NSTIP Submission Guidelines for Application

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
National Science, Technology and Innovation Plan
2
Table of Contents
GENERAL GUIDELINES ............................................................................................................. 3
APPENDIX (1): INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE RESEARCH
PROPOSAL APPLICATION FORMS .......................................................................................... 7
APPENDIX (2). HOW TO COMPLETE TABLE D1-6: DETAILED EXAMPLE .................... 11
APPENDIX (3): EXAMPLES OF COMMON FORMAL ERRORS.......................................... 15

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General Guidelines
The General Secretariat of the National Science, Technology and Innovation Plan
is pleased to announce the deadlines for the submission of research proposal
applications to the Strategic Technologies Program- NSTIP.
Submission dates:
- Proposals will be accepted twice a year:
a) 1-31 March.
b) 1-30 September.
Submission requirements:
1. Applications must be submitted through the NSTIP e-portal at:
http://nstip.kacst.edu.sa only on the specific date for submission.
2. It is recommended that applicants read the guidelines on filling the research
proposal application before beginning the application process. (Appendix 1).
3. The applicant must verify that the research proposal is aligned with one of
the strategic technologies priorities and its tracks and sub-tracks.
4. The budget of the proposed research project should not exceed 2 million
SAR, and must comply with the “Strategic Technologies Program Projects
Payment Rules”.
5. “The Scientific Integrity Guidelines” must be observed.
6. Compliance with “the Living Creatures Research Ethics Law” when dealing
with living creatures or parts thereof or its genetic materials.
7. Compliance with the rules adopted on researcher participation in more than
three research projects, which state that a researcher may participate in more
than three research projects within the strategic technologies program on the
following conditions:

4
- The researcher cannot be principle investigator (PI) in more than three
research projects.
- The researcher cannot participate in more than a total of five research
projects.
- The researcher may not receive in compensation for the research projects in
which he participates more than the awards granted for three projects per
month.
- The researcher must receive a “strongly recommended” evaluation at least
once in one of the projects funded by the NSTIP “strategic technologies
program”.
- The Science and Technology Units (STU) in the government bodies are
responsible for the implementation of these procedures.
8. The record of the researcher must be checked and found to be clear of
remarks of any violation of “Scientific Integrity Rules”.
9. The signature, national ID and legal residence cards numbers of each
researcher must be checked.
10.The following additional documents must be included in the research project
proposal:
- For research proposals that are being resubmitted after prior evaluation, a
response to the comments of the evaluators on the proposal.
- Official letter from the consultant stating his consent to provide the
project with his consultant services should the project need consultants.
- Informed consent form for research proposals involving living creatures
or parts thereof or their genetic material.
11. The STU’s of the relevant bodies must ensure that:
- All application requirements are complete.

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- There are no formal or technical remarks comments on the research
proposals applying for the fund.
- There are no previous comments in the researcher’s record related to
violations of Scientific Integrity Rules.
12. To document the electronic application, a list of the research proposals that
meet all the requirements must be submitted with a formal letter from the
science and technology unit according to the attached schedule, to the
following address:
The Secretary General of the NSTIP
KACST
PO BOX 6086 Riyadh 11442
KSA
13.The representatives of the official authorities are instructed to deliver the
official letters within the deadline to submit applications to the KACST
Administrative Communications Center- Building 26- Ground Floor.

6
List of research proposals submitted for the grants (1433/12)
NoteCodeProposal Status
Principle
Investigator
Proposal
Title
#
The code of the research
proposal must be
indicated in the case it is
revised or resubmitted
based on the comments
of the NSTIP General
Secretariat.
The project status
must be listed:
-New
-Revised post
evaluation
-Revised based on
the comments of
the NSTIP
General
Secretariat
1
2
3

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Appendix (1): Instructions for the completion of the research proposal
application forms
The following guidelines are intended to be tool to help researchers complete the
requirements for submitting research proposals to the Strategic Technologies
Program, and fill in the application form accurately, avoiding any technical or
formal comment that may hinder the immediate acceptance of the application
before the evaluation process.
The application form:
The research projects application includes a number of essential elements that must
be completed accurately for the initial acceptance of the proposal to be secured, as
well as the following evaluation and supporting decision-making process. The
General Secretariat recommends that all researchers carefully study these
instructions before they start to fill in the application form, as follows:
1. The instructions attached to the English form regarding the required
information must be read and followed before beginning the application
process.
2. The detailed information requested in every subsection must be provided-
it’s not sufficient to simply list the information in the relevant tables, as the
tables are only meant to provide a summary of those sections, and not to
substitute for the required detailed information.
3. The tables of any specific section must be inserted within the relevant
section and not be all grouped at the end of the proposal.
4. The form must be completed in English only (including the CVs of
researchers and consultants) unless otherwise specified,
5. First Page:
The first page contains general information about the proposal, such as address
both in English and Arabic, the name of the technical program, as well as the main
and secondary areas of study, in addition to other general information about the

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project proposal. The first page must include the name of the technology program
(e.g. biotechnology), followed by the general area of study (bio-polymers for
example) and the secondary more specific area of study (such as bio-catalysis).
The strategic technologies and related main and secondary areas of study for all
technology programs can be obtained from the relevant science and technology
unit, or from the following link:
http://www.kacst.edu.sa/en/research/Pages/default.aspx
6. Second Page: Project information:
All requested data must be provided as follows:
- List the proposed research project budget, which must correspond to the
overall amount indicated in the budget table.
- Indicate the time (months) needed to complete the research, listing in the
subsequent cell the suggested start date (month, year).
- The names of the Principal Investigator (P.I) and participating
researchers, (Co. I), their professional titles, and fields of expertise must
be indicated in the appropriate table cells. Additional staff involved in the
research project, especially graduate students (Masters, PhD) must also
be listed.
- The guidelines stipulate the participation of graduate students in the
project. In case there are no such participants, the proposal must indicate
so and explain the reason for it.
- When a consultant or more are needed to participate in the project, the
name and country of origin of the consultant must be indicated, in addition
to a letter from the consultant expressing his consent to participate in the
research, and his CV at the end of the proposal. The budget must in such
case detail the hours of professional service expected to be provided by the
consultants, and the relevant tables must also indicate this information.

9
7. Table D1-2: The project goals must be listed in the same order listed in the
project in detail (rather than in summary or numbers). The second cell entry
must explain the work method adopted by the researchers to meet these
goals.
8. Table D1-3: As mentioned previously, the project objectives must be entered
in the first cell, followed by the implementation phases of each objective,
followed by the tasks, activities and techniques used to achieve these
objectives in the third cell.
9. Table D1-4: The first table cell must contain the names of the researchers
and assistants, followed in the second cell by the role of each and the time
expected for each to complete his task within the project timeline. The
number of work hours must correspond to the number used in the budget
table to calculate compensation.
10. Table D1-5: The first cell must show the phases and activities/tasks to be
conducted, while the second cell shows the names of researchers responsible
for the implementation of this phase, followed in the subsequent cells by the
time (months) expected for the completion of this phase.
11.Table D1-6: This is considered one of the most important tables of data, as it
reflects whether or not the proposal falls within the strategic proposals. The
first cell entry must list the expected outcomes of the implementation
phases, while the next cell lists in detail text (as opposed to Goal1, Goal2
etc..) the strategic goals of the technology program to which the project can
be attributed. (e.g.: the key goals of the biotechnology program which the
research will achieve). Strategic goals are listed in the strategic programs’
booklet at the Science and Technology Unit, or can be accessed at:
http://www.kacst.edu.sa/en/research/Pages/default.aspx
12. The research proposal does not necessarily have to achieve all the strategic
objectives, but the outcomes must be aligned with the purpose of these
strategic objectives. A (√) or (X) mark must appear in the second cell(s)
when mentioning the expected outcomes, below the listed strategic goal

10
corresponding to the relevant outcome in the first cell. In the third cell, list
the objective that will be achieved as mentioned in the proposal in detail as
opposed to numbers and codes, to maintain clarity & facilitate the work of
the outside evaluator (attached is a detailed explanation with examples to
show samples of D1-6).
13. Table D1-7: The budget table cells are clear, the required details must be
provided, and the numbers given need to be verified to assure that the
overall sum corresponds to the amount listed on the first page under the
budget.
14.Table D1-8: This table shows the adherence of the research team to some of
the mandatory guidelines of research activities. The signatures of the team
on this document attest to the team’s acceptance of all the terms and the
consequences of potential violations.

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Appendix (2). How to complete Table D1-6: detailed example
1. Cell 2 of table D1-6 includes a number of columns based on the number of
strategic goals the research proposal is expected to achieve in terms of the
targeted strategic technology. Each column has a title: Goal 1, Goal 2, etc…
2. The researcher needs to show the number of strategic goals (from the
targeted technology strategic goals booklet) expected to be achieved,
inserting as many columns in the relevant table as there are goals.
3. The researcher needs to describe in detail in the first cell the expected
outcomes to be achieved in order, and the corresponding project objectives
achieved as a result in the third cell, (which are the same ones as the ones
listed at the beginning of the proposal usually in the second page of the
form). The researcher decides at this point, and based on what is written in
the first and third cells, which of the identified strategic goals will be
achieved, writing the goal down in one of the columns of the second cell
(see example 1 of the below table).
4. The researcher may, in case he does not wish to write again the strategic
goals he will achieve in the second cell, write them once in the appropriate
space below or above the table, with a clear title, i.e. Goal 1, Goal 2, etc… A
check or x mark is then written down in the appropriate column in the
second cell (i.e. under Goal1, Goal2 etc…) to identify the objective. The
same table was written in this manner in example (1) and clarified in
example (2) to illustrate this point.
5. The research proposal can achieve one or more of the goals of the targeted
strategic technologies- it does not have to achieve them all to be considered
a strategic proposal.
6. Following all the above instructions is intended to help the researcher clearly
demonstrate to the outside evaluator that the research proposal is indeed
aligned with the targeted strategic technologies goals, especially that the

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authority evaluating the proposals keeps a copy of the goals of all the
strategic technologies adopted by KACST.
Example (1) How to Fill Table D1-6 for A Strategic Research Proposal in the
“Energy Technology”
PROJECT
EXPECTED
OUTCOMES
STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM
GOALS
PROJECT
OBJECTIVE
ACHIEVEDGOAL 1 GOAL 2 GOAL3
1 A new whole-
field approach for
the aerodynamic
analysis of wind
turbines using the
state-of-the –art
computational
technologies will
have been
developed
Efficiently
exploiting
national
energy
resources.
Supporting
national self-
dependence
in critical
energy
technologies
Faster and
better design,
simulation and
analysis
technologies
and methods
for new
generation
wind turbines
2. An advanced
parallel CFD code
with RANS,
HRLES and LES
models for fluid-
structure
interaction for
single blades and
whole rotors will
have been
developed
Efficiently
exploiting
national
energy
resources.
Supporting
national self-
dependence
in critical
energy
technologies
New
experimental
methods for
aerodynamic
analysis
3. Fast and
effective physics-
based multi-
disciplinary
optimization
methods will have
been produced for
Efficiently
exploiting
national
energy
resources.
Supporting
national self-
dependence
in critical
energy
technologies
Supporting the
local energy
industry to
attain
development
and growth
with
Testing and
verification
and resource
center to be set
up

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Example (2) How to Fill Table D1-6 for A Strategic Research Proposal in the
“Energy Technology”
the aerodynamic
and structural
dynamic design of
wind turbine
blades.
technology
solutions
4. The best
efficiency in the
field will have
been achieved
through analysis
and optimization
as we have done
for ARC’s AS-400
series turbine.
Efficiently
exploiting
national
energy
resources.
Supporting
national self-
dependence
in critical
energy
technologies
Supporting the
local energy
industry to
attain
development
and growth
with
technology
solutions
Transfer of
technologies to
local industry
PROJECT
EXPECTED
OUTCOMES
STRATEGIC
TECHNOLOGY
PROGRAM GOALS
PROJECTOBJECTIVE
ACHIEVED
GOAL
1
GOAL
2
GOAL3
1 A new whole-field
approach for the
aerodynamic analysis
of wind turbines using
the state-of-the –art
computational
technologies will have
been developed
X X
Faster and better design,
simulation and analysis
technologies and methods for
new generation wind turbines
2. An advanced
parallel CFD code
with RANS, HRLES
and LES models for
fluid-structure
interaction for single
X X
New experimental methods
for aerodynamic analysis

14
Goal 1: Efficiently exploiting national energy resources.
Goal 2: Supporting national self-dependence in critical energy technologies.
Goal 3: Supporting the local energy industry to attain development and
growth with technology solutions.
blades and whole
rotors will have been
developed
3. Fast and effective
physics-based multi-
disciplinary
optimization methods
will have been
produced for the
aerodynamic and
structural dynamic
design of wind turbine
blades.
X X X
Testing and verification and
resource center to be set up
4. The best efficiency
in the field will have
been achieved through
analysis and
optimization as we
have done for ARC’s
AS-400 series turbine.
X X X
Transfer of technologies to
local industry

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Appendix (3): Examples of common formal errors
1. Failure to use the appropriate application form (CNPSTI Form RE-D1).
2. Failure to complete the application form entirely and correctly.
3. Filling in some fields in Arabic.
4. Writing CV in Arabic, or using the Arabic language in inappropriate parts
(such as an Arabic abstract).
5. Failure to attach a response letter addressing the evaluators’ comments in the
case of a resubmitted, revised proposal.
6. Failure to indicate the research status (new, resubmitted, revised) or
indicating the incorrect status.
7. The proposal does not correspond to its indicated strategic goals (listed in
table D1-6). For example the proposal strategic objectives relate to
biotechnology whereas the proposal is classified to be in the field of math
and physics. If the classification of the proposal remains the same then the
targeted goals of math and physics technology should be adopted.
8. Failure to include table D1-6 which shows whether the proposal is aligned
with the targeted strategic technology goals- all cells must be completed
with the required information.
9. Lack of graduate students in the project without a convincing explanation to
justify this absence.
10.Failure to indicate the role of the consultant if the project does need
consultant services.
11. Failure to attach the consultant’s CV.
12. Failure to include the letter stating the consultant’s consent to participate in
the project.
13.Failure to include the CV of any of the research team members.
14.Failure to include informed consent table in case of projects dealing with
living creatures, or parts of them or their genetic materials .

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