*    Degree to which project has engaged the active involvement of an appropriate range of disciplinary perspectives, backgrounds, and methods.

*    Degree to which the collaborative process has led to disciplinary processes being informed by cross-disciplinary viewpoints, and, when appropriate, to the development of multi- and transdisciplinary concepts, constructs, and methods.

*   Recruitment and integration of an active leadership core reflecting widely acknowledged experts—including prominent U-M faculty, leading scholars from elsewhere, and intellectually-inspired practitioners.

Problem Refinement and Field Development

*    Progress in refining what began as a project with a bold and broad scope steadily toward tractable but still novel research questions of national or global significance, with high potential for identifying novel solution strategies in addressing problems, policies or practices.

*    Degree of realizing the capacity of the problem-inspired project not only to use but importantly to develop, test, and refine the theories, methods, data, and technologies of social and behavioral science.

Linking Research, Policy and Practice

*    Degree to which the project has sought and attained the active involvement of non-academic stakeholders.

*    Degree to which the perspectives of these stakeholders have been integrated into the research conducted by the project.

*    Extent to which research results are transferred through interventions and problem-solving strategies.

Communications

*    Degree to which the project team has gone beyond the usual academic publishing outlets and actively disseminated research results to a variety of audiences ranging from researchers to practitioners and policymakers.

*    Creation of a diverse set of products from intermediate and long-term activities, and utilizing a variety of outlets (e.g. web, TV and other media) as appropriate.

Financial

*    Together with the CARSS staff, identifying strategies and prospects for raising funds from non-CARSS, non-UM sources.

Scientific Productivity

*    Degree to which work is driven by an evolving and increasingly clear strategic plan of project-defining activities, including a coherent, compelling conceptual framework.

*    Progress in translating that framework into relevant, well designed research projects and/or interventions.

*    Progress in conducting the research and publishing the results or producing novel outputs.

Commitment to CARSS

*    Clarity with which CARSS work can be distinguished from work that would have happened anyway.

*    Degree to which project directors share a commitment to CARSS, and have strong and open links to CARSS program leadership and staff and to other CARSS projects.