Tier 1 University Transportation Center (UTC)

Year-2 Request for Proposals

Proposals Due: September 13^th, 2024, 5:00 pm

 

The Transportation Infrastructure Precast Innovation Center (TRANS-IPIC) is a Tier 1 University Transportation Center (UTC) funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). TRANS-IPIC is a consortium of five universities that focuses on the statutory research priority area of: “Improving the durability and extending the life of transportation infrastructure” through advancing the technologies used in precast concrete (PC) transportation systems. The consortium focuses on the following three key research themes: 

 

A) Application of New Materials and Technologies

B) Construction Methodologies and Management

C) Condition Monitoring and Remote Sensing

 

The TRANS-IPIC research portfolio significantly supports the U.S. DOT Strategic Plan goals including Transformation, Climate & Sustainability, and Safety. TRANS-IPIC’s mission is to leverage research innovation and strong industry support to foster research and education that focus on utilizing PC and its related technologies as an economical approach for providing a quick boost for the durability, safety, and climate-adaptability of various modes of transportation networks in the U.S. through infrastructure maintenance, repair, or reconstruction.

As part of its mission, TRANS-IPIC is requesting proposals for Year 2 research projects in the three research themes listed above.

 

Who May Submit Proposals:

Proposals will be accepted during this cycle from researchers from the five universities of the consortium who are affiliated with the center including research teams that: (1) have not yet received funding from TRANS-IPIC but participated in the center’s Year-2 proposed budget, (2) have been funded by TRANS-IPIC in Year 1 and successfully completed or can demonstrate promising progress towards completing their Year-1 project by the end of Year 1. Proposals received from research teams with missing deliverables or with an ‘unsatisfactory’ rating on their last quarterly progress report will be returned without review during this cycle. However, these proposals might be considered for future cycles if all concerns related to their previously funded projects are addressed.

 

 

Researchers from any of the five universities of the consortium who are not affiliated with the center must receive prior approval from the center’s Associate Director at their university to submit proposals and serve as project Principal Investigators (PI) or co-PIs.

 

Conflict of Interest:

TRANS-IPIC is seeking new, transformative, and innovative research ideas that are neither incremental nor duplicative. Therefore, the center will not support research topics that have either been funded in the past or are currently funded by another UTC or any other agency. Proposals submitted by research teams that received funding in the same area from another UTC will be returned without review. 

 

Additional Funding for Previously Funded TRANS-IPIC Projects:

Projects funded in Year 1 that demonstrate successful progress and significant potential to meet all their deliverables and milestones will be allowed to compete for continued funding during this cycle. Decisions regarding continued funding will be based on the impact of the research and educational outcomes of Year 1 and the quality of the proposal for Year 2. Research teams that are interested in extending their projects for a second year should submit a detailed proposal following the guidelines outlined in this call. The proposal should discuss the main research results and educational and outreach activities of Year 1 and the research and educational plans for the second year. If a decision is made to extend the project for a second year, the research team will be expected to submit their project’s Annual Report for Year 1 by December 1^st, 2024. The Year 2 funding will not be released until the Annual Report is submitted and approved by the TRANS-IPIC management team.

 

Duration and Funding:

The period of performance will be for one year (12 months) with a standard project cap budget of $65,000, which includes direct and indirect costs. Proposals with large research scope such as large-scale experimental testing, multi-institutional activities, and multi-disciplinary collaborations, may request additional funds up to $35,000. All proposals must provide at least a 50% cost match for the funds requested. Competitive proposals will have the majority of the funds allocated for supporting students. Faculty appointments for these proposals are strongly discouraged and cannot exceed 2 weeks per year.  The budget must include at least one investigator (PI or co-PI) and one student attending the two-day 2025 TRANS-IPIC Annual Workshop. 

 

Project Expectations and Deliverables:

• Funded projects will complete and submit three Quarterly Progress Reports and a comprehensive Final Report.
• The PI of a funded project will complete a Data Management Plan (DMP). The TRANS-IPIC DMP can be found on the center’s website (HERE).
• Funded projects will be presented during at least one Monthly Research Webinar, hosted by the TRANS-IPIC Center.
• PIs are expected to engage in workforce development and educational outreach activities related to their funded projects.  
• At least one investigator and one student from each funded project will attend in person the two-day TRANS-IPIC Annual Workshop to present their work.

 

Proposal Evaluation:

Proposals will undergo a merit-based review process. TRANS-IPIC is seeking transformative proposals that fall into one of the three center themes and address issues relevant to the application of PC in transportation infrastructure. Proposals that fail to clearly state this relevance and alignment with a theme will be returned without review. The following key factors will be considered in the selection process:

• The Quality and innovation of the proposed research
• How closely the research aligns with the strategic vision and goals of the center
• Impact of the proposed work on the durability and extending the life of transportation infrastructure.
• Implementation path of the studied technology into practice.
• The educational and workforce development plans outlined in the proposal
• Alignment to one of the three research themes of the center
• Collaborations and partnerships with other TRANS-IPIC researchers and industry partners
• Experience and productivity of the research team 
• Clear timeline with achievable milestones and deliverables
• Availability of facilities and resources required to complete the proposed research

 

Proposal Format

• A link to Box with the Year 2 Request for Proposals, Proposal Template, and Budget Template is located HERE.
• Please use the Proposal Template located here.
• Please use the Budget Template located here.

 

 

 

Each proposal should contain the following items combined into a single PDF file (convert the proposal Word file into a PDF file before submitting):

 

• Cover page (1-Page): A cover page with the project title, principal investigator, and co-principal investigator(s) information (names, affiliations, and email addresses), identification of which research theme area the proposal is being submitted under, and a 150-word executive summary.
• Technical section (4-pages): Please see the template for details. The technical section can be a maximum of four single-spaced pages including figures and tables.  
• Required Supplemental Document (not included in the 4-page limit):
  • Timeline (1 page with deliverable dates and milestones),
  • Itemized Budget (please use the itemized budget sheet included in the template) & Budget Justification,
  • Biosketch (3-page max) for each PI/Co-PI. Each bio should include the PI’s/Co-PI’s five most relevantrecent publications as well as five other publications.
  • References 
  • Proof of approved cost share. The cost share amount must be at least 50% of the requested award amount. The cost share funds may be cash or in-kind and must be used to accomplish project objectives and the purpose of the project. Awardees will have the length of the grant period (12 months) to obtain and spend the full amount of required cost-share funds.
  • Facilities and Resources.

 

Proposals should be submitted using the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation (OVCRI) portal, located HERE.

 

The deadline for proposal submissions is 5 p.m. on September 13^th, 2024. Applicants will be informed about decisions by November 22^nd, 2024, with an anticipated start date for funding of January 13^th, 2025.

 

Questions about this RFP may be sent to TRANS-IPIC@illinois.edu.