Research Planning Committee

The Research Planning Committee (RPC) was formed in June 2023 to support NSF SpectrumX’s goals of avoiding research effort duplication, focusing on integrative research projects, and identifying and recruiting expert contributors with an emphasis on early career faculty. The RPC’s main responsibilities relate to strategic research planning, namely, setting the center’s research priorities, shaping and prioritizing the center’s research agenda, overseeing and evaluating ongoing research efforts, and providing guidance for research funding allocation. The RPC also solicits feedback from center members, External Advisory Board (EAB) members, and the Collaboration Advisory Board (CAB) members as part of its decision-making process.

Through its work, the RPC has developed and now supports multiple research initiatives, each with its own unique size, scope, and overall goals.

Seed Projects – Seed projects are small-to-moderate, limited-term investments to explore new research topics. To gain funding, center members must submit research proposals, and this process provides an opportunity for advisory board members and stakeholders to suggest and influence projects. The RPC reviews all proposals and makes funding recommendations to center leadership. Proposals may be multi-year, but funding is allocated on an annual basis.

Research Communities (RCs) – RCs are intended to serve as an entry point for new affiliates from academia, industry, and government agencies. RCs also serve as a forum for developing project proposals within and outside the center. Each RC meets once per month to share ideas, present ongoing research, and provide briefings on relevant policy activities. Additionally, each RC designates one or more participants to liaise with each working group to ensure the RC’s research aligns with center objectives and priorities. RC themes are intended to evolve over time, which allows NSF SpectrumX’s research agenda and efforts to be flexible and responsive to the evolving spectrum ecosystem.

Flagship Projects (FPs) – FPs represent significant center-level investments that are intended to achieve focused results by coordinating efforts across center membership. FPs must have explicit policy relevance and a high potential for policy impact. Due to their significant scope, they are intended to be formally managed projects that include a project plan, work packages and elements, a schedule, and milestones. FPs are intended to have significant effort focused on near-term results and some effort on high potential impact over the longer term.