Call for Research Problem Statements: 2008-09

The Mountain-Plains Consortium (MPC) invites the submission of research problem statements for projects to be initiated on or after July 1 of 2008. The problem statement must include the following components:

1. a statement of the issues and problems that give rise to the need for the proposed research;
2. a clear statement of the researchable issues and objectives, including any hypotheses to be tested;
3. a brief literature review that summarizes the state of knowledge in the subject area and identifies the knowledge gaps that the proposed research seeks to fill;
4. a brief description of the data and research methods that will be utilized, including a description of any planned experiments or lab tests;
5. the expected outcomes of the research project in terms of the knowledge gained, new analysis and testing methods developed, etc.;
6. tangible products that are expected to result from the project, including any technology transfer benefits, prototype models, software, new practices, etc.;
7. the potential contributions of the research to national and regional objectives, as evidenced by the correlation of the proposal to MPC’s critical research issues; and
8. the total cost of the project, the amount of MPC funds requested, and the amount and source of matching funds.

Although the problem statement should be succinct, it must provide sufficient details so that peer reviewers (who may be unfamiliar with the proposers and local problem contexts) can adequately assess the merits of the proposal.

MPC Critical Research Areas

To be eligible for funding, a proposal must be related to one or more of the focus areas described below. Proposals are not limited to the example topics listed within the focus areas and may include specific research topics not mentioned in the narratives.

1. High-Risk Rural Roads
2. Rural Transportation Operations
3. Effective Safety Management
4. Human Factors
5. Low-Cost Safety Improvements
6. Work Zone Safety
7. Heavy Vehicles and Commercial Trucks
8. Safety of Unpaved Roads
9. Hazardous Materials
10. Freight Security
11. Traffic Operations and Management
12. Infrastructure Financing
13. Improved Pricing Strategies
14. Multimodal Policy and Investment Assessment
15. Improved Infrastructure Design
16. Infrastructure Longevity
17. Environmental Impacts of Infrastructure
18. Economic Analysis of Investments and Impacts
19. Integrated Asset Management Systems

Problem Statement Format

The problem statement must be submitted as a Word document. It must not exceed 4 pages and must include the following components:

1. Title:
2. University:
3. Principal Investigators:
4. Description of Research Problem:
5. Research Objectives:
6. Research Approach/Methods:
7. MPC Critical Issues Addressed by the Research:
8. Contributions/Potential Applications of Research:
9. Potential Technology Transfer Benefits:
10. Time Duration: July 2008-June 2009:
11. Total Project Cost:
12. MPC Funds Requested:
13. Source of Matching Funds:(Projects require a non-federal dollar-to-dollar match for MPC funds received)
14. Potential Peer Reviewers: (Complete Contact Information, to include Name, Position Title or Organization, Street Address, City, State, Zip, Email Address) THREE Peer Reviewers must be listed as a minimum.
15. TRB Keywords:
16. References:

The amount of MPC funds requested must correspond to the upcoming fiscal year only. Funding for multiple fiscal years cannot be considered. The time duration of the project is expected to be one year; however, durations up to 15 months may be considered, if necessary to accommodate graduate student involvement or expend matching funds. Proposers are asked to identify external experts in the subject area of the proposal who may be candidates for peer review. The recommended reviewers must be from organizations external to the MPC universities and must be free of potential conflicts of interest. Peers from other universities; federal, state, and local transportation professionals; and researchers from private industry may be listed as potential peer reviewers.

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