Transcript Tips for your NSF Doctoral Dissertation Enhancement Grant

Tips for your NSF Doctoral
Dissertation Enhancement
Grant Application
Zoe Ziliak
PhD Candidate in Linguistics
[email protected]
First rule:
Start early!
Start at least one month before the
deadline.
First step
Visit the Division of Sponsored
Research in Grinter Hall
Open NSF account, get tips
Later, have them look over your
documents
Read ALL the available instructions
Program Solicitation (20 pages)
Grant Proposal Guide (GPG, 68
pages)
Application Guide (62 pages)
Really – It’s worth it
If you have access to them
Read other successful proposals
Don’t break any rules
Margins
Font size
Page length
Budget
Know your audience
Definitely people in your field
(Linguistics, Chemistry)
Probably people in your subfield
(Sociolinguistics, biochemistry)
Probably not people working on your
specific area of research (acquisition
of the Northern Cities Chain Shift)
Content of the proposal
Use vigorous language with short, clear
sentences
Get to the point – Why does this work need
to be done, and why should you be the one
to do it?
Give big picture so they know importance,
but also enough specifics that it sounds like
you know what you’re doing
Content continued
DO give an adequate lit review
DON’T overlook Broader Impacts –
Very important!
(Intellectual Merit and Broader
Impacts supposed to be interwoven in
text, but I didn’t do this)
How to get Broader Impacts
Inventions? Improvements?
Donations to causes – I donated my
interviews to a museum
I.e., if you don’t have any, create
some!
Appearance of your proposal
Use underlining, bold, italics, etc.
Bullet points are good
Use larger font, wider margins, etc. if
possible – Make it easy on the
readers’ eyes
Have lots of other people read your
proposal
Committee members
Other people who get lots of grants
Somebody who doesn’t know (much)
about your project
Budget
Pad correctly – add a few dispensable
items, don’t pretend things cost more
than they do
Budget (continued)
Your chances may improve if you’re
well under the limit
MAKE SURE to ask someone in the
DSR to check your budget for you!
Questions, comments?
[email protected]