NSF CAREER Grant UPDATE Thread

[research_prof]

My status got changed when it was assigned to the PD on Monday.

My status is still pending in the submission day.

My panel is meeting Oct 13th - 14th as the preferred dates. Oct 15th - 16th are alternates.

As it will be until an update occurs.

My status is still pending with status date of 8/12 (one day after submission). Does this mean that it has not been assigned to PD yet? But others will have their panel soon. So it seems that different programs have quite big differences in timelines?

Pending does not mean it hasn't been assigned to a PD.

You can check on research.gov the PD that has the proposal by clicking the submit new proposal, view submitted proposal, and clicking on the title.

You can then check the meeting schedule to estimate when your CAREER panel is meeting.

Where is the meeting schedule? Is it available somewhere?

https://www.nsf.gov/events/advisory.jsp

If you know your PD you can get a rough estimate of when they're meeting.
And before anyone asks, no the schedule doesn't explicitly say which solicitation they're meeting to discuss.
Sometimes if you follow PDs on social media where they might throw out an NSF reference here and there you can tell what's going on. There was a posting by a PD just the other day reminding reviewers of CAREER proposals that they are reviewing applications for "early career faculty".

By looking up that PD on the events schedule, I can get a rough read on when their CAREER panel would like be occurring since it's unlikely that a PD would mention the CAREER process if they hadn't been getting pinged by panel reviewers about the proposals.

Whoa! Cool stuff, I did not know there was something like that available online... Thanks!

[wreck]

Thank you a lot for sharing the information! Unfortunately, https://www.nsf.gov/events/advisory.jsp does not show anything related to the PD who is in charge of my proposal, and the PD does not seem to use any social media... Thus, I have no clue at this point.

Anyone knows what is the latest time a proposal can be withdrawn? Some said before the decision is made, and some said before it is reviewed. It is easy to know if the decision has been made or not. The problem is that how can we know if the proposal has been reviewed (but not decisioned yet) or not?

[aspiring.academic]

Thank you a lot for sharing the information! Unfortunately, https://www.nsf.gov/events/advisory.jsp does not show anything related to the PD who is in charge of my proposal, and the PD does not seem to use any social media... Thus, I have no clue at this point.

Anyone knows what is the latest time a proposal can be withdrawn? Some said before the decision is made, and some said before it is reviewed. It is easy to know if the decision has been made or not. The problem is that how can we know if the proposal has been reviewed (but not decisioned yet) or not?

Don't go solely based on the PD. If someone in your division/directorate are holding meetings, that gives you a clue.
In terms of withdrawing a proposal, why would you want to do that? You can contact the NSF to do so. If they can't withdraw it, they'll let you know. You can also reach out directly to the PD if you want to withdraw it.

[lightofhope]

According to the PD, my Career proposal will be reviewed either in early Dec.

[ocean2428]

My PD mentioned that the career proposals in his division were already reviewed.

[doc700]

Which division are you in?

My PD mentioned that the career proposals in his division were already reviewed.

[ocean2428]

DMR CMP

[lee2002hu]

DMR is always very fast! You might get a notification as early as October :)

DMR CMP

[aspiring.academic]

There should be some action within the next few weeks.
I know my panel was this week. My proposal was moved to another PD in the same division and moved from a narrower focused program to the larger Core.

[ocean2428]

My program manager emailed me to schedule a time (next week) to discuss my early career proposal's review outcome. What does this mean? Bad news on the way?

[lightofhope]

this is a good sign.
congrats!

My program manager emailed me to schedule a time (next week) to discuss my early career proposal's review outcome. What does this mean? Bad news on the way?

[aspiring.academic]

My program manager emailed me to schedule a time (next week) to discuss my early career proposal's review outcome. What does this mean? Bad news on the way?

Very good sign. They usually won't bother calling with bad news.
Just don't miss the call lol

[arcturus]

My program manager emailed me to schedule a time (next week) to discuss my early career proposal's review outcome. What does this mean? Bad news on the way?

Very good sign. They usually won't bother calling with bad news.
Just don't miss the call lol

Hmmm... that is not my experience. A phone call is often to convey information that they would prefer not to write down. The only time I have received a call from an NSF program manager regarding one of my grant proposals, it was to let me know that I had been on the borderline and he was encouraging me to re-submit with only minor changes. Of course, standard practice may vary by field, but it is not a good use of their time to call successful PIs.

I will also say that the attempts to infer when a review panel is meeting reported on this thread is amusing to me. My experience is that there is a significant time delay between panel meeting and results being announced. I have *never* heard back from the NSF within the nominal 6 month notification window for any of my grant proposals.

[aspiring.academic]

My program manager emailed me to schedule a time (next week) to discuss my early career proposal's review outcome. What does this mean? Bad news on the way?

Very good sign. They usually won't bother calling with bad news.
Just don't miss the call lol

Hmmm... that is not my experience. A phone call is often to convey information that they would prefer not to write down. The only time I have received a call from an NSF program manager regarding one of my grant proposals, it was to let me know that I had been on the borderline and he was encouraging me to re-submit with only minor changes. Of course, standard practice may vary by field, but it is not a good use of their time to call successful PIs.

I will also say that the attempts to infer when a review panel is meeting reported on this thread is amusing to me. My experience is that there is a significant time delay between panel meeting and results being announced. I have *never* heard back from the NSF within the nominal 6 month notification window for any of my grant proposals.

My experience working directly with NSF PDs in CISE has been the polar opposite of what you describe, especially when it comes to the CAREER. Most PDs know the significance of the CAREER and that they're dealing with early career researchers. PDs go out of their way to contact potential CAREER awardees, to congratulate them on their work, discuss budgetary changes, and encourage them along their path.

As researchers progress and become more senior in their fields, it's less likely they are contacted on the phone unless it's for a large award. Most academics recognize the significance of the CAREER but its funding amount is small compared to a core award. I will agree in one area in that a phone call can provide some insight that the PD may not put in an email. However, in most cases, the researcher already knows the proposal isn't funded, and the phone call comes after the posting of panel reviews to let you know you were borderline. And even if that isn't the case with the person that posted about setting up a time to call, just the mere fact that the PD is reaching out, even if it's a decline, establishes a relationship and opens communication, which is promising and encouraging for the next round.

Some PDs are more personable than others. Maybe your PDs just weren't interested or invested and didn't bother reaching out to you. Others want to build a rapport with their awardees and have a vested interest in their success and try to establish some sort of relationship with them.

Timelines for notifications vary. Some move pretty quickly after the panels, and others are a bit slower. Going back to previous years, researchers will begin to know something, depending on their areas, as soon as this month in an unofficial capacity.

@ocean2428, keep you head up! Be optimistic and know that everyone isn't getting a phone call! That alone matters.

[research_prof]

My program manager emailed me to schedule a time (next week) to discuss my early career proposal's review outcome. What does this mean? Bad news on the way?

Very good sign. They usually won't bother calling with bad news.
Just don't miss the call lol

Hmmm... that is not my experience. A phone call is often to convey information that they would prefer not to write down. The only time I have received a call from an NSF program manager regarding one of my grant proposals, it was to let me know that I had been on the borderline and he was encouraging me to re-submit with only minor changes. Of course, standard practice may vary by field, but it is not a good use of their time to call successful PIs.

I will also say that the attempts to infer when a review panel is meeting reported on this thread is amusing to me. My experience is that there is a significant time delay between panel meeting and results being announced. I have *never* heard back from the NSF within the nominal 6 month notification window for any of my grant proposals.

My experience working directly with NSF PDs in CISE has been the polar opposite of what you describe, especially when it comes to the CAREER. Most PDs know the significance of the CAREER and that they're dealing with early career researchers. PDs go out of their way to contact potential CAREER awardees, to congratulate them on their work, discuss budgetary changes, and encourage them along their path.

As researchers progress and become more senior in their fields, it's less likely they are contacted on the phone unless it's for a large award. Most academics recognize the significance of the CAREER but its funding amount is small compared to a core award. I will agree in one area in that a phone call can provide some insight that the PD may not put in an email. However, in most cases, the researcher already knows the proposal isn't funded, and the phone call comes after the posting of panel reviews to let you know you were borderline. And even if that isn't the case with the person that posted about setting up a time to call, just the mere fact that the PD is reaching out, even if it's a decline, establishes a relationship and opens communication, which is promising and encouraging for the next round.

Some PDs are more personable than others. Maybe your PDs just weren't interested or invested and didn't bother reaching out to you. Others want to build a rapport with their awardees and have a vested interest in their success and try to establish some sort of relationship with them.

Timelines for notifications vary. Some move pretty quickly after the panels, and others are a bit slower. Going back to previous years, researchers will begin to know something, depending on their areas, as soon as this month in an unofficial capacity.

@ocean2428, keep you head up! Be optimistic and know that everyone isn't getting a phone call! That alone matters.

My experience with CISE has been different. My PD never bothers calling. I had submitted a proposal to one of the "early-career" programs and the panel was split between competitive and low-competitive. Eventually, the proposal was rejected. I had a call with the PD--the PD was not able to provide any further information. He was just repeating what was already written in the reviews. Also, some of the reviews from a technical standpoint were wrong. I tried to explain politely that some of the comments were not very accurate and based on what the PD said, I understood that he just lets the reviewers talk without intervening even if he feels that the discussion might be going to the wrong direction. I guess it is what it is.