Proposal Review Criteria & Process

The Pre- / full proposal will be reviewed by the appropriate subcommittee of the RPC designated by the submitter of the proposal. These subcommittees are:

1. Condensed Matter Sciences
2. Biological and Chemical Sciences
3. Magnet and Magnet Materials Technology

Review Criteria for Pre- / Full Proposals

Intellectual Merit

Impact on advancing knowledge and understanding in high magnetic field research. This criterion measures the likelihood that the research will be transformative, lead to new discoveries and/or fundamental advances in the fields of high magnetic field science or engineering.

Potential for the proposed activity to succeed. This criterion considers the qualifications and capabilities of the investigator (individual or team), the technical soundness of the proposed research, and the adequacy of the institutional resources available. It also considers if the proposed activity is well conceived and organized.

Broader Impacts

Effect of the research on education in high magnetic field science and engineering. This criterion relates to the potential of the proposed research to positively impact the quality, distribution, or effectiveness of the nation's high magnetic field scientific and engineering research, education, and workforce diversity.

Opportunity to provide support and seed money to beginning investigators.

Utility or relevance of the research to the MagLab mission. This criterion is used to assess the likelihood that the research can serve as the basis for driving, enhancing, or improving MagLab user facilities, capabilities, or expertise. An important component of this criterion is the likelihood of successful collaborations with external users, or of the creation of facility enhancements of value to external users. The proposed work is expected to utilize MagLab facilities.

Review Process for Pre- / Full Proposals

The RPC is divided into three subcommittees.

The review process is as follows:

• The internal members of the particular subcommittee (usually two members each from FSU, UF and LANL) will review pre-proposals and rank them according to the above UCGP review criteria. The questions for reviewers, administrative information and scoring system for pre-proposals and full proposals are shown here.
• The User Program Directors review pre-proposals with an emphasis on facility impact.
• The results of the subcommittees will be reported to the UCGP Director. The Director reviews the rankings; schedules a meeting or conference call as needed; then forwards the reviews to the MagLab Director, who selects the pre-proposals that will go forward to full proposals stage.
• The full subcommittees (which include 6 internal and 3 external members) will review and rank the full proposals. For Magnet and Magnet Materials technology proposals, the full subcommittee, including the ex-officio member, will review and rank pre-proposals and full proposals.
• The review results of the full subcommittees will be reported to the UCGP Director. He/she reviews the rankings; schedules a meeting/conference call for further discussion; and forwards the committees' results to the MagLab Director for award decisions.

The RPC subcommittees select the pre- and full proposals that meet the review criteria, keeping in mind that the funded projects must be of highest quality. The RPC subcommittees will share their review comments with the PI(s) so that he/she can consider their comments. The MagLab reserves the right to turn down pre-/full proposals that do not fully meet the solicitation guidelines.