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Successful Fellowship and Grant Applications

Successful Fellowship and Grant Applications. Joe Urban Barbara Ryder Mary Lou Soffa. Outline. NSF – Joe Urban Grants – Barbara Ryder Fellowships - Mary Lou Soffa. Successful Grant Applications. Barbara G. Ryder Rutgers University. Outline. Grants - a ‘necessary evil’

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Successful Fellowship and Grant Applications

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  1. Successful Fellowship and Grant Applications Joe Urban Barbara Ryder Mary Lou Soffa

  2. Outline • NSF – Joe Urban • Grants – Barbara Ryder • Fellowships - Mary Lou Soffa

  3. Successful Grant Applications Barbara G. Ryder Rutgers University

  4. Outline • Grants - a ‘necessary evil’ • Funding agencies • Government and Industry • Evaluation process • How to write a successful proposal? • Best practices • Proposal template • NSF CAREER proposals • Sources to consult for more information

  5. Why obtain grant funding? • To fund your research program • Graduate students • Equipment • Summer salary • Conference/workshop travel • To enhance funding provided to your academic department and/or your research group • To demonstrate the support of your peers for your research

  6. Research Funding - Govt • NSF • Main source of funding for academic CS research • Panels of peers review proposals in 1-2 day meetings in Washington, DC • Serious funding difficulties lead to <10% success rate for research proposals • NIH, NASA, DOE, DHS • Fit specific sub-areas of CS • Compiling for parallel, grid computing, PL techniques for information-flow security • DARPA and DoD agencies • E.g., ONR, ASFOR

  7. Research Funding - Industry • Microsoft Research • Faculty fellowship program http://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/nff/default.aspx • External research & programs http://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/fundingopps/default.aspx • Compilers, languages and runtimes http://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/progsys/default.aspx

  8. Research Funding - Industry • IBM - University programs • Innovation awards (e.g., Eclipse Innovation Awards) • Faculty awards • Ph.D fellowships • Shared university research (SUR) awards • Open collaboration awards http://www-304.ibm.com/jct09002c/university/scholars/awards.html

  9. Evaluation Procedure • NSF • Peer researchers receive ~10 proposals to read 3 weeks before panel meeting • Write reviews in NSF online system • Panel meets for 1-2 days in DC, discusses proposals and ranks them as competitive or not-competitive • Panelists write panel summary comments for every proposal • NSF program managers make final choice of proposals to fund

  10. How to write a successful proposal? • Be informed about major research program solicitation announcements • Start early (2-3 months before the deadline) • Obtain and study previously successful proposals written by colleagues • Seek advice on how to present your ideas • Give talks to colleagues/students for feedback on how best to explain ideas • Have others read your proposal draft to discover unclear explanations or illogical flow of ideas

  11. Proposal Desirables • A well-crafted proposal explains • What is the motivating problem? • How is it being addressed? • What is new about the proposed approach? • How will the new approach be designed and validated? • What outcomes will be produced? • Research prototypes? Research papers? Ph.D students graduated? Algorithms embedded in commercial products? • How will the work be accomplished?

  12. Proposal Template (NSF) Summary • Tersely motivate problem of interest and give high-level view of your approach • List proposed achievements of the research • Must state intellectual merit and prospective broad impacts (e.g., educational, underrepresented groups)

  13. Proposal Template Introduction • Motivate problem(s) being studied, with compelling argument for its importance and potential impact Background • Existing concepts necessary to explain the research ideas • Initial feasibility study with partial results on first steps of the research

  14. Proposal Template Research description • Provide enough detail to show a coherent, multi-year investigation of an interesting Q, with multiple threads of inquiry • Outline the proposed order of investigation of open questions; be frank about different possible paths that may be explored • Tell how results will be validated (e.g., benchmarks, build prototype, proofs)

  15. Proposal Template Research plan • Year by year concrete milestones to be accomplished by each person • Emphasize the ‘fruits’ of the research • E.g., software prototypes to be built Related work • Show your familiarity with the area • Describe how your proposed work differs from existing approaches

  16. NSF CAREER Program • Special program for junior faculty • $400K over 5 years • Can only apply 3 times to program • Higher success rates for funding • Differences from ‘regular’ proposals • Individual vision vs collaborative research • Need to show can outline a major research investigation -- a career path • Emphasis on researcher’s personal vision/impact • Emphasis on supporting data (e.g., supporting letters from dept) • Need to ask successful colleagues for example proposals

  17. CAREER Key Points • Scope • Neither too small or too large • Sequence of ideas (each a paper’s worth) part of larger investigation • Be able to show results already obtained on some Special thanks to Nasko Rountev CSE, Ohio State University

  18. CAREER - Key Points • Vision • Why is this problem important and of potential high impact to other researchers or computer professionals in general? • How is this work different from previous work?

  19. CAREER - Key Points • Be specific • State insights that will lead to novel solutions • Enumerate specific products that will have impact • Explicit plan to accomplish goals • Convince reader you will succeed • Why are you right to solve these problems?

  20. CAREER - Key Points • It’s about career advancement and leadership in computing • Educational plans and real outreach activities matter • NSF keen to integrate teaching and research, integrating research into the CS curriculum • Impact to other scientific disciplines matter • Already accomplished subgoals matter

  21. Other Kinds of Grants • Travel grants for faculty • Workshop support grants • Broadening participation activities grants • Educational (curriculum) grants • CPATH program

  22. More Sources NSF Grant Proposal Writing Guide http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg Interesting U Wisconsin Site: http://grants.library.wisc.edu/organizations/proposalwebsites.html Mike Ernst’s (MIT) advice on career proposal writing: http://pag.csail.mit.edu/~mernst/advice/careergrant.html Your university’s grants organization often runs grant preparation seminars and invites subscription to grant announcements

  23. Successful Fellowship Applications Mary Lou Soffa University of Virginia CRA-W Grad Student Cohort, March 2007

  24. Finding Fellowship Opportunities • Ask your advisor, peers • Fellowships in your area? • Fellowships at your university? • Search! • Search engines • Scholarship websites • (e.g. Fastweb.com, Scholarship.com)

  25. Fellowship Opportunities • Government (DHS, NASA, NSF, …) • Industrial (IBM, Microsoft, …) • Foundations (Ford, Hertz, …) • University (e.g., Mellon program at Pitt) • Opportunities for Women (AT&T Labs, Google Anita Borg, … )

  26. When and How • Start looking early • Deadlines: often early (November to late February) • Prioritize • Internship/monetary reward • Prestige • Amount of work required • Your commitment/promises

  27. Putting Together a Strong Application • Positioning Yourself • Make yourself someone your department will want to “nominate” • Don’t ignore your GPA, it can matter • Publish, particularly as first-author • Finish departmental milestones (prelims/quals, comprehensives, proposals…) • Research Statement • Assume your readers are not familiar with your particular research area (or sometimes even with Computer Science)! • Use clear, understandable, non-technical English • Convince the reader why your research is important

  28. A Strong Application (continued) • Convey excitement / significance • Be both forward and backward looking • How will the award help you complete your PhD (in ways that other alternatives wouldn’t)? • How will the award build on what you’ve already done (and what are your past accomplishments)? • Be self-contained (don’t assume the reader will look at your webpage)

  29. A Strong Application (continued) • Recommendation Letters • Ask someone who knows you professionally • Curriculum Vitae • Do not “hide” or “pad” information • Make explicit • Authorship order • Publication quality (category types / acceptance rates)

  30. A Strong Application (continued) • Other Advice • Have lots of people critique / proofread your materials • your advisor, other faculty, fellow students, friends, even your family • Examine prior successful applications, if possible

  31. Example Fellowship • Fellowship • NSF Graduate Research Fellowship • Deadline • November 3 • Terms • Citizen of US • No more than 1 year of grad school completed • 3 years • $30,000 per year, tuition, $10,500 tuition allowance, one-time $1000 international travel allowance

  32. Inside the Application • General form • Letters of reference • Transcripts • Essays • Personal history / personal statement • Past work • Proposed work • Something creative…

  33. Essays, Essays, Everywhere… • ENTHUSIASM! • Why do you love your work? • Helping others/other fields • Advancing techniques/research • Marriage of theory and practice • Why is your work important? • How will your work affect others? • What is the big idea? • Do NOT get stuck in technical details

  34. Fellowship Pros and Cons • Pros • Very prestigious • Often comes with summer position, travel money • Provides a lot of freedom • Cons • Lots of work to track down • Lots of work to prepare • Extremely competitive to get • Maybe make you less serious about finding research topic

  35. Smaller Expenses • Finding equipment/resources; • Ask department chair • Ask dean’s office • Buying books • Book scholarships • TA discounts

  36. Finding Travel Money • External travel funds • Conference funds • Volunteer • Apply for a scholarship • Ask professors, department chair, dean • Co-authors • Advisors

  37. Finding Travel Money • External travel funds • Ex: http://women.acm.org/scholarships.html ACM SIGs • Conferences • May include: Registration, hotel, meals, • Application • Advisor information • Submissions? • Motivation (300 words or so)

  38. Summary • Funding is important • Graduate student • Faculty member • Try to get experience in writing research applications – grants or fellowships

  39. Acknowledgment • Diana Litman, University of Pittsburgh • Grad Cohort, 2007

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