Overview of NPRP 4th Cycle

September, 2010

Contents

1. Overview of NPRP

2. Major changes from the 3rd cycle

3. Proposal Preparation and Review Process

4. NPRP Exceptional Proposals

1. Overview of NPRP

Introduction

• The National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) is the flagship program and largest funding activity of QNRF and the primary means to address key national, regional, and global research needs.

• It provides opportunities for researchers at all levels, in the private, public, and academic sectors.

• It is a one-cycle per year grant application of funding, ranging from US$20k up to a maximum of US$350k per proposal, per year, for research project periods of one, two or three years.

Introduction

NPRP seeks to support a broad variety of projects in basic and applied research in:

1. Natural sciences

2. Engineering and Technology

3. Medical and Health sciences

4. Agricultural sciences

5. Social sciences

6. Humanities

Strategic Goals of the program

• Accumulation of valuable human capital and sustainable research capability in Qatar.

• Answers to research questions of vital interest to Qatar.

• Recognition of Qatar due to the regional or global significance of the proposed research.

2. Major changes from the 3rd cycle

Major Changes in RFP

Section Change Rationale

4.1: Eligibility of Participants

LPIs with three or more ongoing NPRP projects will be ineligible to participate in the NPRP 4th cycle

A QNRF survey has shown that some LPIs have more than 7 participations. This will affect the quality of the research.

A cap will allow opportunities for other LPIs to be funded

Key investigators participating in six or more ongoing NPRP projects will be ineligible to participate in the NPRP 4th cycle.

A QNRF survey has shown that some have more than 12 participations. This will affect the quality of the research.

A cap will allow opportunities to other key investigators to be funded.

Major Changes in RFP

Section Change Rationale

17.2:  Project Management and Research Products

QNRF will process one budget change request per budget category for each award year.

To ensure good financial planning and control of the research project.

“Deliverables” section to be added to research plan.

LPIs should state “potential applications” for applied research proposals.

To assist QNRF and QSTP to manage, as early as possible, the creation of intellectual property.

Exceptional Proposals

A separate addendum is included at the end of the RFP to address the specific requirements and policies for submitting such proposals.

To decouple the application from the NPRP and make it easy to follow.

Major Changes in RFP

Section Change Rationale

Ethical Compliance (Online)

Ethical compliance page in the proposal preparation has been updated to include the following information:

• To assist QNRF in following up the ethical compliance requirements after award notifications.

Select the type of ethical compliance required

Select from a drop down menu the institution that

will submit it

Select the year the ethical compliance is required

3. Proposal Preparation and Review Process

NPRP Pre-Award Phase (You can enter some of the diagram boxes for more information)

Lead PIRegistration

Prepare proposal

QNRF screening

Notifying Ineligible Proposals

RORegistration

Submit Proposal

ROVet

QNRFStatistical Analysis &

Funding Recommendation

Steering CommitteeFunding Decision

ApplicantNotification

Reviewers

Submit LoI

Invite Key investigators

Identify Collaborators

Timeline For NPRP 4th Cycle

Description Start Dates End Dates

NPRP 4th Cycle RFP 1st July, 2010

Open LoI Submission 14th of Sep. 2010 19th of Oct. 2010

Open LPI Proposal Submission to the RO

and Vetting12th of Oct. 2010 7th of Dec. 2010

RO Final Proposal Submission and

Vetting11th of Jan. 2011

Ineligible Proposals Notification (QNRF

Screening)Feb. 2011

Successful Proposals Notification,

Awards AnnouncedMid Jun. 2011

4. NPRP- Exceptional Proposals (NPRP-EP)

Overview

• An additional funding opportunity within the NPRP for proposals that are in need of more time and / or funding beyond that offered by the NPRP

• The project duration is more than three years but not exceeding five years, and a total budget of up to US$5m.

• At least 80% of the total annual approved budget must be expended inside Qatar (direct and indirect) and therefore a maximum of up to 20% can be expended outside Qatar.

• All terms and conditions of the NPRP 4th cycle, as described in the RFP are applicable for the NPRP-EP, unless otherwise mentioned in the addendum.

• An annual budget of US$10m will be available to fund the awarded NPRP-EP projects.

NPRP-EP Pre-Award Phase(You can enter some of the diagram boxes for more information)

Lead PIRegistration

Prepare proposal

Upon QNRF Invitation

QNRF screening

Notifying Ineligible Proposals

RORegistration

Submit Proposal

ROVet

QNRFStatistical Analysis &

Funding Recommendation

Steering CommitteeFunding Decision

ApplicantNotification

Reviewers

Submit Initial Research

Proposal (IRP)

Invite Key investigators

Ongoing

Give Presentation to QNRF selected Panel of Experts

LPI Rebuttal to PRs’ Comments

(if requested)

إلصغائكم شكـــــراThank you

المريخي نورNoor Al-Merekhi

NPRP Program Officer

Eligibility & Program Design

• QNRF accepts individual or collaborative; small or large proposals spanning between one and three years.

• QNRF allows:– Multi-year, multi-disciplinary, and multi-institutional projects. – Collaborative projects partnering researchers and academia

from different campuses or organizations outside academia. – Partnerships between institutions in Qatar and outside Qatar.

• Awards will be made to institutions and organizations only.

Letter of Intent (LoI)

• LPI is required to submit a LoI online which consists of the following information:

– Select whether the proposal to be submitted is “new” or “resubmitted”

– Select the research type– Select proposal's research area, specialty and sub-specialty.– Provide at least five key words that describe clearly the

research proposed – Title and brief description of the proposal

• Information included in this letter is considered draft information for planning purposes and PIs may modify information in the final proposal.

Proposal Preparation

Conditions that must be met:

• At least 65% of the project annual funds must be administered

and expended by an institution inside Qatar.

• At least 50% of the proposed funded research days must be conducted in Qatar by the research team.

• International LPIs must identify a Co-LPI affiliated to an institution inside Qatar. Co-LPI must reside in Qatar (but need not be a citizen)

Proposal Preparation

Proposal Preparation

• The LPI must fill in the appropriate proposal templates available at the website and submit them online. These templates are:

• Research Plan• References• Supporting letter for collaborative research• Rebuttal to peer reviewers (only for resubmitted proposals)

• Proposals must be submitted in English, except in a limited number of research areas in which the primary international language of research is Arabic

Proposal Preparation

Budget Component:

• Personnel• Equipment & Material• Travel• Miscellaneous• Indirect Cost

The Role of Submitting Institution

• The Research Office (RO), in the submitting institution will have online access to proposals submitted by the LPI in order to do the following:

– Accept a submitted proposal and upload the required endorsement letter.

– Reject the submitted proposal.– Return the proposal back to the LPI for modification.

• The RO, through the endorsement letter, will bear final responsibility for ensuring that all proposals submitted by its institution comply with:

– QNRF policies, as stated within the RFP– The institution’s own internal policies– Laws and regulations applicable to the jurisdiction in which

the research is being conducted

QNRF Screening

• Research plan not to exceed 25 pages.• Wrongly uploaded documents or the required

documents are missing

Evaluation Criteria

1. Scientific Merit (Max. 60 points)– Criterion 1;

• Idea• Approach • Experimental design• A contribution to knowledge or to the literature in the subject (Max. 20 points)

– Criterion 2; • Experimental design • The statistical methods • Data analysis• Project feasibility given the resources • Timeline and specific aims • The adequacy of the evaluation/validation plan in measuring the project’s

progress, anticipated • results and overall success (Max. 20 points)

Evaluation Criteria

1.Scientific Merit (Max. 60 points)

– Criterion 3• Relevance of the projected results to problems in specific research area • Relevance of the literature cited being up to date • A realistic mechanism for disseminating the project’s results to the

international scientific community (Max. 10 points)

– Criterion 4• Benefits of the proposed research activity to Qatar • Plans for continuing or expanding the project after QNRF support ends

(Max. 10 points)

Evaluation Criteria

2. Research Team Qualification (Max 20 points)– Criterion 5 How well qualified are the research teams inside and outside Qatar and are

their designated roles suitable to conduct the research (if appropriate, consider prior work)? • 10  points for research team inside Qatar plus • 10 points for research team outside Qatar or• 20 points if the entire research team is located inside Qatar

3. Budget Merit (20 points)– Criterion 6

• Personnel • Graduate student’s compensation• Equipment and materials• Travel• Miscellaneous• Indirect cost

Evaluation

Peer reviewer’s evaluation will also include:• Funding Recommendation

• Fund• Fund with budget reduction • Don’t fund

• Budget reduction recommendation percentage

Pre Award Disqualification

QNRF may consider a proposal as disqualified if it falls into one of the following categories:

• Proposals funded by sources other than QNRF (co-funded proposals).

• Partial overlapping of proposal with other proposal(s) funded or submitted for funding in the same cycle.

• If a proposal is proved to be plagiarized.

Award Pending

LPI is required to submit, within 8 weeks of award notification, the following (requires RO vetting):

• Hardcopies of the research plan, the budget, the endorsement letters and supporting letters bearing original signatures and stamps of the relevant offices.

• Revised budget based on PRs comments.• Required IRB/IACUC/IBC approval(s).

NPRP-EP Eligibility

• Funds will be granted to proposals of exceptional scientific merit.

• The LPI must be affiliated to an institution inside Qatar.

• The LPI must be a resident of the state of Qatar for the duration of the project.

• The LPI is not eligible to apply for more than 1 NPRP-EP

Initial Research Proposal (IRP)

• LPIs interested in applying for Exceptional

Proposals are required to first submit an IRP (not to

exceed 10 pages). In this IRP, LPIs should address

the following issues: • Intellectual merit

• Novelty of the concepts or ideas

• Feasibility in implementing the project

• Expected benefit and impact for Qatar

• Qualification and experience of the research team

• Estimated budget and the timeline

• Potential applications and sustainability.