2010 NSF CAREER Proposal Workshop (Georgia Tech, March 25 and 26, 2010)

The National Science Foundation will be offering a workshop on the preparation of career award proposals (website link - http://aries.imse.ksu.edu/nsf/main.htm ). Attendance is competitive; application deadline is January 1, 2010. Note that the workshop is sponsored by NSF's Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) (http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=CMMI ). Thus, the approach and examples will have more of an engineering flavor to them. Nevertheless, the mechanics of proposal preparation and review should be applicable to most NSF-funded areas. On the workshop site there is a link to previous workshops.

Restructured Application Forms and Instructions for National Institutes of Health (NIH) Submissions for due dates on or after January 25, 2010

Applicants must download and use the new application packages for submissions targeting due dates on or after January 25, 2010 (funding for fiscal year (FY) 2011 and beyond).  Changes include significantly shorter page limits and restructured application packages.
Shortened Page Limits. The page limit for the new Research Strategy section will be 6 or 12 pages, according to the chart below.  One additional page will be allowed for Specific Aims.  As always, if the FOA requires page limits that differ from the application instructions, the FOA page limits should be followed.    For resubmission and revision applications for most programs, the Introduction will be limited to one page.

For individual Career Development (K) applications, the Research Strategy includes Candidate Information, and will be limited to 12 pages.

The Program Plan for Institutional Career Development and Research Training (T) Awards, including K12, Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional NRSA Applications, International Training Program Planning Grants and Grants in Epidemiology (D43 and D71), and Education Projects (R25) remains at 25 pages, or as indicated in specific FOAs. The Introduction to Resubmission Application for Training (T, D43, D71), R25 and K12 applications will be three pages.

Additional detail on changes to page limits for specific sections of the application, organized by activity code, may be found at the Table of Page Limits.

Alignment of the Application with Peer Review Criteria. To coordinate with the enhanced peer review criteria, changes will be made to the following sections of the application forms and instructions: 1) Research Plan, 2) Resources, and 3) Biographical Sketch.

• Research Plan. Three sections of the current Research Plan (Background and Significance, Preliminary Studies/Progress Report, and Research Design and Methods) will be consolidated into a new single section within the Research Plan entitled Research Strategy.  The new Research Strategy section (a single PDF upload in the PHS 398 Research Plan Component of the SF 424 (R&R)), will be sub-divided into three parts: Significance, Innovation, and Approach.  The Approach sub-section will include both Preliminary Studies for New Applications and Progress Report for Renewal/Revision Applications.

•  Resources.  The Facilities and Other Resources section will be changed to require a description of how the scientific environment will contribute to the probability of success of the project, unique features of the environment, and for Early Stage Investigators, the institutional investment in the success of the investigator (e.g. resources, classes, etc.).   The Facilities and Other Resources section ispart of the R&R Other Project Information in the SF 424 (R&R) application, and part of the Resources Format Page in the paper PHS 398 application.

• Biographical Sketch
• A new Personal Statement will be incorporated as Part A, changing the parts formerly called A, B, and C to Parts B, C, and D. 
• Applicants should limit the list of selected peer-reviewed publications to no more than 15.  These 15 publications should be chosen on the basis of recency, importance to the field, and relevance to the proposed research.

The Biographical Sketch changes are also implemented for the PHS 2590 Noncompeting Continuation Progress Report (Notice OD-09-139), effective October 1, 2009.  Although not immediately required in competing applications, institutions may begin to include a Personal Statement and 15 or fewer publications in Biographical Sketches (as described in this Policy Announcement) prior to January 25, 2010 due dates, if desired.
The full notice can be found at the following link:

Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)

UTA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) 2009 (Click to Visit)

Limited Submissions