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Protocol for Evaluation and Development of WMRC Projects
Overview and Scope of the WMRC
The
Western Mining Resource Center (WMRC) has been established at the Colorado
School of Mines with the objective of addressing the health and safety related
training and research needs of the Western mining community. The need for such
a center arose following the closure of Bureau of Mines in 1995 and the
transfer of the Technical support Center of Mine Safety and Health
Administration away from Denver in 1997.
The
Center has two components: Research and Training Components. Protocol regarding
how each component operates differs due to the nature of activities concerning
each component. If the nature of the training program allows, we will follow
the general protocol set in this document. However, the first year experience
shows that the process established during this year is very effective and most
appropriate to the nature of the training program, as well. This document
outlines the protocol for developing projects for the WMRC.
The
Deputy Directors for Research and Training components administer their
respective programs and report to the Center Director. Close cooperation exists
between the two components. The Center receives advice and recommendation for
the WMRC Advisory Board (AB) and the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). The
WMRC is administered from Room 220, Brown Building, 1600 Illinois Street,
Golden, Colorado 80401.
The
purpose of the Center is to improve the health and safety of the miners by
performing training and targeted research that will produce methods and tools
to protect miners against work related injuries and diseases. The program
activities are grouped under four main program areas including:
- Powered haulage
- Ground control
- Mine Environment, Ergonomics and
Systems
- Training and training material
development with innovative delivery mode
Under
each program area, individual research projects are developed to provide
results toward meeting the program area objectives. During the first year, the
Research Committee, formed within the Mining Engineering Department at CSM, led
the way to develop six research projects based on the health and safety
statistics provided by MSHA. Risk Matrix and Gap Areas Matrix developed by
NIOSH, direct industry contacts, and input from the Center’s industry advisory
constituents, namely the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and the Advisory
Board (AB) all contributed to the development of these first six projects prior
to their submission to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). From
the second year onward, all research projects are subjected to external peer
industry technical reviews to ensure that the research effort is kept relevant
and its objectives are achievable.
Project
development
Project
development is a two-stage process. Participating researchers submit a
"Concept Proposal", which is a one-page summary of a new idea or a
concept with a clear indication of how the proposed outcomes will benefit
health and safety in the mining industry. WMRC will request a "Detailed
Proposal" for submission. Detailed proposals will be externally reviewed
and the WMRC will decide on the acceptance of the proposal which will be
incorporated into the relevant existing research program or carried out as a
new research area. The formats for both types of proposals are given in
Appendix I and II.
A yearly
timetable sequencing the Center’s the activities will be developed before the
start of the financial year and sent to AB and TAC. The timetable will also be
published at the Center’s web page for the information of collaborators,
western mining departments and other external parties. The sequence events and
project development steps for the year 2000-2001 is given in Appendix III.
During
the month of August, WMRC will invite the mining engineering departments
located in the western United States to submit Concept Proposals by the end of
September. Project leaders of the existing research projects can also respond
to this invitation by submitting their Concept Proposals if they with to do so.
Invitations will also be published on the WMRC’s web site.
It is
important to note that the Concept Proposals are more likely to be incorporated
into the ongoing program if these are complimentary to the current projects
rather than requesting completely new projects, since there is not budget allocated
for new projects at this stage. A proposal to replace an existing project by a
new one has to have a strong argument, since all of the existing projects have
been approved by the AB and TAC after carefully considering the Risk Matrix and
Gap Areas Matrix developed by NIOSH and the results from a significant amount
of survey of accident statistics and literature survey studies. The Concept
Proposals requesting new projects will, however, be ranked and considered in
case of completion of one of the existing projects or additional funding
becoming available.
Evaluation
of Research Project Proposals
All
project proposals will be subjected to external peer industry technical reviews
to ensure that the research efforts are kept relevant and the objectives
achievable.
Concept
Proposal
New
Concept Proposals are first evaluated internally by the WMRC Evaluation
Committee (see Appendix I). Concept Proposals from leaders of existing projects
should be accompanied by the final draft report on the pervious year’s research
activities. The concept proposals will be evaluated by the TAC members. Based
on the TAC members’ feedback and the discussions during the October meeting,
the Director of the WMRC will decide with regard to continuation of the current
projects and incorporation of Concept Proposals into the WMRC ongoing program.
The successful proposers will than be asked to develop their Concept Proposals
into "Detailed Proposals".
Detailed
Proposals
The due
date for Detailed Proposals submission is mid-February. The Detailed Proposals
will be sent to at least two external reviewers for peer evaluation. An
external reviewer is a suitably qualified person with experience in the
proposed research area and cannot be a WMRC researcher, director, board member,
or person who may have any direct or indirect conflict of interest with the
Center’s mission. An example of the peer review evaluation form is attached as
Appendix III. Based on the peer reviews and advice from the appropriate staff,
the Director of the WMRC will develop the next year’s program and submit it to
the AB for their meeting in mid-April. Finally, based on the input from AB and
the budget constraints, the director of WMRC will develop the final program for
the following year and submit it to CDC. Current projects requesting
continuation automatically qualify for Detailed Proposal application without a
Concept Proposal. However, Concept Proposals submitted to compliment or
re-direct an existing project may significantly enhance the chances of funding
continuation.
The WMRC
proposal for the upcoming year will be finalized and sent to CDC during the
third week in April. The next year projects will then be announced on the
Center’s web page.
Report
preparation
The
Center will submit quarterly progress reports and a yearly report to CDC. The
due dates for the quarterly reports for the year 2000-2001 are given in the
Activity Timetable in Appendix III. The annual report will be submitted within
three months of the end of the financial year. The formats for the quarterly
and yearly reports are given in Appendix II.
The
content of the quarterly report is confined to the progress achieved during the
quarter but should reflect how the progress complements the project’s overall
objectives. It should state the achievements, changes to the research plan if
there is any, and a bried statement on the budget.
Yearly
reports will respond to the reporting items specified in the noncompeting
cooperative agreement solicitation. In the progress report section of the
yearly report, the new projects will provide comprehensive study of the
accident and illness statistics, for example, as provided by MSHA, and previous
work pertinent to the project’s goals.
Appendix I
- Concept Proposals preparation and development
Due
date:
The due
date for Concept Proposals seeking funding from WMRC during the period
September 1, 2001 – August 31, 2002 is October 2, 2000.
Format:
Use size
12 Times New Roman or Arial fonts for typing. The one page proposal should
include:
- Short title
- Objectives
(100 words)
- Short
summary and description (300 words)
- Relevance of
the outcomes to (150 words) WMRC’s mission
- The names of
potential collaborators
- Summary
budget (the amount requested from WMRC)
Evaluation
Committee:
Preliminary
Concept Proposal ranking will be done by the Evaluation Committee, which is
comprised of:
- Director of
WMRC
- Deputy
Director of WMRC (Research)
- Deputy
Director WMRC (Training)
- Advisory
Board Chairman
- Research
Technical Advisory Committee Chairman
- Training
Technical Advisory Committee Chairman
Concept
Proposal ranking criteria<:
The
Screening Committee will base its ranking of the Concept Proposals on the
following criteria:
- Benefits of
the concepts to the health and safety of miners
- Feasibility
of the project (team, budget, time (one year with potential extension))
- The urgency
level of the problem addressed
- Potential
for attracting industry involvement (Industry support for the project)
- Potential
for collaborating with external researchers
- Potential
for generating new ideas and concepts to be used in future projects
Concept
Proposals must be addressed to:
WMRC, Colorado School of Mines
Department of Mining Engineering
Attention: Dr. Ugur Ozbay (for research) or
Attention: Mr. Rob Ferriter (for training)
1600 Illinois St.
Golden, Colorado 80401
Appendix II
- Detailed Proposals preparation and development
Since
WMRC receives it funding on a yearly basis, the proposals that are expected to
achieve its full objectives more than one year must state both short (one year)
and long term (envisaged duration) objectives, separately. The projects must be
planned to achieve its short term objectives and provide results in a one year
period.
Evidence
of industry support and collaboration in form of equipment, labor, cash, and
in-kind contributions significantly increases the projects value as it
demonstrate industry need and research in the proposed are.
Due
date<:
The due
date is October 2, 2000 for the Detailed Proposals seeking funding from WMRC
during September 1, 2001 – August 31, 2002 is February 14, 2001.
Format:
Use size
12 Times New Roman or Arial fonts for typing. The proposal must include the
following topics:
- Title
- Objectives
- Problem
Statement
- Detailed
project description and statement of how the objectives will be achieved;
including the relevance of the outcomes to WMRC’s mission
- Milestones
- Collaborators
and industry support
- Budget
itemized as salaries, student support, equipment, travel, and other items
(specify).
- Progress
report (existing projects)
Detailed
Proposal ranking criteria:
The
external reviewers will evaluate the detailed proposal using the evaluation
forms attached. The Advisory Board will base its recommendation on the external
reviews and the following criteria:
- Benefits of
the proposal to health and safety of miners
- Feasibility
of the project (team, budget, time (one year with potential extension))
- The urgency
level of the problem addressed
- Potential
for attracting industry involvement (Industry support for the project)
- Potential
for collaborating with external researchers
- Potential
for conceiving new ideas and concepts to be used in future projects
- Potential
for facilitating and developing new concepts
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