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Writing an Effective Research Proposal for Funding

This guide provides advice on writing a research proposal for dissertation or funding purposes, including proposal contents, strategies, sources of funding, and proposal evaluation criteria.

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Writing an Effective Research Proposal for Funding

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  1. Proposals Marie desJardins (mariedj@cs.umbc.edu) CMSC 601 April 18, 2012

  2. Sources • Robert L. Peters, Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student’s Guide to Earning a Master’s or Ph.D. (Revised Edition). NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1997. • Peter J. Feibelman, A Ph.D. Is Not Enough! A Guide to Survival in Science. Basic Books, 1993. • Tom Dietterich, CS 519 course slides, Oregon State University. • Caroline Wardle, Obtaining Federal Funding, CRA-W Workshop Slides, 1993/1994/1999.

  3. Outline • Proposal Contents • General Advice • Sources of Funding • Proposal Evaluation

  4. Proposal Contents

  5. Know Your Goals • Dissertation proposal • Convince committee you’re on the right track • Funding proposal • Convince reviewers and program manager to give you money

  6. Proposal Strategy • Just having a good idea is notenough! • Need to convince reviewers that: • The problem is important • You have a good approach to solve the problem • Your approach is likely to succeed • You have a well developed research plan • Chicken-and-egg problem •  If you don’t have preliminary results and a well developed approach, you’re not likely to make a convincing case for success •  If you already have preliminary results and a well developed approach, you’re already doing the research! • → By the time you get the funding, you’ll be done! •  ...so with the funding you get, you’ll write the journal papers, and start developing preliminary results for the next proposal...

  7. Topics to Cover • Long-term goals • Significance • Specific goals • Methods and experiments • Feasibility • Risks • Current state of knowledge • Timetable • Budget/budget justification • Biographies Typically 15 pages or less!

  8. Long-Term Goals • Vision • Big picture • Broad focus • Motivation behind your work

  9. Significance • Why do you want to work on this problem? • Why will other people care about it? • ...in the field • ...in other fields • ...in society • ...in the program • ...on your committee

  10. Specific Goals • What part of the big picture will you focus on? • What specific tasks will you accomplish?

  11. Methods and Experiments • How will you demonstrate success? • How will you test your claims? • Data sets, domains, experimental methodologies, evaluation criteria

  12. Feasibility • Why should we believe you will be able to carry out this research plan?

  13. Risks • What might go wrong? • How will you recover? • What’s your backup/contingency plan?

  14. Current State of Knowledge • Who else has worked on this problem? • Why have previous approaches been unsuccessful? • ...or if this is a new problem, why are new approaches needed? • How does your method build on, or depart from, previous approaches?

  15. Timetable • Typical research grant: 2-3 years, sometimes up to 5 • Typical dissertation timeline (from proposal): 1-3 years • What are your milestones? • Approximately when do you expect to complete each milestone? • Relevant deadlines (conference deadlines, program meetings, integrated demonstrations)

  16. References • For thesis proposal only: • Annotated bibliography is very helpful • Can include important/relevant papers that you plan to read, but haven’t read yet. (should discuss these separately in Related Work section)

  17. General Advice

  18. General Proposal Advice • Start writing early! • First impressions count: • A good introduction/summary is absolutely essential!! • Be neat! • Be as specific as possible • Don’t make your reviewers work too hard • Keep revising • Get feedback from peers and mentors • Resubmit if necessary • Read other people’s proposals

  19. Proposal Evaluation

  20. NSF Review Criteria • Intellectual Merit • Increasing knowledge and understanding within a field • Qualifications of proposers • Creativity and originality • Scope and organization of proposed research • Access to resources • Broader Impact • Teaching, training, and learning • Participation of underrepresented groups • Enhancement of research infrastructure • Dissemination of results • Benefits to society

  21. NSF Ratings • Excellent • Perhaps 10% of proposals; should definitely be funded • Very Good • Top 1/3 of proposals; should be considered for funding if sufficient funds are available • Good • Middle 1/3 of proposals; worthy of support (but likely will not be enough funding for this category) • Fair • Bottom 1/3 of proposals; not likely to be considered for funding • Poor • Proposal has serious deficiencies and should not be funded • Typical funded proposal has at least one Excellent and two Very Goods • Many NSF programs have a 10% funding rate

  22. NSF: How it Really Works • Specific areas are usually not targeted... • ...but some program managers have areas they like or dislike • ...and sometimes your research won’t fit in any of the NSF programs, especially if you’re doing interdisciplinary work • It never hurts to visit and chat with the program manager(s) • Peer review panel provides primary input • If you don’t get a good peer rating, you’re doomed • Panelist who knows your area inside and out can shoot your proposal down (or champion it!) • Panelists who don’t know your area can shoot you proposal down (or be intrigued by it!)

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