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Doctoral Studies Program at UMTRI
Announcement: The Office of the Vice President for Research, in cooperation with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), has initiated a competition for funds to support doctoral students who conduct their dissertation research at UMTRI in a transportation-related research discipline involving collaboration of school/college faculty and UMTRI faculty.
Purpose: The purpose of the Doctoral Studies Program at UMTRI (DSP-UMTRI) is to increase the opportunity for doctoral students to perform their dissertation research in UMTRI's diverse and dynamic research environment. Additional, but equally important objectives, are to increase research collaborations between UMTRI faculty and school/college faculty throughout the University of Michigan and to stimulate new research and funding initiatives involving doctoral students and faculty.
Scope of Research Opportunities: UMTRI's research faculty have expertise and experience conducting multidisciplinary transportation research involving engineering (mechanical, bioengineering, industrial and operations, civil), human factors, economics, behavioral science, public health, psychology, sociology, human development, statistics and education. Further information about UMTRI and its research projects, faculty, and databases is available on the UMTRI website at www.umtri.umich.edu). Research initiatives that align with UMTRI's 2005 Strategic Plan are encouraged.
Level of Support: Total funding for the DSP-UMTRI is $1,000,000 over three years. It is expected that several awards, averaging about $50,000/year, will be made annually, and that awards will typically run for two years. However, the actual number of awards, funding levels, and durations of awards may vary as functions of the type of research, the score received by the proposal, and the number of awards made.
Application Deadlines and Award Schedule: Proposals will be accepted by OVPR twice each year. Deadlines for proposal submission are February 15th and June 15th; with awards to be announced by June 1st and October 1st for award start dates of September 1st and January 2nd, respectively. Pre-application inquiries are welcome. NOTE: the June 15, 2007 deadline has been extended to September 17, 2007. The award start date will remain January 2, 2008, however the award announcement may not be made until November 15, 2007.
Qualifying Proposals: To qualify for review, proposals must be submitted on behalf of a doctoral student by at least two faculty members - one from UMTRI and one from a UM academic unit. The proposal budget must include support for the doctoral student and may include tuition and research supplies. Faculty salary will only be considered for individuals whose only funded appointment is as a research faculty member.
Proposal Submissions: Five collated sets of the proposal should be submitted to the Faculty Grants and Awards Program, Office of the VP for Research, 4080 Fleming 1340). Using the DSP-UMTRI form, proposals must include:
- Completed cover pages (2) with required signatures
- Abstract of proposed research
- Technical narrative of proposed research (not to exceed 10 single-spaced pages)
- Budget justification (cost-sharing support from school or college is not required, but is strongly recommended)
- Project schedule with milestones
- Biosketches of collaborating faculty; transcript and CV of doctoral student
- Plan of collaboration
- Evaluation of potential for external research support, with specific sources of support to be targeted (UMTRI faculty should be consulted).
Point of Contact: Dr. Jean Shope, UMTRI Research Professor (763-2466) jshope@umich.edu
Review Process and Evaluation Criteria: Submitted proposals will be screened by OVPR to determine if they meet the basic requirements of the DSP-UMTRI program (see Qualifying Proposals). Each qualifying proposal will be evaluated and scored by a peer-review panel consisting of at least three senior faculty members with appropriate expertise. The panel members will score the proposals in the following categories:
- Scientific quality of research proposal
- Relevance of proposal to UMTRI's strategic research agenda, as defined in its 2005 Strategic Plan
- Potential of project to generate future external funding
- Faculty commitment to project
- School/college commitment to project
- Relevance of faculty background experience and interest
- Doctoral student's academic record
- Doctoral student's potential to complete degree requirements in about two years (candidate status preferred)
- Breadth of academic departments represented by successful proposals
Awards will be made based on a ranking of the proposals using scores assigned during the review process. Consideration will also be give to supporting a diversity of topics and faculty involvements and collaborations.
Confidentiality: Submitted proposals will be treated as confidential documents.