Under sponsorship from the National Science Foundation, the Unidata Program Center (UPC) announces the 2018 Unidata Community Equipment Awards solicitation, described below, along with the proposal submission requirements. A total of $100,000, including UCAR overhead, is available for awards this year. Proposals for amounts up to $20,000 will be considered. The deadline date for submitting proposals is March 16, 2018. Notifications of award status are expected to be made by May, 2018.
The primary purpose of the Unidata Community Equipment Awards is to encourage new members from diverse disciplinary backgrounds in the geosciences to join the Unidata community, and for existing members to continue their active participation so as to enhance the community process. We will accept equipment proposals for the deployment of Unidata-supported systems from academic institutions engaged in teaching and research in the geosciences. Applicants are encouraged to get assistance with hardware requirements for their proposed activity by contacting the UPC at support-egrants@unidata.ucar.edu.
It is the intent of this award program to assist institutions wishing to participate actively in the Unidata community; to assist those who have participated actively in the past but need system upgrades to meet the standards currently recommended for deploying Unidata systems; and to assist organizations from disciplines outside of the atmospheric community who can provide important and relevant datasets and tools to the Unidata community at no cost.
Small institutions, academic departments that have not previously submitted proposals to this program, and programs outside Unidata's traditional atmospheric sciences community are particularly encouraged to apply. Proposals from academic institutions outside the United States will be considered. However, preference will be given to academic institutions within the U.S.
Special Consideration for 2018 Awards:
This year, special consideration will be given to proposals that include one or more of the following:
Unidata's technical staff stands ready to assist with installation and configuration of both servers. Proposals submitted in these areas of special consideration must show evidence of meeting Criteria #2 and #3 below. And as always, these special emphases do not preclude other proposals from members of the Unidata community for procuring new computers or upgrading existing classroom and laboratory equipment to integrate Unidata tools and data services in geoscience education and research.
It is important to emphasize that the overall quality of the proposal, including professional presentation of the narrative detailing how the proposal addresses the following criteria, will be an important factor in the evaluation by the review panel.
Unidata will accept proposals that include funds for hardware, software (including cloud storage/computing resources), and associated indirect costs. This program does not provide funds for staff time, travel, or other costs not outlined here. Proposals must demonstrate that the equipment request is technically sound with respect to hardware and software selection and integration with existing local systems, and proposals must include a quote(s) from the prospective hardware and software vendors. Faculty and staff involved in managing the hardware and Unidata systems must be committed to obtaining, managing, and maintaining the proposed equipment and Unidata-supported tools as described in the proposal. A short statement/letter/email from the institution's IT staff to that effect must be included in the proposal.
Including all of the sections below, Community Equipment Award proposals are typically 5-10 pages. Proposals must contain all components listed below and be assembled in the order listed:
A. Cover Page: Signed by the appropriate university official, for example, the Dean or the contracts officer. (example)
B. Project Summary: A brief summary of the project and how the proposer intends to use equipment funded through this award program.
C. Project Description:
D. Budget:
E. Project Milestones:
Provide information about how soon equipment will be purchased after receipt of the award, and when it will be deployed as part of the broader project objective.
Submission, Notification and Accountability
Please submit an electronic copy in either PDF or Microsoft Word format along with the signed cover sheet via email to Terry Mitchell-Sur at tmitchel@ucar.edu with "Equipment Awards 2018" and your institution name referenced in the subject line.
In addition to the electronic copy, please also send eight (8) paper copies of your proposal to:
Unidata Program Center
c/o Terry Mitchell-Sur, FL4-1240
3090 Center Green Drive
Boulder, CO 80301
ph: (303) 497-8659
Please note that we do business in English only. All proposals and contractual activities must take place in English. Proposals must be received at the UPC no later than March 16, 2018. To ensure fairness, proposals arriving after the deadline will be returned without review. Please ensure that the paper copies are mailed on time to be received by this date. Also, please ensure that all materials are included in your submission.
Proposals will be reviewed by a panel consisting of community members and Unidata staff. Once decisions are made, the Unidata Director will notify the outcome of the review to all applicants. Reviewers' comments will be distributed to successful and unsuccessful proposals alike. Funds will be distributed to successful applicants by a sub-contract award process to their institution, and recipients will be responsible for purchasing and installing the equipment.
Within a year of receiving equipment funds, recipients will be required to submit a brief report in the form of a short article to the UPC. The intent of the article is to encourage others to participate in the Unidata community and the Equipment Awards program by showing the benefits of participation, as well as ensuring compliance with the original intent of the awards. Recipients should address how the funding was used to strengthen their program and/or the Unidata community. The article should also describe how the equipment has been used, the impact on education and research, lessons learned, etc. Articles will be used for publication either on the News@Unidata blog or the Unidata web site (at our discretion). Failure to submit the requested article will result in ineligibility for future funding.
If, in addition to the required report, you write a paper and would like to acknowledge Unidata in the publication, please cite our Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs). You can find DOIs suitable for official citations on our page: How to Acknowledge Unidata. On the page there are DOIs for various software packages created and maintained by Unidata, as well as a reference for the Equipment Awards program itself.Resources:
Please see our FAQ to find answers to specific questions you might have about the Unidata Community Equipment Awards. If you still have questions, send us an email at: support-egrants@unidata.ucar.edu.
Link to an example of a previously successful proposal: