IEEE New Initiative Process

The new initiative program is designed to support potential new programs, products, or services that will provide significant benefit to IEEE members, the public, the technical community, and customers, or which could have lasting impact on the IEEE or its business processes. Initiatives must be of strategic importance to IEEE.

A request for new initiative funding may be submitted by any IEEE member, volunteer, or IEEE unit, either individually or in cooperation with an IEEE staff group.

While IEEE staff proposals generally are considered to be operational, they may be submitted for consideration if they meet both of the following criteria:

• they are innovative (e.g., involve something new to a discipline, a new product, a new process with significant benefits, or an integration of multifunctional operations);
• they have a volunteer or operational unit co-sponsor.

All proposals must be accompanied by a letter of endorsement from a volunteer champion. Learn more about the volunteer champion requirements in the explanation of the two-phased new initiative proposal submission process.

Phase one

Phase one involves the submission of a preliminary proposal for New Initiatives Committee (NIC) review. The steps in phase 1 are as follows.

1. Initiative leaders must find a volunteer champion to endorse the proposed project. The champion writes a short endorsement (in electronic form) and may offer suggestions that could facilitate approval of the project.
2. Phase one preliminary proposals can be submitted at any time using the IEEE New Initiatives Proposal Form (DOC, 205 KB). Completed forms should be sent to the NIC e-mail alias at newinitiatives@ieee.org. The form requires basic information such as initiative leader, champion endorsement, costs, and timetable.
3. Proposals will be screened by IEEE staff to determine that all required information is included, and then forwarded to the NIC within five working days of submission. Staff will not evaluate proposals for content.
4. The NIC will evaluate phase 1 proposals and provide a decision to the initiative leader and champion at the next scheduled NIC meeting.
5. If the phase one proposal is accepted, the initiative leader will be asked to submit a phase 2 proposal. If the proposal is not accepted, the initiative leader and champion will be notified with an explanation and possible suggestions for further action.

Phase two

Phase two requires the submission of the complete proposal after acceptance in phase one. The steps in phase two are as follows.

1. The initiative leader will be required to submit a phase two proposal within the timeline negotiated between the NIC and the initiative leader.
2. Phase two proposals will be screened by staff to determine that all conditions for submission have been met, and will be forwarded to the NIC within five working days.
3. NIC members will review the phase two proposal and ask for any additional information needed within ten working days. The NIC may designate an NIC member as a contact for the initiative leader.
4. If the proposal is recommended by NIC and approved by the Board of Directors, the NIC will negotiate the start date (which includes release of funding) and an expected progress report and review (either written or verbal) schedule with the initiative leader. On multi-year projects, the NIC will appoint an NIC member to be the project monitor.

Select the area of interest below for additional information:

• New Initiative Operations Manual (PDF, 139 KB)
• IEEE New Initiative Process FAQs
• New Initiative Forms
• New Initiative Process
• Seed Grant Process
• IEEE New Initiatives Committee (NIC)