NSF Funding Strategies and Opportunities

Faculty Funding Fridays

cuny.edu/research/faculty-resources/funding-fridays/

John Tsapogas, RF CUNY Award Pre-Proposal SupportTamera Schneider, CUNY Office of Research

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CUNY Office of Library Services

NSF in a nutshell

Independent federal agency created in 1950 by U.S. Congress

• to promote the progress of science; • to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; • to secure the national defense…

Focus is science and engineering research, and education

~$8 billion on research annually, ~11,000 awards (averageduration of an award is 3 years) 3

7 Funding Directorates

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• Biological Sciences (BIO)• Biological Infrastructure • Environmental Biology • Emerging Frontiers • Integrative Organismal Systems • Molecular and Cellular Biosciences

• Computer and Information Sci & Eng (CISE)• Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure• Computing and Communication Foundations • Computer and Network Systems • Information and Intelligent Systems

7 Funding Directorates

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• Engineering (ENG)• Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport System• Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation • Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems• Engineering Education and Centers• Industrial Innovation and Partnerships

• Geosciences (GEO)• Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences• Earth Sciences • Ocean Sciences• Office of Polar Programs

7 Funding Directorates

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• Mathematical & Physical Science (MPS)• Astronomical Sciences • Chemistry • Materials Research• Mathematical Sciences• Physics

• Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences (SBE)• Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences • Social and Economic Sciences• Science of Broadening Participation

7 Funding Directorates

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• Education & Human Resources (EHR)• Graduate Education• Undergraduate Education – Improving Undergrad S&E (IUSE)• Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings• Human Resource Development

Where to Start

www.nsf.gov/funding/

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Stay Informed

NSF.gov NSF Social Media

• NSF Twitter: @nsf• NSF Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/US.NSF/ • NSF Tumblr (blog):

http://nationalsciencefoundation.tumblr.com/

SIGN UP FOR FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENTS BY EMAIL

https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_list.jsp?org=nsf&ord=rcnt

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Funding Mechanisms• Standard – PI submits to program, biannual panels• CAREER awards• Time urgent, or high risk awards (RAPID, EAGER)• Workshops/Conferences• Special solicitations (CoPE), Dear Colleague Letters (DCL)• Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Awards• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)• Training programs

• Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)• Graduate Research Fellowships (GRFP)

• May be available:• DDRI (SBE)• Post-doctoral Fellowships 10

CAREER Program

• Untenured, tenure-track (>= 50% appointment) faculty • Jumpstart your career trajectory

• Integration of research and education – that fits with a program• Single investigator proposal – no Co-PIs• Min $400,000/$500,000 (depends on program) 5 years• Max three submissions (one per year)• Deadline: July 26, 2021 • NSF webinars and workshops in Spring

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ASRC NSF CAREER Bootcamp

• Participants apply to program• Bootcamp:

• Provides detail about CAREER awards• Interdisciplinary, highly interactive, regular meetings• Proposal feedback

• More information December (ASRC, CUNY Ofc of Res, RF CUNY)• 7 CAREERS awarded, others successful proposals (can turn a

CAREER into a shorter, less expensive, standard proposal)• Led by Dr. Linda Vigdor

• Associate Director of Proposal Development, ASRC

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Cross-Directorate Opportunities• Mid Career Advancement (MCA) – New!

• Integrative Strategies for Understanding Neural and Cognitive Systems (NCS)

• Cyber-learning and Future Learning Technologies

• Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Water, and Energy (INFEWS)

• Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH)

• Cultivating Cultures of Ethical STEM (CCE STEM)

• Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE)

• Coastlines and People (CoPE)

• Biology Integration Institutes (BII) 13

Cross-Directorate Broadening Participation Opportunities

• Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers (ADVANCE)

• Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (INCLUDES)

• Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP)

• Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP)

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Con

verg

ence

Stre

ngth

en &

Sca

le

The Future of Work at the Human Technology Frontier

Understanding how constantly evolving technologies shape the lives of workers and how workers shape those technologies.

• Cyberlearning for Work• Augmenting Human Cognition; Embodied

Intelligent Cognitive Assistants• Advancing Cognitive Capacities; Human-

AI Symbiosis; Productivity, Innovation, and Learning for the Workplace

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Understanding the Rules of Life: Predicting Phenotype

Elucidating the sets of rules that predict an organism's observable characteristics, its phenotype.

• Building a Synthetic Cell - designing, fabricating, and validating synthetic cells that express specified phenotypes

• Epigenetics – research, education and workforce training

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Harnessing the Data Revolution for 21st Century Science and Engineering

Focused on data science and engineering implications for social interaction and organization; national-scale approach to research data infrastructure; 21st-century data-capable workforce.

• Data Science Corps (DSC)• Institutes for Data-Intensive Research

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Getting Started

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• Identify a program related to your expertise• Keyword search in award database

www.nsf.gov/funding/

• Contact the Program Director/Officer• Email for a phone meeting, well before a deadline

• Attach a 1-page summary• Describe the project including intellectual merit and

broader impacts• Ask about project fit with program

The 1-pager to Program Officers

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• Project Summary • Overview

• Identify the issue • Why is it important

• Statement of Intellectual Merit• What is the potential to advance science, engineering,

and/or education • Hypothesis and method of inquiry

• Statement of Broader Impacts• How will it benefit society

• students, academic institution, discipline, and society

Proposal Review Criteria

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• Importance of topic• Qualifications of PI/team • Creativity & originality• Transformative• Conception &

organization• Access to resources

• Training • Mentoring• Diversity• Infrastructure• Dissemination/Public

awareness• Societal Benefits

• Intellectual Merit: • Broader Impacts:

Writing the Proposal

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• READ the program announcement/solicitation requirements CAREFULLY

• Write for a broad audience - not for experts

• Connect the theoretical framing and the proposed method

• Establish feasibility (often via pilot studies)

• Be specific about hypotheses, methods, and predictions

• Have a well-developed research and analytic plan

Project Description (usually 15 pages)

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• What are your research questions?• What do you want to do to answer them?• Why do you want to conduct this research?• How you plan to do this research?• What implications it will have on your:

• Students?, disciplines?, institutions?, and on society?• What are the broader impacts of your research?• Do you have any research result from prior NSF support?

Budget – work with your Grants Officer

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• Reasonable for project• Aligned with typical award size

for the program• Well justified and appropriate• Consistent with

program/solicitation guidelines

• Personnel (PI, Co-PI, Consultants, Research Staff, Students)

• Equipment• Travel• Participant

recruitment/compensation• Supplies and services as

needed

• Size: • Eligible Costs:

Indirect costs are included in overall budget

Data Management Plan

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• What kinds of data, software and other materials will your research produce?

• How will you manage it? (e.g. metadata standards, standards for format, content, migration, etc.)

• How will you give others access (to your tax-payer funded data), preserve confidentiality, security, intellectual property, etc.

• How will you archive data and preserve access?• Take this document seriously. My office can provide

examples

It’s not “one size fits all”!

• Ad hoc: proposals sent out for review • Usually have specific expertise in a field related to the proposal

(some undergo ad hoc reviews only)

• Panel: review conducted by peers at the NSF• Broader scientific knowledge (some may undergo panel review

only)• May undergo reviews by multiple panels (especially those with

cross-cutting themes)

• Combination: proposals may undergo supplemental ad hoc reviews after or before panel review

• Internal: review by the NSF Program Officers only• RAPID (Rapid Response Research Grants), EAGER (Early-

concept Grants for Exploratory Research), & proposals for conferences or workshops 26

Review Process: Types of Reviews

Post-review

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• Email notification ~ 6 mosafter due date

• Reviews, panel summary, and context statement on Fastlane

• Read and absorb, dust yourself off!

• ~2 weeks later, contact Program Director key panel feedback and next steps

• Program director (PD) will email• There may be requests for

clarification or revision• Provide IRB approval, if needed• Work with PD on public abstract• It’s official with the award notice

• If declined: • If award recommended:

NSF treats each proposal anew (except CAREERS)

• Pick a good topic (theoretical advances, builds on the latest literature, asks a compelling question)

• Be explicit in design, and focus on quality

• If junior faculty, add a senior collaborator as co-PI / consultant

• Talk to Program Officer in advance

• Carefully use NSF feedback reviews to revise submissions

• Work on something you are excited about

Useful Tips

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Do’s & Don’ts

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• Talk to a Program Director about your project (1-pager)

• Get feedback from colleagues or mentors, RF APPS Office (peer review) on drafts

• Suggest reviewers in the submission

• Volunteer to serve as a reviewer (send CV to PD)

• Try to pull something together too quickly (give yourself at least 6 months from concept development to submission)

• Send > 1-page to NSF PD to discuss

• Take NSF feedback personally

DO: DON’T: