Hints for Economists in NSF
Interdisciplinary Competitions
Nancy Lutz
Resources For the Future
March 2011
Outline
•
•
•
•
An Introduction to NSF
Opportunities
What does interdisciplinary mean?
How does the review process work in
different kinds of NSF competitions?
NSF in a Nutshell
• Independent federal
agency
• Supports basic
research
• Bottom-up orientation
• Uses grant mechanism
• Low overhead; highly
automated
• Discipline-based
structure
• Cross-disciplinary
activities and
opportunities
• Use of Rotators/IPAs
• Usual clients are
academics
National Science Foundation
National Science
Board
Director
Deputy Director
Inspector
General
Biological
Sciences
Staff Offices
Computer &
Information
Science
& Engineering
Social, Behavioral
& Economic
Sciences
Engineering
Education
& Human
Resources
Geosciences
Budget,
Finance
& Award
Management
Mathematics
& Physical
Sciences
Information
Resource
Management
Office of the Director
Directorate for Social,
Behavioral & Economic
Sciences
Social and Economic
Sciences
Behavioral and Cognitive
Sciences
Science Resources Statistics
Opportunities for Funding
•
•
•
•
•
Unsolicited competitions (standing programs)
Special solicitations
Dear Colleague Letter
Rapid response research (RAPID)
Early concept grants for exploratory research
(EAGER)
Start With Your Idea
• Use nsf.gov for awards search
• Check awards by program, keyword,
etc. (www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/
• Read solicitation and/or DCL carefully (if
not unsolicited competition)
• Check SBE page at nsf.gov for new
opportunities.
Social and Economic Sciences
FY10 Program Allocations (millions of dollars)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Decision, Risk, and Management Sciences
Economics
Innovation and Organizational Sciences
Law and Social Science
Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics
Political Science
Science and Society
Sociology
$7.5
$25.8
$3.4
$5.1
$4.0
$9.9
$9.0
$9.5
Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
SMA – MultiDisciplinary Activities
Programs and Target Dates
Science of Science and Innovation Policy
Sept 9, Annually
SBE Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
Oct 9, Annually
Science of Learning Centers
Currently accepting Workshop, EAGER and RAPID proposals
Add’l Opportunities for Environmental SBE
Scientists
• DCL: Science, Engineering and
Education for Sustainability (SEES)
• Program: Dynamics of Coupled Natural
and Human Systems (CNH)
Understanding The Target
• Read the solicitation carefully.
• Be sure you understand what “interdisciplinary”
means for your target.
• Contact the program directors ahead of target
dates/deadlines
• Read the Grant Proposal Guide
Inquiries to Program Directors
• E-mail 1-2 pages with:
–
-
Research Question(s)
Theory on which you are building
Methods
Major Citations
- We can identify potential fit
- We can offer advice on some reviewing pitfalls
What is Interdisciplinary? Many Answers
• Cross-directorate research with team from different
disciplines
– Example: Economists working with hydrologist (geoscience)
• Research with team from different social/behavioral
sciences
– Example: Economist working with political scientist
Types of Review
• Mail plus Panel – the SBE standard
• Panel Only – Other directorates and
almost all solicitations
Reviewing Criteria
• Intellectual merit
• Broader impacts
• Solicitations: Special Criteria
Intellectual Merit?
• NSF funds basic research
• Intellectual merit means increasing
knowledge through developing and
examining basic theories or methods
• In an interdisciplinary competition, we
generally want a basic science
contribution in both disciplines.
Broader Impacts
• Promote teaching, training and learning
• Broaden the participation of underrepresented
groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability,
geographic, etc.)
• Enhance the infrastructure for research and
education, such as facilities, instrumentation,
networks and partnerships
• Disseminate results broadly to enhance scientific and
technological understanding
• Benefit society
SBE and Target Dates
• A Kinder, Gentler Directorate
• But Not Uniform in our Kindnesses
• Always contact program BEFORE target
date. Especially important for coreview.
Reasons for Declinations
• “Trust-me” proposal
• No theory, no methods, or poor match
between theory and methods
• Not feasible
– Expertise gaps
– Insufficient funding
– Too ambitious
• Incremental contribution
• Bad luck
QUESTIONS??
Nancy Lutz
nlutz@nsf.gov
703.292.7280
Collaborative Proposals
• Mechanism for researchers collaborating
across institutions
– Solves many cross-institutional
organizational problems for you
Rapid Response Research
(RAPID)
•
•
•
•
•
Research when data are ephemeral
$200,000 maximum; 1 year
5 page project description
Internal review only
Contact program officer first
Early-concept grants for
exploratory research (EAGER)
• Exploratory work on untested,
potentially transformative ideas
• High-risk, high-potential payoff
• $300,000 maximum; 2 years
• Eight page descriptive
• Internal review or mail review
• Contact program officer first