Project Requirements

OTREC awards are made only after a rigorous peer-review proposal selection process, and this ensures that the best projects that fit well with OTREC’s theme and USDOT priorities are funded.  Principal Investigators (PIs) are obligated to comply with all grant requirements.  PIs should take seriously the grant obligations since successful adherence to and past performance on budget, schedule, and project requirements will be used as a review criterion for future proposals submitted.  The expectations are also intended to ensure integrity of the project throughout the life of the grant. Requirements are:

Final reports

Researchers are required to submit a final report summarizing of research activities and findings, including educational and technology transfer activities.  The final report which serves as the technical documentation of the research and project undertaken.  The final report should conform to the OTREC templates, style guidelines and cover page specifications.  The draft final report must be submitted 30 days prior to the official end date of the project.  The draft final report will be peer-reviewed and copy-edited during a two-month review process.  Researchers are responsible for incorporating peer-review comments into the final report which is due 30 days (firm) after the end date of the project.

Progress reports

OTREC takes into account the progress made on projects before awarding subsequent grants.  Progress reports are due twice - once at the end of March, and again at the end of the project.  These reports provide OTREC staff with a mechanism to ensure that the funded activity is progressing as planned, and will support OTREC’s reporting to the federal sponsor. Progress reports can be submitted using OTREC’s on-line project management system at: http://theotrec.org/main/login.php.

Technology transfer

OTREC strongly encourages communicating the results of research projects at national conferences and in refereed journals.  Researchers should provide copies of all papers submitted to conferences or journals to OTREC, and include appropriate attribution to OTREC.  Seminars, symposia, distance learning classes and any education or technology transfer activities undertaken with OTREC support requires collection of metrics on numbers of transportation professionals attending.  Video or streaming web archives that can be posted on the OTREC web site are welcome.