Computational Mathematics Target Date Information

Computational Mathematics has a target date of the first week of December; any time in those seven days is on time. Submitting a week earlier or later is usually not a problem, but proposals submitted outside this three-week period are handicapped, and anything outside the window of November 1 - December 31 is not accepted. There is a window of two months in which to submit proposals because the Foundation aims to reach decisions on proposals within 6 months of their submission, and proposals submitted too far away from the target date cannot be reviewed adequately within this 6-month constraint and the constraints imposed by the funding cycle. Within this two-month window, a proposal that arrives too early or late may miss important reviewing opportunities, such as panels or reviews with other programs. A proposal also is handicapped by arriving earlier than other proposals in its area: we are forced to decide whether we want to recommend an award or a declination before we can well see how it stands against those other proposals. In our experience, proposals put to this early test in any part of Applied Mathematics or Computational Mathematics are at a disadvantage. Submitting a proposal close to its target date gives it the most advantageous circumstances.