* You may use our information as a resource, but please credit The University of Iowa as the source.
NSF Links
NSF- About Funding
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/aboutfunding.jsp
NSF Organization List (Directorates and Divisions)
http://www.nsf.gov/staff/orglist.jsp
Specialized Information for Graduate Students
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/education.jsp?org=DGE&fund_type=2
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=6201
The National Science Foundation aims to ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the United States and to reinforce its diversity by offering approximately 1,000 graduate fellowships in this competition. The Graduate Research Fellowship provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based masters or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are at the early stages of their graduate study. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) invests in graduate education for a cadre of diverse individuals who demonstrate their potential to successfully complete graduate degree programs in disciplines relevant to the mission of the National Science Foundation.
NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2005/nsf05574/nsf05574.htm
The National Science Foundation’s Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS) and Division of Social and Economic Sciences (SES) award grants to doctoral students to improve the quality of dissertation research. These grants provide funds for items not normally available through the student’s university. Additionally, these grants allow doctoral students to undertake significant data-gathering projects and to conduct field research in settings away from their campus that would not otherwise be possible. Proposals are judged on the basis of their scientific merit, including the theoretical importance of the research question and the appropriateness of the proposed data and methodology to be used in addressing the question.
In an effort to improve the quality of dissertation research, many programs in the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS) and the Division of Social and Economic Sciences (SES) accept doctoral dissertation improvement grant proposals. Items such as budget limitations, target dates and/or deadlines, page length restrictions, and review procedures vary widely across programs. Please consult the relevant program’s webpage for specific information and contact the program director if necessary.
Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13454&org=SBE&sel_org=SBE&from=fund
The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) and the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) offer Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships and related supporting activities in an effort to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in selected areas of science in the U.S. These fellowships support training and research in science, technology, engineering and mathemetics (STEM) fields in a host institution only in the areas of biology and social, behavioral, and economic sciences within the purview of NSF. Supporting activities are travel grants to graduate students to visit prospective sponsors and starter research grants for Fellows.
NSF Grant Proposal Guidelines
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg
Award Search
http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/
A database that lets you search currently funded awards by text, by researcher name, by project description and more. This is a good place to research before preparing your own proposals.
Criteria for NSF Merit Review
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf08_1/gpg_3.jsp
The two merit review criteria are listed below. The criteria include considerations that help define them. These considerations are suggestions, and not all will apply to any given proposal. While proposers must address both merit review criteria, reviewers will be asked to address only those considerations that are relevant to the proposal being considered and for which the reviewer is qualified to make judgments.
What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?
How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields? How well qualified is the proposer (individual or team) to conduct the project? (If appropriate, the reviewer will comment on the quality of prior work.) To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts? How well conceived and organized is the proposed activity? Is there sufficient access to resources?
What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?
How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning? How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)? To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks, and partnerships? Will the results be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding? What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society?
