Issues regarding Proposal Submission Process

I. Short Form

II. Communication to Scientists

III. Multi-lingual Files

Chris StuebnerApril 2005

I. Short Form (and Host Government Concurrence)

Simple View

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8

Proposal(Full-Form)

Project Agreement & Work Plan

Application (Short-Form)

Quarterly, Technical, Annual & Final Reports

Board Meeting

Transmittal Coversheet

DED approval Registration

Monitoring Visits Redirection Letters

Project Coordinators, DED,

ED

Project Coordinators Project Accountants,

Procurement, DED, ED

Project Coordinators Project Accountants,

Procurement, DED, ED

Gov’t. Concur.

Scientists

STCU Staff

HGC

Another View

Application (Short Form)

Registration

Host Government/s send Proposal (Full Form) to STCU

STCU sends Proposal to Financing Parties

HGCHGC

Details beneath Surface

MOL UZBUKR

AZ GE

Application (Short Form): scientist’s contact info, country, and intent

Registration: computer-generated instructions specific to country:

Host Government/s send Proposal (Full Form) to STCU

STCU sends Proposal to Financing Parties

Scientists follow one of six procedures and submit draft proposals for Host Government Concurrence/s:

Varied ProceduresAzerbaijan Georgia Ukraine Uzbekistan Joint

Language E, R/Az E, R/Ge E/Ukr E, R/Uz varies

Number of Copies 1 0 2 0 varies

Send documents to: STCU, which takes to Gov’t

Gov’t then STCU

Gov’t only Gov’t then STCU

varies

Needed for Host Gov’t Concurrence

-Institute Concur.

-Draft cover letter

- Institute Concur.

-PPER

-List to Ministry

-Expert Review

-Proj Mgr guarantee

-Institute Concur.

-Ministry Concur

- PPER

-Cover Letter

varies

Discussion: Short Form Elimination

Application (Short Form)

Registration

Host Government/s send Proposal (Full Form) to STCU

STCU sends Proposal to Financing Parties

HGC

Currently, automatic email depends on contact/info from application.

How will STCU communicate these procedures?

Discussion: Monitoring ProcessShort Form Registered with STCU

Host Gov’t

Concur.

STCU preparing

Cover Sheet

Western Expert Review

Funded; no Project

Agreement

Marzeev Institute of Hygiene &

Medical Ecology

3290

3301

Palladin Institute of Biochemistry

2643 (Jul ‘99)

3344

3348 NN-24 (WP

approved 2/04)

NN-27 (12/02)

Bogomolets Institute of Physiology

Central San-Epi Station

3514

Institute of Epidemiology &

Infectious Disease

3208 (since 6/03)

3039

Discussion: Tracking time to HGC

Application (Short Form)

Registration

Host Government/s send Proposal (Full Form) to STCU

STCU sends Proposal to Financing Parties

HGCHGC

What we collect nowTime in

for HGC Review

II. “Automated” Communication with Scientists

a. Email upon Registration

b. Individual files sent

c. Web site access

‘Ad hoc’ process• Communication already taking place

– Responsibility for content not firmly managed by senior specialists or IT– Active management would yield benefits:

• Reduce inquiries by phone• Improve quality of proposals

• Assign active, empowered owner of ‘automated’ communication – Important first contact with scientists– Interface with

• STCU field officers (country-specific procedures)• IT (to actually make changes)

• Designate “reviewing authority” – Understand process, clear English, notice detail– Aware of other impending changes, but willing to fix the fixable now

Email to Project Manager - Ukr• The STCU is pleased to inform you that your proposal [proposal

title] has been registered and assigned number [#]. Please complete and submit the Project Proposal (1 English copy and 2 Ukrainian copies) to the Ministry of Science and Education…

• You are kindly asked to submit only original documents. The deadline for submission is three months from the date of this letter. Your proposal package should include the following documents:– 1. STCU Project proposal (in English and Ukrainian)– 2. Previous Professional Experience Review for each weapon scientist,

engineer, and technician (PPER_UA.doc);– 3. List to Senior Deputy State Secretary of Ministry of Education and

Science (LSDSSMES.doc)– 4. Project Manager guarantee (PMG.doc)– 5. Expert review (ER.doc)– 6. Electronic version of your Project Proposal ( {proposal_number.ff}) on

floppy, CD-ROM, etc. Previous version of letter specified: “Full Form of the proposal (printed version of files FF_EN.doc, FF_ru.doc and FF.xls”)

Email to Project Manager (cont.)• Please be informed that for joint proposals with organizations in

Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine or Uzbekistan governmental concurrence from each involved country is required.

• Please note that the Full Form has been revised as of 9 February 2004. Because your project has been registered since that date, you will be required to complete the new form. You are not required to submit a separate Sustainability Plan. The current version of the informational package (Sustainability_Plan.doc) is provided for your guidance only. Some sections may prove helpful as you answer the new questions in the Full Form.

• The attached file ({proposal_number.ff}) can only be edited using the STCU Project Software which can be downloaded from the STCU website (www.stcu.int/stcups/). Once your proposal is complete, all required files mentioned above will be included when you print the document.

Need to make reference in letter & file name consistent

May wish to explain what, exactly, needs to be printed: 3081_P_EN.doc, 3081_P_RU.doc, 3081-P-budget.xls (which tabs?)

Email to Project Manager – Uz

• The Science and Technology Center in Ukraine is pleased to inform you that your proposal [proposal title] has been registered and assigned number [#]. Please complete and submit the STCU Project Proposal (1 English copy and 1 Russian/Uzbek copy) and submit the full package of documents to the Uzbekistan Field Office of the STCU.….

• You are kindly asked to submit only original documents. The deadline for submission is three months from the date of this letter. Your proposal package should include the following documents:– 1. STCU Project Proposal (in English and Russian);– 2. Previous Professional Experience Review for each weapon

scientist/engineer/technician (PPER_RU.doc); – 3. Electronic Version of your Project Proposal ({proposal_number.ff}) on

floppy, CD-ROM, etc.;– 4. Governmental Concurrence. Not mentioned:

ER (in Ukrainian)LSDSSMES (in Ukrainian)PMG (in Ukrainian)

File appears as 3081.ff

Email to Project Manager – Uz• In order to receive governmental concurrence, the following

documents should be submitted to the Center for Science and Technologies of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan:

– STCU Project Proposal (1 copy in English and 1 copy in Uzbek or Russian);

– Previous Professional Experience Review for each weapon scientist/engineer/technician;

– Letter of Concurrence from the Institute;– Letter of Concurrence from the Ministry;– Cover letter.

Previous version of letter specified: “Full Form of the proposal (printed version of files FF_EN.doc, FF_ru.doc and FF.xls”)

STCUPS output: Uzbek (3081)

Not necessary for pure Uzbek project:ER (in Ukrainian)LSDSSMES (in Ukrainian)PMG (in Ukrainian)

Email to Project Manager - Az• The STCU is pleased to inform you that your proposal [proposal

title] has been registered and assigned number [#]. Please complete and submit the STCU Project Proposal (1 English copy and 1 Russian/Azeri copy) to the Azerbaijan Field Office of the STCU…

• Please submit one original and one copy of the package of documents. The deadline for submission is three months from the date of this letter. Your proposal package should include the following documents:– 1. STCU Project proposal (in English and Russian) – 2. Previous Professional Experience Review for each weapon

scientist, engineer, and technician (PPER_RU.doc);– 3. Electronic version of your Project Proposal ({proposal_number.ff} )

on floppy, CD-ROM, etc.• In order to receive governmental concurrence, the following

documents should be submitted to the STCU Field Office in Azerbaijan:– Letter of Concurrence from the Institute (Act expertise)– Draft of Cover Letter

Don’t need:ER (in Ukrainian)LSDSSMES (in Ukrainian)PMG (in Ukrainian)

Email to Project Manager - Ga• The STCU is pleased to inform you that your proposal [proposal title]

has been registered and assigned number [#] . Please complete and submit the STCU Project Proposal (1 English copy and 1 Russian/Georgian copy) to the Georgian Information Office of the STCU…

• You are kindly asked to submit only original documents. The deadline for submission is three months from the date of this letter. Your proposal package should include the following documents:– 1. STCU Project proposal (in English and Russian)– 2. Previous Professional Experience Review for each weapon scientist,

engineer, and technician (PPER_RU.doc);– 3. Electronic version of your Project Proposal ({proposal_number.ff} ) on

floppy, CD-ROM, etc.– 4. Governmental Concurrence.

• In order to receive governmental concurrence, the following documents should be submitted to the Department of Science and Technology of Georgia: – STCU Project Proposal (1 copy in English and 1 copy in Georgian);– Letter of Concurrence from the Institute.

Don’t need:ER (in Ukrainian)LSDSSMES (in Ukrainian)PMG (in Ukrainian)

From Scientist’s Perspective

• Modify/improve instructions:– Specify more precisely what scientists

should print– Make sure files names are called out

consistently

• Improve:– Clarity of instructions – Consistency between text and oral guidance– Website focus (IT vs. user perspective)

Generating Output Files

• Do not include Ukraine-specific documents in output files for scientists from outside Ukraine:

– List to Senior Deputy State Secretary of Ministry of Education and Science (LSDSSMES.doc)

– Project Manager guarantee (PMG.doc)– Expert review (ER.doc)

• Do continue to generate files by country:– Ukrainian/English for Ukrainian– Russian/English for non-Ukraine– Ukrainian/Russian/English for joint

Monitor Quality of Output Files, (example: PPER_RU)

• English typos (one since corrected):– “Stam” for “stamp” (or probably better, “seal”)– “Guiding systems” for “guidance systems”– Word choice/capitalization

• Format:– text overran box at top of each page

• Output:– error caused letter to be generated for ALL scientists,

not just former weapons scientists

Website focus - currently

• Welcome– Participants (former Weapons Scientists)– Projects:

• Regular – [currently no link to Project Software]• Partner - [seems ok]

– STCU Project Software– News– Downloads [nice page]– ‘FAQS’ ‘bugs’, ‘Version history’, ‘On-line Registration’

– Documents / General Forms & Manuals – Grant-writing Workshop materials– Lab notebook– Sustainability Planning Guide

– Info / Collaborators / Benefits for Participants

Proposed

• Welcome to Participants (former Weapons Scientists)– Projects:

• Regular –– Explanation of three stages (may borrow from workshop materials)

» Link to Application (Short Form) – on-line option / or download» Link to Proposal (Full Form) & instructions» Link to Agreement (Work Plan) & instructions

– Collaborators info & [new] Letters of Support page

• Partner [keep much as is]– Explanation of Governmental/Non-Governmental

» Link to Applications– Link to existing Partner sites

– Useful Information: • grant-writing / sustainability / other sources of funding• IPR & lab books

Tactical Issues

• Once overall process oversight assigned …– Clarity of instructions / interaction with scientists– Website focus (IT vs. user perspective)

• Then, process may benefit from refinement….– Document integrity

• Word vs PDF

– Ease of download • Embedded in software vs. ‘loose’• File size / format

II. Multi-lingual files

Two examples

Question

Files sent to West

• Random project assigned to test software – Recent proposal (2004)– Currently published for Western Review

• Problems: – No Ukrainian tech description accessible

through database …. BUT – Work plan appears in Ukrainian, not English – Excel tables combine languages

3588_P_UA.doc

As is standard, database contains only blank template. ‘Real’ file on PC’s computer.

3588.ff

Ukrainian language

English!

3588.ff

No language

Ukrainian

3588-P-Budget.xls

Work Schedule, Equipment & Materials are in Ukr or mix of Ukr/Eng

Status

I checked with Senior Specialist and confirmed this was not an IT glitch. Rather, the project was received from the Ukrainian Ministry with only partially-translated Excel tables.

Does the Registration Control Officer have the right or responsibility to require a complete English translation?

Files needed here

• Share project information with Ukrainian business students – Time-sensitive– Sustainability staff, not project coordinator

• Problem: no Ukrainian text to be found– Proposal was drafted in in Ukrainian; – There was a file labeled 2224_ua; but, that turned out

to be blank template;– Search of floppy disks did not turn up document– Had to contact PM and ask him to resend doc

Tech Description.UA

Document, according to database, appears to “exist.”However, this file contains only Blank Template; ‘real’ doc may be on PC’s computer.

Joint project 3513_P_RU and 3513_P_UA.doc

?

?

Should default be English?

Near identical for _P_UA.doc

Questions

• Do we care if we ‘lose’ or misplace the Ukrainian / Russian language versions of project proposals? – Staff here can’t work with original language, if files aren’t readily

accessible– If yes, then DEDs should convey to the Steering Committee their

concern – and develop a standard repository for those documents.

• Do we care if we send Western Reviewers documents in a combination of Ukrainian and English?– Reviewers can’t evaluate workplan / equipment requests in

Ukrainian– If yes, then DEDs should work with Registration Control Officer /

Ministry to clarify procedure and screen proposals.

Recommended Action Points for DEDs responsible for Proposals

• Direct IT to modify STCUPS output for non-Ukrainian projects to include only required files

• Task staff to improve letter to scientists• Designate review mechanism/authority

– ensure IT-originated changes are proofed & acceptable– Provide point of contact for other STCU groups that touch on

proposal processing (training, outreach, sustainability)

• Work with IT to modify website to enable scientists to readily see links to existing on-line application process

• Assess potential impact – if local language files are lost – if reviewers receive incompletely translated proposals