Tag Archives: preproposal

What you need to do now, before you hear about how your NSF preproposal fared

Posted on February 24, 2016 by

When you finish writing your NSF preproposal it feels like a polished gem, a crystal so perfect it is hard to imagine expanding those perfect four pages into a full fifteen page proposal. At least that is how I felt … Continue reading →

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NSF Preproposals – a failed idea at DEB and IOS?

Posted on September 14, 2014 by

Preproposals came to DEB and IOS about three years ago to solve the problem of too many proposals and too few willing reviewers. They were also thought to solve the problem of too much investigator time wasted on writing unfunded … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Grant proposals, Grants, New ideas, NSF | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Are you willing to pay for advice for your NSF pre-proposal?

Posted on November 26, 2013 by

I got an email just now from Dave Stephens that he has a book for sale on Amazon on how to write an NSF preproposal. If you are willing to shell out $9.99 for the Kindle version, or $16.16 for … Continue reading →

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What do NSF ratings mean?

Posted on March 7, 2013 by

When you finally get the reviews of your NSF proposal, they will have ratings, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, and Poor. Some may give you between two, like E/VG, or G/F as if there was some sort of illusory precision … Continue reading →

Posted in Grant proposals, Grants | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A fairly awful preproposal problem

Posted on March 6, 2013 by

One of the big changes in the research lives of some Americans recently has been the switch at IOS and DEB of the National Science Foundation to preproposals. It is a change that addressed a problem, has moved to solving … Continue reading →

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Have confidence in yourself and innovate recklessly

Posted on January 24, 2013 by

By now you have turned in a January preproposal to the National Science Foundation if you are a biology professor in areas of ecology, evolution, or various kinds of physiology. You may feel good about your preproposal, or you may … Continue reading →

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The perfect preproposal: show us the menu, not the shopping list

Posted on January 13, 2013 by

I have been pollinating my lime tree and my orange tree with a fine paint brush since they are flowering prolifically in a sunny inside hall at Wash U in chilly St. Louis. I love the lime flowers the most … Continue reading →

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The perfect preproposal: make your aims complete

Posted on January 13, 2013 by

By now it is quite clear that NSF proposals have thoroughly adopted the NIH language and refer to the heart of a proposal as a series of aims, so I won’t fight it any more, though I do prefer to … Continue reading →

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Mixed reports on the NSF preproposal process

Posted on June 27, 2012 by

By now you’ve heard your fate on the preproposal. Some very generous bloggers are telling the story from the panelist perspective. I think the biggest question is whether they are treated like a four page version of a full proposal, … Continue reading →

Posted in Grant proposals, New ideas | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments