Call for IEEE RAS-Funded Project Proposals on Creation of Educational Material in Robotics and Automation (CEMRA Projects)

On 25 Mar, 2019
Categories: Deadlines

Purpose

RAS-funded projects shall create valuable educational materials in wide variety of RA science and technologies for broad users including young students who are beginning to learn about this area and top-class researchers/practitioners/educators who need the latest advanced knowledge. The developed material must be available through an RAS webpage, and distributed worldwide on social media, IEEE Press, conference tutorials, robot competitions and/or exhibitions.

Background

As a leader in the field of robotics and automation, IEEE RAS is expected to provide valuable educational material to its members and the public. However, RAS does not have sufficient content, except for excellent books and conference tutorials. The RAS webpage and social media must provide content for education by which people can learn about robotics and automation.

Examples of Content

  • Open courses for RAS members (scientific/technical specialists)
  • Open courses for general public (outreach, school teachers, children)
  • Electronic material in the form of videos
  • Content can be theoretical or practical or a combination

Funding

IEEE RAS will fund up to 10,000 USD total for each project. Project duration must be one year. In 2014, five projects were accepted. In 2015, five projects were accepted. In 2016, four projects were accepted. In 2017, four projects were accepted. In 2018, one project was accepted. Up to five projects will be accepted in 2019. Budget can be used for course material development (a webpage or video), student assistants, translation, and meetings following the IEEE financial rules. Institutional overhead is not eligible.

Proposal

RAS Technical Committees (TCs), RAS MAB Education Committee (EC), or groups endorsed by TC or EC are eligible to submit a proposal. The proposal should state the following in no more than five pages:

  1. Title of proposal
  2. Names and affiliations of the principle investigator and co-principle investigators
  3. Name(s) of TC or EC
  4. Executive summary of the proposal
  5. Motivation and need for the material with a clear indication of the gap in existing open material 
  6. Expected deliverables (webpage, video tutorial, book, etc.)
  7. Target audience and dissemination plan
  8. Planned tasks and timeline 
  9. Sustainability plan (continuity plan beyond the project completion date)
  10. Plan for assessment of impact (indicators such as the number of participants, downloads, views, etc…)
  11. Budget and budget justification
  12. One-page CV for each PI and Co-PI

The review process for the proposals is included at the end of this call for proposals.

Deliverables

In addition to the planned deliverables listed in the proposal, all accepted proposals are required to:

  1. Submit a final report documenting the outcomes from the project. Review criteria for final reports are included at the end of this call for proposals.
  2. Submit a short video introduction of the material developed to be used for public presentation of the project outcomes. This video will be shared on RAS social media.
  3. All the submitted material we will be reviewed by the IEEE RAS CEMRA committee for quality and consistency before making it publicly available.

Note: all developed deliverables must clearly acknowledge IEEE RAS, and be accessible from IEEE RAS webpage.

Important Dates

25 March 2019 - Proposals Due date: 25 March 2019 (Submission Link) 
Presentation for 2019 Projects: During TAB meeting at ICRA2019 
1 June 2019 - Notification of Acceptance
1 June 2019 - 31 May 2020 - Period of 2019 Projects


Review Process for IEEE RAS-Funded Project Proposals on Creation of Educational Material in Robotics and Automation (CEMRA Projects)

Purpose

This document is to define the review process and criteria for the IEEE RAS-Funded Project Proposals on Creation of Educational Material in Robotics and Automation (CEMRA Projects).

Review Process

  1. All proposals should be reviewed by the same review committee
  2. Review committee must consist of at least 3 anonymous senior reviewers preferably from different regions
  3. Strict avoidance of conflict of interest must be observed in the review committee selection (No reviewers from same institution, no co-authors, no collaborators, etc…)
  4. Review committee individual reviews must be submitted independently to RAS TAB chair prior to the proposal presentation
  5. Proposing group representative presents the project during ICRA 2019
  6. Review committee meets after presentation during ICRA 2019 and deliberates
  7. Recommendations made to TAB and AdCom

Review Criteria

Based on the call for proposals the following criteria will be used for the evaluation:

  1. Topic: current, fits the scope and is of broad interest with minimal similarity to existing material.
  2. Dissemination Plan: Impactful and accessible to broad audience
  3. Budget: reasonable and well justified (10,000 USD max total irrespective of the duration; the approved project can use the budget for webpage, assisting student work, translation, meetings, travel, etc.)
  4. Plan: clear and appropriate
  5. Team: experienced and knowledgeable in the topic

Review Process for Final Reports of the IEEE RAS-Funded Projects on Creation of Educational Material in Robotics and Automation (CEMRA Projects)

Purpose

This document is to define the review process and criteria for Final reports for the IEEE RAS-Funded Projects on Creation of Educational Material in Robotics and Automation (CEMRA Projects). 

Review Process

  1. All final reports should be reviewed by the same review committee
  2. The review committee must consist of at least 3 anonymous senior reviewers preferably from different regions
  3. Strict avoidance of conflict of interest must be observed in the review committee selection (No reviewers from the same institution, no co-authors, no collaborators, etc…)
  4. Review committee individual reviews must be submitted independently to RAS TAB chair prior to the proposal presentation
  5. CEMRA Project group representative presents the project during IROS 2019
  6. Review committee meets after the presentation during IROS 2019 and deliberates
  7. Recommendations made to TAB and AdCom with feedback to the project group

Final Report (Under 3 pages)

The final report must be submitted to AVP 2 months before IROS 2019. The report must include:

  1. Summary of tasks as initially proposed and as completed.
  2. Summary of deliverables as initially proposed and as completed with links to each deliverable.
  3. Description of the dissemination activities carried out and the number of participants or estimate of the number of beneficiaries (for example: hits on a website).
  4. Budget: details of expenditures compared with the initially planned budget justifying any deviation.
  5. Assessment of the learning experience formally conducted. Describe if the assessment was different from what was initially proposed.
  6. Plan: a detailed sustainability plan which describes how the material will be maintained and kept accessible beyond the end of the project.

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