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Writing Successful Career Proposals to NSF

Learn the key points to write successful career proposals to NSF in this workshop. Get tips on identifying the right program, writing a compelling project summary, and demonstrating the intellectual merit and broader impacts of your proposed activity.

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Writing Successful Career Proposals to NSF

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  1. CARER Proposal Writing WorkshopNovember 2004 Key Points to Write successful CAREER Proposals to NSF Afsaneh Rabiei NSF-DMII CAREER Awardee 2003 Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering & Biomedical Engineering Departments North Carolina State University Slide 1 of 12

  2. First Step in Writing a successful Proposal • Identifying the right program to submit your proposal • Get in touch with the program director • Explain your idea for the program director • Make sure that your idea FITS well in that program Slide 2 of 12

  3. Second Step: Project Summary • The most important part of a proposal is the project summary. To make it attractive use these tips: • Make it short and right to the point • DO NOT use small fonts • Include all the important aspects of your project; • What is your research about, very briefly • Why do you think it is novel • Show what is your plan for its achievement rather than just presenting your idea • Briefly explain the broader impact Slide 3 of 12

  4. What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity? The objective of the proposed research is to develop …. (clearly state your idea) So far there has been similar activities in ….. (show that you have insight on the background and what has been done) This work is original and important to advance …. (show how your work can improve the knowledge and understanding within its own field) Show that the proposed activity is well organized and there is sufficient access to the necessary resources. Show that you are well qualified to conduct the project by:….. Slide 4 of 12

  5. 1. & 2. The Objective How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields? Is the proposed work Research or Development? NSF funds RESEARCH (new fundamental knowledge should be gained that will be generally applicable to the field, not just to the one defined example) Slide 5 of 12

  6. 3. Originality Concepts To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore creative and original concepts? NSF is particularly looking for high risk/high reward, innovative ideas, with the high risk concepts supported by a solid foundation of scientific knowledge) Slide 6 of 12

  7. 4. How well conceived and organized? You do not need to present all your ideas in one single proposal Focus on one idea and develop it well If you would like to have both experimental and theoretical concepts in your proposal, make sure to show that the experimental and theoretical parts are well-integrated Show that you are aware of potential challenges and you are well prepared to deal with those Slide 7 of 12

  8. 5. Show that you are Well Qualified to conduct the project By: • Presenting your previous experiences, and the quality of it (tip: If you are presenting a part of your previous work, clearly state that the data is based on your own experience) • Presenting your knowledge of what has been done on the filed and what has not. • Show that you have sufficient access to the necessary resources Slide 8 of 12

  9. What are the broader impacts? Show that your proposed activity has an important impact on the infrastructure for RESEARCH and EDUCATION in your filed. Note that for CAREER awards, Educational aspect of your proposal is as important of the research aspect of it. Show that the results will provide valuable information and tools in your filed for variety of application and to advance the science and technology. NSF is looking mostly at People and Tools here; any benefits to the technical field should be included in the discussion of the intellectual merit NOT broader impact! Slide 9 of 12

  10. BROADER IMPACTS • How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning? • How well does the proposed 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? (e.g., technology transfer to industry) Slide 10 of 12

  11. BROADER IMPACTS; Continued • What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society? • This must be beyond the specific technical field of the proposed research. • One rule of thumb is that the average person on the street should be able to understand the impact – e.g., environmental, health, security. Slide 11 of 12

  12. Q & A Thank You ! Slide 12 of 12

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