Module 1 - Introduction

Overview | STELAR, NSF & ITEST | Logistics | Plan | Proposal Steps | Resources

Planning for Proposal Submission

Your Proposal Idea

Now you have a sense of the multiple components that have to be addressed as you prepare your proposal. In this section we will identify a few different ways in which to move from a rough proposal idea to a more detailed outline.

Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts

NSF places high emphasis on both the intellectual merit and the broader impacts of its grants. In fact, every proposal has to include a description of the intellectual merit and broader impacts of the project in the required one-page summary as well as within the 15- page project description. We will go over this in more detail in Module 3: Writing a Compelling Project Description; here we provide some language from NSF to help clarify what is meant by both of these terms. All proposals are reviewed by panels who are explicitly told to evaluate them against two criteria:

• Intellectual Merit. The Intellectual Merit criterion encompasses the potential to advance knowledge; and
• Broader Impacts. The Broader Impacts criterion encompasses the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes.

The following elements should be considered in the review for both criteria:

1. What is the potential for the proposed activity to Advance knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields (Intellectual Merit); and Benefit society or advance desired societal outcomes (Broader Impacts)?
2. To what extent do the proposed activities suggest and explore creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts?
3. Is the plan for carrying out the proposed activities well-reasoned, well-organized, and based on a sound rationale? Does the plan incorporate a mechanism to assess success?
4. How well qualified is the individual, team, or organization to conduct the proposed activities?
5. Are there adequate resources available to the PI (either at the home organization or through collaborations) to carry out the proposed activities?

From the PAPPG (Chapter 3 Section A.)

See the Resources section for samples of Project Summaries provided by EDC and STELAR.

Think about the language above regarding Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts and brainstorm how you would complete the following sentences.

Activity 1.06A

Complete this sentence regarding Intellectual Merit: This project will contribute to the field of ...

Activity 1.06B

By exploring the following ways to promote knowledge of and interest in STEM careers:

Activity 1.06C

Complete this sentence regarding Broader Impacts: This project will contribute to the betterment of society by ...

In Module 3 you will be asked to revisit and revise these into your own words.

Theories of Change and Logic Models

Many people find it helpful to develop a diagram that describes the project they propose to do. Diagrams can have different purposes.

A theory of change is a higher-level model that describes why you think your intervention will have a particular impact on the target population. Theories of change should be informed by the literature; many projects identify a theoretical framework (e.g., Social Cognitive Career Theory) that guides their work. Your theory of change should be grounded in existing research on mechanisms or links between different factors and outcomes. We will talk more about developing your idea based on the literature in Module 3.

A Logic Model spells out more specifically how these mechanisms will work in your project. In your proposal you may want to use text to describe your theory of change and how it connects to the literature, and a visual depiction of your logic model that provides details about how you plan to implement.

Elements of a logic model:

• Problem statement or goal. (“Youth participants will …”)
• Resources or inputs. These are elements that you bring to the work. It could be expertise, grant inputs, partners.
• Activities. This is what participants will actually do.
• Outputs. Think of this as “bean counting,” including the number of people who will participate, the number of events that will be held.
• Outcomes. Outcomes can be short term (measurable during the grant period) or long term, usually beyond the life of the grant.