February 2024 Newsletter

Preparing for the Summer

Around now, many of us are thinking about summer, when the days will be warmer and longer. But another reason is that it’s a great time of year to get things done, with fewer responsibilities and more time to write, collaborate, and travel in support of developing your next research projects. Some of those activities will require advance planning, so now is a good time to start preparing.

How you start defining and developing research projects can depend on your field, but here are a few activities that might benefit from the flexibility and focus that summer can provide:

• Travel to attend conferences or workshops, meet with colleagues, or do some preliminary fieldwork;

• Talk to an agency program manager about your ideas under development and the program’s emerging priorities and challenges;

• Draft a white paper, article, or other preliminary work to help define and develop a possible project;

• Work on building a team around an idea you have previously developed;

• Explore new sponsors and read grant solicitations that you might want to pursue (BRDO can help!);

• Sit down to write that proposal, especially with known deadlines in the summer or fall, or with rolling deadlines (BRDO can help!);

• Find a writing group to help motivate and get feedback on your writing, or simply enlist a colleague or two to read your draft in development (see the article below on faculty writing groups);

• Plan for the academic year ahead; and

• Focus on other things that you found difficult to accomplish during the fall or spring semesters.

The gap between Spring and Fall semesters this year is May 11 to August 20. Start planning now to make the most of that time!

Dave Trinkle, Director, BRDO

Faculty Writing Groups:

Boosting Productivity, Building Community, and Breaking Barriers

BRDO has been thinking about ways to further support faculty in their grantsmanship, considering the multiple burdens of navigating work-life balance, publishing hurdles, and burgeoning administrative duties. We recently sat down with Sam Lewis, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology, to learn more about her experience in a faculty writing group.

Faculty writing groups offer a unique space for academics to make progress on their research and publications while fostering a supportive community. One of the first things Sam did was join the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity Faculty Success Program (UC Berkeley has an institutional account and it takes only minutes to activate your membership!). This 12-week bootcamp, consisting of 7 other faculty from a variety of disciplines, met weekly to build sustainable writing habits. With 30 minutes a day of writing, individual coaching, time tracking, and a supportive community, Sam found structure that supported her busy life as a single mom and an academic.

Another option for faculty is a home-grown, small group that offers peer accountability. The structure of the writing group can vary based on needs and preferences, but typically involves a set number of faculty from diverse disciplines meeting regularly (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly). Sessions often begin with goal setting, followed by dedicated writing time, and conclude with progress reports and discussions. Setting clear expectations and ground rules regarding commitment, feedback style, and confidentiality is crucial. Virtual meetings offer flexibility, while in-person gatherings foster deeper connections.

Sam’s experience here began with responding to a survey sent by a colleague inquiring about faculty writing habits. Of the many responses, five individuals expressed interest in peer accountability and thus the writing group of five was born. Self-organized, the group met weekly over ten weeks, trading drafts ahead of time, entering comments into shared Google documents, and discussing comments during their weekly virtual meetings. The community bond among the group members was palpable—they were each from a group historically minoritized in STEM fields. This shared lived experience allowed the group members to feel safer sharing their writing; to “identify, address, and conquer barriers”*; and find care for their science and success.

The benefits of joining a writing group are numerous. Dedicated writing time combats procrastination, while group accountability motivates consistent progress. Faculty members, as a result of bringing an authentic self to the group, can test new ideas and form peer-to-peer collaborative networks. Sharing work-in-progress fosters constructive feedback, improving clarity and organization, and can positively push your proposal into that “risky” area of innovation. Additionally, the group serves as a valuable sounding board for ideas and a source of community support, especially for faculty from minoritized groups. Ultimately, faculty writing groups are a tool for overcoming barriers and provide a powerful platform for individual growth, scholarly advancement, and a sense of belonging within the academic community.

If you are interested in learning more about writing groups, check out NCFDD.org or consider self-organizing using these templates from the University of Wisconsin and this guide from our colleagues at San Jose State University. (Both the University of Wisconsin and SJSU permit redistributing these helpful materials with attribution under Creative Commons licenses.)

*Spencer, Elsie C., et al. "Intentional and unintentional benefits of minority writing accountability groups. Trends in Microbiology 30.11 (2022): 1015-101.

Going for a CAREER Award?

BRDO Can Help!

Many of the projects that BRDO works on are large, multi-million-dollar grant proposals, often with multiple investigators from different colleges/schools/

departments, and sometimes external collaborators. While such projects can certainly benefit from BRDO’s expertise, our team also adds value to smaller, single investigator proposals, especially ones with a strategic benefit to the investigator and the University. One example of such a program is the National Science Foundation’s CAREER program, which is geared to early career faculty with a promising future in both research and education. CAREER awards are considered to be among NSF’s most prestigious awards and they set up awardees on a path of continued grant-funded professional success.

In order to be eligible for a CAREER award, faculty need to be untenured Assistant Professors working in any focus area that NSF funds. Faculty are permitted to apply up to three times, so it’s important to plan ahead and time one’s applications accordingly.

BRDO can help in multiple ways. First, our website contains a wealth of relevant information; see our CAREER page and our page on Early Career Funding Programs. At any point in time, interested faculty can reach out to us and request a meeting to discuss issues like timing and preparedness, whether a CAREER award would be a good choice, and strategies to succeed. BRDO hosts an annual information session, where we present relevant information and take questions from attendees (see the Training section below for details of our upcoming March Info Session); you may find recordings of past sessions on our CAREER webpage.

Then, we offer numerous time slots for office hours, where you can get one-on-one advice on your ideas, proposal content, and other relevant issues, such as the Broader Impacts criterion. Once you get going, we can answer questions and offer advice on the go, via email or meetings, as needed.

And, finally, once you have written your draft proposal, a BRDO specialist can provide a strategic review of the proposal and offer advice on structure and presentation, responsiveness to the CAREER requirements and review criteria, as well as general editing. In the 2022 CAREER cohort, UC Berkeley Professors Tolani Britton of the Berkeley School of Education and Gireeja Ranade of EECS, worked with BRDO and were successful in being awarded CAREER awards, both on their first submission; we offer them both our warmest congratulations!

Oftentimes, however, faculty are not successful the first time they apply, and that’s where BRDO can offer additional help. You can set up a meeting with a BRDO specialist to discuss in detail the comments that you received from the reviewers and the NSF Program Director, and we can help you in your efforts to respond to the suggestions and reapply with an improved proposal. If another CAREER application is not feasible or desirable, BRDO can help faculty repurpose their proposal for other NSF programs, or even other federal agencies.

We are happy and proud to partner with you in your CAREER proposal journey, so if you are considering applying for one, please reach out to BRDO. In the meantime, we will continue to post information on CAREER webinars and other useful resources on our CAREER page. We look forward to meeting you!

Featured Funding Opportunities

Pew Biomedical Scholars

This program provides funding to young investigators of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of human health. Pew encourages candidates to apply whose work is based on biomedical principles but brings in concepts and theories from more diverse fields. Pew encourages risk-taking and supports truly out-of-the-box, early-career science that may not be fundable through other more typical funding mechanisms.

Deadline: Campus NOIs are due to VCRO by noon on March 27.

Award: $75,000 per year for four years.

Institutional Limit: This is a limited submission opportunity where UC Berkeley can  nominate only one faculty member. Interested applicants must follow the campus process.

NEA Research Grants in the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts supports research studies that investigate the value and/or impact of the arts, either as individual components of the U.S. arts ecosystem or as they interact with each other and/or with other domains of American life.

Deadline: March 25 by 8:59PM PT.

Award: Ranges from $20,000 to $100,000. All grants require a non-federal cost share/match of at least 1 to 1.

Keck Foundation Research Grants

Keck funds paradigm-shifting research projects that enable new directions in science but lack sufficient preliminary evidence to receive federal grant support. Eligible concepts will be those that use novel approaches to solve significant or longstanding scientific problems, thus enabling further basic scientific discovery. There are two funding tracks: Medical Research and Science & Engineering.

Deadline: Campus applications are due to VCRO by April 24.

Award: Awards are typically up to $1M for a period of 3 years.

Institutional Limit: This is a limited submission opportunity where UC Berkeley can submit only one Phase 1 proposal in each track. Interested applicants must follow the campus process.

NSF Social and Behavioral Science of Bias, Prejudice, and Discrimination

NSF has published a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) inviting research proposals that focus on advancing the evidence-base within the science of discrimination, prejudice, and bias. NSF is particularly interested in research that is carried out in conjunction with communities directly impacted by the bias or discrimination being studied. Respondents to the DCL should apply to existing funding programs within the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE). For more information, please see the report about this DCL from Lewis-Burke Associates.

Where Can I Find…..?

Finding funding opportunities that are relevant to your expertise area and that meet your needs can feel like looking for the needle in a haystack. One tool to help find appropriate funding opportunities is Pivot, a funding opportunity database available to anyone with a CalNet ID. The Pivot Database includes funding opportunities from all sponsor types (e.g., federal, foundation, private) in all disciplines. Learn more about using Pivot by attending our upcoming Pivot Workshop at noon on Tuesday, March 19.

Policy Updates

NSF Announces New PAPPG (NSF 24-1)

NSF recently released a new version of the Proposal & Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 24-1, for proposals due May 20, 2024 onwards. Faculty submitting prior to this date should continue to use NSF 23-1 as their guiding document. Key changes in this release can be found here, and include: the removal of a 3-page limit for biographical sketch information, the removal of Synergistic Activities from the biographical sketch, the inclusion of graduate students in Mentoring Plan requirements, and a new section addressing Malign Foreign Talent in relation to key personnel. NSF will host a webinar on March 12 at 11AM (PT) to discuss all changes.

NSF and NIH Release Announcements

Prohibiting the Use of Generative AI in the Merit Review Process

NSF has followed NIH in releasing a notice outlining how Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) is prohibited during the proposal review process, due to concerns over the confidentiality and control of uploaded information. In addition, NSF has asked that proposers indicate in the project description the extent to which GAI was used to develop their proposal. Faculty applying to these agencies are advised to read the notices (linked above) in full.

Training

PIVOT Workshop

BRDO will be holding an online training session to help faculty, staff, and students get the most from the Pivot funding opportunity database. Attendees will learn best practices for getting started, discover how to set up search parameters and filters to get accurate results, and identify ways to conserve time through saving searches and tracking opportunities.

When: March 19, 2024, from 12:00PM - 1:00PM Pacific Time

NSF CAREER Info Session

BRDO will be holding an online Info Session on the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER). In this one-hour Q&A session, current NSF CAREER awardees and proposal development specialists from BRDO will be on hand to answer your questions and provide tips on how to plan and develop a competitive CAREER proposal.

When: March 20, 2024, from 11:00AM - 12:00PM Pacific Time

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

To get the most out of this Info Session, please review BRDO’s training materials on preparing NSF CAREER proposals on our webpage. Part 1 provides an introduction to the NSF CAREER program and provides advice on writing the research proposal. Part 2 provides advice on writing the education plan and broader impacts.

Please contact Cassie Byrd, BRDO’s Research Outreach Specialist, with questions.

BRDO’s quarterly newsletter includes reminders about upcoming federal funding opportunities, policy updates, proposal writing resources and advice, and features about how faculty have successfully worked with BRDO specialists to develop strong proposals. If you have a topic you would like to suggest for us to cover, or if you would simply like to ensure that you are on our mailing list, please follow the link below.