Strategies for Writing a Winning
NSF CAREER Proposal
Suzanne Shontz
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Center for Computational Sciences
Computational Engineering Graduate Program
Mississippi State University
ORED Seminar
Mississippi State University
March 27, 2014
My Background
My Background: My Career Path
• University of Northern Iowa; B.A. in Mathematics, B.S. in
Chemistry, Minor in Physics
• Cornell University – M.S. in Applied Mathematics, M.S. in
Computer Science, Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics
• University of Minnesota – Twin Cities – Postdoc in Computer
Science
• The Pennsylvania State University – University Park – Faculty in
Computer Science and Engineering; Affiliated with the Institute for
CyberScience
• Mississippi State University – Faculty in Mathematics and Statistics;
Affiliated with the Center for Computational Sciences; Adjunct
faculty in Computer Science and Engineering; Affiliated with the
Computational Engineering Graduate Program
My Background: Interactions with NSF
Research grants:
• NSF CNS Grant – Co-PI - 2007-2012
• 2011 NSF OCI CAREER Award – PI - 2011-16
(OCI is now CISE/ACI)
• 2011 NSF PECASE Award – Awarded in 2012 by President Obama
Conference grants:
• NSF CISE Conference Grant – PI – 2010-11
• NSF OCI Conference Grant – PI – 2012-13
• NSF ACI Conference Grant – Co-PI – 2013-14
• NSF ACI Conference Grant – PI – 2014-15
Also worked on one NSF education grant and one NSF infrastructure
grant.
My Background: Interaction with NSF
I have served on numerous panels (and as an
adhoc reviewer) for:
• OCI – Office of Cyberinfrastructure
• CISE – Computer and Information Science and
Engineering
• MPS – Mathematics and Physical Sciences
• EHR – Education and Human Resources
• GEO – Geological Sciences
Service on panels for the above NSF entities has
helped me to understand what is important to NSF
CAREER panels.
My Background: Interaction with NSF
Co-Chair of the NSF CyberBridges Workshop (2012-2014)
• Workshop for recent NSF CAREER Awardees from CISE/ACI and
related areas
• Have keynote talks and discussions on grand challenges and
interdisciplinary research, computational-and data-enabled
science and engineering, visualization, high performance
computing, and education
• Also discuss topics of interest such as sustainable software and
research, the publication model, training the next generation,
etc.
• Workshop website:
http://www.ccs.msstate.edu/conferences/NSFcyberbridges2013/
My Background: NSF CAREER
Proposal Mentoring
• Invited Speaker at NSF CISE CAREER Proposal Writing
Workshop, May 2013
• Mentored several junior faculty on NSF CAREER
proposals nationwide, Summer 2013
• Invited speaker, ORED Seminar, March 2014
NSF CAREER Proposals
Synopsis of NSF CAREER Program
• “… a Foundation-wide activity that offers the
National Science Foundation’s most prestigious
awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify
the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding
research, excellent education and the integration
of education and research within the context of
the mission of their organizations. “
• “Such activities should build a firm foundation
for a lifetime of leadership in integrating
education and research. “
Directorates and Offices Soliciting
CAREER Proposals
• Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO), Computer
and Information Sciences and Engineering (CISE),
Education and Human Resources (EHR), Engineering
(ENG), Geosciences (GEO), Mathematical and Physical
Sciences (MPS), Social, Behavioral and Economic
Sciences (SBE)
• Office of International and Integrative Activities (IIA)
Notes: (1) Co-funding can occur (where relevant). (2)
Must also specify the division within the directorate.
NSF CAREER Program Deadlines
• July 21, 2014 – BIO, CISE, HER
• July 22, 2014 – ENG
• July 23, 2014 – GEO, MPS, SBE
• ? = IIA
• Plan a vacation the day after you submit your
NSF CAREER proposal!
NSF CAREER Program
• Solo PI awards
• Project duration: 5 years
• Minimum award: $400,000
• Exception: BIO and Division of Polar Programs
(PLR): $500,000 minimum.
NSF CAREER Program Eligibility
Proposers must meet all of the following
eligibility requirements (by proposal deadline):
• Hold a doctoral degree in a field supported by
NSF
• Be untenured until October 1 following the
deadline
• Have not previously received a CAREER award
AND ….
NSF CAREER Program Eligibility
By October 1:
• Must be employed in a tenure-track (or tenure-track
equivalent) position as an assistant professor (or equivalent
title) at an accredited institution located in the U.S., its
territories, or possessions, or the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, that awards degrees in a field supported by NSF.
OR
• …. that is a non-profit, non-degree-granting organization such
as a museum, observatory ,or research lab.
Note: Associate Professors with or without tenure are not
eligible.
Who May Serve as PI?
• Eligible faculty may submit one CAREER proposal per
competition.
• A PI may not participate in more than three CAREER
competitions.
• If a proposal is not reviewed (i.e., if it is returned
without review), it does not count against the limit.
Proposal Sections
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Cover Sheet
Project Summary
Project Description
References Cited
Biographical Sketch
Budget
Budget Justification
Current and Pending Support
Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources
Data Management Plan
Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan
Departmental Letter
(Optional) Collaboration Letters
Cover Sheet
• Ask proposal assistant to complete this.
• Select the program solicitation number
• Specify the unit(s) of consideration. The relevant
proposal deadline is the one for the lead discipline in
the event multiple units are selected.
• Specify the project title: “CAREER: ______”.
• Co-PIs: None
• PI eligibility information (will come from
departmental letter which is uploaded as a
supplementary document).
Project Summary
• One-page summary of project.
• Three parts:
1. Overview
2. Statement on intellectual merit of the proposal.
3. Statement on broader impacts of the proposal.
• Type into three boxes in Fastlane.
• Make sure it shows up as one page and is under the
character limit!
Project Description
Components of the project description:
• a description of the proposed research project,
including preliminary supporting data where
appropriate, specific objectives, methods and
procedures to be used, and expected significance of
the results;
• a description of the proposed educational activities,
including plans to evaluate their impacts on
students and other participants;
• a description of how the research and educational
activities are integrated with one another; and
• results of prior NSF support, if applicable.
Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives
• Inter-, multi-, and trans-disciplinary CAREER proposals
may be submitted. Can be co-reviewed.
• Can hire external evaluator (education portion)
• Can secure time at shared research facility
• Can seek research and education collaborations. (But
should be minimal and complementary to your work if
you do so.)
• Cannot list other individuals as Co-PIs or Senior
Personnel.
International/Global Dimensions
• Can include international/global dimensions in proposal
(optional).
• If relevant, indicate how your activities fit within the
context of expertise, facilities, data, and other global
resources.
• State how your activities will be enhanced by
international engagements; describe benefits to
participants in the U.S. and abroad.
• If including international component, contact relevant
country program officer in the International Science and
Engineering Section.
Field Work in the Polar Regions
If you are considering field work in the
Arctic or Antarctica, contact the program
officer in Polar Programs most relevant to
your proposed research.
Education Activities
• Proposed education activities can be directed to any level:
K-12 students, undergrads, grad students, and/or the
general public.
• Should be related to the proposed research.
• Examples: innovative course design, incorporating
research activities into undergraduate courses, support for
teacher preparation/enhancement, enhancing scientific
literacy, activities that link to industrial, international, or
crossdisciplinary work, etc.
• See solicitation for more examples and references.
• Important: Assessment of education activities.
References Cited
• Provide references for research activities.
• Provide references for education activities.
Biographical Sketch
• Mini CV (formatted according to GPG) – only 2 pages
• List degrees and appointments
• Include both research and education activities and
accomplishments
• Up to 10 publications (called products)
• Synergistic activities
• List collaborators, co-editors, graduate students and
postdocs, graduate and postdoc advisors
Budget/Budget Justification
• Make a list of items for which you would like to
request funding
• Examples: 1 graduate student per year, 1 month of
summer salary per year, $N in travel per year, etc.
• Proposal assistant: Provides draft budget and draft
budget justification. Iterate and fill in blanks in
budget justification.
Current and Pending Support
• Proposal assistant: prepares list of all of your current
grants and submitted proposals.
• Should include details on project dates, project titles,
your role, total amount of support requested,
number of months of salary per year requested.
• Let them know about any proposals submitted
through another unit.
Facilities, Equipment, and Other Resources
• Description of facilities available to you for your
research.
• Proposal assistant: Can provide you with statement
on facilities for your research center.
Data Management Plan
• Description of plans for data management
and sharing of the products of research (e.g.,
specimens, data, software, etc.)
• Or assert absence of the need for such plans
Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan
• 1 page mentoring plan must be included if
requesting funding for a postdoc
• If not, need to upload a document saying it is
not applicable. Look at solicitation for specific
wording of this.
Departmental Letter
• Include signed letter from department head as supplementary
documentation
• Should demonstrate department head’s understanding of and
commitment to the effective integration of research and
education
• Must acknowledge institutional commitment to professional
development and mentoring (include description of start-up
funds here)
• Description of relationship between CAREER project, PI’s career
goals, job responsibilities, goals of department/organization,
ways in which appropriate mentoring will be ensured
• Statement that the PI is eligible for the CAREER program
Letters of Collaboration (Optional)
• Can include short letters of collaboration (up to 1
page) if applicable
• Examples: intellectual contributions to the project,
permission to access site/instrument/facility, offer of
samples and materials for research, logistical support
to research and education, mentoring of U.S. students
at a foreign site
• Does NOT replace description of nature of
collaboration in project description
• No letters of recommendation are allowed.
Review Criteria
• Intellectual Merit – encompasses the
potential to advance knowledge
• Broader Impacts – encompasses the potential
to benefit society and contribute to the
achievement of specific, desired societal
outcomes
Elements in Review Criteria
• Potential of proposed activity to (a) advance knowledge of
(b) benefit society or advance desired societal outcomes
• Extent of proposed activities suggest and explore creative,
original, or potentially transformative concepts
• Plan – is it well-reasoned, well-organized, based on sound
rationale? Incorporate a mechanism to assess success?
• How well qualified is the PI? (Very important for NSF
CAREER proposals.)
• Adequacy of resources available to PI to carry out
activities?
Writing an NSF CAREER Proposal
Writing an NSF CAREER Proposal:
How to Get Started
• Brainstorm ideas.
• Once you have chosen a topic, make a tree diagram
outlining the connections between your topics. This
will become the backbone of your proposal.
• I recommend three major subareas, with
approximately three major tasks in each.
• Create a summary diagram (of the tree outlining your
proposal) and use it in the Introduction to your
proposal.
Writing an NSF CAREER Proposal:
Summary Diagram
Title
S2
S1
T1
T2
T4
T3
T5
S3
T6
T7
T8
T9
Writing an NSF CAREER Proposal:
Proposal Outline (CISE/ACI Example)
Project Summary:
• First paragraph: What do you propose to do (e.g., computation and
application)? What is the state-of-the-art for the application?
• Second paragraph: What is the current state-of-the-art for the
computation? What are your contributions to the computation?
• Third paragraph: Address intellectual merits in bulleted format.
• Fourth and fifth paragraphs: What will the outcome be? How will it be
evaluated? What fields will you advance?
• Sixth and seventh paragraphs: What are the broader impacts of your
research? What are the broader impacts of your education/outreach
program?
Note: All of the computational techniques that are proposed must be
tightly wound around the application.
Writing an NSF CAREER Proposal:
Proposal Outline (CISE/ACI Example)
Project Description:
Page 1: Overview of proposed research. Expand on paragraphs 1-2 in
proposal summary. Figures help!
Page 2: Research focus. Evaluation. Broader impacts. Expand on paragraphs
3-7 in proposal summary. Qualifications. Why should YOU be given an NSF
CAREER Award?
Pages 3-4: Background. Background on computation (and theory when
relevant).
Pages 5-13: Research plan. Overview of research plan – organize into research
areas and tasks. Include research roadmap figure. For each research area:
overview the area. For each research task: give a justification for the task,
describe your preliminary work, and describe your proposed work. Include
a task for the cyberinfrastructure. Do not blur the lines between your
preliminary work and your proposed work.
Note: All of the computational techniques that are proposed must be tightly
wound around the application.
Writing an NSF CAREER Proposal:
Proposal Outline (CISE/ACI Example)
Project Description:
Page 13: Evaluation. How will you know when you are successful?
Page 13-13.25: Work plan. What tasks will you work on each year?
What are the major milestones for your project on the research side?
Page 13.25-13.5: Miscellaneous topics as relevant (e.g., Human
Subjects (IRB) or Animals (IACUC)).
Page 13.5-14.75: Education and Outreach. Prior educational
accomplishments. Educational and Outreach Plan.
Page 14.75-15: Results of Prior NSF Support.
References – For research and education!
Note: All of the computational techniques that are proposed must be
tightly wound around the application.
Writing an NSF CAREER Proposal:
Letters of Support
Letters of support are important.
• Department head endorsement letter (required)
• Letters of collaboration
• Do not forget to get letters for facilities being
used, outreach events, etc.
• My letters: department head letter, doctor
collaborator, mesh generation collaborator,
institute director (facilities), SIAM VLP program
letter, summer program director
Writing an NSF CAREER Proposal:
Additional Advice
• Do propose research that is highly novel and is
interesting to you. You will be working on it for five
years.
• Do not focus on the fact that your academic
career may depend on receiving an NSF CAREER
Award (not relevant at MSU).
• Attend an NSF Proposal Writing Workshop if NSF
has one in your area. It will be very helpful for you.
My Process
My Process: Choosing the Right Problem
Why work on parallel dynamic meshing techniques for
simulation-assisted medical interventions?
• Good match for my interdisciplinary research interests in
computer science, applied mathematics, and biomedical
engineering
• Will make a real impact upon completion – algorithms and
toolkit for parallel dynamic meshing, for use with medical
interventions as well as other topics
• Builds well upon my prior work (both publications and
preliminary data) in mesh generation algorithms, parallel
computing, and biomedical engineering
• Have the right collaborators and facilities to be successful
• Launches my career in the right direction
• Novelty of the topic
• Plenty of room to work on this topic for five years
My Process: Integration of
Research and Education
How did I plan my educational component?
• Education - new curriculum - determined what new
courses I could teach that were related to my NSF CAREER
research
- Modeling/Simulation/Visualization (UG)
- Meshing Techniques (G)
Benefit: This is a way to train the students in the areas most
relevant to your project.
Note: Staff at Mississippi State helped out with use of the
CAVE (it was my first time!) and with use of center facilities,
e.g., use of the supercomputer.
My Process: Integration of
Research and Education
How did I plan my educational component?
• Outreach – computational biomedical science
workshop – piggy-backed off of summer program at
Penn State which enrolled underrepresented students
entering as freshmen. Expanded the workshop by
teaming up with the Artificial Heart Lab and
Visualization Laboratory at Penn State.
• Outreach – computational science talks – to expose
high school/undergraduate students to computational
science research and to use as a recruiting tool.
Builds off of my SIAM Visiting Lecturer status.
My Process: Using a Mentor
• In my experience, it’s crucial to use a mentor when
writing your NSF CAREER proposal.
• The best NSF CAREER proposals have been written and
re-written numerous times.
• My mentor was a computer scientist who is outside my
research area. He advised me how to improve the
writing of my NSF proposal, how to better “sell” my
ideas, and how to balance the application vs. algorithms
vs. theory.
• Be sure to thank your mentor afterwards!
My Process: Proposal Timeline
NSF CAREER proposals are due in late July.
When did I start writing mine?
- Typically in early June right after the IMR
(major conference in mesh generation)
paper deadline
- I am able to focus more intensely on one
major deadline at a time.
- This strategy will not work for everyone.
My Process: Obtaining Examples of
Successful NSF CAREER Proposals
• It is very helpful to see examples of successful NSF
CAREER proposals. Particularly from individuals who
are in your area and/or good writers.
• Good examples show you how to organize your
proposal and how to write such a proposal.
• I obtained several examples of successful CISE
proposals and proposals from related areas from
other NSF CAREER Awardees at Penn State.
• I also wrote to individuals in my network.
• There were no examples of successful OCI proposals to
obtain at that time.
My Process: Finding the Right Match
• Due to the interdisciplinary nature of my NSF CAREER proposal, I
discussed the proposal with numerous program directors in CISE,
Math, Engineering, and (eventually) in OCI. I talked to up to ~10
program directors in a given year.
• First submission: To CISE/CCF hoping that it would go to the
Numerical Algorithms panel. It was assigned to the Geometric
Computing panel with experts in mesh generation and computational
geometry. Ratings: Good to Very Good.
• Second submission: To CISE/CCF hoping that it would go to the
Numerical Algorithms panel. It was assigned to a mixed panel with
experts in computational geometry and complexity theory experts. I
work in neither area. Ratings: Fair to Very Good. Comment: It is
fundable, but not by us.
• Third submission: To OCI (the first time OCI accepted CAREER
proposals). Ratings: Very Good to Excellent. Funded! PECASE Award!
My Process: Panel Composition
• OCI panel composition: Panels in OCI are not
simply composed of computer scientists!
Rather they are often composed of computer
scientists, as well as mathematicians, engineers,
and scientists who are cyberinfrastructure
researchers.
• In addition, some OCI panels have education
experts on the panel.
My Process: Revision of the Proposal
Based on Reviewer Comments
How much weight did I give to reviews from my initial
submissions?
• First submission: The comments were somewhat
useful. I improved my proposal based on the ideas of
the comments (such as how to better organize the
proposal, how to better emphasize the novelty, and to
publish more). I ignored a comment which indicated I
did not publish in computational geometry (not my
field!) conferences.
• Second submission: I paid very little attention to the
comments, as the majority of the panelists were not
experts in my field.
My Results: Launching My Career
How did receiving an NSF CAREER proposal help further my
career?
• NSF PECASE Award
• Invitation to Co-Chair of NSF CyberBridges Workshop
• Invitation to serve on numerous new program committees
and panels
• Invitations to present at new international conferences and
an NSF workshop
• Invitation to be Associate Editor in Medicine for book series
• Helped with promotion
Senior people know who I am (including in other areas
of computational science)!
Questions?