Hints for Economists in NSF Interdisciplinary Competitions

Nancy Lutz

Resources For the Future March 2011

Outline

• An Introduction to NSF

• Opportunities

• What does interdisciplinary mean?

• How does the review process work in different kinds of NSF competitions?

NSF in a Nutshell

• Independent federal agency

• Supports basic research

• Bottom-up orientation

• Uses grant mechanism

• Low overhead; highly automated

• Discipline-based structure

• Cross-disciplinary activities and opportunities

• Use of Rotators/IPAs

• Usual clients are academics

National Science Foundation

Inspector

General

National Science

Board

Director

Deputy Director

Staff Offices

Computer &

Information

Science

& Engineering

Engineering Geosciences Mathematics

& Physical

Sciences

Social, Behavioral

& Economic

Sciences

Education

& Human

Resources

Budget,

Finance

& Award

Management

Information

Resource

Management

Biological

Sciences

Social and Economic

Sciences

Behavioral and Cognitive

Sciences

Office of the Director

Science Resources Statistics

Directorate for Social,

Behavioral & Economic

Sciences

Opportunities for Funding

• Unsolicited competitions (standing programs)

• Special solicitations

• Dear Colleague Letter

• Rapid response research (RAPID)

• Early concept grants for exploratory research (EAGER)

Start With Your Idea

• Use nsf.gov for awards search

• Check awards by program, keyword, etc. (www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/

• Read solicitation and/or DCL carefully (if not unsolicited competition)

• Check SBE page at nsf.gov for new opportunities.

Social and Economic Sciences

FY10 Program Allocations (millions of dollars)

• Decision, Risk, and Management Sciences $7.5

• Economics $25.8

• Innovation and Organizational Sciences $3.4

• Law and Social Science $5.1

• Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics $4.0

• Political Science $9.9

• Science and Society $9.0

• Sociology $9.5

Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences

SMA – MultiDisciplinary Activities

Programs and Target Dates

Science of Science and Innovation Policy Sept 9, Annually

SBE Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships Oct 9, Annually

Science of Learning Centers

Currently accepting Workshop, EAGER and RAPID proposals

Add’l Opportunities for Environmental SBE Scientists

• DCL: Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES)

• Program: Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH)

Understanding The Target

• Read the solicitation carefully.

• Be sure you understand what “interdisciplinary” means for your target.

• Contact the program directors ahead of target dates/deadlines

• Read the Grant Proposal Guide

Inquiries to Program Directors

• E-mail 1-2 pages with:

– Research Question(s)

- Theory on which you are building

- Methods

- Major Citations

- We can identify potential fit

- We can offer advice on some reviewing pitfalls

What is Interdisciplinary? Many Answers

• Cross-directorate research with team from different disciplines

– Example: Economists working with hydrologist (geoscience)

• Research with team from different social/behavioral sciences

– Example: Economist working with political scientist

Types of Review

• Mail plus Panel – the SBE standard

• Panel Only – Other directorates and almost all solicitations

Reviewing Criteria

• Intellectual merit

• Broader impacts

• Solicitations: Special Criteria

Intellectual Merit?

• NSF funds basic research

• Intellectual merit means increasing knowledge through developing and examining basic theories or methods

• In an interdisciplinary competition, we generally want a basic science contribution in both disciplines.

Broader Impacts

• Promote teaching, training and learning

• Broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)

• Enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks and partnerships

• Disseminate results broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding

• Benefit society

SBE and Target Dates

• A Kinder, Gentler Directorate

• But Not Uniform in our Kindnesses

• Always contact program BEFORE target date. Especially important for co-review.

Reasons for Declinations

• “Trust-me” proposal

• No theory, no methods, or poor match between theory and methods

• Not feasible – Expertise gaps

– Insufficient funding

– Too ambitious

• Incremental contribution

• Bad luck

QUESTIONS??

Nancy Lutz

nlutz@nsf.gov 703.292.7280

Collaborative Proposals

• Mechanism for researchers collaborating across institutions

– Solves many cross-institutional organizational problems for you

Rapid Response Research (RAPID)

• Research when data are ephemeral

• $200,000 maximum; 1 year

• 5 page project description

• Internal review only

• Contact program officer first

Early-concept grants for exploratory research (EAGER)

• Exploratory work on untested, potentially transformative ideas

• High-risk, high-potential payoff

• $300,000 maximum; 2 years

• Eight page descriptive

• Internal review or mail review

• Contact program officer first