Proposal Submission

Update 2/11/2025: Due to the recent changes and uncertainties at the federal level about research and funding, the Board of Directors of PacTrans made the following decisions regarding full proposal submission for Year 2025-2027:

1) Each project team is allowed to adjust the title and scope of their proposal as they see necessary. It is fine if you choose not to do so.
2) The full proposal submission deadline will be extended to March 14.
Download UW Small RFP Proposal Word Template

Your 2025 UW Small RFP Proposal should be submitted in an Adobe PDF or Word file by March 14, 2025 February 28, 2025. The proposal should be NO MORE THAN TEN (10) pages (without references, resumes, or match letters) and include the following categories:

  1. Project Title:
  2. Project Type: USDOT collects statistics on the types of research that PacTrans funds. Most specifically they distinguish between advanced research and applied, or practical research. Your project will not be judged based on its type but please indicate whether your proposal is considered advanced or applied research.
  3. Project Team: The project needs to identify the PI,  co-PI(s), and senior Personnel (if any). Please note that ONLY the faculty members on the three UW campuses are eligible to apply.
  4. Research Background and Problem Statement: What problem is being solved and why should anyone care? What are the goals of the project?
  5. PacTrans Objectives: Discuss how the project is: (a) relevant to the PacTrans thrusts and priority areas (see above); (b) regionally important (benefits to more than one state); (c) nationally significant; and (d) supportive of the US DOT strategic goal of Mobility.
  6. Approach: General framework for what you plan to do, approach, methodology, etc. This also includes the task list table included in the proposal template.
  7. Technology Transfer Plan: Outcomes, Outputs, and Impacts: USDOT prioritizes technology transfer, which they break down into three parts: outcomes, outputs, and impacts. (For more on these parts see the recent USDOT T2 Primer here: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/12262). Please clearly describe all of your intended outcomes and outputs, as well as probable impacts of your work.
  8. Required Recorded Seminar/Webinar: In the spirit of this new emphasis on technology transfer. PacTrans requires PIs of our funded projects to facilitate, as one of your deliverables, a recorded presentation of your research and results. We highly recommend that this either be an in-person seminar or a webinar with current project partners and/or potential users of your research outcomes. Here please briefly describe how you intend to fulfill this deliverable and list likely in-person and/or virtual invitees to your presentation.
  9. Amount of UTC Funds Requested and Budget Justification: A maximum of $75,000 is available for each UW Small Project.
  10. Non-federal Match: Justification for and commitment of the match is required. This can include a formal letter from the state agency, your university, or other non-federal source that shows the interest to commit the match, the amount, and type of match (in-kind or cash). Also, a contact person for the matching source should be identified in the proposal. To minimize burden on external partners, we do not require you to provide match letters with your proposal. Such letters are optional for the proposal, but will be required if and when your project is selected. We do highly encourage you to be in conversations with potential match partners and make those conversations known in this section.
  11. Similar Work Disclosure: PacTrans needs to ensure that work proposed for our funding is not overly similar to work already funded elsewhere. Please briefly describe any similar work currently funded through other sources that is closely related to the work proposed here and, more specifically, highlight the differences between the two scopes. PacTrans may request a copy of the most closely related proposal or project report for evaluation purposes. You may use the TRID Research in Progress database to identify potential similar projects.
  12. References: The literature cited in the proposal need to be provided.
  13. Resumes: Include one-page resumes for the project’s Principal Investigators and Senior Personnel.

Per a USDOT requirement, a data management plan for each funded project is required. PacTrans will require selected proposals to submit a data management plan later. No data management plan is needed for the proposal stage.

To top