ADVANCE IT and IT Catalyst Proposal Preparation

September, 2011

Thank you for joining the ADVANCE IT/IT Catalyst WebinarPlease, call the Webinar Conference Line:

Phone Number: 1-866-560-7460Passcode: 8536064

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ADVANCE Program DescriptionProgram Goal: Increase the participation and advancement of women

in academic science and engineering careers Projects to realize this goal should involve, and are sought from,

both men and women Proposals addressing the participation and advancement of

women from underrepresented minority groups, women with disabilities and women from predominantly undergraduate institutions are strongly encouraged

Eligible Science and Engineering fields: All fields funded by NSF are eligible, which includes the social

and behavioral sciences The clinical sciences (medical, dental, veterinarian) are not

eligible

ADVANCE Program Funding Opportunities1. Institutional Transformation (IT)

2. IT-Catalyst

3. Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation, and Dissemination (PAID)

NOTE: ADVANCE focuses on women in academic science and engineering. It is not aimed at students. Other programs at NSF focus on earlier points in the pathway to STEM careers.

Institutional Transformation

Institutional Transformation (IT) Characteristics

5-year projects ~ $2 M to $4 M total (depends on scope) Comprehensive, institution-wide, projects to transform the university or

college. All non-profit institutions of higher education are eligible.

Letters of Intent due: October 3, 2011 Proposals due: November 7, 2011

To review abstracts of ADVANCE awards: Copy and paste this link into web browser search field: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/tab.do?dispatch=2 For IT project: Enter “1738” into the “Element Code” box Hit the search button

Examples of IT Activities Reviewing and revising policies such as recruitment, retention, career

flexibility, promotion and tenure

Developing work/life programs such as dual career hiring programs

Establishing, revising, formalizing mentoring programs for faculty at all career stages

Providing professional development opportunities for faculty

Training for departmental leaders and members of P&T and search committees

Conducting climate surveys and other data collection and analysis

Conducting related social science research

IT Review Criteria How significant will the contribution of the study of the proposed

innovative components and other IT activities be to the institutional transformation knowledge base?

How strong are the indicators of institutional readiness for institutional transformation and commitment to the project activities and goals?

How well are the proposed activities linked to the institutional context and data?

How well is the relevant social science literature incorporated into the design of the proposed innovative components and other IT activities?

Institutional Transformation Catalyst

IT-Catalyst (ITC) Characteristics

2-year projects Up to $200K total costs Planning, assessment activities to prepare for transformation Intended to initiate institutional change efforts with or without

further funding All non-profit institutions of higher education are eligible.

Letters of Intent due: October 3, 2011 Proposals due: November 7, 2011

To review abstracts of ADVANCE awards: Copy and paste this link into web browser search field: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/tab.do?dispatch=2 For ITC awards: Enter “7690” into the “element code” box Hit the search button

Examples of IT Catalyst project activities:

Collection and analysis of baseline data

Climate surveys

Planning meetings with stakeholders

Training and development of proposal team

Reviewing social science literature and current IT site strategies

Site visits to exemplar institutions

Consulting experts on gender equity and organizational change

ITC Additional Review Criteria How significant will the contribution of the study of the proposed

innovative components and other IT activities be to the institutional transformation knowledge base?

How strong are the indicators of institutional readiness for institutional transformation and commitment to the project activities and goals?

How well are the proposed activities linked to the institutional context and data?

How well is the relevant social science literature incorporated into the design of the proposed innovative components and other IT activities?

IT/ITC Proposal Preparation

Letter of Intent (LOI) Required – in order to submit an IT/ITC proposal, a letter of intent is

required

Due Date: October 3, 2011

Must include:1. Project Title

Self Explanatory2. Synopsis

Description of proposed project (2,500 characters maximum)3. Other Comments

List of senior project personnel and proposed roles for each List of partner institutions and organizations and description of

involvement4. Contact Information for:

Point of Contact (and an alternate) for NSF inquiries PI for the project

Letter Of Intent Submission Guide1. Log in to Fastlane

2. Go to Proposal Functions

3. Go to Letters of Intent

4. If ADVANCE solicitation not visible at bottom of screen, enter search information below, then click

Search:

• Solicitation ID: NSF 10-593

• Solicitation Title: ADVANCE…

• NSF Organization: Division of Human Resource Development

5. When ADVANCE solicitation appears on the screen, click on Create (under LOI Action)

6. Enter your project title

7. Enter Synopsis (2,500 characters max)

8. Enter Other Comments (2,500 characters max)

9. Enter contact information for: Point(s) of Contact and PI

10. Click on Forward to SPO

• NOTE: Sponsored Projects Office submission not required; clicking this button will submit your

letter of intent to NSF

Key Components of Successful ProposalsUnderstanding of the

ProblemLeadership

CommitmentFamiliarity w/Prior ADVANCE awards

Leadership Expertise

IT x x x x

ITC x x x x

• Description of the institutional context

• Basic faculty data• Issues for faculty to be

addressed• Potential goals for

future IT project (ITC only)

Activities consistent with• Institutional context• Project goals• Conceptual framework• Leadership team

capabilities

• Demonstrated commitment from leadership (president, provost) to ADVANCE project and personnel to be involved.

• Familiarity with strategies of earlier ADVANCE awardees and relevant literature

• Team with appropriate mix of expertise

• Junior and senior faculty involvement

• Involvement of key administrative decision makers

• Social science expertise involved in design and implementation

Key Components of Successful ProposalsRealistic

PlansEvaluation

PlanData

IT x x x

ITC x x x

• Realistic timeline, management plan, budget

• Plan for formative and summative evaluations (at minimum)

• Most IT projects include internal and external evaluation components

• See Online Evaluation Resource Library

• See ADVANCE Evaluation Toolkit

Baseline data critical for IT• # of faculty at professorial

rank, academic department• Search/hiring data• Start-up package data• Promotion/tenure data

• Understanding of types of data to be collected

• Relevant data on special populations, if proposed

• See ADVANCE Indicators Toolkit

Innovation Need for Support

IT x

ITC x

Convince reviewers and NSF that project is innovative and important• Develop/study new transformational

strategy• Provide unique contribution to

understanding transformation, i.e.,• Different institution type• Different populations

• Contribute to knowledge base on women in S&E careers

• Strong social science research component (5 page supplement)

• Convincing argument of historical lack of resources

Key Components of Successful Proposals

Common Problems in ProposalsDescription IT ITC

Inadequate description of the roles and responsibilities of various members of the leadership team and other personnel.

x x

A plan to develop materials and activities without using relevant existing resources. x x

Leadership team that is not sufficiently broad for the kinds of activities and goals proposed.

x x

Underestimation of the time and human resources to set up and maintain an ADVANCE project.

x x

No, or inappropriate, data provided in the proposal x x

Not using/exceeding fifteen page limitation x x

Lack of cohesiveness between social science research and ADVANCE activities x

Lack of an innovative dimension with a strong proposal to study the innovation. x

Additional Proposal Documents Budget

Cost sharing is not required Must include a three page budget description Total requested must be justified by the project’s scope

Supplementary Documents Letters of Commitment (IT Only): 5-page description of social science research including, but

not limited to: the disciplinary and conceptual framework for the study; a discussion of the theory and hypotheses grounding the research; the proposed methods to test the hypotheses; the expected findings; and to what extent the results and data will be disaggregated for

multiple characteristics such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, foreign-born or foreign-trained, in addition to gender.

Additional Proposal Documents, cont’d Data Management Plan

Effective January 2011 All proposals submitted to NSF must include a Data Management

Plan (DMP) as a Supplementary Document of no more than two pages

DMP needs to address two topics: the data to be generated by the research, and the plan for managing the data

For FAQS, see http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmpfaqs.jsp

ADVANCE Information and Resources

Grant Proposal Guide Changes Mentoring for Postdoctoral Researchers

Proposals with funding for postdoctoral researchers must include a description of mentoring activities for postdocs

Mentoring activities may include: Career counseling Training in preparation of grant proposals Guidance on how to effectively collaborate with researchers

from diverse backgrounds and disciplinary areas Training in responsible professional practices

Proposed mentoring activities will be evaluated as part of the merit review process

Proposals that do not include a separate section on mentoring activities within the Project Description will be returned without review

Human Subjects Research Projects involving research with human subjects must ensure that

subjects are protected from research risks in conformance with the relevant federal policy known as the Common Rule (Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, 45 CFR 690)

All projects involving human subjects must either (1) have approval from the organization's Institutional Review Board (IRB) before issuance of an NSF award or, (2) must affirm that the IRB has declared the research exempt from IRB review, in accordance with the applicable subsection, as established in section 101(b) of the Common Rule."

Grant Proposal Guide Changes, cont’d

Grant Proposal Guide Changes, cont’d Data Management Plan

Effective January 2011 All proposals submitted to NSF must include a Data Management

Plan (DMP) as a Supplementary Document of no more than two pages

DMP needs to address two topics: the data to be generated by the research, and the plan for managing the data

For FAQS, see http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmpfaqs.jsp For EHR guidance on Data Management Plans, see

http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmpdocs/ehr.pdf

Information on ADVANCE ProjectsMaterials from past and current ADVANCE IT projects are available:

Individual IT project websites (link at bottom of page): www.nsf.gov/advance

ADVANCE web portal: www.portal.advance.vt.edu

Contact a specific grantee

Program Directors: Kelly Mack - kmack@nsf.gov Amy Rogers - arogers@nsf.gov

Integrative Activities Specialist: Pat Simms - psimms@nsf.gov

Program Website http://www.nsf.gov/advance

ADVANCE Program Contact Information

Evaluation Tools General information about project evaluation available at

the Online Evaluation Resource Library: http://ctl.sri.com/projects/displayProject.jsp?Nick=oerl

Review the ADVANCE Evaluation Toolkit: http://www.advance.vt.edu/ (link at bottom of page) “Using Program Evaluation to Ensure the Success of

your ADVANCE Program” developed by NMSU