Chapter 3: Research Program Development

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Section 1: Annual Research Cycle

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The Annual Research Program

While projects may be initiated at any time during the year, most research projects are developed under the cycle described in this section. Multi-year projects are reviewed each year to determine whether they are progressing effectively and productively, and should continue as originally planned.

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Development Cycle

The chart below presents an overview of the research program development cycle, with approximate dates for the major activities in the cycle. RTI announces specific dates and provides more specific instructions, for both TxDOT and university personnel, as activities occur throughout each fiscal year.

Anchor: #i1000946Overview of Research Program Development Cycle
Dates	Major Activities On Active Projects	Major Activities To Develop New Projects
August 1		Problem Statements are due to RTI.
August		RTI Engineers do an initial evaluation of Problem Statements, including identifying and evaluating on-going or recent related research.
September – October 7	Project Kick-off meetings are held.	TAP meetings are held to review, refine, and rate Problem Statements. During this period all significant technical issues, such as specific deliverables needed and TSD’s review of selected Problem Statements are addressed, as much as possible.
October 20		RTI sends meeting materials to RMCs, including Problem Statements and the results of TAP evaluations.
Late October	RMCs review implementation approach for recently terminated projects.	RMCs meet to select Problem Statements to recommend to the ROC, including those to set aside for underutilized universities.
November – 1^st week		RTI sends meeting materials to ROC.
Mid November	ROC reviews program policies and status of the active program.	ROC selects Problem Statements for the next annual RFP.
Mid November		RTI distributes call for PMC members throughout TxDOT.
Mid November – December 1		Problem Statements are finalized to include ROC input and other outstanding issues.
December 1		Final Problem Statements are due to RTI.
December		RFP package is developed by RTI.
January 2		RFP is sent to University Liaisons by RTI.
January 15		PMC nominations are due to RTI.
January 31		PD selections are finalized.� PAs are selected, as practical.
February		Pre-proposal meetings are held.
February – March 15		PA selections are finalized.
March 1	Semi-Annual Progress Reports are due to RTI.
March 25		University proposals are due to RTI.
April 1		All responsive proposals are sent to PMCs for technical evaluation.
April	Modifications are developed by universities, as requested by RTI.	Proposals are reviewed by Project Monitoring Committees (PMCs).
May 1	Modifications are due to RTI.	Proposals selections are due to RTI.
May 5		RTI sends meeting materials to RMCs, including proposal selection and review data.
Mid May	RMCs review implementation approach for terminating projects.	RMCs meet to review proposal selections and recommend new Project Agreements for the coming program year. RMCs meet to set research priorities for the program that will begin Sept 1, two years following.
Mid – Late May		RTI requests Problem Statements from TxDOT employees and university researchers, to address RMC research priorities.
Mid May – August 1		TxDOT employees and researchers develop Problem Statements.
Late May		RTI sends meeting materials to ROC.
Early – Mid June	ROC reviews program policies and status of the active program.	ROC approves new Project Agreements for the coming program year. ROC may establish additional research priorities for the program that will begin Sept 1, two years following.
Mid June – Mid August		Project Agreements are finalized and executed by universities and RTI. RTI distributes executed agreements to University Liaisons and PMCs.
August 31	Semi-Annual Progress Reports are due to RTI.
September 1		New fiscal year program begins.

Although most research problem statements are submitted based on the cycle described above, DDOs are welcome to submit needs at any time of the year, and in any format. See “Submit Research Needs” on RTI’s Crossroads (intranet) web site for instructions.

Needs submitted outside the annual development cycle are evaluated for criticality to TxDOT, and scheduled to start as available funding allows. Non-emergency projects are generally held for the next annual cycle.