As we said last week, despite upheaval in the funding world, our team has continued to support clients in proposal preparation. Recently, we’ve worked with a number of collaborative proposal drafts, and now feels like a good time to get back to a more tactical topic.

When preparing a proposal for a team-based effort, there’s a lot you need to keep in mind in comparison to what you need for a single-investigator submission. Covering all of that is beyond the scope of one newsletter issue. What I can share with you is an approach to a problem I regularly encounter:

PIs not explicitly stating the technical contributions of each teammate.

The budgets of collaborative proposals will usually be scrutinized more thoroughly than those of a smaller award because (1) more funds are requested, and (2) the budget breakdown is not as straightforward, especially when multiple institutions are involved.

This makes the ‘team’ section of your proposal critically important. However, the team section usually comes towards the end of a Project Narrative, when the writer can be running out of steam and rushing to finish the draft.

Unfortunately, what I most often see in a first draft of this section is a listing of co-PIs and keywords to describe their domains of expertise.

For example:

• Prof. A has extensive experience in material synthesis and material behavior, including composites.

• Prof. B brings expertise in numerical simulations and finite element modeling.

• Prof. C is an expert in AI/ML.

All of that information may be correct, and it’s likely enough for an informed reader to deduce how the team will work together. However, in most cases, it’s not enough information.

Here’s what you want to aim for instead:

• Prof. A’s expertise in material synthesis and material behavior, especially as related to composites, will be required to _______________________________________.

• Prof. B’s expertise in numerical simulations and finite element modeling will be required to _________________________________________________________________.

• Prof. C’s expertise in AI/ML will be required to _________________________________________________________________.

Complete the sentences with information telling the reader exactly how Profs. A, B and C will be working together and interacting. The PIs should not be working in parallel; rather, their work should intersect. That is, they should be exchanging data, results, and iterating throughout the duration of the effort. You should have already explained how various tasks fit together when you described the technical approach. The team section is a chance to tell them again, from the personnel perspective. Don’t miss this opportunity!

Planning to apply for NSF CAREER?

We are just under 5 months away from the NSF CAREER deadline. Check out this video to learn if your proposal preparation is on track. It’s part of a Countdown to CAREER playlist, so review the earlier videos if you’ve not seen them.

When you are ready, here’s how we can help

Need to get your research funded, this year? Check out our 12-week program to get you there.

Ready to book a call to discuss how our program can support faculty at your institution? Let’s chat!