students, post-docs, or new staff hires.
  • Describe the approach to be taken to publish and present the results and key findings of the research.

Budget Estimate: For the Call for pre-proposals, you will only need to provide a total dollar request by year. In 2006, Congress mandated that all LDRD projects carry the same burden rates as direct funded projects, including G&A. Contact your project financial control officer (PFC) for accurate burden rates(see LDRD Contacts).

Technical Evaluation Criteria (Full proposals)

Full proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria:

1. / Technical Objectives: Consider all the following in your technical evaluation.
Criteria
  • Are there technical objectives?
  • Is there a clear path for how the objectives are to be achieved?
  • Is the approach scientifically sound?
  • Did the author clearly describe the significance of the proposed research?
  • Did the author communicate milestones?

Comments:
2. / State of the Art: Consider all the following in your technical evaluation. Is there a clear summary of the state of the art and/or current practice in operations (background information)?
Criteria
  • Is the literature review or description of current practice sufficient in scope, concisely summarized, and specifically relevant to the proposal?
  • Does the background information demonstrate precedence for the investigation and communicate the author’s familiarity with the field and the current situation?

Comments:
3. / Innovation: Consider all the following in your technical evaluation. Does the proposed investigation advance the state of the art or provide a means by which to overcome an existing technical hurdle? Is the investigation sufficiently focused on any of the following:
Criteria
  • Collecting an enabling data set?
  • Inventing, testing, or developing an enabling material, device, capability, technique, or computer program?
  • Would it open a new area of knowledge?
  • Would it enable a new technical process or a substantially new application?

Comments:
If engineering, method, or capability development:
  • Would it provide a substantial improvement to existing practice or substantially new application?
  • Would it provide a new unique capability that might be patentable?
  • If method development, would it provide a new way to attack a problem that offers substantial improvements versus existing practice?
  • Would it provide a new, unique, and critical capability at the Laboratory that has clear implications with respect to competitiveness in established mission areas?

Note that the description of the state of the art/current practice coupled with technical explanation of proposed scope must substantiate claims of innovation.
Comments:
4. / Harvest of Business Strategy: Consider all the following in your technical evaluation. Is there a realistic, specific, targeted, and detailed harvest strategy to convert the LDRD investment into deployed technology?
Criteria
  • New capabilities, staff, equipment, etc.
  • Are expected programmatic returns discussed?
  • Are specific Peer Reviewed Publication(s) mentioned?
  • Are Invention Disclosure Record(s) planned?
  • Did the author identify specific DOE Program offices that would be interested in the proposed research?
  • Are targeted external proposals for program development mentioned?
  • Will the proposed research result in Work for Others/Cooperative Research and Development Agreements?
  • Are other federal agencies, industrial customers, or partnerships identified?

Comments:
5. / Resources: Consider all the following in your technical evaluation. Are the proposed resources appropriate to perform the proposed work?
Criteria
Yes/No – if no, provide explanation
  • Does the research team have relevant experience in this field of study? Does the team have the right breadth and depth of expertise to do the proposed work?
  • Is the distribution of labor/tasks among the team members relatively clear?
  • Does the research team have access to the necessary equipment?(physical, computational, conceptual tools)
  • Does the research team have access to the necessary facilities?
  • Are the requested funds (labor time, calendar time, materials, equipment, travel) sufficiently matched to the proposed scope?
  • Are the resources adequate to achieve a deliverable product or decision?
  • Are the collaborations proposed enabling of the success of the proposal?
  • Do the collaborators have a focused technical task suited to their technical capabilities?
  • Do the collaborators provide opportunities for access to strategic and novel infrastructure (e.g., facilities, equipment, researchers)

Comments:
6. / DOE Order 413.2B Compliance: Consider all the following in your technical evaluation.
Criteria
  • Will the proposed research enhance the scientific and technical vitality of the INL? (i.e. new area of knowledge, enable technical process or new application)
  • Will the proposed research address current and future DOE/NNSA missions? (i.e.would the proposed research provide a new, unique, critical capability at the Laboratory) and include one or more of the following characteristics:
(1) advanced study of hypotheses, concepts, or innovative approaches to
scientific or technical problems;
(2) experiments and analyses directed towards “proof of principle” or early
determination of the utility of new scientific ideas, technical concepts, or
devices; and
(3) conception and preliminary technical analyses of experimental facilities or devices
  • Will the proposed research foster creativity and stimulate exploration at the forefront of science and technology? (would the proposed research provide an innovative capability that might be patentable)
  • Will the proposed research serve as a proving ground for new concepts in research and development?
  • Is the proposed research a high-risk, potentially high-value research and development project?

Comments:
7. / Does the PI have a track record of being able to publish and attract external funding with LDRD investments?
Comments:
8. / Summary of additional feedback to PI regarding the proposal (Recommendation must be accompanied by written comments that support the Y/N responses and final recommendation. Describe missing technical content, state technical concerns, communicate what was positive about the proposal, convey what needs to be improved)
Additional Feedback:
As a technical reviewer for the INL LDRD Program I recommend the above stated LDRD project proposal
may be funded as written – proposal is technically sound and meets the DOE 413.2B requirements.
may be funded as written, but PI must address the following prior to project being authorized:
may be funded after proposal is revised to address reviewer comments
should not be funded

Appendix A. Sample Pre-Proposal Form

Introduction & GuidancePage 1