The NSF CAREER awards program serves a critical role in innovative research and education in the United States by identifying, fostering, nurturing and supporting the nation's most promising and creative junior faculty. Beyond the CAREER program solicitation, the majority of junior faculty members usually have little exposure to NSF, let alone interactions with program directors. Many young professors also have no experience in writing successful grant proposals. The goal of this one-day CAREER Proposal Writing Workshop to be held at the University of Texas at Arlington is aimed to fill this gap. This workshop not only introduces young faculty to the CAREER program but also gives them unique opportunities to network with CISE program directors, former program directors and recent awardees. Major activities of the workshop include presentations on proposal writing, experience sharing, mock panels, and proposal writing clinic. The workshop is open to participants from U.S. national universities including HBCU/MEI. Indeed, significant effort is made to involve HBCU/MEI junior faculty into CAREER proposal writing practice, and helps them to become more successful in cutting-edge research and education, thus enhancing their overall research capability to a competitive level. Overall, the workshop is expected to be an invaluable experience for junior faculty as they become successful in their academic careers. By giving priority to participants from under-represented groups, the workshop is expected to make tangible impact to the society. Key presentations and workshop materials are planed to be archived and to be available for download, extending the broader impact of the workshop beyond the one-day event.
The NSF CAREER awards program serves a critical role in innovative research and education in the United States by identifying, fostering, nurturing and supporting the nation’s most promising and creative junior faculty. Beyond the CAREER program solicitation, the majority of junior faculty members usually have little exposure to NSF, let alone interactions with program directors. Many young professors also have no experience in writing successful grant proposals. The goal of the one-day CAREER Proposal Writing Workshop held at the University of Texas at Arlington in May 2013 was to fill this gap. This workshop introduced young faculty to the CAREER program and also gave them unique opportunities to network with CISE program directors and recent awardees. Major activities of the workshop included presentations on proposal writing, experience sharing, mock panels, and a proposal writing clinic. The workshop was open to participants from U.S. national universities including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Educational Institutions (HBCU/MEI). Indeed, significant effort was made to involve HBCU/MEI junior faculty into CAREER proposal writing practice, and to help them become more successful in cutting-edge research and education, thus enhancing their overall research capability to a competitive level. Overall, the workshop was an invaluable experience for junior faculty (as indicated by their feedback summaries) as they seek to become successful in establishing their academic careers. By giving priority to participants from under-represented groups, the workshop was intended make a tangible impact in society. Key presentations and workshop materials were archived and made available for download, extending the broader impact of the workshop beyond the one-day event.
