How to Submit an ATC Proposal

Call for Proposals

The ATC is hosted at four sites at the national laboratories which collaborate on US ATLAS : ANL, BNL, LBNL, and SLAC. The ATC is a shared resource for physicists and students working on the ATLAS experiment and is designed to position ATLAS collaborators at US institutions to make important measurements and discoveries with ATLAS data, and to advance future ATLAS detector technology and software.

We are calling for proposals from US ATLAS members for projects to be hosted at one of the ATC sites. Projects can include physics analysis, performance tools, detector and electronics R&D, and/or core software and computing. Proposals will be evaluated on a competitive basis by the ATC management group (composed of the site managers, US ATLAS support panel, and the US ATLAS physics support managers). Proposals that include effort by multiple people in different institutions are also welcome. Funds are expected to support the cost of personnel visits or extended stays at an ATC site, such as travel expenses and possibly other additional costs resulting from the person visiting the center.

Calls for proposals will now be issued only once per year.  The annual call will be issued in the fall and will fund projects for up to one year starting in spring or summer of the following year.  Proposals received before the deadline will receive full consideration; however, proposals received after the deadline will continue to be consider as funding allows. 

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How to submit a proposal

Submit proposal materials here: https://www.usatlas.org/atlas-center-atc  

All proposals received by  Nov. 1st, 2024 will receive full consideration.  Proposals received after that date will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis, as allowed by the total ATC budget.

Required components:

  • Proposal narrative: A narrative discussing the proposed project and contributions to education and training (2-3 page suggested maximum). This text should clearly describe the objectives of the project, milestones that can be used to measure progress towards those objectives and who the participating collaborators are. Please include information on why being physically located at the proposed ATC during the project will benefit you. The proposal should make clear the supervisory role of the PI if the PI will not be visiting the ATC site themselves. Proposals for students that explain why the proposal will enhance the training and education of the student will be highly ranked. All proposals are required to include a contribution to ATC education and training initiatives. The proposal should explicitly list the proposed contributions for at least 5-10% of the duration of the ATC award.
  • Lab supervisor letter of support: A letter of support from a collaborator or supervisor at the lab of interest indicating how the proposed project will be supported by the host site. This can be sent separately from the narrative and other material if that is easier, though sending it with the narrative is also acceptable. All proposals are required to include a specific statement about any how travel constraints or safety guidelines from the lab are planned to be addressed.
  • University supervisor letter of support: All proposals requesting funding for students or postdocs should also contain a letter of support from the faculty mentor or supervisor at the home institute. This can be sent separately from the narrative and other material if that is easier, though sending it with the narrative is also acceptable.
  • Budget: Any travel to/from the lab (by air/car/otherwise), housing and M&IE can be included. In special circumstances other types of support can be requested. The request should make it clear that it is needed for the success of a project with strong ties to an ATC, but where at least part of the project is carried out remotely. Please contact the managers if you have questions about other types of requests. Please make sure to make your budget is easy to read and follow, and explain how you have arrived at the cost for each expense. Budgets with shared costs or those that can reduce expenses are encouraged as funds are always limited.

The chosen proposals and the amount of the award will be selected on a competitive basis and funded with the available budget. When funds are awarded, a memorandum of understanding between the awardee(s) and the ATC will establish objectives or milestones for the activity, and recipients of funds will submit quarterly progress reports describing the status of the efforts towards achieving these milestones, as well as a final narrative at the end of the funding cycle.

In accordance with the statements of the importance of diversity and inclusion from the DPF, APS, and The National Academy of Science, special attention will be given to activities that address specific broader impacts such as recruitment of students from underrepresented groups, supporting women and underrepresented minority scientists, and enabling partnerships with 2-or 4-year minority-serving institutions.

Additional Information

Consult the ATC FAQ page.

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