Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC)
“Top 10”
Tips for SaTC Proposals
One program director’s observations
Sol Greenspan
Disclaimers
Talk shares some observations about proposals
 Observations you might glean from panels
 Not an official NSF FAQ – just my opinions
 Other program directors may have their own lists
 Use your own judgment
 “Top 10” ?
Not humorous, and there are 11 
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Title and Project Summary
Make as clear and straight-forward as possible
 Used to decide if proposal is in scope of SaTC (and/or
other) program
 Used to sort proposals into SaTC panels
 Avoid distracting digressions, allusions, puns,
ambiguities. Metaphors only if really good.
 Multiple program directors may read them, with
varying degrees of expertise in the main thrusts of the
proposal
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Why is the research important?
Explain why the research is important to fund
 Don’t assume the reviewers know why – tell them
 What is the relationship of your research to “big
questions” in the field?
 Explain both intellectual merit and broader impacts,
short-term and long-term, goals and possibilities
 Bottom line: why should the nation invest in this
research?
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8
Comparison to related work
Explain what makes your project “competitive”
 Establish that your work has not been done already by
others and will be a significant advancement
 Need more than “others working on this problem are
[refs]” and “so-and-so takes a similar but different
approach [refs]
 Not helpful to say “malware has been much studied
[see refs 1-23, 46-61, 78, 99, 120]”
 Use related work to justify approach, highlight
originality, comparative effectiveness, potential
breakthroughs, etc.
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Prior Work by You
Clearly explain the new work to be done
 Most research directions go beyond a single project
 Where does the prior work end and the new work
start?
 Don’t make readers guess how your recent
publications relate to the proposed project
 Explain how prior/preliminary work validates
assumptions, justifies further exploration
 NSF requires mention of IM and BI for prior grants
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Project Management/Coordination
Give reader confidence that there will be
executive functioning at work
 Collaboration Plan required for Frontiers and Medium
proposals with more than one PI
 Explain how you will coordinate people and activities
to achieve the overall vision.
 The reader wants a sense that the people and
resources are well-reasoned and appropriate for the
project, and that some strategic thinking will take
place over the course of the project
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Research Process
Show that you have thought about contingencies
 Research outcomes are not predictable. What decision
points might you encounter? How will you mitigate?
 Allow for unexpected results and dynamic changes in
direction
 What is the process to refine your theories,
algorithms, models, etc. ?
 Sometimes the research requires novelty/creativity
and is a contribution in itself
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4
Research Evaluation
Explain how you will evaluate progress and results
 What are you evaluating?
 How will you evaluate it?
 How do others do evaluation in this area?
 What is considered an advancement?
 Do benchmarks exist (or are you developing them)?
 Sometimes evaluation methods require development
and are contributions in themselves
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3
Pursuit of Science
Where is the Science? (Engineering)
 Building a body of long-lasting knowledge
 Devising theories that explain phenomena (represented
by data, models algorithms, software, etc.)
 Problem characterization and solution discovery
 Paradigm shifts, different ways to conceptualize the
problems, open to new and better solutions
 Again: Conscious, explicit evaluation to show
advances in the field
 Community resources and activities
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2
SaTC Mission
How does your proposal support the SaTC mission?
 Topically connected: Security, privacy, etc. (e.g., ACM
taxonomy)
 Threats, attack models, evolving societal scenarios, etc.
 Foundational (software, hardware, networks, systems,
formal methods, etc.) with strong connection to SaTC
 National needs and priorities (e.g., CNCI, CSIA):
designed-in security, moving target, tailored trustworthy
spaces, science of security, cyber-economics
www.whitehouse.gov,
www.nitrd.gov
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Broader Impacts
Concrete activities
 What is your contribution to the SaTC mission?
 You will publish, educate/train, and develop curriculum
 Impact on other fields of research
 Impact on business/industry or on society
 Outreach to share knowledge with communities
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Your Career
What is your passion?
 Work on topics that you believe in and motivate you.
 Always in the process of building a track record.
 Network with others to build community around
important areas and accelerate the pace of research.
 Propose your best ideas
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The End
 Further comments/suggestions from PIs?
 Further comments/suggestions from PDs?
Sol Greenspan sgreensp@nsf.gov
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