DAC Analytics Resource Awards

Purpose

The mission of the Data Analytics Center (DAC) is to provide UVA researchers with support for the management and analysis of large datasets on Research Computing platforms.

To fulfill this mission and to empower faculty in advancing their research, we offer Awards for access to Research Comuting (RC) resources. These Awards aim to

i) help launch new research projects,

ii) promote interdisciplinary collaborations,

iii) cultivate communities of researchers with shared interests in data and analysis methods.

The Awards

The DAC offers two types of Awards: Small Awards (up to $10,000 worth of services) and Large Awards (up to $100,000).

Recipients of the Awards will receive vouchers that may be used toward RC services, such as collaborations with DAC team members or purchase of data storage, or for support from any of the UVA Cores.

Small Data Analytics Resource Awards

The Small Analytics Resource Awards are intended to support research tasks for an individual PI or lab.

Large Data Analytics Resource Awards

The Large Analytics Resource Awards are aimed to build data or analytics infrastructure with the potential to impact multiple researchers at UVA. Funding up to $100,000 in resources, this award aims to enable the hosting of data collections, the movement of data or the development of analytics infrastructure that will enable the research workflows of a broad community at UVA. In addition award funds may be allocated for in-depth collaborations with DAC team members.

Award Guidelines

Eligibility: The principal investigator must hold faculty status at UVA to be eligible for an Analytics Research Award.

Funding Limit: Although the Awards will be in the form of vouchers, the use of the voucher may not exceed the amount of the Award.

Maximum Proposal Duration: Eighteen months; however, Large Awards may last two or three years if a strong case may be made.

Approved Activities: The activities in the proposal should be related to the acquisition, storage, or analysis of data as it relates to a research project. Priority will be given to proposals that request collaborative services of the Research Computing team.


Timelines for Small Awards:

We now are accepting Small Award proposals at any time throughout the year.


Timelines for Large Awards:

Proposal
Deadline		 Award
Announcements		 Award
Start Date
24 Jan. 2025 14 Mar. 2025 21 Apr. 2025


Before you apply: We highly recommend that you have a consultation meeting with a DAC member to discuss the services that you are planning and what the budget will look like for those services. You can request a consultation by submitting this online support request form .

Application Requirements for Small Awards:

To apply for the Small Analytics Research Award, the PI will submit a proposal (2 pages maximum, Calibri 11 pt. font) that includes:

  • The PI’s name, computing ID, and department,
  • A title for the project,
  • A description of the project and its goals,
  • A description of the type(s) of data collected for the project and how the data will be used to meet the goals of the project,
  • A description of how the Analytics Research Award will support the goals of the project, including the use of vouchers to obtain services,
  • A plan for how the Analytics Research Award will lead to future support (e.g., external grants or other funding) for this or subsequent projects.
  • An attachment with a budget showing the services and expected costs that the Award would cover. The attachment will not count toward the two-page limit.

Application Requirements for Large Awards:

The objective of the Large Award is to develop comprehensive data resources that will foster a collaborative spirit among researchers at UVA. Therefore, preference will be given to projects that include principal investigators or co-investigators from diverse fields.

For the Large Analytics Research Award, the proposal must include the following:

  1. A cover page that includes the project title, and name, title, department, and e-mail address of each the PI(s) and Co-I(s). The Principal Investigator(s) will be the individual(s) responsible for the scientific or technical direction of the project. If more than one PI is included, the first one listed will have primary responsibility for communications with the DAC and the submission of reports. Any listed Co-Is will not have overall responsibility or spending authority as the PI.

  2. A project summary or abstract, limited to 1 page

  3. A research plan, limited to 3 pages and addresses the following:

  • Specific objectives of the project, including how the project spans labs, departments, or schools
  • Approach and workplan, including the responsibilities of DAC team members or the need for resources, such as data storage
  • Outcomes, including planned proposals for external funding
  1. Budget. Please contact the DAC (RC-DAC@virginia.edu) to request a consultation for preparing the budget.
  2. Timeline (include milestones) for completing the scope of the work
  3. Works Cited/References
  4. List of targeted funding sources for follow-up work (for each source include funding agency, anticipated funding request, deadline, link to RFP if available)

Please use Calibri, 11-point font, single-spaced with 1-inch page margins. All pages, except for the cover page, should be numbered consecutively throughout the proposal.

Submission Process: Email your proposal, in PDF format, to RC-DAC@virginia.edu. The subject line for the email must be “Analytics Resource Proposal”. You may include a brief cover letter in the body of the email.

We encourage you to follow these instructions precisely to ensure that your proposal is received and processed correctly. After your email is received, we will secure a copy of your proposal and review that copy. We will not consider any changes that you make to the proposal after we have received it.

Evaluation Criteria: The proposals will be evaluated on:

  • The completeness of the submission,
  • The clarity of the descriptions – the reviewers may not be familiar with the PI’s discipline,
  • The diversity of the data,
  • How this Award will advance your research or will enhance the community of researchers at UVA.

Voucher Disbursement

After the Awards recipients have been announced, the Data Analytics Center will work with the PI to determine the disbursement of the Award vouchers.

Publicity & Communication

  • The PI must acknowledge Research Computing in any publication, presentation, or poster that results from the work done on the Award.
  • At the end of the Award, the PI must agree to have a blurb about the research project posted on the Research Computing website

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