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Cyberlearning and Future Learning Technologies

Prospective PI Webinar

May 2015

About NSF and what we fund

National Science Foundation’s Mission

“To promote the progress of science; to advance the na5onal health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the

na5onal defense...”

The US National Science Foundation

•  US government agency, funded by tax dollars •  Funds, but doesn’t do, scientific research •  Reports to the National Science Board, 24

scientists appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate

Organization of NSF

•  NSF funds research and development in all fields of science, math, engineering, and technology*

•  NSF is organized into Directorates (like colleges in a university) and Divisions (like departments)

•  If you are interested in education the types of proposals we take depend on where you send them

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

DIRECTORATE FOR BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES (BIO)

James L. Olds, Assistant Director

Jane Silverthorne, Deputy AD 703.292.8400

DIRECTORATE FOR EDUCATION & HUMAN RESOURCES (EHR)

Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Assistant Director

James W. Lewis, Deputy AD

703.292.8600

DIVISION OF BIOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE (DBI)

Scott Edwards, Division Director

703.292.8470

DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY (DEB)

Alan Tessler, Acting Division Director

703.292.8480

DIVISION OF INTEGRATIVE ORGANISMAL SYSTEMS (IOS)

William Zamer, Acting Division Director

703.292.8420

DIVISION OF MOLECULAR & CELLULAR BIOSCIENCES (MCB)

Gregory Warr, Acting Division Director

703.292.8440

OFFICE OF EMERGING FRONTIERS (EF) Charles Liarakos,

Acting Division Director 703.292.8508

DIRECTORATE FOR COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCIENCE & ENGINEERING (CISE)

James F. Kurose, Assistant Director

Suzanne Iacono,Deputy AD

703.292.8900

DIVISION OF CHEMICAL, BIOENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL &

TRANSPORT SYSTEMS (CBET) JoAnn Lighty,

Division Director 703.292.8320

DIVISION OF CIVIL, MECHANICAL & MANUFACTURING

INNOVATION (CMMI) Deborah Goodings,

Acting Division Director 703.292.8360

DIVISION OF ELECTRICAL, COMMUNICATIONS & CYBER

SYSTEMS (ECCS) Samir El-Ghazaly, Division Director

703.292.8339

DIVISION OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION & CENTERS (EEC)

Don L. Millard, Acting Division Director

703.292.8380

DIVISION OF INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION & PARTNERSHIPS (IIP)

Joseph Hennessey,Acting Division Director

703.292.8050

OFFICE OF EMERGING FRONTIERS IN RESEARCH &

INNOVATION (EFRI) Sohi Rastegar, Senior Advisor703.292.8301

DIRECTORATE FOR GEOSCIENCES(GEO)

Roger Wakimoto, Assistant Director

Margaret Cavanaugh, Deputy AD

703.292.8500

DIRECTORATE FOR MATHEMATICAL &PHYSICAL SCIENCES (MPS)

Fleming Crim,Assistant Director

&HOHVWH�0��5RKO¿QJ�Deputy AD 703.292.8800

DIVISION OF ASTRONOMICAL SCIENCES (AST) James Ulvestad, Division Director

703.292.8820

DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY (CHE) Steven Bernasek, Division Director

703.292.8840

DIVISION OF MATERIALS RESEARCH (DMR)

Mary Galvin-Donoghue,Division Director

703.292.8810

DIVISION OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES (DMS)Michael Vogelius,Division Director

703.292.8870

DIVISION OF PHYSICS (PHY)Denise Caldwell,Division Director

703.292.8890

OFFICE OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES (OMA)

Clark Cooper,2I¿FH�+HDG

703.292.8800

DIRECTORATE FOR SOCIAL, BEHAVIORAL, & ECONOMIC SCIENCES (SBE)

Fay L. Cook, Assistant Director

Clifford Gabriel, Deputy AD (Acting)

703.292.8700

DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL & COGNITIVE SCIENCES (BCS)

Mark Weiss, Division Director

703.292.8740

DIVISION OF SOCIAL & ECONOMIC SCIENCES (SES)

Jeryl Mumpower,Division Director

703.292.8760

NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

STATISTICS (NCSES) John Gawalt,

Division Director 703.292.8780

National Science Foundation4201 Wilson BoulevardArlington, Virginia 22230TEL: 703.292.5111 | FIRS: 800.877.8339 | TDD: 800.281.8749 January 2015

DIRECTORATE FOR ENGINEERING (ENG)

Pramod P. Khargonekar, Assistant Director

Grace Wang,Deputy AD

703.292.8300

DIVISION OF GRADUATE EDUCATION (DGE)

Valerie Wilson,Acting Division Director

703.292.8630

DIVISION OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (HRD)

Sylvia James,Division Director

703.292.8640

DIVISION OF RESEARCH ON LEARNING IN FORMAL &

INFORMAL SETTINGS (DRL)Sarah McDonald,

Acting Division Director703.292.8620

DIVISION OF UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION (DUE)

Susan Singer,Division Director

703.292.8670

DIVISION OF ATMOSPHERIC & GEOSPACE SCIENCES (AGS)

Paul Shepson Division Director

703.292.8520

DIVISION OF EARTH SCIENCES (EAR)

Carol Frost, Division Director

703.292.8550

DIVISION OF OCEAN SCIENCES (OCE) Deborah Bronk,Division Director

703.292.8580

DIVISION OFPOLAR PROGRAMS (PLR)

Kelly Falkner, Division Director

703.292.8030

DIVISION OF COMPUTER & NETWORK SYSTEMS (CNS)

Keith Marzullo,Division Director

703.292.8950

OFFICE OF INFORMATION & RESOURCE MANAGEMENT(OIRM)

Joanne S. Tornow,+HDG��&KLHI�+XPDQ�&DSLWDO�2I¿FHU

Amy Northcutt, &KLHI�,QIRUPDWLRQ�2I¿FHU 703.292.8100

OFFICE OF BUDGET, FINANCE, & AWARD MANAGEMENT (BFA)

Martha A. Rubenstein, +HDG��&KLHI�)LQDQFLDO�2I¿FHU

Joanna E. Rom, 'HSXW\�+HDG�

703.292.8200

BUDGET DIVISION (BUD)Michael Sieverts,Division Director

703.292.8260

DIVISION OF ACQUISITION AND COOPERATIVE SUPPORT (DACS)

Jeffery Lupis,Division Director

703.292.8240

DIVISION OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (DFM)

6KLUO�5XI¿Q�'LYLVLRQ�'LUHFWRU��'HSXW\�&)2

703.292.8280

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES (DAS)

Mercedes Eugenia, Division Director

703.292.8190

DIVISION OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS (DIS)

Dorothy Aronson,Division Director

703.292.8150

DIVISION OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (HRM)

Judy Sunley,Division Director

703.292.8180

DIVISION OF GRANTS & AGREEMENTS (DGA)

Karen Tiplady,Division Director

703.292.8210

DIVISION OF INSTITUTION & AWARD SUPPORT (DIAS)

Mary Santonastasso,Division Director

703.292.8230

LARGE FACILITIES OFFICEMatthew Hawkins,

Acting Deputy Director703.292.4416

DIVISION OF COMPUTING & COMMUNICATION

FOUNDATIONS (CCF) Rao Kosaraju, Division Director

703.292.8910

DIVISION OF ADVANCEDCYBERINFRASTRUCTURE (ACI)

Irene Qualters,Division Director

703.292.8970

DIVISION OF INFORMATION & INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS (IIS)

Lynne E. Parker, Division Director

703.292.8930

Richard Buckius &KLHI�2SHUDWLQJ�

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OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL (OGC)

Lawrence Rudolph, *HQHUDO�&RXQVHO��

Peggy Hoyle��'HSXW\�*&703.292.8060

OFFICE OF DIVERSITY &INCLUSION (ODI)

Vacant,�+HDG��703.292.8020

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE &PUBLIC AFFAIRS (OLPA)

Dana Toupousis��$FWLQJ�+HDG�703.292.8070

OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL & INTEGRATIVE ACTIVITIES (OIIA)

Wanda Ward, +HDG703.292.8040

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL (OIG)

Allison C. Lerner, ,QVSHFWRU�*HQHUDO 703.292.7100

NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARDOFFICE

Michael Van Woert([HFXWLYH�2I¿FHU

703.292.7000

NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD (NSB)

Dan E. Arvizu&KDLU

Kelvin K. Droegemeier9LFH�&KDLU�

703.292.7000

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR703.292.8000

VacantDeputy Director

France A. CórdovaDirector

Education and technology at NSF •  Education and Human Resources

–  Research, development, and implementation supporting STEM education in the US at all ages (including research on broadening participation in STEM, learning and learning environments, and STEM workforce)

•  Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences –  Research in social science (psych, neuro, anthro, etc.)

which may include learning research •  Computer & Information Sciences & Engineering

–  Research on developing and studying new technologies, including learning technologies, plus some programs related to educating computer scientists

•  Other directorates –  May have projects on using technologies in education in

their respective disciplines

Education and Human Resources

Funding Programs* Divisions Directorate

EHR

DRL

DR K-‐12

ITEST

AISL

STEM+C

HRD AGEP

DUE IUSE

DGE IGERT  This is for demonstraGon.

Not all programs are listed.

Mission: To enable excellence in U.S. STEM educa5on at all levels and in all seMngs in order to support the development of a diverse and well-‐prepared workforce of scienGsts, technicians, engineers, mathemaGcians, and educators.

Computer & Information Sciences & Engineering

Funding Programs* Divisions Directorate

CISE

IIS

CHS

III

RI

CFLT

SCH

ACI ECube

CCF -‐

CNS BPEC  This is for demonstraGon.

Not all programs are listed.

Mission: To enable excellence in U.S. STEM educa5on at all levels and in all seMngs in order to support the development of a diverse and well-‐prepared workforce of scienGsts, technicians, engineers, mathemaGcians, and educators.

Contrasting cyberlearning at NSF with other agencies •  NSF’s mission does not include clinical health

research or education, although it can include basic research relevant to health (try NIH)

•  NSF’s mission does not give us primary responsibility for educational implementation in the US (this is primarily a state responsibility, or US Department of Education).

•  We support commercialization of research in some of our programs, but we are not a venture capital fund, and we definitely don’t support commercial ventures with no relation to research

How NSF evaluates proposals

•  Submissions are made to specific calls (program announcements, program solicitations) or via our general Grants Proposal Guide

•  Proposals that follow the submission guidelines are peer reviewed according to National Science Board Criteria*

•  We fund a small portion (typically 5-15% in Cyberlearning)

Important rules for newcomers

•  Read the Grants Proposal Guide and follow it •  Your proposal has to come through an

eligible institution (typically a university or non-profit)

•  Don’t send in the same proposal multiple times

•  Ask questions if you have them •  Consider resubmission with changes from

feedback from earlier proposals, but note that all submissions are reviewed from scratch

NSF National Science Board review criteria

•  Intellectual merit: What will we learn? How will it advance science?

•  Broader impacts: What will the immediate or eventual impact be on society? How will it make the world a better place?

Educationally focused projects often have a hard time disentangling these, but you need to separate them out in your proposal

Elements of the NSB criteria The following elements should be considered in the review for both criteria: 1. What is the potential for the proposed activity to make a difference?

a. By advancing knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields (Intellectual Merit); and

b. By benefitting society or advancing desired societal outcomes (Broader Impacts)?

2. To what extent do the proposed activities suggest and explore creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts?

3. Is the plan for carrying out the proposed activities well-reasoned, well-organized, and based on a sound rationale? Does the plan incorporate a mechanism to assess success?

4. How well qualified is the individual, team, or institution to conduct the proposed activities?

5. Are there adequate resources available to the PI (either at the home institution or through collaborations) to carry out the proposed activities?

The submitter’s three jobs

•  Identify the right funding opportunity •  Conceptualize a fantastic project •  Write a persuasive proposal in 15 pages

Actually ~100 pages

•  Cover sheet ‘signed’ by AOR •  Summary and Narrative (1+15p) •  References cited •  Biosketches (2p ea.) •  Budget(s) (1p per year + 1) and Budget

Narrative(s) (3p max) •  Current and Pending Support •  Facilities and Resources •  Data Management Plan (2p) •  Postdoc Mentoring Plan (1p) •  Other Supplemental Documents ONLY as allowed

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Finding funding opportunities

•  Prior awards •  Drill down through our organization •  Look at individual solicitations •  Bring ideas to a program officer

20

Finding Funding Opportuni0es on the NSF Website: www.nsf.gov

Some important notes

•  Solicitations come and go. Some are multi-year, some are not but recur anyhow, many change names

•  Solicitations will always have a minimum of 90 days to submit but may not have more

•  Most solicitations follow the fiscal year, due in late fall or spring

•  Just because NSF has funded a certain kind of work in the past doesn’t mean we have money for it in the future

Conceptualize a fantastic project

•  Avoid a focus on topics, ensure a focus on activities that people want to see occur

•  Any part of the project that you can do before the funding arrives, you should do before submitting the proposal (locate partners, design studies, do preliminary design work, submit IRB, etc.)

•  You will necessarily have thought through more detail than you may be able to express

•  Your project must contribute to the knowledge base; typically mere evaluation is not enough

•  You MUST align with the solicitation if you are submitting to one

Conceptualizing your project: Common issues •  Fit with program

Must match program goals •  Clarity and specificity

Should have important decisions made, plans laid out •  Research and development

Methods must match questions, build on literature, and contribute to knowledge

•  Expertise and collaboration You need to incorporate expertise appropriate to the contributions you want to make, both in project and in proposal

•  Innovation and impact You should be addressing an important problem, and not reinventing the wheel

Write a persuasive proposal

•  By the end of page 1, the reviewer needs to know what you will do (roughly)

•  The activities alone are not persuasive; you need an argument for why those activities lead to desired outcomes in both intellectual merit and broader impacts

•  Ensure the expertise of your team is adequate to do the work and their expertise is reflected in your proposal

•  Build trust in the reviewers that what you can’t fit in the page limit is within your grasp

•  You MUST follow the rules of the solicitation if you are submitting to one, and the GPG in any case

Write a persuasive proposal: Help the reviewers •  Make what they are looking for easy to find,

using the language of the review criteria and headings to highlight the elements of the project description

•  Don’t assume that all reviewers will know the jargon of your discourse community or commonly used acronyms

•  Consider how your proposal will read both when reading start to finish and when a reviewer skims to look for certain elements

Write a persuasive proposal: Common problems •  Ignoring requirements stated in the solicitation or

the Grant Proposal Guide •  The “Trust Me” approach: provide citations or

evidence for critical assertions made, and detailed plans that can be evaluated

•  The oversell of yourself or your project; take a neutral tone and let the evidence speak

•  Pages of general, vague, or rambling narrative without precision and details

•  Overemphasis of rationale for the project at the expense of methodology and details of what will actually be done

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Before You Begin Writing •  Do your homework

– Familiarize yourself with the NSF website – Print and read the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) – Read the solicitation carefully multiple times – Check the NSF Awards Search Page – Visit the Website of the resource center or network

for the relevant program. – Read sample proposals; ask funded PIs politely

•  Talk to NSF Program Officers about your ideas – POs may ask you to send a 1-2 page summary in

advance.

Contacting program officers

•  Generally better to email rather than call •  Face-to-face or phone meetings are just as good, no

need to travel to DC •  Don’t mass email—multiple POs may work on a

program, talking to many creates redundant work •  Be prepared to say what you’re asking for: advice on

where to submit an idea, feedback on a one-pager to a program, procedural advice or answers to specific questions

•  Consider the Policy office for legal/policy •  Recognize that program officers are busy •  Consider volunteering to review (send a CV right near

a program deadline)

Possible Timeline

•  12-6 months ahead: identify opportunities from prior years, read award abstracts and outcome reports

•  6 months ahead: send 1 pager to program officer (optional) and begin discussing with any partners

•  3 months ahead: read final solicitation carefully. Alert sponsored projects office

•  1.5 months ahead: share draft proposal for feedback with colleagues. First draft of budgets.

•  2 weeks ahead: upload everything except narrative, if possible; ensure subcontract paperwork done

•  1 week ahead: final edits by PI, partners, and sponsored projects; mop up any last supporting docs

•  Day before due date: submit if possible

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