CARB Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Research Project Solicitation
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Introduction
This website contains all of the information needed by stakeholders interested in CARB’s Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Research Project Solicitation. This includes information on:
- Background information on the selection process for identifying the projects CARB intends to fund in fiscal year 2023-2024 and the process leading to the pre-proposal solicitation.
- Solicitation details, including relevant dates and details on individual projects.
- Registration link for the public meeting on the solicitation. A recording of the meeting will be posted on this website after the meeting.
- Additional resources for prospective applicants, including a frequently asked questions document.
How can you get in contact with us if you have further questions?
- To receive an email notification on solicitation updates and all other research planning activities, sign up for the Research Activities listserv here: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/CARB/subscriber/new.
- You may also email us directly at research@arb.ca.gov.
Background
The California Air Resources Board (CARB or Board) has identified its fiscal year 2023-2024 priority research projects. The proposed projects support CARB’s regulatory priorities related to health, environmental justice, economics, air pollution, and climate change.
The selection of these projects was guided by the research initiatives outlined in the Triennial Strategic Research Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2024 (Plan), along with extensive coordination with other agencies, research institutions, stakeholders, and experts in these fields of research. The selection of these projects was also informed by the project concept and comment survey deployed in the Spring of 2022. A public meeting was held to support this effort and extensive input was collected to inform this and future year research priorities. For more information on the comment and concept collection effort, please visit the research comment portal.
Solicitation Details
Who can apply?
In order to be eligible to apply for this solicitation, the principal investigator must be associated with the University of California or California State University (UC/CSU). UC/CSU researchers can partner with members of other public and private institutions, such as other universities, non-profit organizations, community-based organizations or private research institutes to submit a multidisciplinary pre-proposal. There are limitations to funding amounts for partners. In addition, members of CARB advisory groups may not be signatories to the contract, be listed as completing tasks in the scope of work or communicate with CARB regarding CARB’s decision on the proposed contracts. If an active CARB advisory group member makes a prohibited appearance or communication subject to Government Code section 87104 as described above, the application will not be eligible for an award. More information is available in the Frequently Asked Questions document available below.
Relevant Dates and Process Description
Proposed project concepts were presented to the Board on January 26, 2022. A pre-proposal solicitation is released once these concepts are developed into full proposals. Additional projects may be released for solicitation later in the fiscal year and any active solicitations are posted on this page. Once pre-proposals are identified to move forward for each project, staff will work with the research team to develop the research project into a complete proposal. These proposals will then be reviewed by the Research Screening Committee (RSC). The proposal will be submitted for contract preparation and execution considering recommendations from the RSC. Projects kick-off after contract execution. Results are anticipated in two to three years after the kickoff.
Resources available for prospective applicants
This page contains a pre-proposal template and a frequently asked questions document on CARB’s solicitation and contracting processes. Please see the documents linked at the bottom of this page.
Each year, CARB hosts the solicitation on the Empower Innovation website to foster the development of partnerships between university researchers and new research partners. Prospective researchers are encouraged to create a profile on Empower Innovation to find partners.
Virtual Public Meetings on CARB’s Research Pre-Proposal Solicitation
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff typically holds virtual public meetings to help interested parties learn more about the solicitation for research pre-proposals for each funding year. At solicitation meetings, CARB staff provide details on all projects included in the solicitation and the expectations for submitted pre-proposals. Slides for recent public meetings are available below. Please see the documents linked at the bottom of this page. A link to the recording of the recent public meeting presentation is available below.
Solicitation Meeting Details
Date: Wednesday April 19, 4:00-5:30pm
Virtual meeting (Zoom): Video Recording
The slides presented at the meeting are available at the bottom of this page.
Current Solicitation Details
Relevant dates
- Letters of interest are requested and can be submitted by email to research@arb.ca.gov before 5pm on Friday April 28.
- Pre-proposals must be submitted by email to research@arb.ca.gov before 5pm, May 22, 2023
- All pre-proposal submitters will be notified of the status of their submission on June 14, 2023
- For selected pre-proposals only, full proposals and detailed budgets will be due on July 5, 2023
Application Process
If your research team is interested in conducting projects currently in active solicitation, please submit a letter of interest to research@arb.ca.gov by Friday April 28. The letter of interest can consist of a brief email including the contact information of the prospective principal investigator (name, email, UC/CSU affiliation) and the title of the project you intend to apply for. No further details are required.
Full pre-proposals must be submitted to research@arb.ca.gov by 5 p.m. on May 22, 2023.
Responses to this solicitation should follow the pre-proposal template attached to this page. The main elements of the pre-proposal shall include the following:
- A pre-proposal that does not exceed five-pages and discusses your proposed approach for conducting the research project.
- A curriculum vitae or statement of qualifications for all major scientists, community members and/or non-academic researchers who would be involved in the study (does not count toward 5-page limit of pre-proposal).
- A brief description of research that has been conducted or is currently underway by the applicant in areas related to this topic (it is preferable that this include funding source and amount of research funds; does not count toward 5-page limit of pre-proposal).
- For projects that include an equity component and/or community engagement, it is required that research teams provide a cultural competency/humility statement not to exceed two pages in length (does not count toward 5-page limit of pre-proposal).
- A preliminary budget using the Budget Form found in the template (does not count toward 5-page limit of pre-proposal).
Summary of Project Deliverables
Various projects in this solicitation have equity components and deliverables. Each statement of work and scoring criteria provide guidance on these requirements. Some equity related deliverables common to all projects include:
- At Beginning of Contract
- Work with CARB staff at the beginning of the project to create a 1-page plain-language outreach deliverable for public describing the project’s goals, process, and planned deliverables
- All researchers must undergo cultural competency training (examples include implicit bias training, racial equity training, etc.). Trainings should be completed or scheduled within 30 days of contract execution.
- During Active Contract Period
- Quarterly progress reports will include plain-language summaries that can be posted publicly
- Prior to Contract Close
- Include plain-language summary and equity implications sections in draft final report
- Work with CARB to create plain-language outreach deliverables for public summarizing results and impact of project (available in multiple languages)
- Peer reviewed publications should be publicly available
Please reference the Scope of Work and Scoring Criteria information provided below for each project to get the full details on all pre-proposal requirements and project deliverables.
List of Projects with Pre-Proposal Solicitation
Below is a list of the individual projects in active solicitation with a link to the paragraph description on the Empower Innovation site and a link to the individual project page where prospective researchers can find a detailed description of the project, or Scope of Work, and the Scoring Criteria, which is the basis upon which CARB staff will rank pre-proposals.
Currently Active
Pre-Proposals due May 22, 2023