Template Statement_of_Project_Objectives.docx

Statement of Project Objectives [Award Number] [Mod Number] [Recipient Organization Name] [Project Title]

[The instructional red and blue text and attachments below should be removed in the final version of the SOPO]

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All of the information to be included in the SOPO must be consistent with the Application and any Negotiation Strategies upon which the award was selected. Specifically, the SOPO must be consistent with the Work Plan portion of the Technical Volume submitted by the Applicant. The SOPO should accurately define what work is to be done and the expected progress to be achieved. See the FOA for specific pages limits of the SOPO.

The following items should not be included in the SOPO:

· Dollar amounts.

· Specific dates (only include general time frames (i.e. Demonstrate XYZ result by Month 3, not Demonstrate XYZ by June 8th, 2013).

· Subcontractors, vendors or individuals by name. The award is with the prime and, as such, the SOPO should not generally reference the subcontractors.

Intellectual property information and other aspects of the project that could be considered proprietary or business confidential should be clearly marked in the final version of the SOPO. The SOPO must be marked as follows and identify the specific pages containing confidential, proprietary, or privileged information:

Notice of Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data:

Pages [list applicable pages] of this document may contain confidential, proprietary, or privileged information that is exempt from public disclosure. Such information shall be used or disclosed only for evaluation purposes or in accordance with a financial assistance agreement between the submitter and the Government. The Government may use or disclose any information that is not appropriately marked or otherwise restricted, regardless of source.

The header and footer of every page that contains confidential, proprietary, or privileged information must be marked as follows: “Contains Confidential, Proprietary, or Privileged Information Exempt from Public Disclosure.”

In addition, every line and paragraph containing proprietary, privileged, or trade secret information must be clearly marked with double brackets or highlighting.

A. Project Objectives Note: This content must be consistent with the ‘Project Objectives’ section of the Work Plan submitted by the Applicant.

Provide a clear and concise (high-level) statement of the goals and objectives of the project as well as the expected outcomes. If the award is to be structured in Budget Periods, include the objective(s) for each Budget Period.

B. Technical Scope Summary Note: This content must be consistent with the ‘Technical Scope Summary’ section of the Work Plan submitted by the Applicant.

Provide a summary description of the overall work scope and approach to achieve the objective(s). The work scope description needs to be divided by Budget Periods that are separated by discrete, approximately annual decision points (see below for more information on go/no-go decision points). The applicant should describe the specific expected end result of each performance period.

C. Tasks To Be Performed Note: This content must be consistent with the ‘Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Task Description Summary’ section of the Work Plan submitted by the Applicant.

The section should describe the specific activities to be conducted over the life of the project. This section provides a summary of the planned approach to this project and should clearly articulate what work must be accomplished to execute the project scope and thus meet the established project objectives.

The task descriptions should be structured with a hierarchy of performance period separated by at least one project-wide go/no-go decision point at the end of each budget period, approximately every 12 to 18 months of the project. In other words, tasks should be organized in a logical sequence and should be divided into the budget periods of the project, as appropriate.

Each task and/or subtask is to have a unique number and title and an indication of the approximate duration of the task or subtask in months. Each task and/or subtask is to have a task summary that describes the objectives, what work is to be accomplished, and relationship to project deliverables or expected results. Appropriate milestones and go/no-go decision criteria should be incorporated into the task and subtask structure.

Milestones: The SOPO should identify appropriate milestones throughout the project to demonstrate success. A milestone may be either a progress measure (which can be activity based) or a SMART technical milestone. SMART technical milestones should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely, and must demonstrate a technical achievement rather than simply completing a task. Unless otherwise specified in the FOA, the minimum requirement is that each project must have at least one milestone per quarter for the duration of the project with at least one SMART technical milestone per year (depending on the project, more milestones may be necessary to comprehensively demonstrate progress). The Applicant should also provide the means by which the milestone will be verified. In addition to describing milestones in the SOPO text, the milestones should be included in the Milestone Summary Table below.

Go/No-Go Decision Points: The SOPO should include project-wide go/no-go decision points at the end of each budget period. A go/no-go decision point is a risk management tool and a project management best practice to ensure that, for the current budget period or period of performance, technical success is definitively achieved and potential for success in future budget periods or periods of performance is evaluated, prior to actually beginning the execution of future budget periods. Unless otherwise specified in the FOA, the minimum requirement is that each project must have at least one project-wide go/no-go decision point for each budget period (approximately each 12 to 18 month period) of the project. The SOPO should also include the specific technical criteria that will be used to evaluate the progress and make the go/no-go decision. In addition to describing the go/no-go decision points in the SOPO text, the go/no-go decision points and their method of verification should be included in the Milestone Summary Table below. Go/no‐go decision points are considered “SMART” and can fulfill the requirement for an annual SMART milestone.

End of Project Goal: The SOPO should include one SMART end of project goal. The Applicant should also provide the means by which the goal will be verified. In addition to describing the end of project goal in the SOPO text, the end of project goal should be included in the Milestone Summary Table below.

Below is an example of a typical task structure. While the example illustrates two Budget Periods and three tasks, the specific project work scope will dictate the appropriate number of budget periods, tasks and subtasks:

Budget Period 1 [Enter Title] – Budget Period designations may not be necessary for all awards but are required for multi-year projects when subsequent work authorization is dependent on meeting success or acceptance criteria associated with major milestones or go/no-go decision points. Text describing the milestone or go/no-go decision is to be inserted into the task structure at the point where prior completed work is expected to confirm attainment of the milestone or support the criteria established to make the go/no-go decision.

Task 1.0: Distinctive Title [Optional: Date range of the task in months (M1-M4)]

Task Summary: Task summaries shall explicitly describe what work is to be accomplished, identify the project objectives/outcomes being addressed and provide a concise statement of the objectives of that task. In addition, the description should indicate the project deliverables or expected results that this task will help achieve.

Milestone 1.1 (if applicable) Milestone 1.2 (if applicable) Etc.

Subtask 1.1: Title [Optional: Date range (M1-M2)] Subtask Summary: Describe the specific and detailed work efforts that go into achieving the higher-level tasks.

Milestone 1.1.1 (if applicable) Milestone 1.1.2 (if applicable) Etc.

Subtask 1.2: Title [Optional: Date range (M3-M4)] (Continue until all Task 1 subtasks are listed)

Task 2.0: (continue in the format above until all tasks and subtasks are listed) Subtask 2.1: Title, Date range, Subtask Summary Description Subtask 2.2: Title, Date range, Subtask Summary Description

Budget Period 1 Go/No-Go Decision Point: Insert go/no-go decision description, including the specific technical criteria or basis on which the decision is to be made.

Budget Period 2 [Enter Title]

Task 3.0: Distinctive Title [Optional: Date range of the task in months (M12-M14)] (Continue in the format above until all tasks and subtasks are listed)

D. Project Management and Reporting This section should briefly describe relevant project management and reporting activities during all budget periods, including any special reporting requirements or deliverables.

Reports and other deliverables will be provided in accordance with the Federal Assistance Reporting Checklist following the instructions included therein.

Additional deliverables as indicated in the task/subtask descriptions include the following:

Note: If items other than those identified on the "Federal Assistance Reporting Checklist" will be delivered to DOE, these deliverables will be identified within the text of the Statement of Project Objectives and should be identified here. See the following examples:

1. Subtask 1.1 - (Topical Report or Item (e.g., hardware for testing) Description)

2. Task 2 - (Topical Report or Item (e.g., hardware for testing) Description)

Milestone Summary Table

Subtask (if applicable) Title Milestone Type (Milestone, Go/No-Go Decision Point, End of Project Goal) Milestone Number* (Go/No-Go Decision Point Number) Milestone Description (Go/No-Go Decision Criteria) Milestone Verification Process (What, How, Who, Where) Anticipated Date (Months from Start of the Project) Anticipated Quarter (Quarters from Start of the Project)

See Milestone Summary Table examples in Attachment 1 below

Note: This content must be consistent with the ‘Milestone Summary’ section of the Work Plan submitted by the Applicant.

* Milestone numbering convention should align with Task and Subtask numbers, as appropriate. For example, M1.1, M3.2, etc.

Note 1: It is required that each project has at least one milestone per quarter for the entire project duration. It is required that each project have at least one SMART technical milestone per year. It is not necessary that each task have one milestone per quarter.

Note 2: It is required that each project has at least one project-wide go/no-go decision point at the end of each budget period, approximately every 12 to 18 months. If a decision point is not specific to a particular task, then you may leave the task information blank for those decision points.

Attachment 1 – Example Milestone Summary Tables

Below are three examples of Milestone Summary Tables.

Example 1 is a milestone table for an R&D project with parallel efforts for material development, tool design and reliability testing.

Example 2 is a milestone table for an offshore wind demonstration project that will complete the initial engineering design, as well as initiation of all permitting or studies required for regulatory compliance and the NEPA review process, with a DOE down-select of funded projects at the end of the first budget period.

Example 3 is a milestone table for an Integrated Bio-Refinery (IBR) demonstration project.

Example 1: Milestone Summary Table for an R&D project with parallel efforts for material development, tool design and reliability testing.

Milestone Summary Table

Subtask (if applicable) Title Milestone Type (Milestone or Go/No-Go Decision Point) Milestone Number* (Go/No-Go Decision Point Number) Milestone Description (Go/No-Go Decision Criteria) Milestone Verification Process (What, How, Who, Where) Anticipated Date (Months from Start of the Project) Anticipated Quarter (Quarters from Start of the Project)

End of Project Goal

Example 2: Milestone Summary Table for an offshore wind demonstration project that will complete the initial engineering design, as well as initiation of all permitting or studies required for regulatory compliance and the NEPA review process, with a DOE down-select of funded projects at the end of the first budget period.

Milestone Summary Table

Subtask (if applicable) Title Milestone Type (Milestone or Go/No-Go Decision Point) Milestone Number* (Go/No-Go Decision Point Number) Milestone Description (Go/No-Go Decision Criteria) Milestone Verification Process (What, How, Who, Where) Anticipated Date (Months from Start of the Project) Anticipated Quarter (Quarters from Start of the Project)

1) Budget Period 1 technical performance and progress towards stated project objectives

2) Innovations and their potential reductions on the cost of energy (LCOE), and

3) Likelihood of project success, advancement of the national knowledge base and commercial impact in the U.S.

Example 3: Milestone Summary Table for an Integrated Bio-Refinery (IBR) demonstration project.

Milestone Summary Table

Subtask (if applicable) Title Milestone Type (Milestone or Go/No-Go Decision Point) Milestone Number* (Go/No-Go Decision Point Number) Milestone Description (Go/No-Go Decision Criteria) Milestone Verification Process (What, How, Who, Where) Anticipated Date (Months from Start of the Project) Anticipated Quarter (Quarters from Start of the Project)