The Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) is an association of federal agencies, academic research institutions with administrative, faculty and technical representation, and research policy organizations that work to streamline the administration of federally sponsored research. FDP members of all sectors cooperate in identifying, testing, and implementing new, more effective ways of managing the more than $72.8 billion (based on data from the FY2020 Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey for FDP members) in federal research awards. The goal of improving the productivity of research without compromising its stewardship has benefits for the entire nation.
The FDP uniquely offers a forum for individuals from universities and nonprofits to work collaboratively with federal agency officials to improve the national research enterprise. At its regular meetings, faculty and administrators talk face-to-face with decision-makers from agencies that sponsor and regulate research. They hold spirited, frank discussions, identify problems, and develop action plans for change. Then – again working jointly – they test the new ways of doing things in the real world before putting them into effect.
There are four types of FDP membership: Research Institutions, Emerging Research Institutions, Federal Agencies and Affiliate Organizations. The solicitation for membership in the Federal Demonstration Partnership Phase VI was issued on February 18, 2014. FDP Phase VI formally began with an inaugural meeting September 11-12, 2015 in Washington, DC and will conclude September 30, 2020. No new Institutional Members will be added after the initial selection, although non-members are welcome to attend meetings. More information on Phase VI activities, conditions of membership, and membership categories may be found in the original Phase VI solicitation.
The voting membership, comprised of institutions, emerging research institutions, federal agencies and affiliate organizations, meets 3 times a year. The National Academy of Science's Government-University-Industry-Research Roundtable is the neutral convener of the FDP, providing all permanent staff support for FDP activities and committees, as well as logistical support for FDP’s 3 annual meetings. The direction of the FDP will be provided primarily by the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee consists of two institutional members (one faculty, one research administrator), two federal agency representatives (one program and one administrative), a representative from the National Academies Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable, the FDP Executive Director, a senior federal science official (appointed by the Office of Science and Technology Policy), and co-chairs from each of the FDP standing committees. The research administrator representative on the Executive Committee assumes the role of Chair for a three year period. Task Forces and committees are comprised of volunteers from the FDP membership and perform the day to day work of proposing and conducting demonstrations and pilots.