What's the buzz at NSF?
William W. Schultz
PD, NSF/ENG/CBET/FD
IPA, UM, ME
2
Federal R&D for FY 2005
$103 Billion Total
(Dollars in Billions)
NucSec $4
4%
NSF $4
NASA
$8
NIH $28
8%
27%
8%
DOE
$8
4%
Other $4
4%
DOD $48
47%
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf06313/pdf/tables.pdf
Table 4
3
Federal Academic S&E Support
FY 2005 $22.4 Billion Total (Dollars in Billions)
DOD $1 4%
NASA $1 4%
NSF
$3
DOE $1
4%
14%
NSF
NIH $16
71%
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf06313/pdf/tables.pdf
Other
$1
3%
Table 59
4
National Research Funding
NSF funds 25% of US Gov
University Research
American Competitiveness Initiative

ACI doubles federal investment in key
agencies that support basic research in
physical sciences and engineering.

Over the next 10 years, the Federal
agencies impacted are NSF, DOE Science,
and NIST.

ACI includes three broad components:
 Research in physical sciences and engineering
(including 12 specific goals with 7 related to NSF)
 Research and Development tax incentives
 Education and workforce
External Reports

Engineering Research and America’s Future
(NAE, 2005): Committee to Assess the Capacity
of the U.S. Engineering Research Enterprise

The Engineer of 2020 (NAE, 2004) and
Educating the Engineer of 2020 (NAE, 2005)

Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing
and Employing America for a Brighter Economic
Future (NRC/COSEPUP, 2005)

Innovate American: National Innovation Initiative
Final Report (Council on Competitiveness,
2005)

Measuring Up: R & D Counts for the Chemical
Industry (CCR Report, 2006)
Macroeconomic Implications
$5 B
Chemical
Industry
R&D
Funding
$1 B
Federal
R&D
Funding
In Chemical
Sciences
Basis:
*estimated from CCR study
**extrapolated from LANL study by Thayer, et al.,
April 2005 using REMI economic model
$10 B
Chemical
Industry
Operating
Income*
0.6 M
Jobs**
$40 B
GNP**
$8 B
Taxes**
ENG and NSF Funding Rates
Research Grants
7000
35%
6000
30%
5000
25%
4000
20%
3000
15%
Yes, FD is
Even lower!
2000
10%
1000
5%
0
0%
FY 2000
FY 2001
FY 2002
ENG Proposals
FY 2003
ENG Awards
FY 2004
FY 2005
ENG Funding Rate
FY 2006
FY 2007
FY 2008
Request Projection
NSF Funding Rate
NSF Budget by Research Directorate
Dollars in Millions
FY 2008 Request
FY 2006
Actual
FY 2007
Request
FY 2008
Request
BIO
$580.90
$607.85
CISE
$496.35
ENG (less SBIR/STTR)
Directorate
Change over
FY 2006 Actual
Change over
FY 2007 Request
Amt
%
Amt
%
$633.00
$52.10
9.0%
$25.15
4.1%
526.69
574.00
77.65
15.6%
47.31
9.0%
$486.01
519.67
566.89
80.50
16.6%
47.22
9.1%
$99.45
108.88
116.41
17.34
17.5%
7.53
6.9%
GEO
$703.95
744.85
792.00
88.05
12.5%
47.15
6.3%
MPS
$1,086.61
1,150.30
1,253.00
166.39
15.3%
102.70
8.9%
SBE
$201.23
213.76
222.00
20.78
10.3%
8.24
3.9%
OCI
$127.14
182.42
200.00
72.86
57.3%
17.58
9.6%
OISE
$42.61
40.61
45.00
2.39
5.6%
4.39
10.8%
OPP
$390.54
438.10
464.90
74.37
19.0%
26.80
6.1%
IA
$233.30
231.37
263.00
29.70
12.7%
31.63
13.7%
$1.17
$1.45
$1.49
0.32
27.4%
0.04
2.8%
$4,449.25
$4,765.95
$5,131.69
$682.44
15.3%
$365.74
7.7%
SBIR/STTR
U.S. Arctic Research
Commission
Research & Related Activities
Directorate for Engineering
FY 2007
Office of the Assistant Director
Emerging Frontiers in
Research and Innovation
Deputy Assistant Director
(EFRI)
Program Director for Diversity &Outreach
Engineering
Education and
Centers
(EEC)
Civil,
Mechanical, and
Manufacturing
Innovation
(CMMI)
Chemical,
Bioengineering,
Environmental,
and Transport
Systems
(CBET)
Electrical,
Communications
and Cyber
Systems
(ECCS)
Senior Advisor
Nanotechnology
Industrial
Innovation and
Partnerships
(IIP)
Engineering FY 2008 Budget Request
Dollars in Millions
Change over
FY 2006
FY 2007
FY 2008
Actual
Request
Request
Amount
Percent
CBET
$125
$124
$145
203
16.5%
CMMI
149
152
174
22
14.4%
ECCS
78
81
94
13
16.1%
109
120
128
8
6.9%
99
109
116
8
6.9%
123
126
117
-9
-7.2%
25
25
-
-
$628.55
$683.30
$54.75
8.7%
IIP
Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR)
EEC
EFRI
Total, ENG
Totals may not add due to rounding.
$585
FY 2007 Request
CBET Organizational Chart
Division Director
John McGrath
Deputy Division Director
Bob Wellek
Chemical,
Biochemical, and
Biotechnology
Systems
Biomedical
Engineering and
Engineering
Healthcare
Senior Advisor
Marshall Lih
Environmental
Engineering and
Sustainability
Transport and
Thermal Fluids
Process and
Reaction Engineering
Maria Burka
Research to Aid Persons
With Disabilities
Ted
Environmental
Engineering
Clark Liu
Thermal
Transport Processes
Ted Bergman
Catalysis and
Biocatalysis
John Regalbuto
Biomedical
Engineering
Semahat Demir
Environmental
Technology
Paul
Interfacial Processes
And Thermodynamics
Bob Wellek
Biochemical
Engineering
Bruce Hamilton
Biophotonics
Leon Esterowitz
Energy for
Sustainability
Trung van Nguyen
Particulate and
Multiphase Processes
Marc Ingber
Environmental
Sustainability
Bruce Hamilton
Fluid Dynamics
Bill Schultz
Biotechnology
Fred Heineken
Chemical and
Biological Separations
Rose Wesson
Combustion, Fire, and
Plasma Systems
Phil Westmoreland
FD: Funding Distribution

TURBULENCE, STABILITY & FLOW CONTROL
25%

RHEOLOGY - Complex fluids and polymer processing
15%

WAVES, HYDRAULICS & ENVIRONMENTAL FLUID MECHANICS
15%

GENERAL FLUID MECHANICS & COMPRESSIBLE FLOWS
15%

MICRO / NANO FLUIDICS
15%

INSTRUMENTATION

BIO FLUID DYNAMICS
5%
10%
trends
Recent History of FM Funding
(a personal view)

1970
FEM
Enviro
Energy




RANS
1980
HPC
1990
Materials
Dyn sys
Catastrophe
theory
Transportation
Electronic
cooling
BEM
LDV
Turb struct
DNS
PIV
Micro
LES
2000
2010
Cond avg
HWA
MDS
Education
?
Complexity
LBM
Bio
Nano
Energy
Sustainability
(& Resiliency)
Cyber-infrastructure
? Social aspects
NSF Funding Opportunities
EVO
CDI
Peta-Apps
EFRI
Workshops
CAREER
NERS/NIRT
GOALI
MUSES / WATERS
MRI
IGERT
Supplements
REU
RET
IREE
GRS
EPSCoR / ADVANCE
Hi-Fi?
… and unsolicited
Proposal Tips
 Ask colleagues for their proposals & reviews
 Ask colleagues to critique your proposal
 Suggest reviewers for your proposal
 Anticipate your audience
 Get help with ‘boiler plate’
 Current and Pending, Facilities, …
 IP Agreement (mostly for SBIR, GOALI…)
 IRB Approval (post recommendation OK)
 Don’t promise too much, too little
 Unsubmitted proposals are not funded
 Submit early
19
Tell a Good Story!
• It should be written for a wide audience
• Well written
• Mix in…
– A good part mystery
(we should not know early that the butler did it)
–
–
–
–
–
A tad autobiographical (get your chair to “help”)
Healthy amounts of history and reference book
A good journalistic style
Two parts coffee table book
A smidgeon of science fiction
20
Other Useful Websites
 Examples of the “broader impacts criterion”:
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2002/nsf022/bicexamples.pdf

www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg
 http://www-personal.umich/~schultz/CAREER including
“NSF CAREER Proposal Writing Tips” by G. Hazelrigg & Friends
 FAQ (05-027)
 www.nsf.gov/eng/cbet/presentations/
(T. Anderson
minority_faculty_workshop_31jul06.ppt and G. Prentice)
21
How to Contact your PD
•Email
•Phone call
– Prepare questions in advance… listen too!
– Be professional, but be yourself
•Personal Visit
– By appointment (one stop shopping)
– During related activity (panel, workshop)
– Show presentation slides on laptop, emphasize Q&A
•
•
•
•
White paper / pre-proposal (2 pg max)
Meet at workshops, conferences
Invite for campus seminar
Volunteer to be panel reviewer
For CBET: www.nsf.gov/eng/cbet/reviewer/
22
The most important things I’ve
learned from panelists this year
•
Proposals should be hypothesis-driven
•
Broader impacts, fonts, etc. are taken seriously
•
Need modeling/experiment connection
•
Make life easier for panelists
(they are not journal reviewers)
23
The CAREER Award
Is neither a necessary nor sufficient
condition for tenure…
Although it can seem like it is necessary
…at least a badge of honor.
Instead, NSF and your University hope it
is a good jump start to your career.
Hence, since you only have three
chances, the answer to the question…
24
The CAREER Award
Should I wait to “establish myself”
before submitting a CAREER Proposal?
NO!!
Should I ask the PD, for a SGER or two
first, to get more preliminary results?
NO!!
Get in as soon as you can so you can get that
“jump start” when it is needed.
25
Success Rate Statistics
 Unsolicited proposals about 10%
 CAREER about 15%
 Initiatives about 10% (varies widely)
 Lower by at least 5% in ENG Directorate
 Dropped in half since 2000
26
Cyber-Enabled Discovery & Innovation (CDI)

“Broaden the Nation’s capability for innovation by
developing a new generation of computationally based
discovery concepts and tools to deal with complex, datarich, and interacting systems.”
CDI investments areas include:
 Interacting elements – improve the understanding of complex
systems

Computational experimentation – allows insight into
complex, real-world systems

Knowledge extraction – data mining, visualization, utilization
of basic concepts from computation, geometry and topology
 Virtual environments – permit collaboration among diverse
populations
 Education in computational discovery – integrate
techniques into the basic education of all scientists and engineers
12
CBET Workshops
iEngineering approaches to obesity
iCyber- based Combustion Science
iMinority Faculty Workshop
iBusiness Engineering Sustainability
iResearch Frontiers for Combustion in the Hydrogen Economy
iCyberinfrastructure in Chemical & Biological Systems
iGrand Challenges of the Future for Environmental Modeling
iIntegrating Social Sciences Research in the WATERS Network
iFrontiers in Environmental Engineering Education
iSustainable Nanomanufacturing (US/Aus/Singapore)
iCyber-Fluid Dynamics
Six (not so little) words

Cyber

Complexity

Sustainability

Nano

Interdisciplinary

Incremental
Transformative
NSF Important Message 130
The term “transformative research” is being used to
describe a range of endeavors which promise
extraordinary outcomes, such as revolutionizing
entire disciplines; creating entirely new fields; or
disrupting accepted theories and perspectives – in
other words [those] with potential to change the way
we address challenges in science, engineering, and
innovation.
-- NSB
NSF Buzz Word Search
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31
32
Distribution of Average Reviewer Ratings
FY 2005
Number of Proposals: 41,758 ( 31,966 Declines & 9,792 Awards )
33
Advice on SOTL
(Scholarship on Teaching & Learning)
 Decide your level of activity, but do some
 CAREER panels impressed with existing
activities with something new
 Sound authentic and realistic
 Ensure chair is aware of your plans (post-tenure?)
 Focus on an area you enjoy
Learning styles, tech communications, experiential
learning, multidisciplinary design, K-12 outreach, . . .
 IRB approval probably necessary for assessment
 Get help from Pros and your students
 Publish in ASEE J, Wikis, Conferences, …
34
ENG NSF-wide Investments
Dollars in Millions
FY 2006
Change over
FY 2005 Current FY 2007
FY 2006
Actual
Plan Request Amount Percent
Biocomplexity in the Environment
6.00
5.94
4.00
-1.94 -32.66%
Human and Social Dynamics
2.00
2.00
2.00
0.00
Mathematical Sciences
2.91
2.88
1.46
-1.42 -49.31%
National Nanotechnology Initiative
Climate Change Science Program
123.77 127.77 137.02
0.00%
9.25
7.24%
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.00
0.00%
Networking & Information Technology R&D
11.20
11.20
11.20
0.00
0.00%
Cyberinfrastructure
52.00
52.00
54.00
2.00
3.85%
0.00
0.00
20.00
20.00
N/A
Sensors/Explosives Research
35
ENG Research Priorities FY07
 Nanotechnology
 Energy and Environment
 Innovation
 Complexity in Engineered
and Natural Systems
 Manufacturing Frontiers
36
Emerging Frontiers in
Research and Innovation (EFRI)
 EFRI focuses support on important
emerging areas in a timely manner
 Typically, the annual budget for EFRI
will be 3-to-5 percent of the
Directorate budget (~$15-to-$30
million)
 It is expected that the investment in
any topic will range from $3 million to
the total annual ERFI budget
37
Major Initiatives
with Impact on CBET
in FY 2007
 NNI
 $43 million
 Sensors/Explosives
 $5 million
 EFRI (FY07: Auto-reconfigurable
Engineered Systems; Cellular and
Biomolecular Engineering) $25 million
total ENG
38
What to Ask
Key Advice
 Priority of topic
 Project plan
 Special initiatives
 Equipment needs
 Success rates
 Timing of submission
Often on Website
 Deadlines
 Application process
 Currently funded
work
 New faculty
programs
 Typical award size
 Award size
 Review process and
criteria
39
Proposal Title
 More important than you think
 Present in clear, concise,
meaningful manner
 Avoid jargon and overstatement
 Be careful with buzzwords
(some folks are annoyed)
 Avoid cute and too informal titles
 Reconsider ?s and :s --s
41
Project Summary
 Most important section (initial impressions,
particularly for panel reviews, used for
reviewer selection)
 Contains goals and scope, brief description of
method, hypotheses and expected results,
technical merit, and broader impacts
 Clear, concise, accurate, exciting
 Published abstracts are revised summaries
 1 page
 Conventions vary by field – seek samples
42