Open Proposals: A Pre-Competitive Interactive
Space for Research Community
Oksana Gologorskaya, M.Sc.Product Manager, Virtual Home Program, Clinical and Translational Science Institute,
University of California, San Francisco
Learning Objectives
“Crowdsourcing” ideas and proposal development at biomedical institution
Insights from 5 years of practicingOpen Proposals Tool Demo Invitation to collaborate
Harvesting Ideas in Academia
Request for Proposals
RFP Timeline
Imagine a friendly community…
Add “social” phase to the process
What is different?Proposal Ideas are shared with community
before they are submittedEveryone knows what everyone else is
proposingAnyone in community can comment on the
ideas Valuable contributors can join proposal teamsProposal teams can merge
Open Proposal Process• Share Online
• Discuss & Improve
• Submit for Review
• See Everyone’s Results
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First Open Forum
18 ideas 41 comments
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First Open Forum: Implementation
Section on existing Drupal website Simple features:
Post ideas Comment Vote Anonymous participation ok
2009 UCSF CTSI Grant Renewal RFPac
cele
rate
.ucs
f.edu High stakes: ideas for
$112 M grant 53 ideas 47 comments We got the grant!
Practical Insight 1: Starting Conditions
•Collaborative audience
• Non-$ motivations to participate
•Support from the top
UCSF CTSI Pilot Awards 2012ac
cele
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.ucs
f.edu
28 ideas 292 comments
Participation Increased. Why?
2009 2009 2009 2010 201218 27 53 19 2841 39
476
290
Open Forums Participation 2009-2012
Proposals Comments
Behaviors Observed:
Proposals improved Connections made between participants
Proposals withdrawn
Practical Insight 2: Process Matters
1 2 3 4 518 27 53 19 2841 39
47
6
290
Open Forums Participation 2009-2012
Proposals Comments• Design process to encourage participation
• Manage the audience
First Non-CTSI Challenge 2012 UCSF IT Innovation Contest
Target Audience: All Staff & FacultyCompeting against other solutions
Solutions Considered
EmailSalesforce ChatterOpen Proposals
UCSF Open Proposals Tool
Custom Branding for Opportunity Sponsor
UCSF Open Proposals Tool
Standalone, easy to use space for discussions
UCSF Open Proposals Tool
Transparent & efficient process
Open Proposals Provided:Transparent & efficient processStandalone space for discussionsEasy to useCustom branding for sponsor
IT Contest 2012 - Results48 proposals, 5 awarded73 people posted 216 commentsWithdrawn/merged proposals: 1517 unique visitors in active phases
A Hard Learning
Department of Medicine Funding Patient Cohorts 2012Funding to allocate: $200,000Target audience: DOM Faculty (~620)Collaborative opportunity: reusing
patient cohorts
DOM Funding Patient Cohorts 2012 - Results
14 proposals, 2 awarded30 people posted 66 commentsWithdrawn proposals: 1431 unique visitors in active phases
Surprising FeedbackOpportunity Sponsors: “We won’t use it again”
End Users:– Overall experience: 2-dissatisfied / 6 –
neutral / 7 - satisfied– Proposal impact: 2- improved / 7 – no
change / 2- worsened– Team impact: 2- added team members
Practical Insight 3: Supportive Sponsor, Engaged Community
• Make sure the audience understands the process (no, it is not a popularity contest)
• Early ideas have more room for feedback than fully baked proposals
• The audience will not engage without Sponsor’s support
Other types of opportunities that benefited from OP
Building Community to Revamp Medical School’s curriculum
Department Strategic PlanningAdministrative Process Improvements
UCSF Open Proposals Toolop
en-p
ropo
sals
.ucs
f.edu Standalone Drupal Website
Integrated with UCSF Single Sign On
Optional IP restricted access Linked with UCSF Profiles
UCSF Open Proposals UIop
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.ucs
f.edu
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UI: Forum Space1. Sponsor branding2. Opportunity
title/subtitle3. Intro text – opp.
description4. Opportunity
timeline5. Proposals main
feed6. Forum menu7. My Proposals
shortcut8. Topic filter9. Activity feeds10.Footer menu11.Search
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UI: Proposal Page1.Proposal title2.Proposal view tabs3.Proposal info4.Proposal body
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UI: Adding Proposal1.Instructions /
format requirements2.Title (required)3.Taxonomy fields4.Primary author – if
proposal is submitted for someone else
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UI: Adding Proposal5. Proposal body6. Multi-file attachments7. Single file attachment8. Post (submit) button9. Preview button
9
Automation: Updates and Subscriptions
Proposal authors and commenters are automatically subscribed to the updates on their proposal
Forum visitors can “Follow” the forum or its selected proposals
Key Ingredients for Success
• Process
• Tool
• Engaged Community
• Supportive Sponsor
ChallengesHow to engage community?
– Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation for community reviewers
Community balance
• Narrow enough to remain
relevant and collaborative
• Wide enough to provide
valuable input
Benefits of Open Proposals
Open, transparent process Collaborative spaceEfficiencyBetter teams
Better proposals
Less Obvious Benefits
Reviewers get not only proposals but also community’s reaction that may inform them as well
Every idea is captured and stays there (usually online) forever…
Active participants build relationships and get noticed
Winning proposals draw more attention
IT Innovations Contest
OpenSocial Gadget Contest
DOM Patient Cohorts RFA
Funding Shared Equipment RFA
CHV Caring Wisely Initiative
2013 CTSI Annual Pilot Awards
Funding Shared Equipment RFA Round 2
UCSF Coursera Course CFP
CTSI 2016 NIH Renewal Launchpad
2013 IT Innovations Contest
DOM 2013 Strategic Planning
CHV Caring Wisely 2 Initiative
2014 Innovations Funding for Education
SOM Dean's Office Bureaucracy Busters
0 5 10 15 20 25
Average comments for winning proposalAverage comments for other proposals
Avg. # Comments, All ForumsWinning vs. Non Winning Proposals
Avg. comments per proposal0
1
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6
WinningNon Winning
UCSF Open Proposals Today
23 forums Since launch in 2012 700+ proposals 18,000+ visitors $ 4,000,000+ funding distributed Shared with 2 institutions
What’s Next?
• Research Administration, Infrastructure, Strategic Planning
• Collaborative Research Opportunities
Thank You
UCSF Open Proposals is managed by the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), part of the Clinical and Translational Science Award program funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (Grant Number UL1 TR000004) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Special Thanks
Mini Kahlon and Clay Johnston, for introducing the idea and making it come to life
To Brad Bulger, for building the toolTo Cynthia Piontkowski, for creating the
tool’s people friendly sideTo Leslie Yuan, for support and inspiration,
and winning decisions
Special ThanksTo Rachael Sak, for figuring out tricky details
of the process and making it a success when most people were skeptical
To Lisa Schoonerman, for help with winning hesitant new customers and for invaluable practical insight
To Anirvan Chatterjee, for the most creative ideas for the tool and its introduction to the bigger world, and for huge help with this presentation
It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.Napoleon Hill, one of the great writers on success
Publication on Open Proposals
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cts.12147/full
ctsi.ucsf.edu * open-proposals.ucsf.eduGitHub Project (ask us for access):
https://github.com/CTSIatUCSF/dreamcatcher
[email protected]@ucsf.edu
Contact Us
Media CreditsNoel Hidalgo,
Hand made "like us on Facebook" sign. , Flickr
Kfergos, Abstract Lights , FlickrSasha Gologorskaya, Friends,
Everyday PhotosRen Kuo, Dreamcatcher, Flickr
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