CROSS is seeking proposals for new research and incubator projects to be considered at our next Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) meeting on October 2, 2018. CROSS is interested in funding research projects which in addition to producing high-impact research also open up a plausible path to open-source software that would be widely adopted. CROSS is also interested in funding incubator projects that turn innovative research prototypes into successful open source software projects. CROSS expects to have funding for one to two new projects, starting in Winter 2019. Projects are reviewed twice a year (end of Winter and beginning of Fall) for renewal of funding
Research Projects:
Faculty as well as Ph.D. students who have completed their class work by Fall 2018 are encouraged to propose research projects. Please note that all research projects must include a UCSC faculty member as an advisor. Higher priority will be given to projects which are aligned with topics of interest (see below) and CROSS’s strategic goals. Priority will also be given to research projects advised by junior faculty. Selected projects can receive funding for up to one graduate student researcher position (GSR). Research projects should raise a fundamental research question and open a plausible path to open source software that would be widely adopted. Funding of a research project is intended to foster excellent research, to enable a student to become an open-source software leader, and to support her work until graduation.
Incubator Projects:
Recent PhD graduates (also from other universities) are welcome to propose incubator projects. Selected incubator projects fund one post-doc position. New incubator projects are expected to start out with significant software infrastructure created as part of a PhD project. The proposal should show strong evidence that the open-source software project would meet with great interest by at least one well-established open-source software community.
Projects funded by CROSS are reviewed by the IAB and the Advisory Committee every six months, and continued funding is based on IAB and the Advisory Committee’s assessment that sufficient progress is being made. The project teams are also required to make all source code available under an open source software license agreement and publish their code in the CROSS software repository.
Proposal due: August 28, 2018
Notification of proposal shortlist: September 14, 2018
IAB meeting and proposal presentations: October 2, 2018
Funding notifications: October 10, 2018
Project proposals should include:
- Project Title
- Background, overview & objectives
- Expected time needed to meet objectives
- Expected staffing needs
- Explanation how project aligns with the strategic interest and overall work of CROSS
- Brief explanation of the relevant experience / previous work of project lead (and other team members if applicable)
- Incubator proposals (and research projects hoping to transition into incubator projects) should also include more detail on the project roadmap and exit strategy.
- Incubator proposals (and research projects hoping to transition into incubator projects) should also include a risk assessment due to dependencies on any organizations other than CROSS.
To propose a new research or incubator project, send your proposal to CROSS Assistant Director Stephanie Lieggi by August 28, 2018. All submitted proposals will undergo an initial review by the members of our Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) and the CROSS UCSC Advisory Committee. Based on this initial review, the most responsive projects will be shortlisted and applicants will be notified on September 14, 2018.
If a proposal is shortlisted by CROSS for further consideration, the project lead (or designate) will be required to present their proposal at the CROSS IAB meeting on October 2, 2018. After project presentations, members of the IAB will provide recommendations to the CROSS Director, who then makes the final funding decisions in consultation with the UCSC Advisory Committee. Notifications of funding decisions will be provided by October 10, 2018.
Note: All proposals should highlight how the proposal meets CROSS project criteria (see below). The funding from CROSS typically covers the cost of one graduate researcher (for research projects) or post-doc (for incubator projects) per quarter for the duration of the project.
he CROSS IAB, the CROSS Director, and the UCSC Advisory Committee consider the following criteria when evaluating research and incubator projects –
For research projects
- The project raises a fundamental research question;
- The project opens a plausible path to open source software that would be widely adopted; and
- The project’s topic meets strategic objectives of CROSS.
- The project starts out with significant software infrastructure that a recent graduate created as part of their Ph.D. project;
- There is strong evidence of community interest in the effort and that the resulting opensource software prototype would be widely adopted; and
- The project’s topic meets strategic objectives of CROSS.
