1. Sarah Olson Mathematical Sciences
NSF CAREER WORKSHOP
Sarah Olson Mathematical Sciences
Nima Rahbar
Civil & Environmental Engineering
*Slides are modified from Luis Vidali’s 2016 presentation

2. CAREER’s Purpose
Enhance professional career development, better integrate research and education responsibilities and build academic leadership abilities.
All National Science Foundation directorates participate in the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program, designed to support junior faculty in their dual roles as teacher-scholars.

3. Eligibility Eligible CAREER Award Principal Investigators:
Hold a doctoral degree in a field supported by NSF
Are employed in a tenure-track position as an assistant professor following the deadline for submission of CAREER proposals
Will be untenured until October 1 following the deadline
Have not received a previous CAREER award
Have not submitted to CAREER more than twice previously.
Not for Associate Professors
No Citizenship Requirement
Eligibility and common questions at:

4. Award Limits: Proposals & Budgets
Proposal Limits: Principal investigators may only submit one CAREER Award proposal per competition. Faculty members are limited to participation in three CAREER Award competitions.
Budget Limits: CAREER Award budgets currently have a minimum $400K limit (total costs) for five-year projects
Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO), the Directorate for Engineering (ENG), or the Division of Polar Programs (PLR) have a minimum of $500K.
Minimum figures also represent the general maximums you can expect. You will want to discuss these budget limits with your program officer or look at recent awards.

5. Proposal Deadlines for 2015
July 19, 2017 BIO, CISE, EHR July 20, 2018 ENG July 21, 2017 GEO, MPS, SBE

6. More About the Award Is based on a development plan Duration: 5 years
“a well-argued and specific proposal for activities that will, over a 5-year period, build a firm foundation for a lifetime of contributions to research and education”
Duration: 5 years
Goals / Aims of the Project

7. Your Proposal Should advance you toward your life goals
Should be a stepping stone to the next thing
Should be compatible with your institution’s goals
Should represent a contribution to society at large
Where are you today?
Where do you want to be in the future (5, 10, 20 years from now)?
How do you get from here to there?

8. Most successful applicants receive a CAREER award 2-4 years after their initial appointment
-Preliminary results are extremely valuable
-Reviews from previous proposals
-Having an available proposal to request feedback
-Publications as independent investigator
-Involve students and postdocs in the process
-Contacts and collaborators

9. Selecting a Research Topic
The CAREER proposal is more than a research proposal, it must enhance your career development
Your career involves a research path, not a research project
Determine your research path - your lifelong research goals - and then identify milestones toward your goals
Detail the first one or two as the research projects for your CAREER proposal

10. The Selected Research Topic
It must be research
It must not have been done before
It must be significant
It must lend itself to a viable research plan – there is a research methodology
You must have the facilities to accomplish the research
It should fit into your strategic plan

11. RESULTS OF PRIOR SUPPORT (IF APPLICABLE):
CRITERION I: INTELLECTUAL MERIT
STRENGTHS:
WEAKNESSES:
CRITERION II: BROADER IMPACT
POSTDOCTORAL MENTORING PLAN:
DATA MANAGEMENT PLAN:
CAREERS – INTEGRATION OF EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH PLANS:
CAREERS – DEPARTMENTAL SUPPORT LETTER:
SYNTHESIS:
The summary was read by/to the panel and the panel concurred that the summary accurately reflects the panel discussion.

12. 1. What is the potential for the proposed activity to:
Reviewers will be asked to evaluate all proposals against two criteria:
Intellectual Merit: The Intellectual Merit criterion encompasses the potential to advance knowledge; and
Broader Impacts: The Broader Impacts criterion encompasses the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes.
The following elements should be considered in the review for both criteria:
1. What is the potential for the proposed activity to:
a. Advance knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields (Intellectual Merit); and
b. Benefit society or advance 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 organization to conduct the proposed activities?
5. Are there adequate resources available to the PI (either at the home organization or through collaborations) to carry out the proposed activities?
See also this:

13. Your evaluation of the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts of the CAREER proposal should be based on the following information in the Project Description document:
a.     A description of the proposed research project, including preliminary supporting data where appropriate, specific objectives, methods and procedures to be used, and expected significance of the results
b.     A description of the proposed educational activities, including plans to evaluate their impact
c.     A description of how the research and educational activities are to be integrated with one another
d.     Results of prior NSF support, if applicable

14. Additional documents that should be addressed in your reviews:
a.     Departmental letter:  The letter should demonstrate an understanding of, and a commitment to, the effective integration of research and education as a primary objective of the CAREER award. A letter that fails to acknowledge how the institution will commit to the professional development and mentoring of the PI may disadvantage an otherwise outstanding proposal.
b.     Data management plan:  All proposals must describe the types of data (or biological resources) to be produced and how the data or resources will be managed and shared.  The expectation is that data or resources produced with NSF support will be shared.
c.     Postdoctoral mentoring plan:  Proposals that have support for a postdoctoral researcher in the budget must have a postdoctoral mentoring plan.
d.     Letters of collaboration or support:  We would like to note that the CAREER solicitation was recently modified, such that letters of collaboration must now contain only a short statement indicating the intention to collaborate if the proposal is funded. 

15. Panel Rating Categories
High Priority
Strongest in both intellectual merit and broader impacts and/or
Most likely to contain transformative, paradigm-shifting ideas
Low Priority
Weaknesses in intellectual merit and/or broader impacts
Likely to have incremental impact
WOW!
Medium Priority (3 bins)
Strong in both intellectual merit and broader impacts, and likely to make solid important impact but...
May have weaknesses in merit and/or impact that do not detract from the project
Not competitive
Seriously flawed in some fundamental way and/or
Missing some crucial element or idea
Not worth pursuing

17. The Research Description
Do not use words that mean “not research”
Develop
Design
Optimize
Control
Manage
Use of words such as these gives the reviewers the impression that you are not doing research, there is no innovation, nothing is new, etc. – your ratings will be lower

18. The Summary Page First paragraph Second paragraph
My long-term research goal is…
In pursuit of this goal, the research objective of this CAREER proposal is…
The research approach is…
Second paragraph
My long-term educational goal is…
In pursuit of this goal, the educational objective of this CAREER proposal is…
The educational approach is…
Third and fourth paragraphs – must use template
Intellectual Merit
Broader Impact

19. Integration of Research and Education
Education section should not be a half page “add-on”
Be creative- everyone teaches and most new faculty develop new courses. This is not interesting!
Educational activities should have objectives, and should be assessed and evaluated
Get help with K-12 activities
Feel free to think beyond students, creativity helps

20. Education Undergraduate Graduate Networks, partnerships K-12 outreach
Curriculum
Projects (MQPs, IQPs, REUs)
Graduate
Conferences
Involvement with industry, national labs
Networks, partnerships
K-12 outreach
Museum projects
Should not be a boiler plate, pick and choose

21. Before you start writing
Consider talking to your program manager about the topic, and listen to what they say
Look up the abstracts of previously funded Career proposals in the divisions you are targeting
Find mentors, both inside and outside of WPI
Read previously funded proposals, but avoid thinking of these examples as templates
Remember that priorities change every year, you have to be forward thinking

22. Meeting with a program officer
Questions to ask
Does my research topic fit well with your program?
What is your funding policy for CAREER awards? What is the maximum size of your CAREER awards?
How are CAREER proposals submitted to your program reviewed?
Questions not to ask
Is NSF interested in my topic?
So, will you fund my research?
Is this a good research topic?
What research topic do you think I should work on?
If I send a copy of my proposal to you, will you help me edit it?

23. If it is a resubmission…
Talk to program managers for more help interpreting the comments
As painful as it can be, get a colleague to read the comments with you
You need help to read between the lines
We all go into denial about our weaknesses at times
Reviewers will be very annoyed to see “the same” proposal come back again the next year

24. Tips for Proposal Preparation
Start early (> 3 to 4 months)
Attend workshops if possible
Have your draft reviewed by award recipient, if possible
Do not get discouraged by first and second rejections
Get feedback on your ideas through meetings and paper submissions, and through guest speakers
Get help with your writing, if needed

25. Mentoring for Postdoctoral Researchers
An individual development plan (IDP) is a tool to assist employees in career and personal development. Its primary purpose is to help employees reach short and long-term career goals, as well as improve current job performance.
Postdoctoral mentoring plan

26. Broader Impacts (Educational Component)
Broader impacts may be accomplished through the research itself, through the activities that are directly related to specific research projects, or through activities that are supported by, but are complementary to the project.
Building STEM talent
-full participation of women, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities
-improved STEM education and educator development at any level
-development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce
Innovating for the future
-enhanced infrastructure for research and education
Improving our society
-increased partnerships between academia, industry, and others
-improved national security; increased economic competitiveness of the United
Reaching beyond borders
Engaging a wider audience
-increased public scientific literacy and public engagement