NSF Biological Sciences Directorate Surveys of Applicants and Reviewers to Assess the Preliminary Proposal Process

Applicant Survey
May 2016 v3
All questions in the survey refer to your experience with the proposal #____ entitled _____
submitted to NSF in 2015. 1
RESPONDENT CHARACTERISTICS All groups
Which of the following best describes your current academic rank?
□ Postdoctoral fellow
□ Research scientist
□ Adjunct professor
□ Assistant professor
□ Associate professor
□ Full professor
□ Other ___________
What is your tenure status?
□ Tenure-tracked or equivalent, but not yet tenured
□ Tenured or equivalent
□ Not tenure-tracked
How many active NSF awards do you currently have as a PI or Co-PI? Please enter number
equal to or greater than 0.
____ awards
□ Unsure/Do not know
PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS All groups
How would you rate your proposed project in terms of the following characteristics?
Not at all

Somewhat

Very

Unsure

Collaborative
Interdisciplinary
High-risk/high-reward

1

This information will be preloaded and visible to respondent. Abt has used this approach in other NSF surveys
(most recently, for the PIRE program).

1

Funded and invited unfunded DEB/IOS and Funded comparison
Approximately how many years prior to this submission did you first conceive the idea described
in this proposal? If less than a year, please enter 0.
_____ years

APPLICATION WORKLOAD
Funded and invited unfunded DEB/IOS
Approximately, how many hours of work did it take you to prepare your …
Preliminary proposal: ______ hours
Full proposal: ______ hours
Which of the following is true? Having prepared a preliminary proposal…
□ Saved you time/effort when developing a full proposal
□ Did not save you time/effort when developing a full proposal
Uninvited DEB/IOS
Approximately, how many hours of work did it take you to prepare this preliminary proposal?
______ hours
Funded comparison
Approximately, how many hours of work did it take you to prepare this proposal?
______ hours

2

SATISFACTION WITH THE APPLICATION PROCESS
Funded and invited unfunded DEB/IOS

Not applicable
No opinion

Very satisfied

A

Satisfied

Unsatisfied

A

Neutral

Very unsatisfied

What is your level of satisfaction with the following steps in the submission process?

Requirement for a preliminary proposal
The single submission deadline per year for
preliminary proposals
The cap of 2 submissions per individual PI
Timing of the preliminary proposal
deadline
Amount of time to prepare a preliminary
proposal
Timing of the full proposal deadline
Amount of time to prepare a full proposal
Submission process overall

A. How many months would be optimal to prepare a full proposal?
______ months

3

Uninvited DEB/IOS

Not applicable
No opinion

Very satisfied

Satisfied

Neutral

Unsatisfied

Very unsatisfied

What is your level of satisfaction with the following steps in the submission process?

Requirement for a preliminary proposal
The single submission deadline per year for
preliminary proposals
The cap of 2 submissions per individual PI
Timing of the preliminary proposal deadline
Amount of time to prepare a preliminary proposal
Submission process overall

Funded comparison
What is your level of satisfaction with the proposal preparation and submission process overall?
□ Very unsatisfied
□ Unsatisfied
□ Neutral
□ Satisfied
□ Very satisfied
Funded and invited unfunded DEB/IOS and Uninvited DEB/IOS
Was the 4-page Project Description section in the preliminary proposal sufficient for you to
convey your idea and approach?
□ Yes
□ No
How many pages would you recommend as optimal for the Project Description section in a
preliminary proposal?
______ pages

4

Funded and invited unfunded DEB/IOS and Funded comparison
Was the 15-page Project Description section in the full proposal sufficient for you to convey
your idea and approach?
□ Yes
□ No
How many pages would you recommend as optimal for the Project Description in a full
proposal?
_____ pages

SATISFACTION WITH THE REVIEW PROCESS
Funded and invited unfunded DEB/IOS
What is your level of satisfaction with the following elements of the review process?

Not applicable
No opinion

Very satisfied

Satisfied

Neutral

Unsatisfied

Very unsatisfied

Full proposal

Not applicable
No opinion

Very satisfied

Satisfied

Neutral

Unsatisfied

Very unsatisfied

Preliminary proposal

Conceptual understanding of
the proposal by reviewers
Technical accuracy of review
Fairness of review
Balanced consideration of
proposal strengths and
weaknesses
Review process overall

5

Uninvited DEB/IOS and Funded comparison

Not applicable
No opinion

Very satisfied

Satisfied

Neutral

Unsatisfied

Very unsatisfied

What is your level of satisfaction with the following elements of the review process?

Conceptual understanding of the proposal by
reviewers
Technical accuracy of review
Fairness of review
Balanced consideration of proposal strengths and
weaknesses
Review process overall

Funded and invited unfunded DEB/IOS and Uninvited DEB/IOS
Did you speak directly with your Program Officer/Program Director after receiving the review
decision for your preliminary proposal?
□ Yes  A
□ No
□ Do not know/Unsure
A. How helpful to you was this discussion?
□ Not helpful
□ Somewhat helpful
□ Helpful
Funded and invited unfunded DEB/IOS
How helpful were the preliminary reviewer comments to developing the full proposal?
□ Not helpful
□ Somewhat helpful
□ Helpful

6

Uninvited DEB/IOS
How helpful were the reviewer comments for revising the proposal for another submission?
□ I do not plan to resubmit
□ Not helpful
□ Somewhat helpful
□ Helpful
Funded and invited unfunded DEB/IOS and Uninvited DEB/IOS
Please describe one change you would make to the new submission/review process
_________

□ I would not make any changes
□ I do not know

7