Further Reading — Chapter 17: NSF Grants

NSF policies, the PAPPG, solicitations, and merit-review guidance change regularly. Treat this chapter as the durable shape of the system and always verify current specifics at the source before writing or submitting. The NSF's own materials are authoritative and thorough — make nsf.gov your primary reference.

Official, Primary Sources (start here)

  • nsf.gov — "Funding" and the directorate/division/program pages. The authoritative hub: programs, solicitations, deadlines, and contacts. Find your program and read what it actually funds and requires.
  • Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG). The NSF rulebook — required sections, formatting, the Project Summary structure, and compliance. Read the current version; violations can mean return without review (Section 17.3).
  • The specific program solicitation for your work. The single most important "reading" for any NSF proposal: the actual rules and priorities for your program, which can override PAPPG defaults and which change over time.
  • NSF Merit Review pages (nsf.gov). The official explanation of the two criteria (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts), what reviewers are asked to consider, and how review works — the substance behind Sections 17.2 and 17.4.
  • Research.gov. The NSF's submission and award-management system; learn it before your deadline (some opportunities also use Grants.gov).

On Broader Impacts (the distinctive criterion)

  • NSF Broader Impacts resources and the published list of broader-impact areas (nsf.gov). The agency's own framing of what counts and what it values — the menu introduced in Section 17.2. Build your plan from the categories that genuinely fit your work.
  • "Broader Impacts" guidance from your institution's research-development office. Many universities maintain excellent practical guides and example plans; use them, but reconcile against current NSF guidance.
  • The literature on broadening participation in STEM. For applicants whose broader impacts center on participation, the research on what actually works (mentored research experiences, sustained engagement, authentic partnerships) helps you design activities reviewers believe — and avoid tokenism (Section 17.5).

On Mechanisms and Early Career

  • NSF CAREER program solicitation (nsf.gov). The authoritative, current rules for the early-career flagship — eligibility, the required integration of research and education, and limits on attempts (Section 17.6). Read it before drafting a CAREER proposal.
  • NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) site (nsfgrfp.org / nsf.gov). For students: the portable, person-based fellowship and what its review emphasizes (Section 17.6).
  • EAGER, RAPID, and other special mechanisms (described in the PAPPG and program pages). When your work is exploratory or time-sensitive, these alternative routes may fit better than a standard grant.

Worked Examples and Reverse-Engineering

  • NSF award abstracts (nsf.gov award search). Searchable abstracts of funded NSF projects. Read funded awards in your program to see how successful applicants frame Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts, and which broader-impacts approaches the program rewards.
  • Colleagues' funded proposals. As at the NIH, reading two or three funded NSF proposals in your area — especially their Project Summaries and broader-impacts sections — teaches the conventions faster than any guide. Ask successful colleagues; many will share.

Connections Within This Book

  • Chapter 16 (NIH Grants). The companion federal giant; read the two together for the contrast that clarifies both (the NIH-vs-NSF table in Section 17.7).
  • Chapter 14 (Sustainability and Dissemination). Broader Impacts is, in part, dissemination and societal benefit turned into a graded criterion; Chapter 14's open-data, knowledge-translation, and impact ideas feed directly into a strong broader-impacts plan.
  • Chapter 10 (The Evaluation Plan). A genuine Broader Impacts plan is evaluated; bring Chapter 10's outputs/outcomes/indicators thinking to your broader-impacts activities.
  • Chapters 27 and 33 of this book. The academic-researcher and sustainable-funding-strategy chapters develop the multi-year NSF arc (GRFP → first grant → CAREER) that Section 17.6 introduces.

A note on secondary sources

University research-development offices, professional societies, and experienced colleagues offer valuable NSF guidance, sample timelines, and internal review ("mock panel") programs. Use them — but always reconcile third-party advice against the current official PAPPG and your program's solicitation, since guides can lag policy changes.