Transcript Elements of an NSF Proposal - The University of Tennessee

Elements of an NSF
Proposal
Presented by
Dr. Joan K. West and
Patty Q. Flowers
Registration
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In order to submit a proposal to NSF, a PI must
be registered with the NSF database.
This should be done several days or weeks
before the proposal is due.
Dr. West must enter your registration
information. You cannot register yourself.
NSF will assign you an ID.
It is important that you keep your ID and
password accessible.
General considerations
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Is your proposal responsive to the RFP?
Electronic submission via FastLane or
Grants.gov
Minimum 1-inch margins all around
No more than 6 lines of type per vertical inch
Types of Arial, Courier New, or Palantino
Linotype 10 points or larger; Times New Roman
11 points or larger
Required forms
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Certifications (dealing with lobbying, drug-free
workplace, debarment, etc.)
Cover sheet
Table of content (generated by FastLane)
Info about PI and senior personnel
Project Summary
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One page summary of activities, suitable for
publication (not an abstract)
Written in 3rd person
Includes a statement of objectives and methods
Must address in separate statements:
intellectual merit and broader impact
Intellectual Merit
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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(s)?
To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and
explore creative, original, or potentially transformative
concepts?
How well conceived and organized is the proposed
activity?
Is there sufficient access to resources?
Broader impact
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Does the activity advance discovery and understanding
while promoting teaching, training, and learning?
Does the activity broaden the participation of
underrepresented groups?
Will it enhance the infrastructure of research and
education (facilities, instrumentation, networks,
partnerships)?
Will the results be disseminated broadly to enhance
scientific and technological understanding?
What may be the benefits to society?
Integrating diversity
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NSF is committed to the idea of broadening the
opportunities and enabling the participation of
all citizens, women and men, underrepresented
minorities, persons with disabilities
You may want to include a plan to recruit such
individuals
Project Description
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Limited to 15 pages
Intellectual merit and broader impact must be
integral parts of narrative
Postdoc mentoring activities must also be
described (if Postdocs are included)
Should be self-contained (no URLs)
Results from prior NSF support (5 years)
HR info for renewals
Project Description, continued
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Should include a clear statement of the work
and must include:
Objectives for the proposed work and expected
significance
 Relation to long-term goals
 Relation to present state of knowledge in the field,
to work in progress under the PI, and to work in
progress elsewhere
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Project Description, continued
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Should include:
The broad design of activities
 Clear descriptions of experimental methods and
procedures
 Plans for preserving, documenting and sharing data
samples, physical collections, curriculum materials,
and other related research and educational products
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Project Description, continued
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Should also include:
How project will integrate research and education by
advancing discovery and understanding while
promoting teaching, training, and learning
 Ways to broaden the participation of
underrepresented groups
 How project will enhance the infrastructure of
research and education
 How results will be disseminated and benefit society
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Considerations
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NSF is interested in activities that have potential
for national impact or significance
NSF is interested in replicable models
NSF does not require matching funds but is
looking for institutional commitment
NSF is looking for sustainability beyond the end
of funding
How will you disseminate your results?
What NSF wants to know
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Reviewers want to know:
What is your research objective?
 How will you accomplish it?
 Can you do it (you and your facilities)?
 Is it worth doing?
 Why is your activity important to the research
community?
 Why is it important to society?
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References cited
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No page limit
Bibliographic citations only
Specified format
Not a place to include additional parenthetical
information
Biographical sketches
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Required for all senior personnel
Limited to 2 pages per individual
Must be provided in order and specified format
Budget (cumulative and annual)
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The ORGC MUST be involved in the
development of your budget
Must comply with BOTH NSF and UT Martin
guidelines
FastLane and Grants.gov have required budget
forms
Narrative is limited to 3 pages
Budget, continued
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NSF regards research as one of the normal
functions of faculty members at IHEs
NSF limits salary compensation to no more than
2 months of the regular salary for one year (this
includes salary from all NSF funds)
Time and effort must be documented
Budget, continued
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Administrative and clerical wages are considered
part of indirect costs
These may be requested as a direct cost only
when an extensive amount of administrative and
clerical support is required and it can be readily
and specifically identified with a high degree of
accuracy
We have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate
Current and Pending Support
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Required for all senior personnel
Facilities, Equipment and Other
Resources
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Descriptions of the facilities, resources, and
equipment already in place that you plan to
utilize
Special Information and
Supplementary Documentation
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There are very specific guidelines for what may
be included and these may vary according to the
RFP
More information
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The NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures
Guide is available online at www.nsf.gov
The ORGC is eager to assist you in preparing your
proposal
The ORGC must be involved in the development of
the budget for any proposal
Please contact our office early in your proposal
development