Submissions
The ACI Foundation invites the ACI community and the global concrete industry to submit project ideas, research needs and problem statements related to research and innovation. We are interested in supporting a variety of projects, such as: ACI Technical Committee needs; new technologies and innovations, advancing the knowledge and use of concrete materials, structures and construction. Projects may be small in scope or large multi-year initiatives.
Ideas may be submitted any time during the year, but review, assessment, and funding decisions will occur on the following annual schedule:
The submission form also accounts for projects with deadlines that fall outside of the listed schedule. Simply answer yes to having a deadline and detail the reason, such as finishing research to meet a code cycle, or a deadline for securing co-funding, etc. ACI Foundation Staff will be notified of the deadline and can schedule a review meeting as needed.
If your submission is of interest, the ACI Foundation may, at its discretion, ask you for additional information, may request a proposal, or may post an open Request for Proposal (RFP) on the topic. If your topic is chosen for an open RFP, you will be notified and given the opportunity to submit a response. The ACI Foundation will approach the ideas strategically and can provide funding or support in a variety of ways, such as hosting stakeholder meetings, or funding a road map, business plan, or research.
Please note: the submission form is for project ideas and research needs. Do NOT submit ideas tied to intellectual property. Do NOT submit proposals. You will be contacted for additional information if your submission is of interest or if we need more information to properly assess the idea.
A principal investigator or project manager may have one funded project at a time.
Projects resulting in proprietary end products will not be funded.
Indirect costs (university overhead) are limited to 15%.
The ACI Foundation welcomes co-funding and collaboration with other organizations. Contact us to schedule a meeting to discuss a particular topic. We are open to discussing large-scale interdisciplinary projects and visionary topics.
Submissions will be assessed and ranked according to the following:
1. Impact on the concrete industry
Will the impact be large, small, narrow or broad?
2. Solution to an industry problem or challenge
Will the idea bridge an industry gap, change a practice, update a standard or guide?
3. Urgency to complete the work
Is there a code deadline? Does it solve a current issue?
4.Relevancy to the industry
Will it improve growth, efficiency, productivity or safety?
5. Impact on ACI
Does the work advance a code, specification or guide?
All who assess project ideas will comply with ACI Foundation’s confidentiality and conflict of interest policy by signature.