Call for New Research Collaborations

ScooterLab, a community research testbed supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under awards #2234516 and #2234517, provides a programmable and participatory micromobility-supported sensing platform designed to advance research at the intersection of Computer and Information Science and Engineering and interdisciplinary domains such as urban planning, mobility analytics, privacy and security, environmental sensing, and smart city infrastructure.

With over 25+ sensor-equipped e-scooters already deployed across UTSA campuses (and expanding up to 100 e-scooters by Summer 2025), ScooterLab serves as a unique open-access national research testbed for mobility-centric data collection, experimentation, and innovation.

Recognizing the immense potential of ScooterLab in gathering diverse scientific data, we are excited to launch this inaugural Call for New Research Collaborations. We invite researchers from academia, industry, and government to submit concise proposals for innovative research collaborations and partnerships that can tap into ScooterLab's infrastructure and data sensing capabilities. We are seeking proposals that clearly articulate a research problem in science, engineering, or society, and explain how data collected from a community-driven research platform such as ScooterLab can provide the critical data and computational resources needed to tackle the issue.

Potential Areas of Interest

• Urban mobility and transportation planning
• Pedestrian and micromobility safety
• Environmental and sustainability studies
• Privacy and security in IoT-based micromobility platforms
• Data collection and analytics for urban infrastructure
• Sensor-based solutions for smart cities
• Customizable micromobility experiments
• Multi-modal transportation integration
• Crowdsourced urban micromobility sensing
• Impacts of micromobility on human health and well-being

Proposal Selection & Travel Awards

All proposals will be reviewed by the ScooterLab technical team. We anticipate inviting 4–5 top-rated proposals to participate in the ScooterLab Workshop scheduled for May 19, 2025 at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). We will try to provide brief feedback to all the submitted proposals, including those that are not invited for presentation at the Workshop. Research teams of the selected/invited proposals are expected to attend the Workshop in-person and present their research ideas and collaboration plan to the Workshop participants and attendees. They will also have an opportunity to engage with the ScooterLab team on planning and implementing their research ideas on the ScooterLab testbed.

Selected proposals will receive up to a $1500 travel award covering domestic round-trip economy airfare, two nights of hotel accommodation, and complimentary workshop registration for one senior research team member (faculty or senior researcher).

Our funding is limited, and we recognize that not all strong and viable proposals may be selected for participation and awarded a travel grant. However, proposals deemed suitable for collaboration with ScooterLab, even without a travel award, will be duly notified. We highly encourage the PIs and researchers of these proposals to join the workshop for an opportunity to collaborate with ScooterLab.

Eligibility

• Each proposal should list a maximum of one Principal Investigator (PI). Proposal teams may include Co-PIs and additional members.
• Eligible applicants include tenure-track/tenured faculty at U.S.-based academic institutions, as well as full-time researchers in industry and government agencies.
• PhD students may participate as team members but may not serve as PIs. Proposals submitted with a PhD student as the PI will not be reviewed.
• Each individual can serve as a PI on only one submission, with a maximum of three submissions per research team.
• Researchers from all relevant fields (e.g., computer science, transportation, urban planning, sustainability, smart cities) are welcome to submit proposals. Proposals from non-U.S. researchers are welcome but will not be eligible for travel awards.

Submission Guidelines

1. Project Title: Provide a clear and descriptive title.
2. Project Team: List the entire team and their affiliations, clearly identifying the PI.
3. Research Objectives: Briefly describe the goals and expected outcomes.
4. Proposed Use of the ScooterLab Platform: Explain how your research will leverage the testbed, including sensor data, experimental setup, data collection duration, and any custom requirements.
5. Research Impact: Describe the potential contributions to society and science.
6. Technical Requirements: Outline any specific technical, software, or hardware needs.
7. Timeline: Provide a project plan with key phases, milestones, and deliverables.
8. Formatting: Maximum 3 pages (including references), submitted as a PDF. (For Word: Times New Roman, 11pt, single-spaced, 1-inch margins. For LaTeX: Use an 11pt article class with 1-inch margins.)

Important Dates

• Deadline for Proposal Submission: March 31, 2025 April 7, 2025 (11.59PM PST) [Extended]
• Notification of Acceptance & Travel Award: April 12, 2025 (11.59PM PST)
• Date of the Workshop: May 19, 2025

What ScooterLab Offers

• A fleet of 25+ GPS-enabled e-scooters with advanced sensing capabilities.
• Environmental sensors (pressure, temperature, humidity, air quality), motion sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, orientation), audio & video, and GPS location data.
• A web portal for data collection experiment management, tracking, and advanced visualization tools.
• Technical support from the ScooterLab team to integrate testbed resources into your research workflow.