Developing Successful Grant Proposals

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Developing Successful Grant Proposals

• Joseph E. Urban
• Program Director
• Division of Computing and Communication
  Foundations (CCF)
• jurban_at_nsf.gov

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Outline

• Vision and Goals
• Budget and Proposal Actions
• CISE Mission and Organization
• Cross-Cutting and Cross-Foundational Programs
• Resources
• Merit Review Criteria
• Tips and Ingredients
• Conclusion

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Some Stuff About Me

• Started three year vocational data processing
  program at Miami Central High School in 1967
• BS, MS, PhD all in computer science
• Association for Computing Machinery doctoral
  forum award
• Three years US Army active duty followed by
  academia with three years Air Force Studies Board
• Software engineering research and teaching
• Professional society leadership positions and
  fourteen conferences as general / program chair
• Met Susan in graduate school Married 29 years
  with two kids and two dogs Andy 25 and Jill 19,
  Roxy (black and tan) and Colby (yellow) -
  Professor of Computer Science with research
  interests in databases has an office three doors
  down
• Vegetable gardening, fishing, walking, and
  adventures

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Discovery Foster research that will advance the
frontiers of knowledge, emphasizing areas of
greatest opportunity and potential benefit and
establishing the nation as a global leader in
fundamental and transformational science and
engineering. Learning Cultivate a world-class,
broadly inclusive science and engineering
workforce, and expand the scientific literacy of
all citizens. Research Infrastructure Build the
nations research capability through critical
investments in advanced instrumentation,
facilities, cyberinfrastructure and experimental
tools. Stewardship Support excellence in science
and engineering research and education through a
capable and responsive organization.
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FY 2008 Budget Request
6.43 billion
Increase over FY 2007 Request 520 million, 8.8
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NSF in a Nutshell

• Independent Agency
• Primarily Uses Grant Mechanism
• Low Administrative Costs
• Discipline-based structure

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CISE Mission

• CISE has three goals
• to enable the United States to remain competitive
  in computing, communications, and information
  science and engineering
• to promote understanding of the principles and
  uses of advanced computing, communications, and
  information systems in service to society and
• to contribute to universal, transparent, and
  affordable participation in an information-based
  society.

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• CISE provides 87 of all Federal support for
  computer science research

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Current CISE Organization
Office
of the
Assistant
Director
Computing and
Information and
Computer and
Communication
Intelligent
Network
Foundations
Systems
Systems
(CCF)
(IIS)
(CNS)
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CISE Budget2003-2008
600
550
500
450
400
350
300
250
Dollars in Millions
200
150
100
50
0
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Fiscal Year
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Computing andCommunication Foundations Division
(CCF)

• Theoretical Foundations
• Computer science theory numerical computing
  computational algebra and geometry signal
  processing and communication
• Foundations of Computing Processes and Artifacts
• Software engineering software tools for HPC
  programming languages compilers computer
  architecture graphics and visualization
• Emerging Models and Technologies for Computation
• Computational biology quantum computing
  nano-scale computing biologically inspired
  computing

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Computer and Network Systems Division (CNS)

• Computer Systems
• Distributed systems embedded and hybrid systems
  next-generation software parallel systems
• Network Systems
• Networking research broadly defined plus focus
  areas
• Computing Research Infrastructure
• Equipment and infrastructure to advance computing
  research
• Education and Workforce
• IT workforce special projects cross-directorate
  activities (e.g., REU sites, IGERT, ADVANCE)

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Information and Intelligent Systems Division (IIS)

• Systems in Context
• Human computer interaction educational
  technology robotics computer-supported
  cooperative work digital government
• Data, Inference Understanding
• Databases artificial intelligence text, image,
  speech, and video analysis information
  retrieval knowledge systems
• Science Engineering Informatics
• Bioinformatics geoinformatics cognitive
  neuroscience

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CISE Cross-Cutting Emphasis Areas

• Characteristics
• cut across clusters and divisions (and
  directorates)
• address scientific or national priority
• FY 2007 Emphasis Areas
• Cyber Trust
• Science of Design
• Broadening Participation
• CISE Pathways to Revitalized Undergraduate
  Computing Education

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Cross-Foundational Programs

• IGERT
• REU Sites
• ADVANCE
• GRFP
• GK-12
• CAREER
• RUI
• RET

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Graduate Research Fellowship Program

• Ensure vitality of human resource base of
  science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
  in the United States and to reinforce its
  diversity by offering approximately 1,000
  graduate fellowships (including 90 Women in
  Engineering and Computer and Information Science
  Awards )
• Provides three years of support for graduate
  study leading to research-based masters or
  doctoral degrees
• Intended for students who are at the early stages
  of their graduate study
• FY06 NSF awarded 40,500 to the affiliated
  institution - fellowship stipend 30,000 for a
  12-month tenure period and cost-of-education
  allowance 10,500 per tenure year

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CAREER Program

• Foundation-wide activity that offers the National
  Science Foundations most prestigious awards for
  new faculty
• NSF supports the early career development
  activities of those faculty members who are most
  likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st
  century
• CAREER awards have a 5-year duration
• In FY06, the minimum CAREER award (including
  indirect costs) was 400,000 for all NSF
  directorates

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Resources at your Disposal

• Keeping Aware of Resources
• Proposal Preparation
• Grant Management

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Resources at your DisposalKeeping Aware

• All resources at NSF Web Site
• www.nsf.gov
• Funding Opportunities Calendar at NSF
• Guide to Programs/Browsing of Funding
  Opportunities at NSF Web site
• Funding Search Engine
• Upcoming Due dates

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Proposal Preparation

• Grant Proposal Guide
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Regional Grants Conferences

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Award Management

• Grant Policy Manual
• Grant General Questions
• Cooperative Agreements Conditions
• Federal Demonstration Project
• NSF Policy Office Website

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NSF Merit Review Process
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NSF Merit Review Criteria

• Criteria include
• What is the intellectual merit and quality of the
  proposed activity?
• What are the broader impacts of the proposed
  activity?

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What is the intellectual merit of the proposed
activity?

• Potential Considerations
• How important is the proposed activity to
  advancing 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,
  reviewers will comment on the quality of prior
  work)
• How creative and original are the concepts?
• How well conceived and organized is the proposed
  activity?
• Is there sufficient access to resources?

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What are the broader impacts of the proposed
activity?

• Potential Considerations
• How well does the activity advance discovery and
  understanding while promoting teaching, training
  and learning?
• How well does the activity broaden the
  participation of underrepresented groups (e.g.,
  gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)?
  
• To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure
  for research and education, such as facilities,
  instrumentation, networks and partnerships?
• Will the results be disseminated broadly to
  enhance scientific and technological
  understanding?
• What may be the benefits of the proposed activity
  to society?

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Proposal Preparation Tips

1. Read solicitation, identify elements of
   importance to the program
2. Develop clear goals and work plan
3. Make key points stand out focus on highlights
   and impact
4. Avoid language that is difficult to read, full of
   jargon, too long, too technical observe page
   limits and font size guidelines
5. Avoid misspellings, grammatical errors, and
   inconsistent formats
6. Include an integrated plan for education and
   outreach that is consistent with the underlying
   research involved in the project
7. Conduct mini peer review on your own
8. Clearly detail Intellectual Merit and Broader
   Impacts in project summary and narrative include
   section headers in bold

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Ingredients for a Good Proposal

• Educate the reviewers and the Program Director
• What problem(s) does your work address?
• Why is this problem important?
• What will you do to contribute to a solution?
• What unique ideas/approaches do you have? Put in
  context
• Why are you the best person to do this work?
• How will you evaluate your results?
• How will we know if you were successful or if you
  failed?
• How will you assure that the work has an impact?

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Conclusion

• NSFs role is fundamental to all areas of our
  society - the most basic future investment
• Computer science and related disciplines are very
  important in their own right and essential to
  advancement in all areas of SE
• NSF and our field are facing unprecedented
  pressures that can only be overcome by concerted,
  cooperative action