Solicitation for Mini-Program Proposals
Overview
The Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) is soliciting proposals for workshop concepts ("mini-programs") to be carried out during the first half of calendar year 2009. KISS will support two types of activities: "mini-programs" and more extensive "study programs."
KISS is currently supporting three study programs during the 2008-2009 academic year:
- New Directions in Robotic Exploration of Mars
- Large Space Structures, and
- Coherent Instrumentation for Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization Observations.
The mini-programs described in this solicitation are aimed at broadening the participation of Campus and JPL scientists and engineers in KISS during its inaugural year and providing a mechanism for fostering new ideas for future KISS study programs.
The goal of the Keck Institute is to develop ideas and concepts that have the promise to revolutionize future space missions. The Institute will do this by convening study programs and workshops that bring together the best engineers and scientists from JPL and Campus along with leading scientists and engineers from the external research community. Each year, the Keck Institute plans to convene three major study programs that will be followed by 2-year funded technical "follow-up" programs. The informal description "think-and-do tank" has been used to characterize this approach of intensive study programs followed by funded technical work on the best ideas that come out of the study programs. In addition to the three major studies, KISS also intends to support a limited number of smaller workshops and study programs. The "mini-programs" are the first example of these.
Mini-Program Characteristics
Mini-programs will have the following characteristics. They will:
- Have an identified core group of 12-24 participants selected from JPL, Campus, and the external community (workshops can include larger participation, but a core-group must be identified and must include Campus, JPL, and external participants)
- Include Keck Institute support for events associated with the mini-programs and visitors who are part of the core group of participants (see description of Keck Institute support below)
- Not have funded technical follow-up programs (only the larger study programs have this capability)
We intend to select and support 2-3 mini-programs for the academic year 2008-2009, with a start date no earlier than January 2009.
Criteria for Selection
The selection of the inaugural KISS mini-programs will be based on the following criteria:
- Potential for generating innovative new ideas with enough promise to impact the way that future space missions are carried out
- Quality of the core-group participants
- Balance between Campus, JPL, and external participants
- Quality of the plans for formal and informal technical interactions between the core-group participants
- Quality of the plans for how mini-program events will be implemented, e.g. plans for workshops, talks and seminars, and other possible events
- Opportunities for junior members of the community (e.g. students, postdocs, early-career scientists and engineers) to participate in mini-program activities
- A budget summarizing anticipated costs
Proposal Requirements
Proposals for mini-programs should be no more than three pages in length. Additional supporting material may be attached, but all essential information must be included in the three-page primary proposal.
- Name of the mini-program
- Name of the Lead and Co-Lead scientist or engineer (if the Lead is from JPL, the Co-Lead must be from Campus and vice-versa)
- Names of the core-group of participants (minimum 12, maximum 24)
- Description of the goals of the mini-program
- Rationale of why the mini-program has the promise of developing innovative new ideas for future space missions
- Proposed dates and schedule for the mini-program (minimum of 1-week of activities, maximum of 2-weeks)
- Include plans for talks, seminars, and open-workshops (if any)
- Include plans for formal and informal interaction sessions among core-group participants
- Include plans for other proposed events (e.g. social events, public lectures)
- Web-presence (if any)
- Opportunities for junior members of the community to participate
- A budget summarizing anticipated costs
A template (.doc) is available for your convenience.
Your proposal should be submitted electronically (convert to pdf format please) by clicking here.
KISS Support for Mini-Programs
The Keck Institute will support costs associated with workshops and other events associated with the mini-program. A typical 5-day workshop for 20-25 people might incur expenses of about $12K-$15K. The Keck Institute will support travel costs of external visitors who are participants in the core group. Local participants from JPL and Campus should expect to cover their own costs of attending the workshops.
Keck Institute personnel will be able to provide some support for organizing events associated with the mini-program as well as support for visiting participants.
It is expected that sometime during the first half of 2009, KISS will take up residence on the 6th floor of Millikan Library. When it does so, it will be able to accommodate up to approximately 24 participants in offices within Millikan. Interaction space and a seminar room will also be available. When the Millikan facilities become available, it is expected that mini-program core participants will conduct many of their activities in the Millikan space. Because it is not yet known when the space will be available for KISS use, KISS will work with the mini-program organizers prior to the mini-program to identify meeting rooms, offices, and other space for the mini-program activities.
The Keck Institute will provide web support for mini-program activities including providing templates and space for web-based interactions, archiving of talks, etc.
Additional Information and Comments
A format for mini-programs that has worked well for other institutions is a 2-week format in which the first week focuses on exchange of information via a set of scheduled talks/seminars (still encouraging significant interaction), while the second week allows for less-structured interaction and brainstorming among core-group participants. Organizers should consider such a format, but it is not required.
KISS mini-programs require definition of a core-group of participants. Core group participants often wish to have young scientists and engineers accompany them when they participate. KISS encourages such participation and will work with the mini-program organizers to provide support and accommodation for younger scientists and engineers.
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