HP Labs Innovation Research Program
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are answers to the most frequently asked questions about HP Labs’ Innovation Research Program. Please also read the Guide to the 2012 IRP.
General program questions
Q. If I submit a proposal, will it be funded?A. The HP Labs IRP is a highly competitive, worldwide Request for Proposals. It is expected that many proposals will be received for each research topic, and only the best proposals will be chosen for funding.
In past years, up to 600 proposals have been received, and approximately 10% of these were selected for funding, making for a highly selective program.
Q. Can I submit a multi-year proposal or one with a budget larger than $75,000 USD?
A. The standard award for the HP Labs IRP will be in the USD $40,000-$75,000 range for one year. However, HP may choose, in some cases, to make larger or partial awards. Initial awards will be made for one year, and may be renewed for up to three years based on research outcomes and HP business needs.
Q. Will the 2012 IRP have a two-round Call for Proposals like 2011?
A. Yes, in the first round applicants are asked to submit a 3-page abstract summarizing their proposed research project. HP Labs researchers will review all of the abstracts received, and will invite a selected number of participants to submit a full proposal for consideration in the second round. Full details may be found in the
Guide to the 2012 IRP.
Q. I noticed that matching funds are included as part of the Evaluation Criteria in 2012. Am I required to include a commitment for matching funds in order for my proposal to be considered?
A. The HP Labs IRP always encourages proposals that will leverage additional external resources. Therefore, proposals that offer significant university or third-party resources to expand the collaboration will receive particular consideration. However, a commitment to leverage external resources is not a strict requirement for submitting a proposal to the program.
A. HP Labs is interested in proposals that can offer the possibility to enhance the impact of HP’s investment in a research project, allowing for more ambitious research goals.
Examples could include: a matching commitment of university resources to support additional dedicated graduate students working on the project; leveraging existing third-party (non-HP) research funding that provides additional dedicated resources to the project; applying for new research grants (e.g., via a government research-funding agency) that will directly support the project.
Q. Can more than one researcher from my university/institution submit a proposal?
A. Yes. Under the HP Labs IRP, multiple proposals may be submitted from any university/institution.
Q. Can I submit more than one proposal?
A. Yes. You may submit multiple proposals.
Q. If I submitted a proposal to the IRP in a previous year but did not receive an award, am I still eligible to apply in 2012?
A. Yes. We encourage you to review the research topics section in the Guide to the 2012 IRP. If your previous proposal is relevant to one of the 2012 topics, you may resubmit it. You may also submit an entirely new proposal.
Q. If my university/institution has previously received an HP Philanthropy grant, am I still eligible to apply?
A. Yes. Philanthropic donations from HP do not affect your university/institution’s eligibility to apply to this program.
Q. If my university received an IRP award in a previous year, am I eligible to apply for another award in 2012?
A. Yes.
Q. Will I be required to submit a letter to say my institution accepts the terms of the IRP Collaborative Research Agreement?
A. You will not be required to submit a CRA Acceptance Letter in the first round of the program. If your abstract is selected for round two of the program you will be asked to submit a full proposal, together with a signed copy of the CRA Acceptance Letter.
Q. Can my institution contact someone at HP to negotiate the terms of the HP Labs IRP Collaborative Research Agreement (CRA)?
A. The IRP Collaborative Research Agreement is designed to provide a fair and reasonable framework for single-project collaborations between HP and participating universities and research institutes. Due to its large scale, HP Labs is unable to conduct negotiations with individual universities/institutions through the course of the program.
Q. I received an HP Labs IRP award in 2011. Do I need to re-submit my original project proposal to request funding for a second or third year?
A. No. Researchers who received an award in 2011 will be contacted by HP Labs in March 2012 regarding renewal of funding.
Q. Can I include support for a post-doctoral position in my proposal budget?
A. No. Since a key objective of the HP Labs Innovation Research Program is to help HP build stronger relationships with professors and their graduate students, funding requests for post-doctoral positions will not be supported. Acceptable personnel costs may include professor or faculty researcher salaries, as well as stipends related to graduate or undergraduate student participation in the project. Post-doctoral researchers are encouraged to collaborate on the project, but would be required to secure complementary funding for their salary, provided by the university or a third-party (such as a government funding agency).
Q. The Guide to the Call for Proposals states that awards are for one year only. In some countries, universities recruit graduate students based on a multi-year program and require guaranteed funding up-front for the entire program. Can researchers at universities with this situation still apply?
A. Yes. Applicants should indicate this situation clearly in the budget section of the proposal. Projects should specify the amount needed per year and also indicate any local funding requirements that would call for multi-year support.
Q. I have been working with a colleague at another university. Can we submit a joint proposal to HP?
A. Yes. Applicants from 2 (or more) separate institutions may submit a joint proposal for consideration to this program. Each institution should submit a proposal, both of which should be essentially identical (i.e. same title and content) with the exception of the proposed budget. Budget requests from each institution should be detailed separately for administrative purposes.
Joint proposals must must be clearly identified as such. Each copy of the proposal must clearly list the name, university/institution and email address of all proposal partner(s). Once the proposal has been created in the proposal submission system, a Proposal ID number will be created. Each author should indicate their partner's corresponding Proposal ID.
Q. We are submitting a joint proposal but one of the universities is not requesting funds from HP. Does each of the partners still need to submit their own copy of the proposal?
A. Yes. Any proposal that involves collaborators from more than one institution is considered a “joint proposal” for administrative purposes. HP requires each investigator to submit a copy of the proposal. If a university is not requesting HP funds, the person submitting should indicate this in the proposal submission system.
Q. Why am I being asked about Open Source?
A. HP Labs is collecting additional administrative information about projects in 2012. Answers provided to this question will neither qualify, nor disqualify, any proposals for consideration.
Q. In previous years the IRP research topics were grouped by geography. Are there similar restrictions in the 2012 program?
A. No. In 2012, all of the research topics published will be available for all applicants, regardless of their institution’s home country.
Q. How will I know if my abstract has been successful and I am able to submit a full proposal?
A. HP will contact all applicants to notify them of their abstract’s status around the end of February 2012. If successful you will be invited to submit the full proposal by Friday, 30 March.
Q. Will HP provide me with feedback if my abstract or full proposal is unsuccessful?
A. Due to the large number of proposals it is not possible for HP to provide detailed feedback to authors.
Q. I am a university professor seeking an HP equipment or cash donation. Can I apply through this program?
A. The HP Labs IRP is designed to fund collaborative research projects with universities, and as such does not fund equipment or cash donations, nor can it support student projects, event sponsorships, or teaching activities.
Q. Is IRP part of HP’s Philanthropy programs?
A. The HP Labs IRP is designed to fund collaborative research projects, not to provide philanthropic support to universities. HP’s Philanthropy programs are separate from HP Labs and are part of HP’s overall Global Social Innovation programs. More information can be found here.
Q. I am a researcher that is not associated with a university or research institution. Can I submit a proposal to HP through this process?
A. The HP Labs IRP is only designed to fund collaborative research projects with researchers at universities or research institutes. If you are interested in sending your ideas to HP, please click here.
Q. I'm a student. Does HP have scholarships and internships?
A. HP does offer summer internships. Review current openings and submit your resume on-line at our Jobs@HP website.
Proposal submission system questions
Q. How do I apply?
A. Please review the Guide to the 2012 IRP for information on research topics, proposal guidelines and eligibility requirements. Proposals must be submitted through our online proposal submission system, which will open in the first week of January 2012.
Q. What is the deadline for applications to be submitted?
A. Proposals must be submitted to HP Labs through the online submission system by Friday, 27 January 2012, 5:00 PM Pacific Time.
Q. How does the online submission system work?
A. From the first week of January 2012 to Friday 27 January 2012, applicants will be able to access the online proposal submission system and create a user account.
Applicants will be required to register and provide summary information on their proposal in the online system, and to upload a file (in PDF format) containing their abstract. Complete guidelines are detailed in the Guide to the 2012 IRP.
Applicants will also be required to upload the Curriculum Vitae (CV) of the primary researcher(s).
Q. Will the submission system be the same as 2011?
A. Yes. As in 2011, the online submission system for 2012 will be a version of the open-source conference review software HotCRP.
Q. If I registered as a user in 2011, will I still have the same account?
A. No. Please create a new user account when logging in to the 2012 submission system for the first time.
Q. Can I enter part of the proposal and return to it later to complete my submission?
A. Yes. Once you create a user account, you may register and create one or more new proposals. Each time you log in to the system, you will be able to edit any proposal(s) linked to your account. Please note that you will need to complete uploading of all required documents prior to the submission deadline on 27 January 2012.
Q. Is there a page limit for Abstracts in the 2012 Call for Proposals?
A. Yes. Abstracts should be no longer than three (3) pages, and should summarize the proposed research project. For more details, please see the Guide to the 2012 IRP. Any supplemental information (such as figures or charts included as an appendix) will not count against the three-page limit.
Q. Can my proposal be edited by my co-investigator?
A. Yes. When you register a proposal, you may also add co-investigators’ names to the proposal. Anyone with a user account on the system will have access to each proposal on which they are listed as a co-investigator.
Q. Can I upload a file in another format besides PDF?
A. No. All files uploaded as part of the proposal submission system must be provided in PDF format. The online system will not permit attachments in other formats to be submitted.
Q. Is there a size limit for each PDF file?
A. Yes. Each individual file (proposal or curriculum vitae) must be no larger than 10MB.
Q. I am planning to submit a proposal with a co-investigator as well as a graduate student researcher. How do I submit CVs for all 3 of us?
A. Please consolidate brief (1-2 page) CVs for each person into a single PDF file for upload.
Q. How will I know that HP has received my submission?
A. Once your proposal is successfully submitted through the system, you will receive an email confirming that your proposal has been received.
Q. What happens if I need to make a change to my proposal after submission?
A. If you need to revise your proposal after submitting it, you may log into the system prior to the submission deadline and make changes. Please note that if you change any one of the files uploaded, all will need to be re-uploaded into the system. You will not be able to make any changes to the system after the submission deadline has passed.
Feedback
.