PROGRAM POINT OF CONTACT
The ZNetUS User Facilities Program is administered for NNSA by Chickasaw Business Solutions.
The POC for this contract is: Tim Ledford, William.Ledford@chickasaw.com.
SUMMARY
The goal of the ZNetUS User Facilities Program is to fund research collaborations carried out at ZNetUS User Facilities, with a technical focus on:
- advancing the frontiers of pulsed magnetic science and technology including magneto-driven high energy density experimental science, pulsed power technology development and magneto-hydrodynamic simulation;
- providing students and scientists with broad access to unique facilities and enabling technologies, foster collaboration among researchers and networks; and
- developing the workforce needed to advance pulsed magnetic science and technology for national security applications.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The ZNetUS User Facilities Program has six user facilities with the following Points of Contact (POC):
- CESZAR, University of California San Diego. POC: Farhat Beg (fbeg@eng.ucsd.edu)
- COBRA, Cornell University. POC: Bruce Kusse (brk2@cornell.edu)
- MAIZE, University of Michigan. POC: Ryan McBride (mcbrider@umich.edu)
- MJOLNIR, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. POC: Chris Cooper (cooper83@llnl.gov)
- MYKONOS, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM. POC: Jens Schwarz (jschwar@sandia.gov)
- ZEBRA, University of Nevada, Reno. POC: Richard Kraus (rkraus@unr.edu)
A technical description of each facility is found on the ZNetUS website under Facilities.
USER FACILITY ACCESS AND RESEARCH CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION
Each User Facility typically offers external user access for up to two weeks per quarter throughout the calendar year, pending facility schedule and machine health. With this scheduling in mind, applicants are encouraged to develop their research proposals to align with these availability windows, acknowledging that multiple experimental projects often need to be coordinated and organized as campaigns. Generally, the process for collaboration between the User Facility and the User will follow a set sequence of interactions designed to streamline campaign planning and execution.
- Initial design review – 10 to 16 weeks before campaign/experiment
- Campaign readiness review (go/no go final meeting) – 3 weeks before campaign/experiment
- Hardware delivery to facility – 2 weeks before campaign/experiment campaign execution
- Post-shot effectiveness review – 4 weeks after campaign/experiment
For a given campaign or experiments, specific timelines will be provided to awardees by the User Facility.
ELIGIBILITY
NOTE: This call is only for the Users portion of the User Facility Program. The Participating User Facilities are funded separately to support the ZNetUS users.
Applicants are to propose a short (6 page) Project Narrative in conjunction with one of the Participating User Facilities to advance the goals of ZNetUS.
Applicants and group members must be U.S. Persons and affiliated with a U.S. Institution of Higher Education. A U.S. Person is defined as an individual that is a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
Applicants must attach a letter from the Point of Contact from the Participating User Facility as an endorsement for the proposed research. Please ensure that letters from collaborators or from institutions providing access to equipment and/or facilities only describe the nature of the collaboration or the access to equipment and/or facilities.
ALLOWABLE COSTS
Users can request up to $50,000 for travel, equipment, and consumables. Allowable costs include:
- Travel to a specified ZNetUS facility for experiments.
- Purchase of equipment (including shipping costs) necessary to carry out experiment. Equipment is defined as items with a useful life of more than 12 months and a per-item acquisition cost of more than $10,000 or modification of equipment required to conduct proposed research. Equipment purchased will remain with the facility.
- Materials and supplies such as consumables (including shipping costs) required to conduct the research, and/or software licenses that are directly necessary to enable the proposed activities.
No funds may be used to pay salaries or indirect rates.
Funds may only be transferred to national laboratory partners for the acquisition of equipment or consumables that are exclusively obtainable through these entities.
Note: Eligible travel costs will be reimbursed to travelers by Chickasaw Business Solutions after travel occurs. Equipment and consumables will be purchased by Chickasaw Business Solutions and shipped to facility.
AWARD INFORMATION
Multi-institutional teams must apply using a prime-and-subaward model with one application submitted by the lead institution.
Awards will be made through NNSA’s contractor, Chickasaw Business Solutions, and award schedule will be negotiated after the Merit Review is complete.
All experimental time should be completed by December 31, 2027, and reimbursement requests submitted by February 1, 2028.
APPLICATION PROCESS
There are 3 parts to the application:
- Project abstract
- Project narrative
- Appendices
Project abstract:
The project abstract is a summary of the proposed activity suitable for distribution to the public and sufficient to permit potential reviewers to identify conflicts of interest. The project abstract must contain the name of the ZNetUS facility to be used, the project title, the PI and the PI’s institutional affiliation, and any coinvestigators and their institutional affiliations. This information must be followed by the objectives of the project, a description of the project, including methods to be employed, and the potential impact of the project (i.e., benefits, outcomes). The technical description portion of the project abstract may not exceed one page.
Project narrative:
The project narrative must not exceed a page limit of 6 pages of technical information, including charts, graphs, maps, photographs, and other pictorial presentations. This page limit does not apply to the Title Page, Project Abstract, or appendices.
The Project Narrative comprises the research plan for the project. The narrative should be devoted to a description and justification of the proposed project, including details of the methods to be used. It should also include a timeline for the major activities of the proposed project and should indicate which project personnel will be responsible for which activities. There should be no ambiguity about which personnel will perform particular parts of the project. The following organization of the Project Narrative is suggested:
- Background/Introduction: Explanation of the importance and relevance of the proposed work as well as a review of the relevant literature.
- Project Objectives: This section should provide a clear, concise statement of the specific objectives/aims of the proposed project.
- Proposed Research and Methods: Identify the hypotheses to be tested (if any) and details of the methods to be used including the integration of experiments with theoretical and computational research efforts.
Appendices:
- CVs for key personnel: Provide CVs for key personnel who are critical to perform the proposed research.
- References: Provide references cited in the Project Narrative.
- Equipment: List major items of equipment that are required to be purchased to conduct the research.
- Budget: Maximum of one page. Outline travel, equipment, and consumable costs. If selected for award, a detailed budget and justification will be required.
PROPOSAL MERIT REVIEW PROCESS
Merit Review Criteria
Applications will be subjected to scientific merit review (peer review) and will be evaluated against the following criteria:
- Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project; and,
- Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach
- Competency of Applicant’s Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed Resource
- Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget
Note that external peer reviewers are selected regarding both their scientific expertise and the absence of conflict-of-interest issues. Both Federal and non-Federal reviewers may be used, and submission of an application constitutes agreement that this is acceptable to the investigator(s) and the submitting institution.
The questions below are provided to the merit reviewers to elaborate on the review criteria:
1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project
- Does the proposed research align with ZNetUS’s goals?
- What is the likelihood of achieving a successful result?
- How might the results of the proposed work impact the direction, progress, and thinking in relevant scientific fields of research?
2. Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach
- How logical and feasible are the research approaches?
- Does the proposed research employ innovative concepts or methods?
- Is the proposed research aligned to the capabilities of the proposed facility?
- Does the applicant recognize significant potential problems and consider alternative strategies?
3. Competency of Applicant’s Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed Resources
- How well qualified is the research team to carry out the proposed research?
- Are the research environment and facilities adequate for performing the research?
- Does the proposed work take advantage of unique facilities and capabilities?
4. Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget
- Are the proposed budget and staffing levels adequate to carry out the proposed research?
AWARD SELECTION PROCESS
Applications that pass the merit review will be subjected to a management review coordinated by NNSA’s contractor Chickasaw Business Solutions. Award selections may consider any of the following program policy factors in making the selection, listed in no order of significance:
- Availability of funds
- Relevance of the proposed activity to NNSA’s priorities
- Previous performance
- Training graduate students in conduct of basic research
DELIVERABLES
A one-page report on the experimental time is required. A template will be provided.