Submi&ng a CAREER Proposal

• Whenyouhaveagoodresearchideaandawell-developed,well-wri7enproposalwith:• Animportantproblem,acompellingapproachtosolvingit,andwithpromisingpreliminaryresults.• An“ac?onable”BroaderImpactandIntegra?onofEduca?onandResearchplan.

Whenisthebest*metosubmitmyCAREERproposal?

• Readsolicita?onsfromcandidateprograms.• DoanawardsearchinFastLaneusingkeyworks.• Talktoprogramdirectors.

WhatprogramdoIsubmitto?

• ProgramDirectorswillfindthebesthome:• Therightcommunity/rightpanel

WhatifIchoosethewrongprogram?

What about the CRII program?

• CRIIprogramistoenableyoungPIstorecruitgraduatestudents,beginresearch,andgetpreliminaryresultsthattheyforlargerproposalstocon?nuethework.

ShouldIsubmittoCRIIfirst?

• Youcan’tbefundedbytwoprojecttodothesamework.• HoweverpreliminaryresultsfromtheCRIIcanbeusedforaCAREERproject—• beveryclearonwhathasbeen/willbedonewiththeCRIIandwhatisproposedinaCAREERgrant.

WhatifmyCRIIproposalandCAREERproposalsareonthesametopic?

•  IfyouarereadytosubmitaCAREERproposal,youdonotneedaCRIIaward

WhatifIhaveanins*tu*onal“start-uppackage”,haveaclearideaforaCAREERprojectandhavepreliminaryresults,doIneedaCRIIgrant?

How will your proposal be reviewed? Beforethepanel,programdirectorsandstaff:

Ensureyourproposalmeetstherequirementsofthesolicita?on(iscompliant)andisintherightprogram.

“Bin”yourproposalwithsimilartopicsorrequiringexpertswithsimilarexper?se.

Assign3-5panelistswhoarequalifiedtoreviewit(COIsarenotedandnoonewithaCOIisassignedtoitorispartofthediscussion)andaddi?onaladhoc/mailreviewsarerequestedwhenneeded.

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How will your proposal be reviewed?

Atthepanel,assignedpanelists:

Placetheproposalinarecommenda?oncategory(e.g.HighlyCompe??ve,Compe??ve,LowCompe??ve,NotCompe??ve).

Discussthestrengthsandweaknessesofthe:Aswellasanyadhocreviews,ifapplicable.

IntellectualMerit BroaderImpacts&

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How are funding decisions made? Mul?-StageProcess:

•  CISEhasprogramsand/orclusters—•  PDsholdingthepanelmakerecommenda?onsfromeachpanel

•  Theclusterstypicallydiscusscompe??veproposalsacrossallpanelstodeterminerecommenda?onsforfunding

•  IntellectualMerit—mustbegoodscience•  BroaderImpact—mustpassabarofqualityintermsofscopeandac?onability

•  Integra?onofresearchandeduca?on

•  Clustersbriefthedivisiondirectoranddeputydivisiondirectorforapproval•  PDswritejus?fica?onandoncethedivisiondirectorconcurs,recommenda?onsgotoGrantsOffice•  Grantscantakeupto4weekstobeofficiallyawarded

Aprogramdirectorwilltypicallycontactyouto:•  Nego?atebudgetsifnecessary;•  Requireyoutoaddressreviewers’concerns;•  Askforyourinputinwri?ngapublicabstract;•  Follow-uponIRBapprovals,ifappropriate;•  RequirethatyousetupaCAREERawardwebsitetoshowcaseresultsandBroaderImpactac?vi?es;and•  Explaintheexpecta?onsforcontentforAnnualandFinalreports.

What do you do if you are recommended for funding?

What do you do if you aren’t recommended for funding?

•  Don’tPanic:EventhebestPIsgetdeclina?ons.•  Carefullyreadthereviewsandpanelsummaryandaskyourself:

•  DidIselectanimportantproblemandwasIclearaboutwhatitis?•  DidIhaveanddidIexplain,withpreliminaryresults,thatmyapproachiscredible?•  Aretheconcernscri?cal?Arethey“show-stoppers”?Addressable?

• Waitawhile,rereadyourproposalandthereviewsandre-asktheaboveques?ons.•  Talktotheprogramdirectorabouthowtoimproveyourproposal.

Should you resubmit the same proposal next Dme?

•  Askyourself:•  Isthis(s?ll)animportantproblem?•  Hasthetopic/approachbeenovercomebyevents—someoneelsehasbe7eridea?

•  Ifthetopic/approachiss?llviable:

•  Re-writetheproposal—morethanwhatissaidbythereviewersmaybeproblema?c.

•  Updatereviewoftheliteratureandaddworkyouhavedonesincethelastproposal.

•  “Addressingthereviewerconcerns”maynotapplytoanewsetofreviewerssoremembertomakeacompellingcaseforyourproposedproject.

What panels look for: •  Whatareyoutryingtodo?Ar?culateyourobjec?vesusingabsolutelyno

jargon.(Clearsummary)•  Howisitdonetoday,andwhatarethelimitsofcurrentprac?ce?

(Relatedwork)•  What'snewinyourapproachandwhydoyouthinkitwillbesuccessful?

(Includepreliminarywork)•  Whocares?Ifyou'resuccessful,whatdifferencewillitmake?(Impact)•  Whataretherisksandthepayoffs?•  Howmuchwillitcost?Howlongwillittake?(Budget)•  Whatarethemidtermandfinal"exams"tocheckforsuccess?

(Evalua?onplan)

GeorgeH.Heilmeier,PresidentandCEOofBellcore