How to Get Funded

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How to Get Funded
Robert OConnor Director Decision, Risk and
Management Sciences Program (SBE/SES)
roconnor_at_nsf.gov Amy Sussman Director
Developmental and Learning Sciences Program
(SBE/BCS) asussman_at_nsf.gov National Science
Foundation 2005
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Sources of Information

• Web www.nsf.gov
• Grant Proposal Guide http//www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/n
  sf04_23/start.htm
• Awards (on web)
• Program Officer
• Colleagues

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Grant Proposal Guide (GPG)

• Provides guidance for preparation of proposals
• Specifies process for deviations, such as
  individual program announcements
• Describes process -- and criteria -- by which
  proposals will be reviewed
• Describes process for withdrawals, returns
  declinations
• Describes the award process
• http//www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/nsf04_23/start.htm

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Funding Criteria

• Intellectual merit (usually the more difficult
  hurdle)
• Broader impacts

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Intellectual Merit

• NSF funds basic research
• NSF funds basic research
• Intellectual merit means contributing to
  advancing theoretical understandings or to
  improving methods

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Broader Impacts

• Promote teaching, training and learning
• Broaden the participation of underrepresented
  groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability,
  geographic, etc.)
• Enhance the infrastructure for research and
  education, such as facilities, instrumentation,
  networks and partnerships
• Disseminate results broadly to enhance scientific
  and technological understanding
• Benefit society

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What to Look for in a Special Solicitation

• Goal of solicitation
• Special requirements
• Special recommendations

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NSF will support research that is

• Scientific
• Transparent
• Replicable (theoretically)
• Systematic
• Builds upon previous research
• Likely to produce important theoretical knowledge
  and to have significant broader impacts

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NSF will not fund

• Humanistic story-telling
• Purely descriptive studies
• Good works that relieve suffering.

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Timing of Proposal Submission

• No deadlines
• Deadlines
• Target dates

• Submission Windows
• Preliminary proposals

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Sections of an NSF Proposal

• Cover Sheet
• Project Summary (one page)
• Table of Contents
• Project Description (15 pages max)
• References Cited
• Biographical Sketch(es)
• Budget
• Current Pending Support
• Facilities, Equipment Other Resources
• Special Information Supplementary
  Documentation

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Write the Proposal

• Identify intellectual merit (theoretical
  contribution)
• Describe in as much detail as possible exactly
  what you want to do
• Make sure your research team has appropriate
  capabilities
• Describe broader impacts
• Decide where to submit (co-review?)
• E-mail or call appropriate program officer with
  specific questions

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Budgetary Guidelines

• Amounts
• Reasonable for work - Realistic
• Well justified - Needs established
• In-line with program guidelines
• Eligible costs
• Personnel (2 months max)
• Equipment
• Travel
• Participant Support
• Other Direct Costs (including subawards,
  consultant services, computer services,
  publication costs)

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Getting Support in Proposal Writing

• Program Officers
• Incumbent
• Former Rotators
• Mentors on Campus
• Previous Panelists
• Serve As Reviewer
• Sponsored Research Office
• Successful Proposals

• NSF Publications
• Program Announcements/
• Solicitations
• Grant Proposal Guide
• Web Pages
• Funded Project Abstracts
• Reports, Special Publications

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NSF Proposal Award Process Timeline
NSF Announces Opportunity
Returned Without Review/Withdrawn
GPG Announcement Solicitation
Min. 3 Revs. Req.
Via DGA
Award
N S F
NSF Program. Office
Program Office Analysis Recomm.

• Org.
• submits
• via
• FastLane

Mail
DD Concur
Panel
Both
Organization
Research Education Communities
Decline
Proposal Receipt at NSF
DD Concur
Award
90 Days
30 Days
Proposal Receipt to Division Director Concurrence
of Program Officer Recommendation
DGA Review Processing of Award
Proposal Preparation Time
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Return Without Review
The Proposal

• is inappropriate for funding by the National
  Science Foundation
• is submitted with insufficient lead-time before
  the activity is scheduled to begin
• is a full proposal that was submitted by a
  proposer that has received a "not invited"
  response to the submission of a preliminary
  proposal
• is a duplicate of, or substantially similar to, a
  proposal already under consideration by NSF from
  the same submitter.

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What is the intellectual merit?

• Potential Considerations
• Will the proposed activity advance knowledge and
  understanding within its own field or across
  different fields?
• How well qualified is the proposer (individual or
  team) to conduct the project? (If appropriate,
  the reviewer will comment on the quality of prior
  work.)
• To what extent does the proposed activity explore
  creative and original concepts?
• How well conceived and organized is the proposed
  activity?
• Is there sufficient access to resources?

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Reviewer Selection

• Identifying reviewers
• PI reviewer suggestions

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NSF Sources of Reviewers

• Program Officers knowledge
• References listed in proposal
• Google
• Community of science and other data bases
• Reviewer recommendations
• Investigators suggestions

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Funding Decisions

• Program Officer decision
• Feedback to PI
• Informal and formal notification
• Scope of work and budget discussions

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Myths about NSF

• Only funds scholars at elite graduate
  institutions
• Only funds famous academics
• Once declined, you are likely always to be
  declined
• Only funds normal science
• Advisory committees make funding decisions

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Reasons for Declinations

• Trust-me proposal
• Not feasible
• Expertise gaps
• Insufficient funding
• Too ambitious
• Incremental contribution
• Bad luck

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NSF v. NIH

• NSF tends to be smaller.
• NSF is more open to risky, exploratory,
  paradigm-challenging work
• NSF stresses basic research
• NSF has no scoring system, percentile system
• NSF program officers make funding decisions
• NSF uses revision encouragement loosely

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Advice

• Learn to love rejection
• Team up
• E-mail or call program officer with specific
  questions
• Encourage dissertation improvement grant
  proposals (check program first)

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Useful to submit even if declined

• Revise and resubmit
• Discover other funding sources
• Forces thinking
• Build relationships
• Receive reviews from experts