Get your proposal funded

1
Get your proposal funded

• Tom Wagner
• Program Director
• Antarctic Geology and Geophysics Program

2
Improving your proposalPart I (and biasing your
Program Officer in your favor)

• Do mail reviews
• Volunteer to be on a panel
• Suggest reviewers for your proposal
• Do mail reviews (yes, we said this twice)

3
Improving your proposalPart II

• Plan your logistics carefully
• Initial request will guide final plan
• Submit an Operational Requirements Worksheet
  (ORW) with proposal
• Be fully aware of available resources
• Ask! They are extensive

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Facilities
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USARC
United States Antarctic Resource Center
Geospatial data Air photos, geologic topo maps,
related data Served digitally hard copy
Established Decades Constructed USGS Operating
award 500K/Year Staff Two full-time
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Antarctic Multibeam Synthesis Data Portal
Contents Bathymetric data from most Gould and
Palmer cruises
Established at LDEO in 2002 Construction
NSF-OPP Operating award 150K/Year Staff
Various
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Common pitfalls

• Does not respond to reviewer criticisms
• Unaware of difference between intellectual merit
  and broader impact
• Not gauging proposal to requirements of work
• One field season or two?
• Two years of funding or three?
• Failure to cite relevant literature
• Some is tough to find

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Resources
NSF Awards Database nsf.gov/awardsearch/ Antarct
ic Master Directory gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Data/port
als/amd/ Byrd Polar Research Center
www-bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu Antarctic Research
Series Volumes from AGU United States Antarctic
Resources Center usarc.usgs.gov National Snow
and Ice Data Center nsidc.org International
Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences
Proceedings Scientific Committee on Antarctic
Research scar.org
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Resources II
Journals Terra Antarctica Books Antarctic
Marine Geology by John Anderson (Cambridge,
1999) Antarctic Multibeam Synthesis www.marine-ge
o.org Antarctic Sediment Core Repository www.arf.
fsu.edu Antarctic Rock Repository
bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu/rr/samples/ WAIS
igloo.gsfc.nasa.gov/wais/ ANDRILL
www.andrill.org SHALDRIL shaldril.rice.edu
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Do you know our average mail review score?
Improving your proposalPart V
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4.0/5.0Very Good
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What are the ultimate implications of your work?

• Would it get the cover of Nature?
• Is it framed to answer a globally relevant
  question, not just Antarctic?
• Bounce ideas off us. We breath, drink, eat, and
  sleep proposals and reviews.

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Other Opportunities

• Crosscutting and NSF-wide programs
• CAREER
• REU
• RUI
• Other Programs at NSF
• Biology
• Geosciences

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International Collaboration

• Diverse array of opportunities in Antarctica
• Many countries have research programs that
  encourage partnerships
• Required for IPY