The Advanced Technology Program Assessing Outcomes (2001) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
The ATP Competition Structure
The ATP Competition Structure
Pages 173-188
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 175... ...
Barbara Lambis is the Senior Policy and Operations Advisor to the Director of ATP. This article was based on a draft prepared by Barbara Newland, who served as the ATP Competitions Manager until leaving government service on 11 November 2000.
|
From page 176... ...
Large, "Fortune 500" companies participating as single company recipients must cost share at least 60 percent of the total project costs. Joint ventures can receive funds for R&D activities for up to 5 years with no funding limitation other than the announced availability of funds.
|
From page 177... ...
This paper reviews the competitive structure of ATP' s project selection process. It describes the basic principles that determine how the selection process is structured, and identifies the core components of all of the program's competi4 For more information about ATP, its selection process, and selection criteria, see the NIST ATP web site: http://www.atp.nist.gov.
|
From page 178... ...
· Expert technical and business reviewers outside the SEB conduct independent peer reviews of proposals, which are provided to the SEB as advice in project-selection deliberations. All reviewers must be free from conflict of interest and must sign nondisclosure agreements.
|
From page 179... ...
From this process of review of both written and orally presented information about proposed projects, semi-finalist proposals are ranked and the Selecting Official chooses funding recipients based upon the ranking, the availability of funds, adherence to the ATP selection criteria, and an appropriate distribution of funds among technologies and their applications. Award recipients are announced and awards are made in the form of cooperative agreements between the award recipients and NIST.
|
From page 180... ...
The changing budgetary environment for the program has had a major impact. As Figure 2 indicates, through the initial years of the Bush administration, the program increased steadily, with substantial bipartisan support.
|
From page 181... ...
To provide advice to the SEB, the ATP obtained independent reviews from outside technical and business/economic expert reviewers. During these early years, the independent technical and business/economic reviews were conducted sequentially, with all of the proposals receiving technical reviews and only the semi-finalists receiving business/economic reviews.
|
From page 182... ...
The merits of proposed focused competitions were judged on the following elements: · Technical goals and program scope; · Economic goals and scope of proposed work; · Potential for broad-based economic benefits to the United States; · Level of industry commitment and clear need for ATP support. Focused programs were selected that best met the ATP criteria and could be launched with the available funds.
|
From page 183... ...
At the same time, some members of Congress were voicing stringent objections to the focused program mode of competitions, and annual uncertainties about funding levels continued. Competition-Dependent Variations in the Selection Process Although the basic selection process has remained relatively constant over the last decade, the type of competition has caused some variation in certain steps of the process.
|
From page 184... ...
A proposal that was screened out at this point was sent to the General Competition' s SEE for evaluation. Those that were screened out in any of the Competitions General, Focused, or Open due to other serious deficiencies, such as lack of a technical plan, were simply eliminated from competition.
|
From page 185... ...
Outside Independent Reviews During the first several years of General Competitions, the independent technical and business/economic reviews performed by outside reviewers to provide advice to the SEBs were performed sequentially. All proposals received technical reviews, but only semi-finalists received business/economic reviews by the reviewers outside the SEB.
|
From page 186... ...
Gate 2: Proposer submits more detailed information to address the potential for broad-based economic benefits selection criterion and detailed budget data. If the information submitted is determined to have high meet, | PRoPOSALS 1 ~ SCREE NING | | CLASSIF ICATION | Gate 1: FULL TECHNICAL PLAN + PRELIMINARY ECON/BUS PLAN TECHNOLOGICAL MERIT · Technical Rationale -technological innovation - high technical risk & feasibility · R&D Plan ECONOMIC/BUSINESS MERIT · National Economic Benefits · Need for ATP Funding · Pathway to Economic Benefits 1 1 1 Gate 2: FULL ECONOMIC/BUSINESS PROPOSAL + BUDGET INFO 1 .' ...........................................
|
From page 187... ...
The past 10 years have seen many adjustments in the proposal review and project selection process, and additional changes are likely as the program staff and management continue to learn from experience and to adjust to the changing requirements of a program focused on rapidly evolving technologies and companies competing in a global marketplace. Lessons from Evaluation An additional source of information that is increasingly informing the selection process is ATP's evaluation program.
|
From page 188... ...
These changes were necessary to allow the capacity of handling in a timely way the number of proposals received in the face of budget-restricted competition cycles. Efforts to achieve processes compatible with larger scale operations, such as implementation of Focused Program Competitions, have in some cases given rise to other problems, such as Congressional objections that the Focused Program selection process was not adequately vetted by outside reviewers in deciding which technologies would be proposed.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.