Executive Report: How to Write a Winning NSF Proposal

1 # Executive Report: How to Write a Winning NSF Proposal 2 Executive REpoRt: How to Write a Winning nSF Professional:Thank you for ordering Executive Report: How to Write a Winning NSF Proposal from the Principal Investigators Association Library. This resource is designed to help you better understand and more successfully complete the Project Summary, Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact portions of your National Science Foundation (NSF) grant Lesiecki, PhD, served as co-author for this report, and we gratefully acknowledge his input. Dr. Lesiecki has served as the Executive director of the Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC), an NSF-funded center of excellence, since its inception in 1996. Dr. Lesiecki has published 27 technical articles and has received one patent.

2 He has served as Principal Investigator on successful, major NSF proposals and serves as a reviewer for NSF and the Department of Labor grant proposals. In addition to the special reports that make up the library, Principal Investigators Association offers weekly e-Alerts, grantapplication manuals, and a year-long series of interactive webinars all devoted to helping you improve performance andspend more time doing what you love: the research. Our goal is to be the world s leading source of real-world, results-orientedinformation in all fields of science. Our unique approach delivering targeted guidance, case studies, success strategies andbest practices has earned us a reputation for depth, usefulness and high-value information as well as a loyal group whorely on that information to help them with their administrative and funding duties.

3 We re glad you ve joined them and invite youto review all of our products and services at are always on the lookout for interesting topics, researcher needs, and ways we can be of service to you. If you have asuccess story you would like to share with your colleagues, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would be delighted tohear from you, and we look forward to serving you and your organization with the best advice and information available in Regards,Leslie Norins, MD, PhDFounderPrincipal Investigators Association9990 Coconut Road, Suite 316 Bonita Springs, FL 34135 Phone: (800) Note from the Publisher34 Executive REpoRt: How to Write a Winning nSF REpoRt: How to Write a Winning nSF Proposal of ContentsA Note from the Publisher ..3 Executive Summary.

4 7 CHAPTER 1: Your Project Summary: Bring Out Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact ..9 CHAPTER 2: Keep Intellectual Merit Front-and-Center ..11 CHAPTER 3: Describe Broader Impact Artfully And Make It Your Theme ..15 APPENDIX A: Understand the NSF Review Process to Get a Leg Up ..19 APPENDIX B: Top 6 Tips for NSF Proposal Success ..21 APPENDIX C: FAQs: NSF Proposals and Merit Review ..23 Executive Report: How to Write a Winning NSF Proposal is published by Scientific Researchers Resources, Inc. 9990 Coconut Road, Suite 316, Bonita Springs, FL 34135 : (800) 303-0129 ~ Fax: (239) 676-0146 ~ E-mail: ~ Web site: report is endorsed as a valuable tool for continuing professional development by Principal Investigators : Leslie C. Norins, MD, PhD 2011 Principal Investigators Association.

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6 It is not endorsed by, nor does it have any official connection with, the National Science Foundation. Opinions expressed by private authors are their own, and not official government opinions. Although the publisher believes the presented information is accurate, grant writing is part science, part art, and interpretations and strategies differ, even among experts. Also, individual circumstances vary. Therefore, no warranty is made that the information will apply in any particular Executive REpoRt: How to Write a Winning nSF REpoRt: How to Write a Winning nSF Proposal SummaryLike most other grantors, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has specific instructions on how you should develop, Write and submit your proposals. Perhaps the most important elements that the NSF wants to see in your proposals are the merit-review criteria developed by the National Science Board (NSB).

7 The NSF instructs its reviewers to rate proposals based on two merit-review criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact, according to Michael Lesiecki, PhD, the Executive director of the Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center. Dr. Lesiecki has 14 years of experience as both an NSF reviewer and a principal investigator (PI) on major, successful NSF Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts in your NSF grant application is the crucial element to drafting not only a Proposal that reviewers will view favorably, but also one that the agency won t return to you without even reviewing it. In fact, these two criteria are so important that you must separately highlight both in your Project Summary page, as well as throughout the rest of your reviewers, Program Officers and Division Director will review your Proposal looking for these specific elements.

8 According to Dr. Lesiecki, to Write a Winning NSF Proposal you must: Write with the reviewer in mind and think like one while you re developing your Proposal . Make his job easier by clearly identifying in your Proposal the key elements that he s looking for. Study the NSF grant criteria carefully before you begin any work on your Proposal . Understand not only the general grant- Proposal guidelines, but also the specific criteria under the applicable agency program and specific funding opportunity. Highlight the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact items in your Project Summary. State these criteria clearly and visibly to avoid a return of your Proposal . Use summary paragraphs throughout your Proposal to reinforce its Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts.

9 N8 Executive REpoRt: How to Write a Winning nSF REpoRt: How to Write a Winning nSF Proposal 1: Your Project Summary: Bring Out Intellectual Merit and Broader ImpactYour one-page Project Summary is one of the most important elements of your NSF Proposal because this is your opportunity to drive home your project s importance and scope in a single page. Your Project Summary shouldn t look like an abstract of the Proposal , but rather a self-contained description of the activity that would result if the Proposal were funded, the NSF states that your Project Summary should include specific items, particularly a summary of the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact. The reviewer will look for these two items first. If you don t include Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact in your summary page in distinct and separate statements, the NSF will automatically return your Proposal without reviewing it.

10 Strategy: Think Like the ReviewerTo facilitate your reviewers positive impression of your grant application, make your summary page informative and understandable for people who are working in the same or related fields and scientifically- or technically-literate lay readers. Understanding the reviewers instructions and what they need to provide to Program Officers can also help when drafting your Project Summary and the rest of your s what the agency wants to see in your Project Summary: The Intellectual Merit of the proposed project; The Broader Impacts of the proposed project s results; and A summary written in the third person that s no more than one page NSF reviewer typically assesses 10 to 12 proposals and spends only 90 to 120 minutes on each, Lesiecki estimates.