Research Concept Solicitation, Fiscal Year 2010-2011
This page last reviewed January 12, 2010
The Air Resources Board solicits ideas for the Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Annual Research Plan.
Successful contributions will become the basis for interagency agreements or competitive proposal solicitations.
ARB is soliciting research suggestions in the form of brief conceptual descriptions that address the research gaps described in this announcement and support the Board's ongoing regulatory and policy priorities. Established by the State Legislature in 1971, the Air Resources Board’s (ARB’s) program of research probes causes, effects, and solutions to California’s air pollution problems. This research provides a scientific basis for development of regulations, voluntary programs, and outreach efforts; for Board decision-making; and for implementation of initiatives to protect the health of California’s people and environment from the effects of air pollution.
For an overview of the Board's research program, please see Research Activities website. Information regarding current regulatory activities as well as the Board’s program areas is also available online.
Contributions should address the policy-relevant knowledge gaps that are critical to ARB’s mission, as described at the web pages below. To the extent that they support the Board’s responsibilities, research ideas outside of indicated research interests will also be considered. The general areas of research interest are:
The nature and scope of the proposed research concepts will vary as will the size and duration of each project. While there is no minimum or maximum funding amount that may be suggested for the conduct of the proposed research, project budgets should be comparable to those approved for previous years. For example, the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 Annual Research Planwas approved with a budget of approximately $5.3 million dollars to support 21 projects of two- to three-year duration, with funding levels for individual projects ranging $82,000 to $550,000. Due to resource constraints as well as uncertainty regarding the State’s budget, ARB may not be able to fund all meritorious submissions. Projects that provide co-funding to leverage the State’s limited funds are evaluated more favorably.
Proponents should visit ARB’s on-line research concept submission site to submit concepts by February 17, 2010. Concepts will be reviewed by ARB staff, representatives from other research organizations, the Board'sResearch Screening Committee, and the Executive Research Review Committee. A final selection of research concepts will be presented to the Board for approval at its September 2010 meeting. Once approved by the Board, ARB staff will either work with proponents to turn the research concepts into full project proposals or develop competitive solicitations.
Please note that submission and selection of an idea does not guarantee a resulting contract for the submitter. Rather, the ARB is required to consider public California universities for expertise to execute these projects. If the universities can not offer appropriate expertise, then a public solicitation is issued or a sole source contract, if justified, is awarded. A list serve distributes updates on research activities. To subscribe to the list serve, visit http://www.arb.ca.gov/listserv/listserv_ind.php?listname=research.
For more information please contact Dr. Susan Fischer by e-mail or phone at (916) 324-0627. lf you wish to receive e-mail notices regarding changes and updates related to research activities, please subscribe to our research list-serv.
