Applying to the National Science Foundation

1. Applying to the National Science Foundation OSP Awareness Oct 2010 ospoff@syr.edu, osp.syr.edu

2. NSF’s Mission • To promote the progress of science; • to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; • and to secure the national defense. • Annual budget: $7 billion (FY10 request)

3. NSF organization..… Supports all fields of fundamental science & engineering (except medical (bioengineering okay)) • Directorates Biosciences; Computer & Information Science & Engineering; Education & Human Resources; Engineering; Geosciences; Math & Physical Sciences; Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences • Offices Cyberinfrastructure; Integrative Activities; International Science & Engineering; Polar Programs

4. Programs & Opportunities • Dear Colleague Letter • Program Description • Program Announcement • Program Solicitation

5. Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) Facilitation awards for sci. & eng /c disabilities Supplemental requests (REUs, RETs) Collaborative proposals Equipment Conferences, Symposia & Workshops International Travel Doctoral Dissertation Types of Submissions- currently all thru FASTLANE - • Letter of Intent • Preliminary Proposal • Full Proposal • Variations on the theme:

6. Submission “Deadlines” • Target Dates – “soft” • Deadline Dates – “hard” (5:00 p.m. local) • Submission windows – time frame; end date “hard” (5:00 p.m. local)

7. NSF Proposals Convey • 1) the project’s objectives and significance to science, engineering or education; • It’s a great idea that’s important to NSF Project Description, Summary • 2) the suitability of the methods proposed; • The approach used is the best path to take; work is feasible and risks are reasonable relative to benefits. Project Description

8. NSF Proposals Convey cont’d • 3) The qualifications of the investigator, project team and grantee organization to perform the proposed work; • The investigator and the team possess the necessary expertise to assure project success. Biosketches • All necessary resources and facilities are available to assure project success. Facilities, Equipment, & Other Resources

9. NSF Proposals Convey cont’d • 4) the impact of the activity on the infrastructure of science, engineering and education; and • Broader impacts may include enabling the next generation of scientists, engineers & educators. Project Description • 5) the cost of the project. • There’s value for the investment; the cost is “in line” with similar projects. Budget & Justification

10. Review Criteria • What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity? • What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity? • Panel, mail review, combination

11. Intellectual Merit • Significance & impact - Importance to advancing knowledge and understanding within and across fields • Significance & innovation - Suggest and explore creative & original concepts? • Approach – Conception & organization of the activity? • Qualifications – Qualifications of PI/team (prior work) • Capability - Access to resources?

12. Broader Impacts • Is discovery & understanding advanced while teaching, training, and learning is promoted? • Broaden the participation of underrepresented groups • Enhance the infrastructure for research and education, e.g., facilities, instrumentation, networks and partnerships • Broad dissemination of results to enhance scientific and technology understanding • How will society benefit? http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2003/nsf032/bicexamples.pdf

13. In addition… • NSF staff consider… • Integration of research and education • … efforts that infuse education with the excitement of discovery and enrich research through the diversity of learning perspectives. • Integrating diversity into NSF programs, projects & activities

14. What’s new in 2011? • Data management plan and sharing award products – Supplemental Doc. May include: • What’s produced: the types of data, samples, physical collections, software, curriculum materials, and other materials; • Standards to be used for data and metadata format and content (where existing standards are absent or deemed inadequate, this should be documented along with any proposed solutions or remedies);

15. What’s new in 2011? – DMPcon’t • Policies for access and sharing including provisions for appropriate protection of privacy, confidentiality, security, intellectual property, or other rights or requirements; • Policies and provisions for re-use, re-distribution, and the production of derivatives; and • Plans for archiving data, samples, and other research products, and for preservation of access to them. • Include costs for DMP in budget!

16. What’s new in 2011? Cont’d • No cost sharing. • No voluntary committed effort. • Cover page: • Performing/Research Organization changing to Project/Performance Site Primary Location information. • Why? To comply with FFATA

17. What’s continuing from 2010 • Responsible conduct of research • All undergraduate, graduate students and postdocs compensated by NSF must complete: • CITIRCR training (all groups) • Face-to-face or other approved training (Graduate students / postdocs)

18. Possible Outline (GPG) NOTE: Program solicitations may specify organization and content; these guidelines should be followed. • Introduction to project and it’s purpose (Introduce objectives in first page or two) • Context in which project fits • State of Knowledge – what is known, what’s not • Preliminary/foundational data • Significance of Project… So what? • Project Objectives– brief list of what you will do & their significance

19. Possible Outline cont’d • Approach/Experimental Design/Methods • What will you do, how will you analyze and interpret data and results? • How do you know your methods work? (What does “success look like? Controls? Evaluation process?) • What challenges might you encounter and how will you work around them? • Dissemination plan (including Data Management Plan) • Time line/project management • Broader Impacts & integration of research & education • Prior NSF results

20. Getting Started • Review Directorate/program’s web site • Review announcement or solicitation carefully • Review what’s been funded in the past • http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/ • Contact Program manager EARLY • You want to do what… might they be interested? Would there be other programs interested?

21. Writing… • Start early (2 weeks before the deadline not recommended…) • Write for the reviewers • Ask program manager how reviewed? Panel, mail, both? • Make proposal a delight to read! • Use meaningful/informative headers • Don’t use full justification • White space helps!!

22. Writing …. • Have others review your narrative • Clear? Are review criteria addressed? • Any obvious holes to be filled? • Broader impacts meaningfully addressed? • Scientific experts and “generalist experts”. • Write project summary last. • Two separate sections  Int. Merit & Broader Imp.

23. Fastlane and other issues • www.FASTLANE.nsf.gov • Register… • OSP can reset passwords if you’ve forgotten yours. • Formatting – Must follow GPG unless solicitation says otherwise… • http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?gpg • OSP does get proposals returned for non-compliance • Biosketches, font too small, publications non-compliance, collaborators not complete • Project summary in first person, intellectual merit / broader impacts not separately presented. • Grants.gov is coming…(yeh – right).

24. OSP resources… **NSF proposal checklist (osp.syr.edu / forms) • Amy Deppa (e- apps) asdeppa@syr.edu • Amy Graves (CAS) ajgraves@syr.edu • Meghan MacBlane (iSchool) mtmacbla@syr.edu • Caroline McMullin (Maxwell, SoE) cmcmulli@syr.edu • Stuart Taub (LCSmith) staub@syr.edu • Trish Lowney (narratives) plowney@syr.edu