Key Takeaways

Ebony McGee, Professor in the Department of Mental Health and the School of Education, Abhirup Datta, Associate Professor in the Department of Biostatistics, and Shaun Truelove, Assistant Scientist in International Health / Epidemiology, discuss their experiences securing funding from the National Science Foundation and strategies to consider during your application process. 

Overview

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) is not a major source of funding within the school of Public Health, but they have a substantial portfolio in the University more broadly.

• NSF grants are often awarded for compelling research questions and innovative ideas. They are particularly interested in projects that develop new methods or tools that may be applied broadly, with less focus on specific diseases.

• Applying to NSF grants is common in statistics and biostatistics departments and is often seen as a prestigious addition to your CV and promotion time.

• NSF funding should be strongly considered if you are proposing innovative discovery work or method development with broad applicability, or if your specific project is a good fit with one of their call for applications.

Application & Review Process:

• NSF website provides listings of both current funding opportunities as well as the ability to review previously awarded proposals. Sign up on the NSF website to receive updates about new calls for proposals.

• When looking for the right mechanisms, it is recommended to review previously funded proposals similar to yours which can give you an idea of what NSF is looking for as well as identify the specific NSF divisions funding your area of research.

• It’s important to find the right program officer and engage with them in preparation for your application. This can be done by producing a summary of your proposal and meeting with the program officer a couple of months before the due date. This can help create a potential ally and provide valuable feedback on your proposal.

• Attending the webinars dedicated to the specific funding opportunity were considered highly valuable and very important if serious about applying.

• A well-structured proposal is crucial. It should focus on developing a novel method or tool. Most proposals are typically around 15 pages in length but can vary depending on the type of grant.

• Your proposal should comment on the intellectual merit and the broader impact of your research. The intellectual merit focuses on the innovation part of your research, while the broader impact should demonstrate how what you are proposing extends beyond one limited area of focus but can be cross-cutting across applications.

• The Current and Pending Support (CPOS) document should explain all your future and pending support, and you must include the grant you’re writing in that document.

• The Collaborators and Other Affiliations (COA) document should report all your collaborators and authors from the past 48 months. This is largely used to identify individuals who may be conflicted as part of peer review of your application.

• If you have prior NSF funding, you need to include a section about your last project and describe the productivity from your prior NSF funding.

• NSF emphasizes training and emphasizes student inclusion in the proposals. You must write up how the grant will impact their training and improve their skills. If including a post-doc, you must write up a post-doc training plan.

• The review criteria for NSF grants emphasize intellectual merit and broader impact. They often evaluate quality more than quantity in terms of what was the impact rather than the number of deliverables/publications that came out of the grant.

• Discuss with your departmental grants manager before applying as many departments are unfamiliar with NSF requirements, and it may take more administrative review time.

• NSF funding has some limitations on the level of effort allowable, inconsistent with BSPH soft money environment. This results from many NSF applicants working in environments where they're only being asked to cover their summer months on grants. Rather than a strict rule, there have been prior instances where a candidate has explained to their program officer and was allowed to request additional calendar months of support.

Award Impact:

• Receiving NSF funding, especially the Career Award, is seen as a significant achievement and can enhance one’s professional trajectory. It can lead to recognition, invitation for keynote speeches, and interest from top institutions.

• NSF values broad expertise and encourages collaboration across different fields. This can lead to unique and impactful research outcomes.

Resource Links

Funding at NSF | NSF - National Science Foundation

Recording

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