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PQI Community Collaboration Awards

members discuss research at round table.

The Pittsburgh Quantum Institute solicits proposals for PQI Community Collaboration Awards for up to $45K.

Winning proposals will be required to report the results of their research to both the external advisory committee and during one other PQI event. Applications should be submitted by 12:00PM on 12/20/2023 using the link below. We anticipate announcements to be made January 2024. 

For this solicitation, the following limitations apply:

  • The submitting proposer must be eligible to be a PI at a PQI co-director university: CMU, or Pitt, and may have other faculty members from those universities, Duquesne or an affiliate member, or a full member industrial partner.
  • The team must have at least two PIs: a submitting proposer, and at least one partner proposer from a different organizational unit - – preferably at two different universities or industry member, but at least from two different departments within a university.

PQI Community Collaboration Award

Community Collaboration Awards support the formation of new multi-disciplinary collaborations to successfully pursue large-scale external funding. Team and community building activities may include, but are not limited to, a pilot research program, creating a working paper series, or organizing a workshop. Teams must include faculty from at least two different organizational units.

Community Collaboration Award applications should explicitly address their team-building strategy and how they will develop their follow-on funding plan.

These grants support development of new proposals among PQI member organizations. Successful projects are broadly focused, scalable, transformative, innovative, and sustainable, and aligned with the PQI vision and mission statements.

Here’s what we mean:

BROAD: A concept that widely affects schools, departments, and individuals in PQI. Think beyond university silos.

SCALABLE: A project that has the possibility of being grown and fostered to develop from a pilot project to a project encompassing the PQI members.

TRANSFORMATIVE: A project that has the potential to advance quantum science and engineering or quantum information science and engineering.

INNOVATIVE: A project that meets a widespread need or an idea that unlocks previously hidden opportunities. Innovative concepts should be large-scale.

SUSTAINABLE: The ability of the concept to continue past the grant timeframe and funding structure.

Each application should include:

  • Two-page project description (Maximum 2 figures, plus reference page)
  • Budget
  • Budget justification
  • Letter of commitment
    • The single letter of support should come from the Primary Contact Person’s Associate Dean for Research and include the signatures from the appropriate leadership for your co-investigators.

apply now! 

Applications will be reviewed using the following criteria:

                Originality and Impact – This is an assessment of the proposed research, its originality (is it innovative?) and potential impact (is it transformative?).
                Feasibility – This is an assessment of the ability for the work to be completed on the budget available.
                Alignment – This is an assessment of the proposal’s alignments with PQI’s Vision and Mission and with the other listed criteria (Broad/Scalable /Sustainable).