The NSF CAREER Toolkit

Yearly, ORDE develops a toolkit for those PIs applying for the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program or CAREER program. Below is a snippet and you can find the full toolkit here.

CAREER AWARD PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND
All NSF directorates participate in the CAREER Program, designed to support junior faculty in their dual roles as teacher-scholars. CAREER Awards provide recipients the opportunity to enhance their professional career development, better integrate their research and education responsibilities, and build academic leadership abilities. While all NSF directorates make CAREER Awards, the number of awards varies significantly by directorate (see Appendix A, NSF CAREER Awards by Directorate, page 9).

This year NSF is only offering one deadline – JULY 27, 2020 – for the CAREER Program across all the Directorates in contrast to previous years that featured multiple deadlines to accommodate proposal traffic on the online proposal submission system. Beyond 2020, the CAREER deadline is set for the fourth Monday of July.

Three areas emphasized by NSF program officers and CAREER awardees are:

·        Begin work on a CAREER Award proposal early. This is a very competitive program; NSF is estimating it will make just 500 new and continuing CAREER awards per year during the timeframe this announcement is open. It is also unlike any other proposal you will submit to NSF because it involves planning your career objectives and illustrating how the CAREER Award will contribute to your professional development over the next 5, 10, and 20 years.

·        CAREER Awards represent a true balance between your faculty research and education roles. The required educational component may focus on any level: K-12 students, undergraduates, graduate students, and/or the general public. When planning this component, design innovative outreach efforts that go well beyond what you normally do in your faculty role.

·        Partnerships, especially industrial partnerships, are considered a positive aspect, but keep in mind that no co-principal investigators are allowed on CAREER proposals (see discussion under Budget Details on page 5). International collaborations are also encouraged.

Resources:
CAREER Toolkit - ORDE
CAREER Website - NSF
CAREER Program Solicitation - NSF