From Early Career Faculty Participate in SUNY-wide NSF CAREER Award Workshop on Stony Brook Research, May 8, 2019
Over 100 participants gathered for the inaugural SUNY NSF-CAREER Proposal Writing Workshop held on March 21-22, 2019 at the University at Albany. Stony Brook University’s Office of Proposal Development coordinated the Stony Brook contingent which consisted of fourteen Stony Brook faculty members representing the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, and the School of Medicine. The workshop was organized by The State University of New York (SUNY), University at Albany, University at Buffalo, Binghamton University, Stony Brook University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and SUNY Polytechnic Institute.
The CAREER workshop is one of several SUNY programs designed to assist SUNY faculty in pursuit of their research and scholarly endeavors. This 2-day workshop was designed to deliver training and mentoring for tenure-track assistant professors with the goal of enabling them to be successful in competing for and securing a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The fourteen Stony Brook faculty members who attended the workshop were accompanied by Dr. Nina Maung-Gaona, Associate Vice President for Research, Dr. Sheri Clark and Ms. Kathryne Piazzola of the Office of Proposal Development. Two of the faculty members in attendance, Dr. Paul Shepson, Dean, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) and Dr. Susan Brennan, Professor in the Department of Psychology, served as Facilitators. Dr. Brennan said of the event, “It was inspiring to meet so many talented and dedicated junior faculty. With these people in our classrooms and labs, SUNY’s future certainly looks bright.”
The workshop was led by former NSF Deputy Division Director, Acting Division Director and Program Director, Dr. George Hazelrigg, a recently retired 35+ year expert of the National Science Foundation. Dr. Hazelrigg discussed the fundamentals of writing a highly competitive CAREER proposal, reviewed key strategies for intellectual merit and broader impacts, examined the NSF peer review process, and provided an insight into the characteristics of high-impact, successful proposals.
The attendees participated in ‘Mock Review Panels’ with the goal of simulating the peer review process and attaining a real-life understanding of what makes a winning proposal. Participants were assigned to small ‘mock panel’ groups, led by facilitators, where they served as both primary and secondary reviewers in enacting an actual CAREER review panel. Each participant had the opportunity to read and review six (6) CAREER proposals, which included a mix of both awarded and declined applications. Additionally, in advance of the workshop, participants were asked to submit a draft of their project summary for their upcoming proposal which the panels also reviewed and provided ‘real time’ feedback. Workshop attendee, Dr. Kedar Kirane, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering said “The workshop was eye-opening and it was very useful to have learned about NSF’s panel review process – both from the experts and via participation in the mock review process. It will definitely help with crafting my proposal.”
Dean Paul Shepson also had highly positive feedback about the event and its participants stating, “There is a tremendous array of experience in the SUNY system with respect to proposal writing, and specifically NSF CAREER proposals. The organizers of this workshop did a fantastic job of bringing these human resources together and organizing a hands-on experience that engaged the participants in a way that transferred much of this combined wealth of experience. Good for SUNY!”
Building on the success of this workshop, the Office of Proposal Development will be offering additional support activities to assist SBU early-career faculty who will be developing NSF CAREER Award proposals for the July 2019 deadline.
