Workshop Awards

Introduction

The Research Infrastructure Optimization for New Mexico (RIO-NM) team seeks proposals for Workshop Awards. This competitive funding opportunity aims to catalyze transformative partnerships across New Mexico's research ecosystem by bringing together teams of faculty, postdoctoral researchers, students, educators, and subject matter experts to address self-identified gaps in New Mexico’s current research ecosystem. Workshop Awards are designed to foster innovation, strengthen cross-institutional collaboration, and address the unique challenges of conducting high-impact research in New Mexico. Any individual from a New Mexico academic institution, non-profit organization or national laboratory may submit a proposal.

About RIO-NM

Research Infrastructure for New Mexico (RIO-NM) aims to positively impact New Mexico’s research ecosystem by 1) investing in higher education institutions to build cyberinfrastructure capacity and to strengthen research pathways, and 2) nurturing connections between and among ecosystem stakeholders across higher education, national laboratories, industry, non-profit organizations, and government.

Program Description

Workshop Award support is aimed at convening working groups that emphasize collaborative development and advancement of important ideas and theories, cutting-edge analysis of recent or existing data and information, industry engagement in research, industry/academic partnerships for workforce development, or the use of science in policy or management decisions. Workshop Awards are not intended to fund the collection of new data.

Workshop Award proposals should be focused on catalyzing collaborations across disciplines, facilities, and/or institutions working on topics identified under NSF’s Research Focus Areas and/or New Mexico’s Science and Technology Plan.

Outcomes of the Workshop Award must be specified. Workshop Award funds cannot be used for proposal writing, but can be used to generate ideas that will be crafted into a competitive proposal in the future. If a proposal is an intended outcome, the program/agency to be targeted should be identified. Similarly, Workshop Award proposals should specify journals targeted for publication outcomes. New collaborations with industry or research partners are acceptable outcomes, but the nature and extent of how the Workshop Award will further this collaboration should be fully explained. Proposals should also include plans for sharing what is learned during the workshop with relevant stakeholders.

Working Groups of 8–12 individuals meeting for 2–3 days have been shown to be the most productive, though Workshop Award proposals of shorter duration and varying participant levels (with commensurate budgets) will be considered. At least two New Mexico institutions or research organizations must be represented and participation from three or more is encouraged. Proposals that involve participants from New Mexico’s primarily undergraduate institutions (i.e., four-year comprehensives or community colleges) and national laboratories are especially encouraged. Workshop Award proposals that have confirmed participants are rated more highly.

No funds will be paid to the leader’s organization/institution. The Workshop Award organizer will work with a NM EPSCoR staff person to pay for the meeting venue and/or establish a contract for lodging; the NM EPSCoR office will pay these expenses directly. The NM EPSCoR State Office will reimburse participants for other travel expenses after the meeting.

Eligibility

Any individual from a New Mexico academic institution, non-profit organization or national laboratory may submit a proposal. Direct involvement in a current or previous NM EPSCoR–funded project is NOT a prerequisite for submitting a proposal.

Proposal Preparation and Submission

Proposals must be submitted as a single PDF file, maximum size 5 MB, using a standard font in 11 point or larger, with one-inch margins. A maximum of 6 pages, excluding CV or biosketch, is allowed and must include the information below. Reviewers will not review materials that exceed the page limit.

Document

Process

Proposal Cover Page 
(1 page)

  • Proposal Title
  • Lead Investigator, Co-Investigator(s), primary affiliation, and all contact information
  • Date of Submission and Total Amount Requested

Project Description 
(3 pages max)
  • Statement of Workshop Award focus area/specific questions that will be addressed/key areas of integration
  • Proposed activities/draft agenda
  • Statement of expected outcomes
  • Workshop convening dates and location
  • Participant names, roles, institutions, disciplines, and whether they are confirmed
  • Project management timetable including pre-meeting coordination, working group, post-meeting deliverables and responsible person(s) for each task

Budget 
(1 page max)
  • Budgets may not exceed $7,500
  • Budgets must be completed and submitted using the provided template. Download the template
  • Workshop Awards do not support salary for participants, but could provide modest honoraria for some participants, such as meeting facilitators or distinguished speakers
  • The budget may include expenses in the following categories:
  • Travel
    • Airfare (number of individuals and location)
    • Mileage (number of individuals and location)
    • Ground Transportation (car rental, shuttle, etc.)
  • Lodging
    • Location (number of individuals, daily rate, # days)
  • Meals
    • Provided by location
    • Per diem
  • Meeting Facility Expenses
    • Meeting rooms (if not included in lodging expenses)
    • AV or other equipment
    • The proposer should contact the facility to determine availability and costs.
  • Other Expenses
    • Honoraria (identify individuals, role in meeting, organization and amount)

Budget Justification
(1 page)

Narrative explanation of proposed budget

CV or Biosketch

Curriculum vitae or biosketch for proposal lead

Proposal Submission

Proposals should be submitted electronically as a single complete document with any graphics embedded in the document. Submit the proposal document online.

Reporting Requirements

The Workshop Award lead is required to submit a summary report of the Workshop Award efforts and outcomes within one month of convening the meeting. The report should include the key discussion topics/activities and outcomes, a list of participants, and photographs from the meeting. In addition, participants are required to provide information requested by the NM EPSCoR External Evaluator and NM EPSCoR State Office needed for reporting to NSF. The Workshop Award lead and all participants must provide the NM EPSCoR State Office information about proposal submissions, publications, and other presentations resulting from the workshop.

Proposal Review

The NM EPSCoR State Office will coordinate a review process with reviewers composed of members of the staff, the RIO-NM management team (not participating in the proposal), and additional external reviewers as needed.

Proposers are encouraged to contact the New Mexico EPSCoR Associate Director with any questions:

Selena Connealy
505-217-5605
connealy@epscor.unm.edu

Key Information

Call for Proposals Best Consideration Dates:
April 16 and November 16, Annually

Download the call for proposals and supporting documents:


Application

One file only.
20 MB limit.
Allowed types: pdf.