WRITING A WHITE PAPER OR CONCEPT PAPER

WRITING A WHITE PAPER

OR CONCEPT PAPER

The Office of Research Development

University of California, Merced

WHITE

PAPER

BASICS

What to include in this

short document.

A pre-proposal or white paper is

a concise, authoritative

document that presents a

summary of the proposed

research, methodology, team,

and an estimated budget. Unlike

proposals, which include more

extensive information, white

papers offer a brief overview of

a research project in a way that

explores why it would be

important to a funder. These

documents, which tend to be

one to two pages in length,

usually help a potential sponsor

decide whether to request a full

proposal. Sometimes, these

documents are used to find

reviewers for eventual full

proposals rather than as an

initial screening tool.

When formulating a white

paper, it is important to write to

a well-educated lay audience.

The people reviewing your

documents will not necessarily

be conversant with your specific

research, but they will likely

have a general understanding of

some of the concepts that you

will discuss.

NSF

Concept

Paper

Template

Project Title

Profound

Statement of

Need

Data or

Research to

Back Up

Need

Specific

objectives

and

outcomes

Intellectual Merit

How important is the proposed activity to

advancing knowledge and understanding

within its own field or across different

fields? How well qualified is the proposer

(individual or team) to conduct the

project? (If appropriate, the reviewer will

comment on the quality of the prior work.)

To what extent does the proposed activity

suggest and explore creative, original, or

potentially transformative concepts? How

well conceived and organized is the

proposed activity? Is there sufficient

access to resources?

Broader Impacts

How well does the activity advance

discovery and understanding while

promoting teaching, training, and

learning? How well does the proposed

activity broaden the participation of

underrepresented groups (e.g., gender,

ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)? To

what extent will it enhance the

infrastructure for research and education,

such as facilities, instrumentation,

networks, and partnerships? Will the

results be disseminated broadly to

enhance scientific and technological

understanding? What may be the

benefits of the proposed activity?

NIH

Concept

Paper

Template

A Concept Paper may address any or

all of these topics depending on how

far you have thought through your

project. The more information you can

provide a Program Official, the better

the advice you will receive in

developing your application.

Grant Purpose:

Briefly, relate the type of mechanism

(R01/R03/R43 etc), amount and duration of

the grant, and which

institutes/centers/agencies you think

might be interested in funding your

project.

Problem &

Significance:

Explain why the literature/your research

leads you to think this topic needs study.

Relate the payoff to science AND to public

health. Mention what makes your project

unique and innovative, especially in light

of any similar projects and the refereed

literature.

Question:

Derived from the scientific literature,

describe the theories and model(s) that

will guide your hypotheses, and specify

what hypotheses you will test.

Design &

Analysis:

Describe the population (age range,

gender, race, selective characteristics),

interventions, controls, measures, etc. that

will enable testing your hypotheses.

Estimate the required sample and power

(N, levels of analysis). Justify the statistical

approach that will ensure a fair test of your

hypotheses.

Team & Logistics:

Indicate how your career stage, expertise,

and experience qualify you to lead a

project of the size, scope, & technology

proposed. Name key collaborators (co-

investigators, consultants, and

organizations) who will help the project

succeed. Mention the organizations

whose cooperation you will need to access

subjects/data/equipment/field sites, and

indicate any people or organizations who

have agreed in writing to

participate/support the project.

Urgency:

If you are you trying to initiate work within

a time-sensitive window, indicate the

scientific and public health justification for

early award and the consequences of

delayed award.

Office of

Naval

Research

(ONR) White

Paper

Template

Content adapted from ONR Broad

Agency Announcement (BAA)

#N00014-17-S-BA13

Summary:

A one paragraph Summary of the proposed

effort.

Technical

Concept:

A description of the technology innovation

and technical risk areas. The project idea,

technical rationale, and approach shall

identify a problem(s), make arguments to

substantiate the claims made, and describe

the proposed approach to address the

issue. The Offeror’s capacities shall be

discussed as they relate to achieving

success in the project.

Future Naval

Relevance:

A description of potential Naval relevance

and contributions of the effort to the

agency’s specific mission.

Rough Order of

Magnitude (ROM)

Cost:

White Paper submissions shall include a

rough order of magnitude cost showing

requested funding per year, total cost, and

suggest spending priorities.Break

requested cost down into categories of

salaries and benefits, equipment, materials

and supplies, travel, cost associated with

student participation (tuition and fees) and

indirect costs.

Army Research Lab White Paper

Template

Objective & Payoff: What is the objective of this project? What is the payoff? What current problem

does this project address? How will this project solve the above problem?

Contribution to Forensic Science/Biometrics: What is the capability, result, and difference offered by

this technology? What is the application of this project? How would it be used and who would it

benefit?

Metrics/Measures of Success: Discuss what measurement criteria will be established to measure

progress against stated goals (e.g., interoperability against an industry standard, opportunity for unit,

system, or life cycle savings).

Risk: Anticipated risks and brief risk handling plan.

Potential Transition Plans to Services: How will this program/technology transition to the services?

Project Title

(Do not include the words army, expeditionary, forensic, or battlefield in the title; be original!)

Project PI and Key Personnel

Personnel Affiliations

Project Abstract (less than 250 words):

A brief description of the proposed project. Should be written in clear, concise, layman/newspaper style

statements.

Project Description:

Describe the proposed project in a coherent, fluid and understandable writing style. Tables, images and

graphs are allowed, but be careful that they add clarity to the description. Some questions to address in

addition to the project description are:

Continued...

Army Research Lab White Paper

Template Continued...

Funding/Cost:

What is the total cost of the proposed program? If the proposed work can be divided into discrete

phases, then the cost of each phase and its measurable deliverable should also be noted.

As a subset of overall funding, indicate amounts leveraged from other programs/projects or

Service/Agency investments (if applicable).

Include descriptions of any sub-allocation of funds (e.g., a portion of provided funding sub-allocated to a

lab or industry, if applicable).

Program Plan:

Period of Performance: (specific dates)

Schedule: Show major activities/efforts planned for the technology/product development with

milestones. Include both S&T and acquisition tasks/elements. When can the first items be delivered and

what is the schedule for total delivery? (Fielding is strongly desired in 12-24 months). Include a brief

“spend plan” broadly defining the anticipated time line for major project expenditures.

Deliverables:What will be delivered over the life of this project? Include hardware and software

prototypes for field use or acquisition certification. Monthly reports and a final report are required –

please include these required deliverables in your program plan.

Participants & Customers:

Include name, email, phone number, and complete address of key stakeholders/focal points, including:

a. Primary and Alternate POC for monthly reporting.

b. Technical representative who will manage this effort.

c. Financial representative that will receive the funds and/or provide follow-on status of

obligations/expenditures.

d. Combatant Command/User Sponsor (if applicable)

e. Lead Service/Agency (if applicable)

f. Key contractors/providers of the technology or product.

LIMIT TOTAL INPUT - NOT MORE THAN THREE

PAGES