Quantum CT Use Inspired Research Pilot Grants RFP – Quantum Sensing

Proposals must be led by tenure-track / tenured faculty at UConn or Yale with Assistant Professor rank or higher

· Eligible teams must include an unfunded industry partner

· Teams that include representation from both Yale and UConn are preferred

· To support the development of an integrated ecosystem, teams are encouraged (but not required) to include unfunded collaborators from other CT-based academic institutions.

• Applications
  • Applications submitted by Yale or UConn faculty leads (application guidelines below) through the submission portal
  • Proposals containing by UConn personnel must also attach a completed and signed Internal Proposal Review (IPR) form indicating “Yes” to the relevant Export Control question.
• Review and Selection
  • Applications are routed to qualified faculty and industry reviewers selected from the Quantum CT ecosystem
  • Quantum CT program leaders select finalists that are the best fit for the opportunity based on reviewer scores and comments
  • Selected finalists will be contacted with instructions to route full proposal documents (e.g., required budget templates, scope of work, budget justification) through their home institution’s standard pre-award review process, including compliance reviews such as export and FCOI.
• Award Set-Up (for Finalists following institutional review)
  • Award accounts for each institution will be set up for team use under the terms of the parent NSF award/sub-award once compliance and pre-award reviews are complete.
  • Pilot program fund use must adhere to all applicable sponsored project policies and procedures.

Applications submitted by Yale or UConn faculty leads is done through the submission portal. Please be sure to read all the guidelines thoroughly. Each item/section should be prepared, labeled, and ordered as indicated below.  Some information will need to be entered into a form on the application site.  Other documents will need to be uploaded.  See below for details.

Application Form

• Lead PI Information
  • Submitting PI first and last name
  • Institution
  • School/College
  • Managing Unit
  • Email
  • Faculty/Academic Rank
• Project Title:
• Team
  • List of Faculty Collaborators (include affiliation and project role)
  • List of Industry Collaborators (include affiliation and project role)
• Checkbox: My proposed project does not require human subjects, animal subjects, biosafety concerns or other elements that require an approved compliance protocol.
• Project Abstract / Lay Summary: Succinctly state (for a non-specialist audience) the objectives, methods to be employed, and the significance of the proposed activity for addressing the targeted challenge problems.

Project Plan (upload)

The Project Plan should be no more than 4 pages (12-pt font and 1” margins). The Project Plan must clearly indicate the challenge problem technical areas (TAs) being addressed and describe the project in sufficient detail using the prompts and headings provided below.

References should be included in the project plan document, but they do not need to be counted against page limits

• Background and Rationale: Describe the scientific and use-inspired societal/industry need for the project. Include relevant literature or preliminary data supporting the feasibility. 
• Objectives and Research Questions: List the specific aims and key questions the project seeks to address.
• Methodology and Timeline: Outline the research design, methods, and data analysis plan. Provide a proposed timeline for the pilot project (e.g., 6-12 months)
• Feasibility and Resources: Describe your plan for pursuing the stated goals/aims, including research design, work plan, and methodological approach.  Describe the timeline projected for completing this work. 
• Expected Outcomes and Impact: Describe the anticipated results 1) how they will advance the field and 2) enable future funding. 
• Industry Collaboration History & Future Intentions:
  • Describe the partnership history between the academic members of your group and listed industry partners.  Include the nature of the collaboration and outcomes so far.  Include any joint publications, patents, or co-developed technologies. 
  • Describe the extent to which past collaborations will be continued in the current proposal. Outline how the proposed collaboration would advance the proposed research and benefit the industry partner(s)
• Evaluation and Success Metrics: Define how success will be measured (e.g. publications, prototypes, data quality, stakeholder engagement). Include 6- and 12-month milestones for the project.

Budget and Justification (Excel upload)

List and justify each budget item using this budget and justification excel file (download a copy)

Please provide a justification for each budget item in the appropriate column in the spreadsheet. If additional space is needed, you may include a budget justification document as an appendix

• Budgets for projects that include both Yale and UConn PIs may go up to: $150K
  • Up to $100K may be requested for personnel; up to $50K may be requested for materials and supplies, facility use fees, or other allowable lab costs.
• Budgets for projects that include only one university may be limited to: $75K
  • Up to $50K may be requested for personnel; up to $25K may be requested for materials and supplies, facility use fees, or other allowable lab costs.
• Reminder: Industry partners and collaborators from other Connecticut academic institutions may not be included in the requested NSF funded budget. However, Industry and other academic partners are encouraged to leverage existing resources to support the success of the project.
• Equipment costs (tangible, non-expendable, individual property having an anticipated life of one year or more with a unit acquisition cost of $5,000 or greater) are not allowable. 
• Work involving human and/or animal subjects or any other work requiring a compliance protocol is not allowable.

Key Person Documents (PDF upload)

Please include NSF-compliant biosketches and current and pending support documents produced and certified using SciENcv for all key personnel.

Appendices (PDF upload): May include:

1. UConn Internal Proposal Review form, or equivalent form for Yale submissions
2. Additional narrative budget justifications
3. Letters of support from unfunded collaborator(s) (optional)
4. Relevant publications or data

Using a 5-point rating scale from 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent), reviewers will rate and evaluate based on the seven criteria (and associated guiding questions) outlined below. In addition, reviewers will evaluate the budget and provide funding recommendations.

 Alignment with the Challenge Problem

• Does the proposal clearly and directly address the challenge problem outlined in the RFP?
• Is the project scope well-defined and relevant?
• Is the proposal’s intellectual rationale compelling?

Technical Feasibility and Workplan Quality

• To what degree does the proposal outline a clearly articulated, well-reasoned, and appropriate plan of action?
• Are available resources and expertise sufficient to support success?
• Is a one-year timeline adequate/realistic for achieving goals and meeting the project aims?

Innovation/Novelty

• Is the project original and innovative?
• Does the project challenge existing paradigms or barriers in quantum science?
• Does it introduce novel, methods, approaches, or applications?

Academic/Industry Collaboration

• Does the project include meaningful collaboration between academic and industry partners?
• Are partner roles and contributions clearly defined?
• Does the collaboration enhance the project’s potential for success and impact?    

 Investigators/Collaborators

• Are the PI, collaborators, and other personnel well-suited to carry out the project?
• Do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise?
• Does the team’s track record support the likelihood of success?

Impact and Outcomes

• If successful, would the project make a meaningful disciplinary or interdisciplinary contribution?
• Does the project have strong potential for producing societal benefits or broader recognition?
• Is there a clear plan for evaluating success and sharing results?

Future Funding / Potential for Sustainability

• What is the project’s potential for leading to a larger, longer-term research initiative?
• Is there a clear pathway to external funding?
• Are plans for dissemination and scaling clearly articulated?

Budget Evaluation

• Is the project budget appropriate and sufficient to carry out the proposed work?
• Are costs justified and aligned with the scope?
• Would you recommend any modifications to the budget?

If selected, project teams will be required to submit progress reports to program staff according to the following schedule: 

• Project Initiation Report: 45 days following setup
• Mid-project Report: June 30, 2027 
• Final Report: December 30, 2027 

Teams will also be asked to provide updates on project outcomes 1 year and 3 years following the completion of the award. Metrics will include: publications, IP disclosures, students engaged, follow-on funding proposals and awards, potential for further development, and industry impacts/benefits.

Technical Manager contact (for questions regarding the challenge problems and the topics of proposed projects):

• QuantumCT: Monica Roy, Senior Director, Corporate Engagement: monica.roy@quantumct.org

Administrative contact (for questions regarding the program guidelines or for assistance with proposal submission): 

• UConn: Charlotte Nelson, Internal Funding Coordinator, OVPR Research Development Services: research@uconn.edu
• Yale: Kimberly Nuzzo, Project Manager, Research and Academic Admin, QuantumCT: kimberly.nuzzo@yale.edu