Extramural Fire Research Grants Program …

 Extramural Fire Research
         Grants Program

                Announcement and
                 Preparation Guide




                                       October 2007




              Building and Fire Research Laboratory
       National Institute of Standards and Technology
                        U.S. Department of Commerce
                       Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8660
http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/866/extramuralprogram.htm
                                          Table of Contents


I. Introduction...........................................................................   1

II. Guidelines for Submission of Proposals..........................................         1

III. Proposal Format......................................................................   3

IV. Evaluation of Proposals.............................................................     6

V. Reporting Requirements ...........................................................        7

VI. Renewal Proposals and No-Cost Extensions.....................................            8




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I. Introduction

The Fire Research Division of the Building and Fire Research Laboratory (BFRL) of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) sponsors a program of grants,
cooperative agreements, and contracts in support of basic and applied fire research, as
authorized by 15 U.S.C. 278f, and the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (PL
93-493). Section 18 of the Act authorizes the Secretary of Commerce, through the Center
For Fire Research (now BFRL)," ...to conduct, directly or through contracts or grants, a fire
research program...".

This document describes the grants program and provides guidance on the preparation of
proposals. The BFRL Fire Research Program and the Fire Research Division organization
are described in the Fire Research Division web site [http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/866/]. Copies
of technical reports on these projects can be found by searching through the Building and
Fire Research Information Service (BFRLRIS) [http://bfrlris.nist.gov].

The Building and Fire Research Laboratory works closely with many other Federal agencies
on tasks relating to their safety problems. Grants and contracts in support of such activities
may be jointly sponsored by the interested agencies.

The annual budget of BFRL for the support of fire research contracts and grants has been
about $1.3 million over the past few years. Because of commitments for the support of
multi-year programs, only a portion of the budget is available to initiate new programs in any
one year. Grants typically range between $10,000 and $100,000 per year, over a maximum
of three years.

II.    Guidelines for Submission of Proposals

The Fire Research Grants Program is open to institutions of higher education; hospitals; non-
profit organizations; commercial organizations; state, local, and Indian tribal governments;
foreign governments; organizations under the jurisdiction of foreign governments; and
international organizations. Joint programs with participation by more than one eligible
entity are possible.

All grant awards are made on a competitive basis. An annual notice that provides additional
information on the availability of grant funds, applicant eligibility, program objectives, and
selection criteria is issued in the Federal Funding Opportunity Notice posted at
www.grants.gov when funds are approved by Congress (normally by the end of the first
quarter of each fiscal year). Proposals should be compatible with the following program
goals and objectives:

A.     Analysis and Prediction: The objectives are to develop understanding and predictive
       methods for dynamic fire phenomena to advance fire science and engineering practice
       and to perform research to understand the heat and mass transfer processes occurring
       in fires in order to improve predictions of the growth, spread, suppression, and
       emissions transport from fires of all scales. Experiments and metrology are



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     developed and used to develop, support, and verify advanced computer simulations of
     fire phenomena, fire hazards, fire protection, and fire fighting. The contact person for
     this group is Anthony Hamins, and he may be reached at (301) 975-6598 or
     anthony.hamins@nist.gov.

B.   Fire Metrology: The objective is to apply measurement science in the development
     and quantification of new and existing measurement methods for studying fire
     growth, fire-induced flows, flame radiation, smoke formation and dynamics, species
     production, heat transfer, fire suppression, and fire detection. The contact person for
     this group is Jiann Yang, and he may be reached at (301) 975-6662 or jcy@nist.gov.

C.   Fire Fighting Technology: The objectives are to conduct research that enables
     advances in fire fighter safety, fire ground operations, and effectiveness of the fire
     service; develop and apply measurements, modeling, and technology, and improve
     the understanding of the behavior, prevention and control of fires to enhance fire
     fighting operations and equipment, fire suppression, fire investigations, and disaster
     response; and provide input, including experimental data, fire modeling and test
     protocols, to advance the effectiveness of fire safety standards and codes. The
     contact person for this group is Nelson Bryner, and he may be reached at (301) 975-
     6868 or nelson.bryner@nist.gov.

D.   Integrated Performance Assessment: The objective is to produce tools utilizing
     enhanced data and prediction methods to quantify fire events for fire hazard and risk
     assessment; for fire fighting operations and training; for fire investigations; and for
     performance evaluations of fire protection systems in buildings, transportation
     systems, and vehicles in response to fire. Stakeholders include architects and design
     engineers; manufacturers of building materials, products, and furnishings; code
     developers, enforcers, and regulatory authorities; and those exposed to direct risk
     such as building owners, occupants, the fire service, and the general public. The
     contact person for this group is Tom Cleary, and he can be reached at (301) 975-6858
     or tclear@nist.gov.

E.   Materials and Products: The objective is to perform research enabling the confident
     development by industry of new, less-flammable materials and products. This
     capability is based on understanding fundamentally the mechanisms that control the
     ignition, flame spread and burning rate of materials, as well as and the chemical and
     physical characteristics that affect these aspects of flammability. This include
     developing methods of measuring the response of a material to fire conditions that
     enable assured prediction of the full-scale performance of the final product;
     developing computational molecular dynamics and other mechanistic approaches to
     understand flame retardant mechanisms and the effects of polymer chemical structure
     on flammability; characterizing the burning rates of charring and non-charring
     polymers and composites; and delineating and modeling the enthalpy and mass
     transfer mechanisms of materials combustion. The contact person for this group is
     Jeff Gilman, and he can be reached at (301) 975-6573 or jwgilman@nist.gov.




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Prospective proposers are encouraged to become familiar with the fire program of BFRL
through visits to NIST, study of reports, and discussions with appropriate staff members
before submitting proposals.

Proposals are accepted any time. Those received after April 30 may not be processed in time
for funding in the same fiscal year, but may be considered for funding in the next fiscal year,
subject to the availability of funds.

Submit one signed original and three copies of the proposal to:

       Fire Grants Program Assistant
       Building and Fire Research Laboratory (BFRL)
       National Institute of Standards and Technology
       100 Bureau Drive, MS - 8660
       Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-8660
       Tel: (301) 975-6863
       E-mail: wanda.duffin@nist.gov

Electronic filing is accepted through www.grants.gov. Cover page should include a
statement that says the technical proposal is for the Fire Research Grant Program.


III.   Proposal Format

The proposal must contain sufficient information to permit evaluation of the significance of
the proposed research and the probability of achieving the objectives. The proposal should
not exceed 25 pages in length, including all required forms, budget sheets, vitae and
supporting appended materials (unless specifically requested by BFRL). The key parts to the
proposal, described in the following paragraphs, should be submitted as numbered to
facilitate processing:

SF Forms are available through the Grants.gov website
http://www.grants.gov/agencies/aapproved_standard_forms.jsp

1.     Cover Sheet - Form SF-424, "Application for Federal Assistance"
       (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 11-609)

2.     Budget Information - Form SF-424a ­ Fill out one for each year you are requesting
       funding (up to 3 years) as follows:

          Section A (a)1 - Fire Research
                     (b) - 11609
                     (c) - N/A
                     (d) - N/A
                     (e) - Amount requested
                       5 - Fill in the totals



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      Section B - Fill in cumulative amounts in columns (1) and (5) for each category.
      Provide an attachment with a detailed budget showing how the amounts were
      determined; e.g.:

            Personnel - Names of individuals if known (if not, the position title);
            yearly salary; level of effort (percent) or staff months.

            Travel - Travel to a major technical meeting and/or to NIST to present research
            results is expected, and suitable provisions should be made in the budget.
            When foreign travel is an essential part of the proposed program, support
            should be requested and justified.

            Equipment - Grantees are expected to have available standard office, shop and
            laboratory equipment for use on the proposed research. Specialized equipment
            needs costing more than $5,000 should be separately listed and justified.

            Supplies - break into general categories; e.g., computer supplies, office
            supplies, laboratory supplies, publications costs.

            Contractual - List all subcontracts. Subcontracts for more than $25,000
            must have an accompanying budget and a sole source justification. (If the
            contractor is not known, the amount should be budgeted but if awarded,
            prior approval must be requested from NIST when negotiating with a
            subcontractor).

            Other - Anything that does not fit into the categories above.

         Sections C through F need not be filled out.


3.    Form SF-424B - "Assurances - Non-construction" - Please review information and
      sign document.

(CD Forms are available from the DOC OCIO Forms Management Web Site.
http://ocio.os.doc.gov/ITPolicyandPrograms/Electronic_Forms/SSDATA_FORMSMANAG
EMENT_REGION7)

4.    Form CD-511 - "Certification Regarding Lobbying".
      http://ocio.os.doc.gov/s/groups/public/@doc/@os/@ocio/@oitpp/documents/content/
      dev01_002530.pdf




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5.      CD-346 - "Application for Funding Assistance" (not for Universities)
            Technical Proposal
            Budget Narrative
            Supporting Budget Documentation (e.g. Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate
            Agreement)
            http://ocio.os.doc.gov/s/groups/public/@doc/@os/@ocio/@oitpp/documents/conte
        nt/dev01_002454.pdf

For assistance with obtaining forms contact the Fire Grants Program Assistant ­ see contact
information above.

6.      Summary Project Description - (one page maximum)
           o Technical area which proposal addresses (relate to specific group or project
             from Section II. information.)
           o Concise statement of primary objective
           o Brief description of problem
           o Summary of technical approach
           o Major milestones on way to achieving objectives


7.      Statement of Significance - (1/2 page maximum)

     a. Explain how the results of the proposed research relate to the basic BFRL objective of
        providing the technical base for reducing the nation's fire losses. Describe how the
        results will be utilized for this purpose (e.g., the publication of basic data,
        development of improved materials or systems, introduction of findings into
        regulations and codes, etc.)
     b. Describe the value and impact of the proposed research and the benefits to the
        grantee's institution and the general public.
     c. Summarize in two sentences using lay terms the specific nature of the work.

8.      Technical Proposal:

        Background: Describe the present state of knowledge of the problem.
        An exhaustive review is not needed, but the discussion should show a familiarity
        with past and current work in the area and demonstrate how the proposed work
        relates to the internal BFRL research program and how it will advance our
        understanding of the problem.

        Research Plan: Describe how the work will be accomplished. Indicate, where
        appropriate, the range of variables to be explored, the number of tests to be
         performed, and the method of presenting the results. Describe any unusual
        techniques, apparatus, or special facilities to be employed in the program.

        Schedule: Show dates at which major milestones are expected to be attained,
        including technical reports, papers, presentations and demonstrations.



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       Program Organization: Identify the principal professional staff members who
       will participate in the program and describe their roles and level of effort.

       Students' Participation: Participation of students at both the graduate and
       undergraduate levels is an important objective of the BFRL grants program.
       Participation in the program can make the student more aware of fire safety
       problems, as well as providing training for future professional activities in fire
       research and fire protection. Plans for student participation should be detailed in the
       proposal.

       Related Programs: Current research support of the principal staff members
       should be stated, as well as pending research proposals, with the time and
       commitment involved. Specify other agencies to which the present proposal has
       been or will be submitted. Submission to another agency will not prejudice the
       evaluation of the proposal.

9.     Resume of Principal Investigator(s): (not to exceed five pages)

10.    Proprietary Material - Where proprietary material must be included for proper
       evaluation of the proposal, the proprietary material must be identified and labeled
       in accordance with the DOC instruction for submissions of unsolicited proposals.
       Proposals which do not contain restrictive identification and labeling will be
       considered to be free of all restrictions.


IV.    Evaluation of Proposals

The Fire Grants Program Assistant reviews the proposal package when received to ensure
that it is complete, and that it is responsive to the general requirements of the program. A
letter is sent to the principal investigator acknowledging receipt of the complete package.

Responsive proposals will be assigned, as received, to the appropriate group leader of the
five programs listed in Section II. Proposals are evaluated for technical merit based on the
evaluation criteria by three or more reviewers chosen from among NIST professionals,
technical experts from other interested government agencies, and experts from the fire
research community at large. At least one reviewer of each proposal is external to BFRL.
The technical evaluation criteria are as follows:

       Technical quality of the research. Reviewers will assess the rationality, innovation
       and imagination of the proposal. (0 - 35 points).

       Potential impact of the results. Reviewers will assess the potential impact and the
       technical application of the results to the fire safety community. (0 - 25 points).




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       Staff and institution capability to do the work. Reviewers will evaluate the quality of
       the facilities and experience of the staff to assess the likelihood of achieving the
       objective of the proposal. (0 - 20 points).

       Match of budget to proposed work. Reviewers will assess the budget against the
       proposed work to ascertain the reasonableness of the request. (0 - 20 points).

Group Leaders will make funding recommendations to the Division Chief based on the
technical evaluation and the relationship of the work proposed to the objectives of the
program. In making application selections, the Division Chief will take into consideration
the results of the evaluations, the group leader's recommendation, the availability of funds,
and relevance to the objectives of the Fire Research Program.

The principal investigator will be notified by letter as to the final recommended decision,
usually within 6 months of submission. Copies of the reviewers' comments will be provided.
The final approval of selected applications and award of financial assistance will be made by
the NIST Grants Officer based on compliance with application requirements as published in
the Federal Funding Opportunity Notice. Applicants may be asked to modify objectives,
work plans, or budgets and provide supplemental information required by the agency prior to
award.

When a proposal for a multi-year project is approved, funding will initially be provided for
only the first year of the program. Funding for each subsequent year of a multi-year proposal
will be contingent on satisfactory progress as documented in an annual report (see Reporting
Requirements below), and the availability of funds.


V.     Reporting Requirements

All technical information and data developed under BFRL grants must be made available to
the public. Presentations at appropriate technical meetings and publications in archival
journals are expected. Appropriate acknowledgment of NIST support should be made.
Reasonable costs for such activities should be included in the budget. A final report
summarizing all of the technical activities conducted under each grant is required. BFRL
reserves the right to reprint and distribute interim and final technical reports and to list them
with the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).

Three different types of reports are required:

A.      Quarterly Reports - A one page summary of the progress made in the previous
       three months is due January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 beginning with the
       first full quarter following an award, and should be sent to the NIST scientific officer
       (electronic submission is encouraged). Describe progress on milestones, changes
       in direction or unexpected problems encountered. Include a paragraph on work
       planned for the next quarter.




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B.     Annual Report - A report (electronic or paper) is due annually to the NIST
       scientific officer two months prior to the anniversary date of the grant. The
       report should stand by itself and include an abstract, a brief section on background
       material, a summary of objectives, progress made, significant findings, major
       redirection, and (if a multi-year grant) plans for next year and a request to
       implement the next year's funding as stated in your multi-year proposal. The
       annual report will be used to make decisions on funding the next increment for
       multi-year projects. (The annual report is replaced by the final report at the end of
       the last year of the grant). The titles of articles submitted, student projects and
       theses should be included. Preprints and complete copies of theses and project
       reports are not required.

C.     Final Project Report - A comprehensive written report is due to the NIST
       scientific officer within 90 days of the original (or extended) grant expiration
       date. The report (or portions of it) should be suitable for publication as a NIST-
       GCR, at the discretion of the NIST scientific officer. A list of all students
       supported by the grant, the titles and abstracts of their theses or projects, and a
       complete citation of all papers and presentations fully or partially supported by the
       grant should be included.


VI.    Renewal Proposals and No-Cost Extensions

A renewal proposal is not required if the original grant was for a multi-year project.
Significant changes in the direction of research must be submitted in writing and approved by
the NIST scientific officer. A decision for continued funding of a multi-year project will be
contingent upon satisfactory progress as documented in the annual report and the availability
of funds. No liability will be assumed by the government because of non-renewal or
extension of a grant.

The grant will terminate automatically at the end of the grant period (three years or less).
The proposed program should be planned so that all objectives can be met and a final report
prepared within 90 days following the end of the grant period. Follow-on proposals will be
evaluated as a new grant application in competition with other proposal submissions.

If additional time beyond the expiration date is required and exceptional circumstances are
warranted, a formal request for a no-cost extension to the NIST scientific officer at least 30
days prior the termination is required. The request must explain the need for the extension
and include an estimate of the unobligated funds remaining and a plan for their use. In the
event of an extension, all reporting requirements described in Section V remain in effect,
with the final report due within 90 days of the end of the extension period.




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