Preparing an IST proposal as a Chinese partner – Some experiences from ICT

1. Preparing an IST proposal as a Chinese partner – Some experiences from ICT Haiyan Yu Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences yhy@software.ict.ac.cn

2. Outline • Background • About XtreemOS • About ICT • Grid Research @ ICT • Preparing an IST proposal • Exploring Cooperation Opportunities • The Lifecycle of a Successful Proposal • The Structure of a Proposal • Writing Key Sections of a Proposal • Important Tips • Where to Get Information • Conclusion

3. Background • About XtreemOS • About ICT • Grid Research @ ICT

4. About XtreemOS (1) • An IST call 5 proposal that has successfully passed the final evaluation • Design, implementation, evaluation and distribution of an open source Grid operating system with native support for virtual organizations • Enhancing Linux to manage very large and dynamic ensembles of cross-domain resources, targeting multiple platforms( PC, SMP, clusters, PDA and mobile phones) • Building the reference open source Grid OS, providing a production-quality alternative for current grid research prototypes

5. About XtreemOS (2) The success of XtreemOS proposal was largely attributed to : • the WellBalanced International Consortium • A prestigious leader and a good coordinator (INRIA) • A reasonable composition of academic researchers, software vendors, and end users • Academic partners: CNR, CCLRC, BSC, U. Ulm, U. Vrjie, ZIB, ICT (from China) • Industrial partners: Mandriva, Red Flag (from China), NEC, SAP, XLAB, Telefonica+D, EADS, EDF, T6 • the Hard Work of the consortium

6. About XtreemOS (3) Specific Contributionsof Chinese Partners in XtreemOS: • ICT • Design and implementation of OS-level user and resource management mechanisms to support VO (The responsible partner for some tasks) • Deploying, testing and evaluating XtreemOS on China grid testbeds • RedFlag • Packaging and distribution of XtreemOS • Integration with Red Flag Linux / AsiaUx • Provide user support of XtreemOS

7. About ICT • Full Name: Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences ( ICT of CAS ) • Founded in 1956, the First National Research Institute on Computer Science and Technology in China • Pilot R&D Initiatives • High-Performance Computing: Dawning Cluster 4000A ( Rank 10th of Top500), BlueWhale 1000 Network Storage System • General Purpose CPU Chips: GodSon I, II • Grid Computing: VEGA Grid • Digital Technologies: Audio and Video Coding Standard (AVS) • Networking : IPv6 Testing, Wireless Sensor networks • The Cradle of Chinese IT Industries • Research Institutes originate from ICT: Software Institute of CAS, Network Center of CAS, etc. • Enterprises incubated by ICT: Lenovo, Dawning, etc. http://www.ict.ac.cn/

8. Grid Research @ ICT- Research Center for Grid and Service Computing ( VEGA Center ) • Grid Middleware: VEGA Software Suite • WS-I and OGSA conformance • Provide a tailorable Implementation of WS-Security • The core part of CNGrid Software, deployed in 8 nodes spanning 6 cities in China, • End-User Programming Tools • GSML: “Visual Studio” for Grid Applications, based on Eclipse RCP (for desktop app.) and AJAX framework (for web app.) • VINCA : service composition / workflow tool, BPEL compatible • Applications • Context-Aware Service Management: FLAME2008, serving Beijing Olympic Games • Advanced Manufacturing: AmGrid, operating in BOE corp. • E-government : COGES, operating in GuaDong Province • Basic Research • Abacus Virtual Machine Leaflets available! http://vega.ict.ac.cn/

9. Preparing an IST proposal • Exploring Cooperation Opportunities • The Lifecycle of a Successful Proposal • The Structure of a Proposal • Writing Key Sections of a Proposal • Important Tips • Where to Get Information

10. Exploring Cooperation Opportunities • The first but not the least, let your research be known to the world • Publications on high-quality international conferences and journals ( Let reviewers know your work even if not get published ) • Meet with people within the same research community • Attending conferences such as Grid@Asia, SC, HPCC, etc. • Be volunteers of international activities such as serving as a PC member or panel chair of conferences • Join in collaboration forums or consortiums such as GGF • Find matching partners • Generally speaking, for a promising proposal, the project leader (a research institute, a university, more often, a group) is highly active and well known in a specific research area. • Your expertise or research experiences could complement to other partners

11. The lifecycle of a successful proposal • Consortium formalization • May immediately start after the call has been announced • May terminate after there are enough members responsible for each Work Package (WP) • Preparation of the proposal • Each partner contribute to their interested WPs • Integrated Draft version 1,2,3 … till the deadline • Submission of the proposal ( generally no extension ! ) • The First Stage of Evaluation (in 1-2 months after the submission) • Must pass the required thresholds in 6 aspects: (1)Relevance (2) Potential Impact (3) S&T Excellence (4) Quality of the consortium (5) Quality of the management (6) Mobilization of the resources • The Second Stage of Evaluation ( Hearings) • Respond to a number of specific questions concerning the proposal • Contract negotiations • Determined by results of the second stage of evaluation, in order of precedence - highest ranking proposals first • Two or more rounds, much paperwork • Signature of Contract, Start of the Project

12. The Structure of a Proposal • Full title / Acronym / Strategic objectives / Proposal Abstract • B.1 Scientific and technological objectives of the project and state of the art • B.2 Relevance to the objectives of the IST Priority • B.3 Potential impact • B.4 Outline implementation plan • B.5 Description of the consortium • B.6 Description of project management • B.7 Project resources • B.8 Detailed implementation plan – first 18 months • B.9 Other issues • B.10 Gender issues Generally, Chinese partners need to focus on items in blue color

13. Writing Key Sections of a Proposal (1) • Specify which work packages (WPs) you would like to participated in • Is this WP matching your research interests ? • What contribution could you make to this WP ? • How many person-months (PMs) could you afford ? • Provide Inputs & Comments to each WP in which you will be involved • Objectives • Challenges • Approach • Industry involvement • Relevance to the project • Relation to other WPs • Give a coarse estimation of your budget • Two stages: First 18 months / Later 30 months • Normally the cost can be calculated by PMs

14. Writing Key Sections of a Proposal (2) For Chinese Partners, the following sections are mandatory • B.5 “Detailed Description of Partners” • Introduction of your organization • Your skills (research achievements) • Key Personnel ( Resume, publications could be attached) • B.5.3 “Other Countries” • Why you are included in the consortium ? Some possible answers: • Explore new opportunities for international collaboration, jointly addressing important technological issues and enhancing competitiveness • Could contribute to the improvement of China’s IT infrastructure, could have some profound impact on technology transfer in China • How important is your contribution to the project ? • What exactly role do you play in the project ? • Design / Implementation / Evaluation / Dissemination / … • Your expertise complement to the consortium

15. Important Tips (1) • Be active, better than be passive • Make your contributions as much as possible, add inputs to important sections of the proposal ( such as “Relevance to the objectives of the IST Priority”, “Potential impact “, and etc. ) if you can • Be careful in writing • Not to boast • Ensure technical correctness • Make typo error and grammar error checking • Generally, A Mailing List + A Website is an efficient approach for collaboration . • Timely response is welcome • Active discussion is welcome • “Double-win” strategics • Invite other possible Chinese partners that could improve the quality of consortium, rather than becoming competitors

16. Important Tips (2) • Financial Issues • Cost Model • AC (Additional Cost): for academic partners, 100% get granted • FC (Full Cost): for industrial partners, 50% get granted • Don’t over-estimate your budget ! It will impairs the evaluation of the proposal. • Be reasonable. • Detail Justification of the budget

17. Where to get the information • IST Call 6 Site (contains all information you need)http://fp6.cordis.europa.eu.int/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.FP6DetailsCallPage&call_id=271 • China-EU S&T Site http://www.ceco.org.cn/ (in Chinese) • Regarding “IST Call 6: International cooperation on Grid Technologies” Target country: China • Research focus : • Grid foundations: architecture, design and development of technologies and systems for the Grid • Grid-enabled applications and services for business and society: promote global adoption of Grid environments and tools Proposals shall leverage and integrate existing initiatives in the focal areas in Europe and the target countries.

18. Conclusion • Participating in an IST application is a good practice to learn how big projects are coordinated • A good opportunity to make China R&D initiatives open to the world, to foster technological innovation through relationships with international players.

19. Thank You!Contact: yhy@software.ict.ac.cn