Grant Help

Funding Opportunities

A list of Upcoming opportunities in Mathematics

Proposal Request Form

Please complete the form as soon as you decide to submit a proposal. Once this information is received, a Fiscal Officer will contact you directly. Timing is essential with submitting proposals through the Dean’s and RAS. Please send your complete proposal to the Math financial office 10 business days prior to the sponsor's deadline. If a deadline date falls on a Federal Holiday or weekend, factor in additional time for processing.

NSF Proposal Checklist with Instructions/Templates

Format of the Proposal – Pagination; Font, Spacing, and Margin Requirements; Page Formatting.

• Project summary (Limited to 1 page; See template)
• Project description (Project Description must not contain URLs; usually limited to 15 pages.
• References (no page limit, must list all authors full names, do not use et al): If the document is available electronically, the website address (URL) should be identified (if readily available)
• PI and Co-PI Biosketch (NEW NSF format, 3 pages, No personal info: marital status, citizenship, home address/phone/email; See template)
• Budget (the FO will prepare it for you, please provide budget parameters. Requested start date should be at least 7 months after the proposal deadline)
• Budget justification (the FO will need equipment, travel and M&S justification from you in order to complete the document.)
• Current and pending support (NEW NSF requirement needing PI's input, the FO will prepare it and ask for PI's input; See template)
• Facilities, equipment, and other resources (This section should include an aggregated description of existing facilities and other resources available for the research project. The FO can provide a standard document used previously)
• Special Information and Supplementary Documentation (If applicable) e.g. Letters of Collaboration, Solicitation-specific documents)
  • Postdoc mentoring plan (only if a postdoc is budgeted, limited to 1 page, See template)
  • Data Management Plan (limited to 2 pages; See template)
  • Letter of Collaboration (to obtain for any substantial collaboration with individuals not included in the budget; See template)
• A list of Collaborators & Other Affiliations (for each senior project personnel; See FAQs and a Template)
• Suggested reviewer (optional)

Note: If you are submitting a collaborative proposal with other institutions with MIT as the lead, please ask your collaborators to send the FO their administrative contact information and their fastlane proposal number including the proposal PIN so the FO can link the proposals.

Please note that this is a general check list/instruction applying to most of NSF proposals. However, the instructions on the specific program solicitation should always supersede this checklist/instruction. Failure to comply with the submission procedures may result in the proposal not being reviewed and evaluated by RAS.

Additional Information/Resources

• RAS: 2020 NSF Proposal Route/Review/Submission/Checklist
• NSF: Chapter II - Proposal Preparation Instructions; See PDF Printout
• NSF: Proposal and Award Policies & Procedures Guide (NSF 20-1 June 1, 2020, easy to search)
• RAS: Request an NSF Fastlane Account (if you are a new user, you will need an NSF Fastlane profile)
• How to Write a Winning NSF Proposal
• RAS website – Additional MIT guidance NSF proposals (including Sample Commitment Letter; COI; Data Management Plan Tool)
• New Guidance For NSF Personnel Documents (Includes videos and FAQs)
• NSF project reporting Q&A