What CRP Panels Oversee

TRB manages a number of major research programs sponsored by other organizations, which include
the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP),
the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP),
the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP),
the Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program (HMCRP), and 
the National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP).

These CRPs are applied research programs that provide solutions to practical problems faced by practitioners in these various fields.  Stakeholders for each program select projects and allocate funds for the projects.  Universities, consultants, and other research institutions conduct the research, and are selected competitively based on merit.

Duties of CRP Panels

Under all of these programs, TRB organizes panels of experts to provide guidance on technical aspects of the research and to translate the problems into project statements (Requests for Proposals - RFPs) with well-defined objectives. Research proposals are then solicited from private and public research organizations with capability and experience in the problem areas to be studied.

The technical panels review the proposals, recommend contract awards, monitor research in progress, provide technical guidance, and determine the acceptability of the final reports.  More than 3,000 experienced practitioners and research specialists currently serve on CRP panels. TRB also manages programs of smaller studies focused on synthesizing current practices and analyzing legal issues in the NCHRP, TCRP, and ACRP programs, as well as a separately administered Commercial Tuck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP).  Findings and publications from these synthesis and legal research projects have been well received by practitioners.

Commitments

Panel members are prohibited from submitting or participating in preparation of proposals on projects under their jurisdiction. Panel members serve without compensation, but are reimbursed for travel and subsistence expenses. Travel insurance is provided at no cost to the members. In many cases, only two meetings are held in the life of a project, and these normally occur in Washington, D.C.

The first meeting is to develop RFPs that is used to solicit proposals; the second meeting is to select a research organization from among those submitting proposals. Other meetings may be dictated by project circumstances; however, they are few and usually occur at least a year apart. Membership for each panel will number approximately eight. Panels operate under the guidance of a permanent chair, and there is liaison representation from sponsoring organizations, with TRB staff serving as the secretariat.

The Nomination Process

Individuals may nominate themselves or others.  Nominees should have expertise directly relevant to the proposed project topic. To help identify nominees who are members of historically underrepresented groups, TRB encourages the nomination of women and members of minority groups.

Typically, nominees for panels in the Cooperative Research Programs outnumber the available positions by about four to one. As a result, TRB has been able to establish panels truly outstanding in their ability to play a fundamental role in the accomplishment of successful research.

The panel nomination cycle varies by program.  Generally, panel solicitations are announced about four to eight weeks before the nomination deadline.  The general nomination deadlines and first meeting time frames for individual programs are listed below.

	TCRP – Nominations due near the middle of January, with first panel meetings beginning in March.
	ACRP Synthesis* – Nominations due in the middle of January, with first panel meetings beginning in February
	HMCRP – Nominations due near the middle of January, with first panel meetings beginning in March.
	NCFRP – Nominations due near the middle of January, with first panel meetings beginning in March.
	NCHRP – Nominations due near the end of May, with first panel meetings beginning in late July.
	TCRP Synthesis* – Nominations due late July or early August, with first panel meetings beginning in September.
	NCHRP Synthesis* – Nominations due the middle of August, with first panel meeting beginning in September.
	ACRP – Nominations due near the middle of September, with first panel meetings beginning in November.

* TRB manages programs of smaller studies focused on synthesizing current practices in the NCHRP, TCRP, and ACRP programs, which operate on a different timeframe than other portions of those programs.

How to Get Involved

The solicitations for panel nominations are highlighted on the Request for Information portion of TRB’s website and on the home pages of the individual CRP programs.  Interest potential panel members are encouraged to visit TRB’s website within the general timeframes listed above to view and respond to these solicitations. 

In addition, notices are included at appropriate times of the year in TRB’s Transportation Research E-Newsletter.  The E-Newsletter is a free weekly electronic service designed to keep individuals up-to-date on TRB activities and to highlight selected transportation research-related activities taking place at the federal and state levels, and within the academic and international transportation communities.  More than 33,000 people from around the world receive the E-Newsletter.  You are encouraged to subscribe to the E-Newsletter.

Finally, e-mail notices are sent out to subscribers of appropriate CRP listservs.  In addition to panel member nomination notices, the listservs also announce requests for proposals for various projects.  Information on becoming a member of one of TRB’s CRP listservs is available online.