Grant Proposal Template for the National Science Foundation
Author FirstName LastName
Organization (Abbreviation)
Author FirstName LastName
Organization (Abbreviation)
Project Summary
This template provides instructions for preparing grant proposals in accordance with the National
Science Foundation’s (NSF) guidelines and regulations. The template provides directions for what the
NSF expects to be included in the proposal, and how they expect the proposal to be formatted. The autoformatting and technical directions are written for Microsoft Word 6.0 or later.
The project summary comes at the beginning of the paper, and is a self-contained description of
the activities that would ensue should the project be funded. It must be suitable for publication, and no
more than one page in length. The summary should be written in the third person and include a statement
of objectives and the methods to be employed. The project summary is not an abstract of the paper, and
must clearly address in separate statements (within the one-page summary): the intellectual merit of the
proposed activity; and the broader impacts resulting from the proposed activity.
Intellectual Merit. This subsection of the project summary should address: how important the
proposed activity is to advancing the current knowledge in the field. How well qualified the proposer is to
conduct the project. How the project explores, creative, original, and potentially transformative concepts.
It should also discuss how well conceived and organized the proposed activity is.
Broader Impacts. This section should address the educational and social benefits of the proposed
activity. It should have a clear presentation of how the project will promote teaching, training, and
learning. Additionally, it should address how well the proposed activity will benefit and broaden the
participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)
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Grant Proposal Title
Author FirstName LastName
Organization (Abbreviation)
Author FirstName LastName
Organization (Abbreviation)
Table of Contents
1
Introduction and General Guidelines .................................................................................................... 3
1.1
Technical Guidelines..................................................................................................................... 3
1.1.1
1.1.2
1.1.3
2
3
4
5
Font Sizing and Pagination ................................................................................................... 3
Figures and Tables ................................................................................................................ 3
Equations............................................................................................................................... 4
Results from Prior NSF Support ........................................................................................................... 5
Human Resource Information ............................................................................................................... 5
References ............................................................................................................................................. 5
Additional Information ......................................................................................................................... 5
It should be noted that the table of contents included here is primarily for internal use, (or use on
non-NSF proposals) and will function as an outline. When new headings are added to the document, the
table of contents can be updated by pressing Ctrl + A, and then F9. The NSF Fastlane login and
submission system automatically generates a table of contents based off the submitted document, which
the proposer cannot edit. When submitting the finalized proposal, make sure to delete any table of
contents in favor of the auto-generated version.
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1
Introduction and General Guidelines
The body of the text is called the “Project Description” in all NSF regulations, and will be referred to
as such hereafter.
Much like in the Project Summary, the Project Description should address the broader impacts and
the intellectual merit of the proposal. The broader impacts should include, at some length, how the
proposal will integrate research and education, what new educational opportunities will arise from the
research, and how underrepresented groups will benefit from the research. It may also include things such
as how scientific and technological understanding will be increased by society in general, or how existing
facilities and infrastructure will benefit from the proposed activity.
The Project Description should present the (1) objectives and scientific, engineering, or educational
significance of the proposed work; (2) suitability of the methods to be employed; (3) qualifications of the
investigator and the grantee organization; (4) effect of the activity on the infrastructure of science,
engineering and education; (5) relation to the long-term goals of the PI’s overall project; (6) relationship
to the present state of knowledge in the field, and work in progress elsewhere within the field; and (7)
amount of funding required. It should present the merits of the proposed project clearly and should be
prepared with the care and thoroughness of a paper submitted for publication. The description should be
completely self-contained. This means that there should not be any URLs included in the proposal. The
reviewers are under no obligation to look at the link, and URLs can be seen as an attempt to circumvent
the page limitations. URLS should, therefore, be avoided completely.
The preparers may include as many sections are needed, so long as they do not exceed the fifteen
page limit. The numbering done here is to be used for template formatting purposes, not a guide for the
layout of the whole proposal.
1.1
Technical Guidelines
The pages should be auto numbered, as the NSF does not provide any numbering system for
proposals. The project description should be no longer than fifteen pages, including graphs, charts, maps,
tables and other pictorial representation. Unless otherwise specified in an NSF program solicitation, page
extensions can only be obtained by the written approval of the cognizant NSF assistant Director/Office
Head or some other designee. Additionally, the NSF encourages proposers to use the Metric System in all
of their calculations, where applicable.
1.1.1
Font Sizing and Pagination
Proposers have some leeway in preparing their documents in regard to the font. Acceptable fonts
are: Arial, Courier New, or Palatino Linotype at size 10 font or larger; Times new Roman at size 11 font
or larger; Computer Modern family fonts at size 11 font or larger. Font sizes of less than 10 may be used
for formulas, equations, figures, tables or diagram captions. That text, however, must still be readable. In
the overall formatting of the document, there must be no more than 6 lines of text within a vertical space
of one inch. Additionally, all margins must be exactly 1 inch in length.
1.1.2
Figures and Tables
Any number of figures or tables can be included in the proposal, but must all appear within the
project description, and count toward the fifteen page limitation.
Table 1. an example table
A
B
C
3
D
G
E
H
F
I
To create a new table, simply copy the existing one, replace the title, and input any data. The
process is similar for figures, copy the current figure, replace the picture and edit the caption. To update
the numbering, press Ctrl + A, then F9, this should update the numbering of all headings, tables, and
figures.
Figure 1. This is an example figure of the NSF logo. Note that the word Figure is completely written out,
and that a period (.) follows the number.
Figure 3. This is an example figure of the
Department of State Seal. To avoid Double Column
formatting, both figures have been placed in a twocolumn, one-row table, and the lines have been
removed.
Figure 2. This is an example figure of the
University of Washington seal. Note that these two
figures appear side-by-side, but the page remains
in single column format.
To cross-reference a table or figure, go to Insert, Cross-reference, select either Table or Figure
from the dropdown menu, uncheck Insert as hyperlink, and select Only label and number from the
second dropdown menu. Then press Okay. This is an example of a cross reference to Figure 1. Ideally,
when preparing a proposal, figures will be mentioned in the text prior to their actual appearance.
1.1.3
Equations
All equations should be numbered in the order that they appear in the text.
(1)
To insert an equation, copy the existing one, and type a new equation in place of it. To update the
numbering press CTRL + A and then F9.
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To create a cross reference for an equation, you must first create a bookmark for it. Select
equation number to the right of the equation. Next, go to Insert, Bookmark, and then create a name for
your equation. All equation bookmarks should start with “eq” for identification purposes. After this, go to
Insert, Cross reference. In the dialogue box, select Bookmark and Bookmark Text from each
dropdown list, then click Okay. This an example cross reference to Equation 1.
2
Results from Prior NSF Support
If any of the PIs or Co-PIs have received prior funding from the NSF within the past five years, the
following information on that award is required:
a) the NSF award number, amount and period of support
b) the title of the project
c) a summary of the results of the completed work, including, for a research project, any
contribution to the development of human resources in science and engineering
d) any publications resulting from the NSF award
e) a brief description of available data, samples, physical collections and other related research
products not described elsewhere
f) if the proposal is for renewed support, a description of the relation of the completed work to the
proposed work
The prior work section should be no more than 5 pages long, and is included in the 15 page limit of
the Project Description. Optionally, information about unfunded proposals can also be included.
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Human Resource Information
If the proposal is for renewed support of a research project, the project description should include
information on how educational aspects of the institution have progressed since past funding. For
example, things like student training, course preparation, and seminars that have resulted from prior
support should be listed here. This requirement applies only to academic institutions applying for a
renewal of a previously funded proposal.
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References
References are required. References should be listed in the same order that they appear in the body
of the proposal. Each reference must include the names of all contributing authors in the same sequence
that they appear in the original publication, the article and journal title, book title, volume number, page
numbers and year of publication. If the document is available electronically, the URL should be included.
The URL should not be included in the body of the text, however, but should be included in the reference.
References should not be used to include parenthetical information outside of the 15 page limit for the
project description.
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Additional Information
The NSF also requires a Budget, and Budget justification of no more than 3 pages, as well as a Cover
Sheet and a Personnel Bio-Sketch for all PIs and co-PIs, each of which may not exceed two pages. These
are not part of the overall Project Description, but are required by the overall application process. The
proposal may not include any Appendices unless otherwise authorized.
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References
[1] Mamishev, Alexander, and Sean Williams. Technical Writing for Teams: The STREAM
Tools Handbook. 1st ed. Hoboken, NJ: IEEE Press, 2010. Print.
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