Dynamics in Many Dimensions - GT IGERT '04 Proposal
CNS Proposal Internal Due Date
LaTeX Last modified Compiled Description
project.zip 10-Sep-2004 -- (SIMPLEST: download all source files) project.tex 10-Sep-2004 pdf ps LaTeX this one to compile the preproposal
education.tex 15-Sep-2004 -- (RG) national.tex 10-Sep-2004 -- (RS) international.tex 10-Sep-2004 -- (RS) trainingParts.tex 10-Sep-2004 -- (RS)
Synopsis of Program
Award Information
- Anticipated Funding Amount: $30,800,000
Up to $3.0 M per award over 5 years,
plus, for new awards, up to $200K additional in the first year for
appropriate purposes, and up to $200K total per award for projects that
include strongly integrated international research activities in years
2 - 5.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
IGERT projects are expected to incorporate
and integrate the following features:
A comprehensive interdisciplinary theme,
appropriate for doctoral-level research, that serves as the foundation
for traineeship activities;
Integration of the interdisciplinary
research with innovative graduate education and training mechanisms,
curricula enhancement, and other educational features that foster
strong interactions among participating students and faculty;
An environment that exposes students to a
broad base of state-of-the-art research instruments and equipment and
educational tools and methodologies;
Career development opportunities, provision
for developing professional and personal skills, fostering an
international perspective, and instruction in ethics and the
responsible conduct of research;
Program strategy and plan for recruitment,
mentoring, retention, and graduation of U.S. graduate students,
including efforts aimed at members of groups underrepresented in
science and engineering;
Strategy and methodology for formative
assessments of the project’s effectiveness by individuals internal and
external to the institution and program improvements based on these
assessments;
Administrative plan and organizational
structure that ensures effective management of the project resources;
Plan for dissemination of innovative
graduate education activities both within and outside the institution;
and
Institutional commitment to facilitating and
furthering the plans and goals of the IGERT project, to creating a
supportive environment for integrative research and education, and to
institutionalizing the successful elements of the project after NSF
funding ends.
FULL PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS
No additional information may be provided
by links to web pages.
d. Education and Training: Describe
the graduate education and training mechanisms that are central to the
IGERT project, the logic and evidence to support them, and how they are
to be integrated with the research and across the disciplines. Novel
aspects should be emphasized to enable assessment of the innovation and
potential impact. Specify faculty members and other participants with
primary responsibility for these integrative efforts. Describe
strategies for developing a community of students. Discuss plans for
providing career development opportunities, developing professional and
personal skills, fostering an international perspective and ability to
work in diverse teams, and integrating instruction in ethics and the
responsible conduct of research. If planned student training includes
internships, fieldwork, or other opportunities, domestic and foreign,
identify the potential mentors and discuss how the opportunity is
intended to strengthen both a student’s graduate experience and the
IGERT project. If proposed, discuss the benefits of international
research experiences (e.g. quality of research partners, development of
long-term international research partnerships, etc.). Supporting
letters from host organizations should document willingness to receive
students and the expected role of individual mentors. Show typical
student pathways through the program and the effect on expected time to
degree and career progression. The role of undergraduate, masters, and
postdoctoral components, if proposed, must also be described with
sufficient detail to clarify the benefit to the doctoral program and to
justify support through this type of award.
h. Recent Traineeship Experience and
Results from Prior NSF Support (if applicable; up to 5 pages,
within the 25-page limit for project description): Describe your
experience with and outcomes of any related graduate traineeship
project, including IGERT projects, during the past five years. In this
description, address in a comparative manner not only the outcomes of
the prior project, including failures and proposed remedies, but also
the differences and value-added aspects of the proposed IGERT project.
Value-added aspects may include: new areas of research; new educational
paradigms for students, faculty, and institution; sustainable vertical
and lateral impact on faculty, institution, and even outside your
institution; and recruitment, mentoring, retention, and career paths of
U.S. graduate students, with special emphasis on those from
underrepresented groups.
i. International Collaboration
(for applicants requesting additional funds of up to a total of
$200,000 per award; 2-page limit): Describe the procedures and
arrangements for selecting, preparing, and sending IGERT students to
foreign sites for research and education collaboration, including how
their activities abroad will be integrated into and benefit the overall
IGERT program. Discuss how specific projects will be determined for
individual students and how effective mentoring will be ensured in the
foreign host institutions. Address the practical aspects of sending
U.S. students abroad, including logistical arrangements, language and
cultural issues, supervision abroad to ensure the student’s welfare,
and administrative requirements.
(F) Budget and Allowable Costs:
proposers may incorporate in Years 2 through 5 a budget for
international collaborative activities not to exceed a total of
$200,000 per award.
Additional funds requested for
international activities should be appropriate to enable the
unique benefits expected for the IGERT graduate students and the IGERT
project. The primary support is intended for graduate students through
internships (university, government, industry), collaborative research
and/or fieldwork with foreign collaborators, or in other settings
abroad appropriate to the research area. The stays should be of
sufficient duration to acculturate the student and provide a meaningful
research and education experience. Limited funds may also be used for
student preparation, administration of the international activities,
and faculty visits to foreign sites for research coordination and
developing communication linkages between institutions. Requests for
travel funds for the sole purpose of attending international
conferences or workshops are not appropriate. Reciprocal visits by
foreign researchers and students to the U.S. institutions are
encouraged, although NSF funds will normally not be used for such
visits. Proposers should consult the Social, Behavioral &
Economic Sciences/Office of International Science and Engineering
member of the IGERT Coordinating Committee, listed in Section VIII,
CONTACTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
Budget Justification (3-page limit):
If additional funds are requested
for international activities, describe in a separate table the
requested amount and allocations over the project duration, beginning
with Year 2 of the award. Provide details of anticipated resource
commitments of any other organizations expected to participate in the
IGERT project, such as government, industry, non-U.S. institutions, or
private foundations. Appropriate letters of commitment from
participating organizations should be included in Supplementary
Documentation (below). Cost sharing is not required
under this solicitation. Any information provided here and in similar
places in this solicitation will not be auditable as cost sharing.
(H) Supplementary Documentation: Up
to eight supporting letters, including one that must be from the
senior administration of the submitting institution, may be
provided as part of the proposal, with up to four additional letters
when international activities are proposed. Letters of endorsement from
foreign counterparts should discuss the benefits and foreign commitment
to the project.
NSF PROPOSAL REVIEW PROCESS
NSF invites the proposer to suggest, at the time of
submission, the names of appropriate or inappropriate reviewers. Care
is taken to ensure that reviewers have no conflicts with the proposer.
Special efforts are made to recruit reviewers from non-academic
institutions, minority-serving institutions, or adjacent disciplines to
that principally addressed in the proposal.
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 the prior
work.) To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore
creative and original 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?
NSF staff will give careful consideration to the following in
making funding decisions:
Integration of Research and Education
One of the principal strategies in support of NSF's goals is to foster
integration of research and education through the programs, projects,
and activities it supports at academic and research institutions. These
institutions provide abundant opportunities where individuals may
concurrently assume responsibilities as researchers, educators, and
students and where all can engage in joint efforts that infuse
education with the excitement of discovery and enrich research through
the diversity of learning perspectives.
Integrating Diversity into NSF Programs, Projects, and
Activities
Broadening opportunities and enabling the participation of all citizens
-- women and men, underrepresented minorities, and persons with
disabilities -- is essential to the health and vitality of science and
engineering. NSF is committed to this principle of diversity and deems
it central to the programs, projects, and activities it considers and
supports.
Additional Review Criteria:
In responding to the standard NSF
review criteria, reviewers will be asked to place emphasis on the
following additional criteria in furthering IGERT program objectives:
Integration and coherence of the
interdisciplinary theme in its effectiveness as an intellectual focus
for all participating scientists, engineers, and educators;
Quality of the proposed research efforts,
and their appropriateness to the interdisciplinary theme;
Quality and innovation in the planned
graduate education and training mechanisms, and in their integration
with the research;
Quality of outcomes of prior IGERT
project, value-added aspects of new IGERT project, and potential for
adding to the knowledge base in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics) graduate education, if applicable;
Effectiveness of career development
opportunities, provision for developing professional and personal
skills, fostering an international perspective and ability to work in
diverse teams, and instruction in ethics and the responsible conduct of
research;
Effectiveness of the strategy for
recruitment, mentoring, retention, degree completion, and career
progression of U.S. graduate students, including those from groups
underrepresented in science and engineering;
Quality of the international collaborative
activities and benefits to the U.S. participants, if proposed;
Appropriateness of the plans for
assessment of project performance in meeting objectives and expanding
the knowledge base in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics) graduate education and disseminating results to
appropriate professional communities;
Appropriateness of the administrative plan
and organizational structure in assuring effective allocation of
project resources and participation by project members;
Appropriateness of the budget; and
Commitment of the institution to
facilitating and furthering the plans and goals of the IGERT project,
to creating a supportive environment for integrative research and
education, and to sustaining the successful elements of the project
after NSF funding ceases.
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