request for research proposals fiscal year 2017wrc takes care of that for the proposals selected for...

Water Resources Center | wrc.umn.edu | 612-624-9282 A unit of the College of Food Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and University of Minnesota Extension

Request for Research Proposals

Fiscal Year 2017 The Water Resources Center (WRC) is pleased to announce its annual grant competition for fiscal 2017. This competition is supported with funding authorized by Section 104(b) of the federal Water Resources Research Act. As Minnesota’s designated Water Resources Research Institute, the WRC manages funds for statewide research grants provided by Congressional appropriation through the US Geological Survey (USGS). Additional funds for the competition may be provided from the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, through allocations to support research addressing agricultural impacts on water quality. The Water Resources Research Act requires Institutes to fund “competent applied and peer reviewed research,” and is meant to include “the exploration of new ideas that address water problems,” as well as the “entry of new research scientists.” In addition, the program is concordant with USGS’s Vision for Water Science: “The USGS will provide unbiased knowledge of the Nation’s water resources to support human well-being, healthy ecosystems, economic prosperity, and anticipate and help resolve impending water-resource conflicts and emergencies.” (USGS Circular 1383-G) Proposal Requirements Reflecting program goals, proposals should emphasize innovative approaches to advancing the scientific understanding and/or imaginative strategies for solving important water resource problems of Minnesota that are relevant to the nation. Proposals are sought on a wide range of subjects related to water resources science, policy, and engineering. Topics may include but are not limited to:

• Nutrients in water, including the relationships of nutrients to

o land use and crop choices o agricultural drainage o sedimentation o eutrophication o valuation of damages from nutrient contamination

• Big data approaches to water management including remote or onsite measurement technologies and data analytics

• Climate change and water resources • Urban stormwater • Sustainability and protection of groundwater resources • Analysis of water-related policies • Human system drivers of practice adoption and land use change

http://www.wrc.umn.edu/

http://www.cfans.umn.edu/

http://www.extension.umn.edu/

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1383g/

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1383g/

Water Resources Center | wrc.umn.edu | 612-624-9282

A unit of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences and University of Minnesota Extension

The focus of proposed projects should be a scientifically rigorous research study resolving clearly articulated research question(s). Research activities are also expected to lead to

• training and enable professional development of young researchers including students, postdocs, or junior faculty,

• positioning of the researcher(s) for future extramural funding, and • dissemination of findings to a broad audience, such as through fact sheets or

bulletins that could be posted on the WRC (and other) websites. Researchers from any college or university in Minnesota are eligible to apply. All grant applications must be submitted online, at http://www.niwr.net. Investigators submit proposals to the WRC through this portal, and we ultimately submit a package of selected projects to our national office for funding. Thus proposals should not be routed through Sponsored Projects Administration. The WRC takes care of that for the proposals selected for funding. Further details and proposal formatting requirements are in the Appendix. Budget Information The WRC expects to have approximately $80,000 available for this competition, and will fund 2-3 projects with total awards of approximately $25,000 to $30,000 in total direct costs. Projects periods may be for one or two years; all of the funds for two-year projects are taken from this round of funds so multi-year project requests must still be on the order of $30,000 total. Information on preparing budgets is in the Appendix. An Excel template with the correct categories and format may be downloaded from the WRC website. This program requires a 2:1 funding match; however, the WRC covers half of that match with indirect costs. Thus all grants require matching funds on the order of 1:1. Interested investigators are encouraged to contact the WRC if they are having difficulty meeting the match requirement. Details of the budget requirements are provided in the grant application instructions. We encourage the use of these funds for the support of students. However, you may not use our funds for graduate RA tuition – you must find support for tuition elsewhere (and you can only use this as part of your required match if they are non-Federal funds). Proposal Review Procedures Applicants are asked to provide the name, affiliation, phone, and email address of 3 reviewers from within Minnesota, and 3 reviewers from outside the state that would pose no conflict of interest in reviewing your proposal. Please send these by email to [email protected] no later than the proposal due date. All proposals will be peer-reviewed by both in-state and out-of-state reviewers, and an Advisory Panel will select the proposals for funding. Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:

1. Significance of contribution relative to previous work 2. Adequacy of research plan to achieve the stated objectives 3. Relevance to regional water problems, including dissemination of findings to relevant

audiences 4. Qualifications of investigator(s) to conduct the proposed work 5. Potential to attract future extramural funding 6. Support of training for early career scientists including students




http://www.niwr.net/

https://www.wrc.umn.edu/

mailto:[email protected]



Submission Deadlines and Timeline The submission deadline is NOON, Monday, November 21, 2016. Applicants will be informed of the review outcome by early January 2017. Funding is contingent on the appropriation of our funds by Congress, and will likely be available March 1, 2017. Proposals should be prepared assuming a project start date of March 1, 2017. Contacts For assistance with the grant submission process and with budget questions, contact Cheryel Konate at the WRC ([email protected]). Questions involving technical issues such as the suitability of a proposed topic or scope of proposed work can be directed to Jeff Peterson ([email protected]). Both can be reached at 612-624-9282.








Appendix: Access to System and Proposal Formatting Instructions Internet Access. All users of this system, including principal investigators and co-principal investigators, must have a personal profile in the system database. To register, choose the "Registration" link under “Tools”, located on the side menu. You will be asked to provide a username, a first and last name, an email and the institute you are associated with (MN-Water Resources Center). After submitting this form you will receive an email confirming your registration. The email will contain a link that will allow you to set your password. It is recommended that each individual register themselves into the database, however, the individual responsible for preparing and submitting a proposal may register all other individuals involved with the proposal. When someone else registers an individual in the system, they will not be able to choose their username. The username will automatically become that individual's email address. They will receive an email allowing them to set their password. Once you have a username and password, go the url above and select “Log onto ERAS Subsytems” under “Enter NIWR Systems”, and then “104(B) System”. On this page, select “Add new Proposal” under the “Proposal” menu. From here, follow all instructions carefully. For detailed instruction of proposal format, see below. Project Proposals. (Includes research, education, information transfer, and information management system proposals.) Each proposal shall consist of the following 20 elements. Items numbered 1 through 12 are to be entered in the Web form provided at the website.

1. Title. Concise but descriptive. 2. Project Type. Choose from the following: Research, Information Transfer, Information

Management System, Education, or Other (please specify). 3. Focus Categories. Choose a maximum of three focus categories from the list provided, with

the most preferred focus category first. 4. Research Category. Choose from the following the one category that most closely applies:

Social Sciences, Ground-water Flow and Transport, Water Quality, Biological Sciences, Engineering, or Climate and Hydrologic Processes.

5. Keywords. Enter keywords of your choice descriptive of the work. 6. Start Date. The preferred project start date is 3/1/17 (and not before). 7. End Date. Projects can be for 1 or 2 years. 8. Principal investigator(s). Provide name, academic rank, university, email address and phone

number of the principal investigators. 9. Congressional District of the university where the work is to be conducted. 10. Abstract. Provide a brief (one-page) description of the problem, methods, and objectives in

the space provided at the Internet site. 11. Budget Breakdown, as requested by the Web form (see template below). 12. Budget Justification, as requested by the Web form (see template below).

Items 13 through 20 are to be "deposited" as a file document in PDF format at the website. Note: This document shall not exceed 10 single-spaced pages - 12 point font, exclusive of resumes (item 20). Upon submission of your application components, the entire package will be available in PDF format for your inspection and final approval. You are responsible for verifying the approval, including compliance with the 10-page limit. If editing is required, you must edit the problem document(s) using your word processor and resubmit that application component. 13. Title. Please use the same title as was entered in the Web form under item 1, above.






14. Statement of regional or State water problem. Include an explanation of the need for the project, who wants it, and why.

15. Statement of results or benefits. Specify the type of information that is to be gained and how it will be used. Include expected outputs of the project (immediate results from research), and future outcomes (how the research may improve water resources in the future).

16. Nature, scope, and objectives of the project, including a timeline of activities. 17. Methods, procedures, and facilities. Provide enough information to permit evaluation of the

technical adequacy of the approach to satisfy the objectives. 18. Related research. (Research projects only) Discuss the similarities and dissimilarities of the

proposed project to completed or on-going work on the same topic, using literature citations.

19. Training potential. Estimate the number of graduate and undergraduate students, by degree level, who are expected to receive training in the project.

20. Investigator’s qualifications. Include resume(s) of the principal investigator(s). No resume shall exceed two pages or list more than 15 pertinent publications.

Budget Summary. The application system will generate this form automatically by compiling information from the budget breakdown forms for all of the projects.




request for research proposals fiscal year 2017wrc takes care of that for the proposals selected for...

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