Writing a Successful Proposal

Writing an effective proposal is the key to getting funding that makes all research possible.

NSF Guidelines

Excerpts of NSF guideline for reviewing a proposal

• What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?
  • Potential considerations: How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields?
  • To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore creative and original concepts?
  • How well conceived and organized is the proposed activity? Is there sufficient access to the necessary resources?

• What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?
  • Potential considerations: How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning?

Defense Advanced Research Project Agency

DARPA questions What is the problem? What is the state-of-the-art? What is the main barrier to overcoming the problem? What is your solution to the problem that will lead to a quantum jump What is the impact of your solution?