ORAU/ORNL High Performance Computing (HPC) Grant Proposal Requirements
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Proposals will be awarded through a competitive, peer-review process.
One faculty proposal per institution will be considered.
Proposals MUST BE endorsed and SUBMITTED BY the institution’s ORAU Councilor. Submission by
the councilor will constitute an institutional commitment to provide resources or financial assistance in
support of the proposed research. If a councilor is unable to submit the proposal from the councilor’s
email address, the councilor should send in advance of the deadline a letter of designation to
Cathy.Fore@orau.org with the name and email address of the person who will be sending the
information.
Full proposals MUST BE submitted to Cathy.Fore@orau.org by noon EDT on Friday, Oct. 3, 2014.
Successful proposals will:
o Display significant scientific merit, with the potential to develop or expand the faculty member’s
research program.
o Detail the makeup and planned use of student teams (i.e. graduate and/or undergraduate students).
o Include the qualifications of the proposing faculty member.
Proposal Preferences:
Preference will be given to those proposals that:
 Include a faculty-student team spending time (summer) in Oak Ridge working with the ORNL research
project PI and the HPC resources.
 Demonstrate alignment with ORNL's Research Projects requiring HPC capabilities and a need for ORNL
staff collaboration.
Proposal Evaluation Criteria:
Proposals will be evaluated on the following key criteria:
1. Scientific merit
 Scientific significance
 Potential to develop or expand faculty member’s research program
 Alignment with ORNL’s Research Projects requiring HPC capabilities and a need for ORNL staff
collaboration
2. Faculty-student approach
 Makeup and planned use of student teams with graduate and/or undergraduate students
 Research performed in Oak Ridge at ORNL during the summer
3. Qualifications of faculty member
Proposal Format:
Proposals must adhere to the following format:
 Document format—Electronic document in portable document format (pdf)
 Paper size—8.5x11 inch, letter size
 Margins—1 inch top and bottom, 1.25 inch left and right
 Spacing—Single-spaced
 Font—Times New Roman, at least 10 point
 Page Numbers—Numerated in footer
 Length—Maximum of 10 pages (excluding title page)
 File Name Format—[first initial][last name]-[brief institutional reference]-HPC.pdf (Example: BSmithUGA-HPC.pdf); file name format should also be included in the footer.
 NOTE: Do not include personally identifiable information (PII) in the proposal (i.e., SSN; date of birth;
personal, non-professional contact information, etc.)
Proposal Content:
The content of proposals must include:
 Title page including proposal title, name and institution of faculty member, submission month and year (1
page, not included in the total proposal page count)
 Executive summary/Introduction (1 page)
 Proposed research/Scientific merit/alignment with the selected ORNL 2015 Research Project (6-8 pages):
o Describe the objectives and scientific significance of the proposed research.
o Describe how the proposed research will utilize ORNL’s high-performance computing
capabilities. Please indicate the specific computing resources and estimated number of machine
hours needed. Upon award of an HPC grant, more specific guidance will be provided on the
process for obtaining an account on an ORNL computing resource. For machine hours needed,
indicate:
 Processor hours (or total connect time multiplied by the number of processors used)
 Gigabytes of local storage
 Gigabytes or terabytes of mass storage for archiving purposes
o Describe how the proposed work will align with or expand your plan for research.
o Describe how your proposed research will contribute to or complement the selected ORNL 2015
Research Project.
 Faculty-Student Approach (1 page):
 Indicate your plans for engaging student(s) (graduate or undergraduate) in your proposed
research and whether you plan to perform the research in Oak Ridge at ORNL during the
summer. (While a faculty-student team approach is a requirement, faculty-student teams
performing research in Oak Ridge at ORNL in the summer is preferred, but not a
requirement.)
 If you envision a faculty-student team, identify your student team member(s), their
qualifications to perform the research and their citizenship. Briefly explain why you have
selected them and why they will be a good match for the proposed research project.
Describe how long and in what capacity you have known them. List classes in which you
have taught them.
 Attachments (not included in total proposal page count)
o Faculty member’s CV or resume
Proposal Submissions Guidance:
 Proposals, completed forms and other attachments must be submitted to ORAU electronically as PDF
files by the faculty member’s ORAU Councilor.
 The ORAU Councilor from the faculty member’s institution should review the proposal prior to
submission. Submission of the proposal by the ORAU Councilor constitutes endorsement of and
institutional commitment to the proposal.