Checklist for Proposal Submission.
To submit a proposal to Sociology, follow these 13 steps.
- Get
a copy of Grant
Proposal Guide (GPG). This document contains the official
submission instructions. Information about obtaining NSF publications
can be found on the publications
page. General proposal guidelines are also found on the Guidelines
for all SES Programs.
- Contact
one of the directors of the Sociology Program if you have questions
about the submission process, your research idea, or proposal
content.
- Secure
all supporting materials, such as letters from cooperating institutions
or permissions to access data sources, well before the submission
deadline. Incorporating these after review begins may be difficult.
Reviewers may fault a proposal not containing them already.
- Write
the text of the proposal so that it provides a clear, convincing
case for the proposed research. Make sure it can be understood
by colleagues outside the specialty. Be specific about what you
plan to do and how you plan to do it. Address any limitations
or shortcomings; don't just assume them away. Be sure to include
two crucial parts: how your work will advance our understanding
of a social process or structure and how the research design will
permit assessment of the theoretical advance.
- Be
sure the project description does not exceed the page limit imposed
by NSF.
- If
you are submitting a revised proposal, be sure to address the
concerns of prior reviewers. Some of them may review the current
proposal, and it is likely that other reviewers will have similar
concerns.
- Prepare
a reasonable, but complete, budget for the proposed research.
Provide a budget justification for any large amounts or unusual
items.
- Have
someone experienced in grant proposal writing look over your submission.
Ask him or her to check for omissions, unstated assumptions, theoretical
explication, and lack of clarity. Don't send a proposal until
it has been read several times.
- You
may suggest potential outside reviewers. Such suggestions are
helpful in the reviewer selection process. You may also designate
persons you would prefer not review the proposal, indicating why.
- For
proposals involving human
subjects, please be sure to submit the Human Subjects Certification
form from the submitting institution. If the certification is
pending, please include information to that effect. If it is ready
at the time you submit, the institutional form certifying that
your project has been approved should be scanned and incorporated
in a pdf file in the supplementary documents section of the proposal.
- Submission
target dates for regular proposals are January 15th and August
15th.
- Dissertation
Improvement proposals have different procedures and dates; check
the information about them linked from the Sociology Program home
page.
- All
proposals must be submitted electronically via Fastlane.
Researchers
considering submission of a proposal are strongly encouraged to
contact the Sociology Program before they begin preparing it.
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