Tips for your NSF Doctoral Dissertation Enhancement Grant Application Zoe Ziliak PhD Candidate in Linguistics

First rule: Start early! Start at least one month before the deadline.

First step Visit the Division of Sponsored Research in Grinter Hall Open NSF account, get tips Later, have them look over your documents

Read ALL the available instructions Program Solicitation Program Solicitation (20 pages) Grant Proposal Guide Grant Proposal Guide (GPG, 68 pages) Application Guide Application Guide (62 pages) Really – It’s worth it

If you have access to them Read other successful proposals

Don’t break any rules Margins Font size Page length Budget

Know your audience Definitely people in your field (Linguistics, Chemistry) Probably people in your subfield (Sociolinguistics, biochemistry) Probably not people working on your specific area of research (acquisition of the Northern Cities Chain Shift)

Content of the proposal Use vigorous language with short, clear sentences Get to the point – Why does this work need to be done, and why should you be the one to do it? Give big picture so they know importance, but also enough specifics that it sounds like you know what you’re doing

Content continued DO give an adequate lit review DON’T overlook Broader Impacts – Very important! (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts supposed to be interwoven in text, but I didn’t do this)

How to get Broader Impacts Inventions? Improvements? Donations to causes – I donated my interviews to a museum I.e., if you don’t have any, create some!

Appearance of your proposal Use underlining, bold, italics, etc. Bullet points are good Use larger font, wider margins, etc. if possible – Make it easy on the readers’ eyes

Have lots of other people read your proposal Committee members Other people who get lots of grants Somebody who doesn’t know (much) about your project

Budget Pad correctly – add a few dispensable items, don’t pretend things cost more than they do

Budget (continued) Your chances may improve if you’re well under the limit MAKE SURE to ask someone in the DSR to check your budget for you!

Questions, comments?