CRFP - reating Visions for Computing Research

Creating Visions for Computing Research:  An Open Call for Workshop Proposals

The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) invites proposals for visioning workshops that will catalyze and enable innovative research at the frontiers of computing. Successful activities will articulate new research visions, galvanize community interest in those visions, mobilize support for those visions from the computing research community, government leaders, and funding agencies, and encourage broader segments of society to participate in computing research and education.

The majority of visioning activities have been in-person workshops, and we feel strongly that in-person activities are the best way to facilitate idea interchange and creative brainstorming.  However, the pandemic has taught us how to be flexible and brought to light benefits of meeting remotely as well.  Our preference is still to hold in-person visioning activities, but we also encourage organizers to think about alternative modalities, perhaps with two meetings – one in-person and one virtual that can engage a broader audience.  Activity organizers are expected to bring together a diverse group of scientists and practitioners who can inform the area of interest, and to formulate a program that encourages new ideas, innovative thinking, and broad discussion. Workshops can be of different sizes, typically ranging from 15-40 participants (though we have found that we have found that 20-25 works very well). It is important that the participant list be diverse, both in terms of content area representation, employment setting (academia, industry, research labs, and policy and funding organizations) and participants (seniority, gender, race, etc.).

Workshop Structure and Criteria

The CCC encourages creative ideas from all segments of the computing research community on topics ranging from the formulation of new research areas and technologies to the use of new or existing research ideas and technologies to address important scientific or societal challenges.

Workshops are required to have a tangible output – a visioning report, at minimum, and other products as appropriate (white papers, slide decks, blog posts, articles, etc.). Workshop products should target appropriate audiences (the computing research community, science policy groups or funding agencies, the general public), and the deliverables should be tailored for easy dissemination. CCC will help to support both workshop organization and the subsequent generation and communication of the workshop products.

The CCC can also support smaller gatherings, like roundtables, as well as workshops co-located at existing conferences, as long as the plan includes bringing new perspectives into the discussions.

Review Process and Criteria

Each proposal will be reviewed based on its potential to engage the computing research community, as well as policy and funding agencies, around a compelling vision and need. Feedback from the CCC will be provided in a timely manner. The final proposal will require approval by the entire CCC Council.

Proposals may be submitted by email at any time to cccrfp@cra.org as an attachment in PDF, Postscript, or Word. For CCC planning purposes, proposals must be submitted at least six months before the proposed date for the workshop.

Questions about this RFP should also be sent to cccrfp@cra.org.

CCC/CRA Staff Support

CCC/CRA staff supports workshops so that workshop organizers can function more like a technical program chair than a general chair. Staff handle logistics like obtaining a venue, inviting participants, arranging hotel rooms, implementing meeting logistics (rooms, A/V, and meals), and handling travel reimbursements. Organizers—in consultation with CCC—determine meeting topics and goals, prepare lists of invitees, arrange workshop schedule including choosing any speakers, run the workshop, and prepare follow-up products that foster the workshop’s impact.

Visioning Workshop Proposal Best Practices

When developing a proposal, keep the following in mind:

  • This is a proposal for an activity (or activities) to define a direction or to create and grow a community. This is not a research proposal, nor a proposal to assemble a group to write a research proposal.
  • Be sure to have a plan to engage a diverse community: diverse with respect to discipline (both within and outside of computing as appropriate), age, gender, ethnicity, institution, and intellectual approaches within the field and in adjacent fields.
  • A problem is not enough. There should be a clear case for why there is currently an opportunity for progress in the area and some idea (though, of course, not definitive) of how we might be able to achieve that progress.
  • Regarding outcomes: it can be helpful to think about and share what it would take for a federal agency to develop a program around the direction you’re proposing or a place (e.g. CISE Directorate within NSF) where this new research area could be housed.

Please see the Best Practices document for more details.

Examples of Successful CCC Visioning Proposals

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

Preparing a Visioning Workshop Proposal

Proposed activities can take many forms. A small group of people might have an idea and want to engage a larger community to create a vision for a new research agenda that broadens the scope of the topic and creates community interest in it. A group of researchers may wish to re-energize a community by organizing a workshop, or a series of workshops, to create a roadmap for the field. An interdisciplinary group may want to bring multiple communities together to catalyze a wholly new research area. In all cases, the proposing group is expected to have the research expertise, visibility, and leadership skills necessary to make the proposed effort a success. 

As a first step before starting work on a full proposal, we encourage submission of a short letter of intent, submitted to cccrfp@cra.org (no more than one page in length), that briefly addresses the key points listed below. CCC will provide initial feedback for use in helping you to prepare a full proposal as per the guidelines.

The length of the full project proposal should be commensurate with the scope of the proposed activities, but not longer than six (6) pages. Note that we seek activities that create visions for broad research agendas, not proposals whose primary purpose is to secure future funding for the participants.

 A well-formulated proposal should do the following:

  • Describe the visioning topic area and its current state of development within the field,
  • Explain the proposed activities in detail (if more than one activity, be sure to demonstrate the differences between the activities, the rationale for more than one activity, and the mechanisms to coordinate across activities),
  • Connect the activity and the vision: how does the former support/foster the latter?
  • Justify why this vision and this activity are important and appropriate now,
  • Specify the intended outcomes of the activity, and
  • Describe how those outcomes can be used to advance the visioning topic area.

A complete proposal must also

  • Identify the organizing committee,
  • Include brief biographical sketches of the organizers,
  • Propose a representative set of potential invitees (be sure to include representation from industry, policy and funding organizations),
  • Provide a draft budget with justification, and
  • Articulate how the success of the activity and its outcomes can be assessed.

Again, please see the Best Practices document for more details.

Funded activities are expected to have tangible outputs to share with the community beginning with a complete, standalone visioning report. Requested support can range from funds for a roundtable discussion to help ideas germinate to a single workshop, or even a series of workshops over a number of years. Keep in mind that larger efforts (multiple workshops, higher budgets, etc.) can become too broad, making it difficult to bring the final products together. The organizers are expected to lead the effort on behalf of the community, so the CCC will not cover salary support for them. Exceptions to these guidelines need to be very well justified, and cleared in advance by CCC. Any questions should be sent to cccrfp@cra.org.