Bradley Scholar Program
2008 Proposal Preparation Guidelines

We expect significant competition for Bradley Scholar Funds, so it is critical that you FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES CAREFULLY.

1. Fill out the Bradley Proposal form. See specific instructions below.
   
2. Discuss your proposal with your Team Chief Scientist, including a discussion of potential co-funding of Bradley work. Their approval is required to move the proposal forward.
   
3. Submit your Word document proposal (via email if possible) to your Team Chief Scientist by July 27, 2007.
   
4. Fill out the USGS Individual Volunteer Services Agreement Form 9-2080. This online form MUST be filled out for you to receive any Bradley funding.
   • Note: The “Project Description” Section 4 MUST include additional Scientist Emeritus information (where you will be working, USGS projects with which you will be involved, your funding needs, and your annual progress information). More specific guidelines for filling out Section 4 can be found on this Web site under the Annual Agreement Form section.

Guidelines for filling out the proposal form.

1. Read the "Ethics rules for USGS Scientists Emeriti" at http://geology.usgs.gov/Emeritus/about/policies/ethics.shtml and be sure you can agree to these before beginning the Bradley Scholar Program process.
2. Keep your proposals brief, about 1-3 pages in length.
3. Basic guidelines are to request no more than $5,000. However, if additional funding is essential to successful completion of the proposed work, larger requests may be submitted.
4. Each Scientist Emeritus may submit only one proposal. However, this proposal may contain multiple tasks, and each task can be either legacy or new research. Joint applications with other Scientists Emeriti will be accepted.
5. Provide a budget. If you submit more than one task, a separate budget must be submitted for each task, and the total for all the tasks normally should not exceed $5,000 for each Scientist Emeritus. Joint applications must clearly state the amount of funding each Scientist Emeritus is requesting.
6. You must include the appropriate Team assessment rate in your budget.
7. Legacy work proposals may request funding for one or two years, and new research proposals may request funding for one, two, or three years.

Proposal Review Procedure

Bradley Scholar proposals will first be reviewed by your Team Chief Scientist and then forwarded through the Regional Executive of Geology’s office to the Associate Director for Geology’s Office for review by an internal panel. The panel will include Scientists Emeriti and salaried scientists, and panel members will be chosen for their expertise in the earth science areas covered in the proposals.

This year, your Team Chief Scientist will be submitting a form that provides information about your previous two years of funding, as well as a supporting/clarifying statement regarding how much the proposed work would support the team’s overall efforts and how much the team overall efforts would support the proposed work. If your TCS approves your proposal, he/she will sign a hard copy and forward both electronic and hard copies to the appropriate Regional Executive’s Office. The Regional Executives will then forward the proposals to the Associate Director for Geology’s Office for review.

Once the Associate Director for Geology’s Office receives the proposals, a Review Panel of approximately five members will be appointed. The Review Panel will be selected from within the Bureau on the basis of scientific knowledge of topics addressed in the proposals. Nominations for panel members will be requested from members of the Scientist Emeritus Program, Team Chief Scientists, Program Coordinators, and Regional Executives. The Panel will include Scientists Emeriti, as well as salaried scientists. The panel will evaluate all proposals based on the criteria listed below and make their recommendations to the Associate Director for Geology. Input will also be sought from Program Coordinators and the Regional Executives. The final selection of Bradley Fellows will be made by the Associate Director for Geology.

For multiple year requests, progress of work will be evaluated annually by the review panel, and second and third year funding will be dependent upon meeting scheduled milestones and/or developing promising new directions, as well as continued availability of Bradley Scholar Program funding.

Proposal Review Criteria

1. Legacy work
   
   1. The proposed work meets the definition of legacy work – i.e. experimental, mapping, or interpretative work begun during your career, and which can be completed within two years.
      
   2. Technical quality of the research proposal – scientific merit of the proposed work and feasibility of the proposed approach, including timely completion of products,
      
   3. Relevance – how well does the proposed research relate to the Geology Science Strategy? Is there a customer interested in completion of this legacy work?
      
   4. Technical expertise – is the appropriate expertise identified?
      
   5. Budget and facilities – is the proposed budget reasonable with respect to the value of the anticipated results? Does the proposal contain a detailed budget that includes Team assessment? Are the necessary facilities available to complete the work?
      
   6. Progress to date – the second year of funding for multi-year proposals will be awarded only if substantial progress has been demonstrated.
      
2. New Research
   1. Technical quality of the research proposal – scientific merit of the proposed research and feasibility of the proposed approach, including timely completion of products. All proposals must indicate one or more products.
      
   2. Relevance – how well does the proposed research relate to the Geology and Bureau Science Strategies?
   3. Technical expertise – is the appropriate expertise identified?
   4. Budget and facilities – is the proposed budget reasonable with respect to the value of the anticipated results? Does the proposal contain a detailed budget that includes Team assessment? Are the necessary facilities available to complete the research?
   5. Progress to date – the second and third year of funding for multi-year proposals will be awarded only if substantial progress has been demonstrated.

FY 2008 Timeline

June 28, 2007 - Call for proposals released
August 13, 2007 - Proposals due to Team Chief Scientists
September 7, 2007 - Proposals due to Regional Geologists
October 1, 2007 - Proposal due to Headquarters (Laurel Bybell)
Late October - Proposals reviewed
Early November - Decisions made and Scientists Emeriti notified

If you have any questions, please contact Laurel Bybell at 703-648-5281 or lbybell@usgs.gov.