Impact of Proposal and Award
Management Mechanisms
(IPAMM) Working Group
Discussions with
the Advisory Committees
IPAMM Working Group

Charge:



Identify best practices to achieve an
appropriate balance between proposal
success rates, award sizes and award
duration
Emphasis on individual, investigatorinitiated grants.
Members from across NSF: EHR,
R&RAs, OISE, OPP, and BFA


Program Directors and Division
Directors
Rotators and Permanent Staff
What Is the Issue?


Success rate for research
proposals was 20% in FY05,
down from 30% in FY00
Potential impact on merit review
Increased workload on reviewer
community
 Increased workload on NSF staff


Potential loss of capacity
What is the likelihood that a
given proposal will be funded?


Research proposal success rates
dropped from 30% in FY 2000 to
20% in FY 2005, leveled off in FY
2006 (21%)
Coincided with:




47% increase in proposal submissions
(began in FY 2000, peaked in FY 2004,
leveled off in FY 2005 and 2006)
41% increase in average award size
39% increase in median award size
Research proposal success rates
varied across the R&RA directorates,
however all experienced declines
Decrease in proposal success rates coincides with increases in
proposal submissions and average award size/duration
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
100%
80%
60%
40%
Percent
Number
NSF Funding Rate for Competitive Research Grants
20%
0%
20
20
05
04
03
02
01
00
99
98
97
Awards
20
20
20
20
19
19
19
Proposal Actions
Funding Rate
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
$150,000
$100,000
$50,000
$0
20
05
04
03
02
01
00
99
98
Funding Rate
20
20
20
20
20
19
19
97
Avg. Annual Award Size
Funding Rate
$200,000
19
Average Annual Award Size
NSF Average Annual Award Size vs. Funding Rate for Competitive Research Grants
All R&RA directorates experienced a decline in funding rates
between FY 2000 and FY2005
Funding Rate for Select Directorates
Competitive Research Grants
50%
Funding Rate
40%
NSF
BIO
CISE
ENG
GEO
MPS
SBE
30%
20%
10%
0%
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Observations

# of PIs submitting to NSF
increased from FY 2000-2005
29% increase in first-time
submitters
 38% increase overall


30% increase in # proposals PIs
submit to gain a single award
1998-2000: 1.7 per PI
 2003-2005: 2.2 per PI

Potential Drivers Affecting
Proposal Submissions






Increased use of solicitations with
specific research foci
Limits on submissions in specific cases
Congress authorizes doubling the NSF
budget (2002, 2007?)
NSF budgets decrease or are flat (20042005)
NSB calls for increased award size and
duration
Potential effect of PI fatigue
Next steps



Case studies of various
practices related to proposal
submissions
Additional data analyses
Obtain external input
Focus groups with new rotators
 Applicant Survey to assess
external drivers
 Visits with Advisory
Committees
