Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI)
Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who will submit the EOI?
   An EOI can be made either by individual groups or interested groups planning to work together within their country, their geographical region, or as a general consortium. An EOI helps to inform the potential of national non-DOE and international engagement to the EIC Project.
2. Can institutions submit more than one EOI?
   Institutions may very well consist of different groups that have more than one interest. However, individual institutions should not submit more than one EOI, and that EOI should be all-inclusive. Institutions may also join other groups and/or consortia in their EOI, with cross-referencing to the individual institution EOI.
3. Can groups who are not part of the EIC User Group submit?
   Yes, they certainly can. The call for EOI is open to anyone, regardless if they have been integrally involved in the EIC efforts to date or not. Similarly, groups who do not submit an EOI will not be ruled out for cooperation in the future.
4. To whom do we submit the EOI?
   The EOIs are submitted to the EIC Project and will be collected on this public webpage.
5. What exactly will this EOI be used for?
   The EOI will inform the EIC Project about what detector scope can be built, e.g., if one or two detectors would be included, one or two interaction regions, what ancillary equipment to assume, etc. It may be used to inform with which countries agreements in any kind of form are desired. It may also be useful for further discussions between DOE and NSF.
6. What exactly is the topic of the call? Physics interest or interest in building scientific equipment (e.g. part of a detector)?
   This call does not include physics interest and is solely aimed at the experimental program. However, it can include:
   • interest in taking full responsibility for a subdetector or other equipment towards the EIC experimental program such as those integrated in the interaction region
   • intent to provide funds towards such a subdetector or other equipment
   • providing an idea what labor (FTEs and type (students, postdocs, engineering, …)) towards the experimental equipment may be contributed.
7. Are Data Acquisition, Online and Offline Software tasks included?
   Data acquisition and software tasks should be included in the response to the call, since these are considered part of the experimental program. However, often, only those tasks needed to confirm the Project’s deliverables are part of a formal DOE Project, whereas the more general software development towards higher-level physics analysis is seen as a scientific research task. In either case, it will help understanding the level of potential cooperation.
8. Can groups or institutions that have their regular support from DOE-NP submit?
   Absolutely. Also for those groups and institutions the EOI will be used to gauge potential engagement towards the EIC experimental program, such as interest in cooperating in or building scientific equipment, potential labor cooperation, etc.
9. Should Brookhaven National Lab and/or Jefferson Lab submit?
   Both BNL and TJNAF have a vested interest in the scientific outcome of the EIC and plan to cooperate under a partnership agreement. As such, BNL in association with TJNAF will first and foremost act as host for the EIC Project, and both actively work together towards the timely and successful completion of the EIC Project, its experimental equipment, and the implementation of the EIC experimental program. Therefore, individual EOIs from BNL and TJNAF should instead detail the resources and expertise available to the EIC project. However, it is expected that BNL and/or TJNAF may join other institutions and/or consortia in their EOIs.
10. What is exactly meant by “ what if any assumptions are made receiving support for the discussed cooperation from the EIC Project or both labs”?
    When you submit your expression of interest there likely will be need for laboratory or EIC Project support. Examples include:
    • Your in-kind experimental equipment cooperation you may require storage space at the lab(s), or access to test equipment.
    • You or your group cannot provide engineering and design activities and will rely on those from the EIC Project. Or you need those only for the integration activities.
    • Your EOI relies on certain material costs to be covered by the EIC Project, etc.
11. Is there a financial/funding context to this?
    Yes and No. Although the submission to this Call for Expressions of Interest is non-binding, it will be used to help guide the experimental equipment scope of the EIC.
12. What will the information submitted be used for?
    The information will be used to gauge potential engagement in the EIC experimental program, including DOE-NP EIC Project, DOE non-Project, national non-DOE-NP, and international engagement to the EIC equipment, be it experimental equipment or cooperation in the Interaction Regions. It will also be used to evaluate the scope of the EIC experimental equipment potentially available and the possibility of two fully instrumented interaction regions and their detectors.
13. Where does this step lie on the path to build collaborations that propose detectors?
    The call for detector proposals will come after an evaluation of the EOI submissions. The evaluation will guide the call for detector proposals.

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