EPSCoR Outreach
Mississippi State University
18 April 2011
STS Funding Opportunities
The National Science Foundation
Fred Kronz, Program Director
Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
Outline
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Basics of the National Science Foundation
STS Research Opportunities
Procedures, Guidelines, and Advice
Separating Awards from Declinations
NSF in a Nutshell
• Independent Agency
• Discipline-based structure
• Supports basic research
• Cross-disciplinary mechanisms
• Uses grant mechanism
• Use of Rotators/IPAs
• Low overhead; highly
automated
• National Science Board
National Science Foundation
National Science
Board
Biological
Sciences
Information
Resource
Management
Computer,
Information
Science &
Engineering
Engineering
Budget, Finance
& Award
Management
Director, and
Deputy Director
Geosciences
Education
& Human
Resources
Mathematical
& Physical
Sciences
Social,
Behavioral
& Economic
Sciences
Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and
Economic Sciences (SBE)
Division of Social and
Economic Sciences (SES)
Division of Behavioral and
Cognitive Sciences (BCS)
Division of Science
Resources Statistics (SRS)
• The Science, Technology, and Society Program (STS) is in SES,
which is in turn in SBE
• SES supports research on the intellectual and social contexts
governing the development and use of science and technology
• SES also supports research to advance scientific knowledge by
focusing on economic, legal, political and social systems,
organizations, and institutions
Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
SES Division
FY 2010 Allocations by Program
•Cross-Directorate Activities
•Decision, Risk, & Management Sciences
•Economics
•Innovation & Organizational Change
•Law & Social Science
•Methodology, Measurement & Statistics
•Political Science
•Science, Technology, & Society (STS)
•Sociology
$3.1M
$7.2M
$25.0M
$3.2M
$5.0M
$3.9M
$9.3M
$8.9M
$8.8M
FY 2011 Allocations Have Not Yet Been Set
Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
The Science, Technology, and Society Program
Examines broader questions involving science, engineering
or technology, and their impacts on society
STS has four core areas:
 Ethics and Values in Science (EVS)
 History and Philosophy of Science (HPS)
 Social Studies of Science (SSS)
 Studies of Policy in Science (SPS)
These areas are distinguished by the scientific and
scholarly orientations they take to the subject and the
different focuses within each subject.
Collaborative hybrid projects involving two or more areas
are strongly encouraged.
Division of Social and Economic Sciences
Science, Technology and Society Program
STS has eight modes of support
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Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants
Post-doctoral Fellowships
Professional Development Fellowships
Scholars Awards
Standard Research Grants (Collaborative)
Small Grants for Training and Research
Conference and Workshop Awards
Other Grant Opportunities Associated with STS
For more information, please see the STS Program Solicitation,
NSF Document 08-553
The program has two deadlines per year, February 1st and
August 1st
Division of Social and Economic Sciences
Other Opportunities
• Cross-Cutting Solicitations (CAREER, IGERT)
• EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research
(EAGER)
• RAPID response research (RAPID)
• Dear Colleague Letters (DCL)
Science, Technology and Society Program
CAREER: Faculty Early Career
Development Program
• Recognizes and supports the early career-development
activities of those educator-scholars who are most likely
to become the academic leaders of the 21st century.
• Awardees are selected on the basis of creative careerdevelopment plans that effectively integrate research
and education in the context of the mission of their
institution.
NSF 11-690 (Program Solicitation)
National Science Foundation
CAREER: Faculty Early Career
Development Program
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Untenured faculty (or comparable)
Single scholar award
$400,000 minimum award, 5-year duration
Three proposals lifetime limit
Deadline: 27 July 2011 (25 July 2012)
“Walk on Water” expectation
National Science Foundation
IGERT: Integrative Graduate Education and
Research Traineeship Program
• Innovative research-based graduate education
• Organized around an interdisciplinary research theme
• Provides a framework for integrating research and education
and promoting collaborations across departments and
institutions
• Involves a diverse group of faculty members
• Students gain breadth of skills and understanding to work in
an interdisciplinary environments while grounded in some
disciplinary field
NSF 11-533 (Program Solicitation)
National Science Foundation
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 only
• Contact program officer first
National Science Foundation
Rapid Response Research (RAPID)
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Research when data are ephemeral
$200,000 maximum; 1 year
5 page project description
Internal review only
• Contact program officer first
National Science Foundation
Impacts of Biology on Society DCL
• IBS initiative spans across the SBE and BIO Directorates
• It is intended to foster research that specifically addresses the
interactions of the biological sciences with society
• IBS projects should address one or more components of the STS
program in the context of biological questions
• Partnerships between biologists and philosophers or historians or
social scientists to address current issues relevant to the impacts of
biology on society and vice versa are particularly encouraged
NSF 06-039 (Dear Colleague Letter—archived)
Division of Social and Economic Sciences
Research at the Interface of the Mathematical
and Physical Sciences and Society DCL
• RIMPSS initiative spans across the SBE and MPS Directorates
• Intended to foster research that specifically addresses the interactions
of the mathematical/physical sciences with society
• RIMPSS projects should address one or more STS components in the
context of mathematical of physical science questions
• Partnerships between math/physical scientists and philosophers or
historians or social scientists to address current issues relevant to the
RIMPSS are particularly encouraged
NSF 08-065 (Dear Colleague Letter—soon to be archived)
Division of Social and Economic Sciences
Why You Want NSF Funding
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Funds curiosity-driven research
Pays full overhead (no match)
Provides summer salary support
Uses the grant mechanism
Where to Start?
• STS Program Solicitation:
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf08553
• NSF Award Search:
www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/
• NSF Grant Proposal Guide:
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=papp
NSF Sources of Reviewers
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Program Officer’s knowledge
References listed in the proposal
Google
Community of Science and other databases
Reviewer’s recommendations
Investigator’s suggestions
Funding Decisions
• Program Officer decision
• Feedback to PI
• Informal and formal notification
• Scope of work and budget discussions
Two Funding Criteria
• Intellectual Merit
• Potential Broader Impacts
Intellectual Merit
• How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge
and understanding in its own field or across different fields?
• How well qualified is the proposer (individual or team) to conduct
the project?
• To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore
creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts?
• How well conceived and organized is the proposed activity?
• Is there sufficient access to resources?
Potential Broader Impacts
• Promotes teaching, training and learning
• Broadens the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender,
ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)
• Enhances the infrastructure for research and education, such as
facilities, instrumentation, networks, partnerships
• Disseminates results broadly to enhance scientific and technological
understanding
• Benefits society, by enhancing public understanding of science, for
example
Data Management Plans
• All proposals must describe plans for data management and sharing
of the products of research, or assert the absence of the need for
such plans
• DMPs must be placed in the Special Information and Supplementary
Documentation section
• FastLane prevents submission of proposals that are missing DMPs
• The DMP will be reviewed as part of the intellectual merit or broader
impacts of the proposal or both.
• For more information on DMPs, see secion ii.C.d.j of the PAPPG
• For SBE guidelines on DMPs:
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/SBE_DataMgmtPlanPolicy.pdf
Budget Tips
• Amounts
– Reasonable, Realistic for work
– Well-justified, Need-established
– In-line with Program Guidelines
• Eligible costs
– Personnel
– Equipment
– Travel
– Other Direct Costs, Subawards
– Facilities & Administrative Costs
Myths about NSF
• Only funds scholars at elite graduate institutions
• Only funds “famous” academics
• Once declined, you are likely always to be declined
• Only funds “normal science”
• Advisory committees make funding decisions
Reasons for Declinations
• “Trust-me” proposal
• Not feasible
– Expertise gaps
– Insufficient funding
– Too ambitious
• Incremental contribution
• Bad luck
NSF vs. NIH
• NSF tends to be smaller
• NSF is more open to risky, exploratory, paradigmchallenging work
• NSF stresses basic research
• NSF has no scoring system, percentile system
• NSF program officers make funding decisions
• NSF uses “revision encouragement” loosely
It is useful to submit, even if declined…
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Revise and resubmit
Discover other funding sources
Forces thinking
Builds relationships
Receive reviews from experts
Final Advice
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Learn to love rejection
Team up
E-mail or call Program Officer with specific questions
Encourage dissertation improvement grant proposals
Additional Questions?
Fred Kronz
fkronz@nsf.gov
703-292-7283
Mike Gorman
mgorman@nsf.gov
703-292-7318
Kelly Joyce
kjoyce@nsf.gov
703-292-8543
Where Discoveries Begin