NJIT Physics Department Seminar

March 29th, 2010, Monday

Proposal Evaluation Criteria for NSF Grants:

An open discussion

Prof. Louis J. Lanzerotti

NJIT

Time: Noon-1 pm with 11:30 am tea time

Room: 407 Tiernan

Abstract: The National Science Board (www.nsf.gov/nsb) was established by Congress in 1950 as the governing body for the National Science Foundation. A committee of the Board has just been established that will examine the criteria for the Foundation’s grant-awarding activities and, in particular, the criteria upon which proposals to NSF are evaluated. The committee has a wide charter that can make recommendations to the Board for changes in the evaluation criteria, or even to retain the status quo. Currently proposals to NSF are evaluated for merit on the basis of two general criteria: intellectual merit and broader impacts (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2004/nsf04016/nsf04016_4.htm)

I. Intellectual Merit
What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?

I. Broader Impacts
What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?

The current NSF Grant Proposal Guide is provided at (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf10_1/gpg_index.jsp), wherein the criteria are given in Section A of Chapter 3.

As a member of the Board’s committee for evaluation of the criteria, I would like to learn first-hand the experiences that NJIT colleagues have had in writing their NSF proposals to address these two criteria. I would also like to learn how newer researchers view these criteria in terms of formulating their academic life and research plans.

In this seminar I shall provide a brief over-view of the criteria and then open the remainder of the seminar to a wide-ranging discussion where I will encourage frank and thoughtful input that could be useful and helpful to me and to the Board’s committee. Input from active NJIT Physics Department faculty and researchers interested in applying for NSF grants is sincerely welcomed.