The Reserve welcomes protocol concept suggestions from interested stakeholders at any time. The concepts can be submitted via the form below, which is designed to address questions that the Reserve will explore when determining a concept’s potential for standardized protocol development under the Reserve program. Before submitting a concept form, please review the information below concerning the concept review process, important criteria considered by staff for protocol development (Criteria for Protocol Development), and the Reserve’s summary of previously submitted concepts (Past Project Concept Submissions). In addition, submitters of new project concepts are encouraged to review the Reserve’s existing protocols to better understand the general topics that must be covered and the requirements that must be met by all protocols.

• Protocol Concept Form

Project Concept Review Process

The timeline for scoping new project concepts varies depending on the project type and available information.

1. Initial screening: The Reserve will first review the Protocol Concept Form to determine if the concept is of interest to the Reserve based on our Criteria for Protocol Development. If there is high potential for protocol development, the Reserve will follow up with specific questions and/or additional forms to gather more information.
2. Sector team review: Staff conducts brief internal reviews of supporting information and documentation before meeting as a team to discuss the project type. Sector teams make a recommendation to the Reserve Senior Management Team and, if approved, the concept is included in future protocol development considerations.
3. Scoping: The Reserve will then make a determination on the next appropriate steps, which may be to explore the concept more fully through the development of an issue paper (Section 4.2.2 of the Reserve Program Manual) or to hold a scoping meeting (Section 4.2.2) to engage stakeholders in further evaluating what types of activities should be targets for protocol development.
4. Protocol development: Following the scoping meeting, there may be a protocol kickoff meeting which initiates the protocol development process. From that point forward, the process may take 12 – 18 months, or more, depending on the project type.

For more information on the protocol development process, please see the Reserve Program Manual.

Contact:

Please submit Protocol Concept Forms to the Reserve here. Upon receipt, the Reserve will review the concept and respond with next steps within 4-6 weeks of the submittal date.

If you have questions about protocol development, please contact the Reserve.