Academic Research Solicitation
The timeline below describes our annual academic research solicitation process from idea development to project funding. The full schedule is also available as a Gantt chart (.pdf).
Last year's research solicitation process: 2021 Timeline (.jpg)
Minnesota transportation practitioners submit research project ideas to the Research & Innovation office via the Ideascale website or at a MnDOT State Aid Prescreening Meeting (cities and counties-only).
Ideas are collated and reviewed by the MnDOT Research Steering Committee and the Local Road Research Board (LRRB). The ideas that best meet MnDOT and local transportation research priorities are used to develop research need statements.
The Research & Innovation office works with idea-submitters to complete a MnDOT Need Statement Form or LRRB Need Statement Form with a MnDOT, county or city champion.
Questions? Email research.dot@state.mn.us or call 651-366-3780.
Members of the MnDOT Research Steering Committee and Local Road Research Board (LRRB) review and select ideas for the academic research RFP.
Qualified universities are invited to submit proposals on research need statements that address the research need, tasks, costs, deliverables, and schedule.
Following an evaluation by the project champions, the MnDOT Research Steering Committee and the LRRB review and select proposals for presentation. Research needs with multiple proposals are reviewed using the criteria in the Multiple Proposal Review Form.
The MnDOT Research Steering Committee and the LRRB hold separate meetings to hear presentations and select projects for funding. Funding awards are announced in late December. Note that MnDOT and the LRRB can also fund projects off-cycle as needed.
Technical Advisory Panels (TAPs) are formed to guide the development of contract work plans and oversee future work. Learn more about TAPs and TAP member roles by viewing the guidelines.
Contracting is done to start the research/implementation effort using the university research work plan, available at right. Both the University of Minnesota contract document and the Materials Lab PI Work Plan are also listed. Use the TPF form to establish pooled-fund studies.
