This week, as we continue our series on Announcements, I’ll expand on due dates. Of course, you’ll check an Announcement for the proposal due date right away. The problem is many PIs stop there, yet thought given to the dates and their implications has the potential to save you time and effort and get a much better final product.

Let’s dive into some of those dates and the types of support you can get if you plan ahead.

Rolling deadlines: Here we are talking about the absence of due dates, but I’ll include it anyhow. Just because there is no hard deadline doesn’t mean there is not a timeline affecting the program. The most obvious of which is the federal fiscal year. Don’t make the assumption that, because no deadline exists, there are not times of the year when it could be more or less advantageous to submit your proposal. The only way you can learn what those are is to ask the program officer for guidance.

Dates other than the proposal due date: There may be a pre-proposal or whitepaper deadline, but there also may be a date after which you cannot submit questions. And, while you can ask questions up until that day, it’s much better to ask them as early in the process as possible. You want to reach the Points of Contact ASAP (more on that next week). In addition to the initial outreach, mark your calendar for a date at least two weeks before the final day for questions and make sure you’ve asked yours by then.

Internal deadlines: As soon as you know you’re considering a submission, inform your research office. They will give you their own timeline with the date by which they need your materials. This will include information for draft and final versions. You should also ask about what kinds of proposal-preparation support you might be able to benefit from, and the associated deadlines.

Technical review: If your institution can coordinate a technical review of the proposal, this is something you should take advantage of. Especially for an NSF CAREER-type proposal, which has a standardized format, technical review that includes feedback from those with subject area expertise will be invaluable. The amount of lead time for this varies, but it’s common for it to occur ~6 weeks before the proposal deadline. This makes sense because you will need to consider and incorporate suggested revisions, and that takes time.

Graphics: Many proposals benefit from an overview graphic. The aim is to provide a visual representation of your research plan. This is especially valuable for interdisciplinary work and/or long or complex proposals where there is a high chance of readers getting lost in the weeds and not understanding the structure of your research. Some PIs enjoy making their own graphics but others do not. Even if you enjoy creating graphics, understand that it takes time, and it may be a task better delegated. However, when the graphic is not complete and you are only days from the deadline, it’s too late to get help.

If your research office can’t help you with this, engage a scientific graphic designer on your own. If you already have a relationship with one, they may need just a week’s lead time, but if not you should be speaking to one at least a month before the proposal deadline.

Editing: Here, I’m referring to text editing, and this is something that all PIs can benefit from, including those who are strong writers and/or for whom English is the first language. This is because when we’ve worked a lot on a document, our brains just don’t see the errors. We need another set of eyes to catch them. Fortunately, there are many well-trained academic editors ready to help but, again, you must plan ahead.

You can ask your research office if they provide editing, but the time they can spend with your proposal will vary greatly depending on many factors, a major one being their own workload. Even if there are capable editors in the office, they may have only a couple hours to read through your document and address problems. An editor you hire yourself may spend 10 hours with your proposal. That editor can also help with formatting, such as the use of bolding and headers to make the proposal more accessible to readers. A high-quality editor may need 3-6 days with your proposal and will likely charge a rush fee if a faster turnaround time is requested.

Letters: Before you start writing, think about what letters of support or collaboration you want to include with the proposal. It’s common for PIs to wait until the last minute to collect these letters. Writers may not check email on weekends or during vacation periods, so as soon as you think you want to include a letter, ask the person who will provide it if they actually can.

Keep in mind, you often need to provide a draft of the letter yourself, which the ‘writer’ can use as a starting point, or they may use it as is. You might need to get a bit into the writing process yourself before you know what the final content of the letter will be, but be sure to make contact with writers at least one month ahead of the due date, even if you can’t give them a draft right away.

Quotes: If your budget for equipment is over a certain amount, you may need to provide cost quotes from a manufacturer in the proposal. The good news is that salespeople are often prompt in getting you the quotes you request, but you still must plan ahead to gather them. If it’s not clear from the Announcement, ask the program officer and your research office weeks in advance of the due date whether cost quotes are required.

In summary, while a due date may appear straightforward, there’s a lot that follows from that date. The key to success is being realistic about the time certain activities will take and planning ahead so you can get as much support as possible and make the most of the hours you put into writing the proposal.

Next week, I’ll expand on another deceptively simple piece of the Announcement -- the Point(s) of Contact.

Thinking about applying for NSF CAREER?

Check out our video on what to consider now that we are a little less than 11 months from the deadline.

Workshop for New Faculty & Researchers

For the Society of Research Administrators International (SRAI) PI Intensive for New Faculty and Researchers: Building the Tools for Your Career in Research

This day-and-a-half workshop will take place in Chicago on October 24-25th .

We will dive into topics such as

✔️ Understanding the responsibilities of a principal investigator

✔️ Developing competitive grant applications

✔️ Negotiating effectively with your institution

✔️ Employing project management approaches in research

I am co-leading this event. Please see this page for more information and to register. Note that this is an SRAI (not a Wise Investigator) event.

It would be wonderful to meet some newsletter subscribers in person in Chicago. Please send me an email ([email protected]) if you have any questions. 👋 

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

Need to get your research funded, this year? Check out our 10-week program to get you there.

Ready to book a call to discuss our program or to have Dr. Barzyk provide training at your institution? Let’s chat!