Proposal Form Content Guide
The Proposal Form Content Guide is available as a PDF download below. This document presents the content requested in the form for a Standard Proposal to the Molecular Foundry.
Note that this document is provided only as a guide and that proposals must be submitted through the User Portal using the interactive form, not as a compiled document.
Evaluation Criteria
Project Goals and Significance (20 points)
Proposal question: Describe the scientific or technological motivation, long-term goals, and significance of your project in the context of your field of study. Describe your immediate goal in the context of a one-year Molecular Foundry User Project.
Review criteria: To what extent is the proposed research expected to significantly advance the scientific or technological field? How likely is the proposed work to produce high-quality publications?
Project Plan and Timeline (15 points)
Proposal question: Describe your project plan, indicating what work will be done at your home institution and what in the Foundry Facilities requested in “Resource Request”. Describe how each of these pieces of work contributes to the immediate goal identified in “Project Goals and Significance”. Describe the expected timeline of your project, including an estimate of the time required for each piece of work.
Review criteria: Is the experimental plan achievable at the Foundry within the proposed project term (not to exceed one year for a Standard Proposal)? How will the results obtained at the Foundry complement and propel follow-up research at the user’s home institution?
Resource Request (15 points)
Proposal question: Describe how Foundry capabilities and expertise are needed to realize the immediate goal identified in “Project Goals and Significance”. Identify the lead facility and any support facilities requested, and give a short description of the intended work at each.
Review criteria: Is the request for Foundry resources well justified? To what extent will the proposed work take advantage of the unique capabilities or combinations of capabilities/expertise (either within a single facility, or across the Foundry as a whole)?
Relevant Experience (10 points)
Proposal question: Describe the current level of expertise of each researcher in relation to the proposed work. For researchers expected to do hands-on work at the Foundry, be explicit about their level of training or experience on the requested instruments and capabilities.
Review criteria: Are the users adequately prepared for efficient use of limited Foundry resources? How do the users’ track records of innovative, technically demanding research inform the likelihood of success of the proposed project?
Example Proposals
For more guidance on how to write a user proposal you may refer to the examples below (PDF downloads).
IMPORTANT: As of March 2019, the questions on the proposal form have been updated, particularly the guidance given regarding the scope of work suitable for a Support Facility request. Examples #4 through #8 are from proposal calls prior to March 2019, and several of these examples may be expected to submit more than one Lead Facility request proposal under the current guidance.
- Example #1 Crystalline peptoids: Nanoscale Assembly, Atomic structures, and Atomic engineering ‐ [Follow‐on]. (Biological, Imaging, Inorganic, NCEM, Organic, Theory)
- Example #2 Atomic scale optical and electronic properties of engineered quantum emitters in 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (Imaging, Inorganic)
- Example #3 Developing ultra‐sensitive nonlinear probes of chemical dynamics with site‐specificity and ultrafast time resolution (Theory)
- Example #4 Vapor Transport Deposition for III-V Thin Film Photovoltaics. (Imaging, Fabrication, Inorganic, NCEM) *Proposal form is outdated
Next: Tips for a Good Proposal
