The National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Activities pursued by early-career faculty should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research. NSF encourages submission of CAREER proposals from early-career faculty at all CAREER-eligible organizations and especially encourages women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and persons with disabilities to apply.
In an effort to support USU faculty pursuing an NSF CAREER award, the NSF CAREER Academy has been developed and will provide faculty with a wide range of resources to help them develop a strong proposal. The Academy has two Tracks faculty participants can choose between.
- Track 1 is the cohort model where faculty will participate in monthly workshops and group review and feedback sessions with other CAREER applicants, have regular interaction with proposal development specialists, and be expected to meet milestones to ensure the timely completion of their proposal for the 2024 submission deadline.
- Track 2 is the “à la carte” model where faculty can participate in workshops and other training materials as they desire.
Faculty will be required to commit to one Track only and will not be able to move between the two. This will ensure continuity within the Track 1 cohort model.
Both Tracks will have access to the Hanover Research NSF CAREER Course which is a full training program on the different parts and pieces of a CAREER proposal. The course is self-paced and allows faculty to respond to prompts in text boxes within the different modules to build a skeleton proposal, which can be compiled and downloaded for further revision.
General registration for the 2024 Academy is now closed. Additional participants will only be accepted for Track 2 at this point. Contact Jeri Hansen for more information.
NSF CAREER Academy 2024 Schedule
| Month | Track 1 (Cohort Participation) | Track 2 (À La Carte Participation) |
|---|---|---|
| February | Cohort kick-off meeting Proposal development timeline Chalk Talks for idea development/feedback Resubmissions only: Debrief meeting with PD Team Workshop: Program Officer meeting preparation |
Proposal development timeline Chalk Talks for idea development/feedback Workshop: Program Officer meeting preparation NSF CAREER Course (Hanover Research) |
Ongoing cohort activities:
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| Milestone: Complete Program Officer meeting | ||
| March | Workshop: Education and outreach plan/activities | Workshop: Education and outreach plan/activities NSF CAREER Course (Hanover Research) |
Ongoing cohort activities:
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| Milestone: Complete detailed outline of Project Description | ||
| April | Workshop: Broader Impacts and evaluation | Workshop: Broader Impacts and evaluation NSF CAREER Course (Hanover Research) |
Ongoing cohort activities:
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| Milestone: First review – Draft Project Description | ||
| May | First review debrief meeting Workshop: Graphics development |
Workshop: Graphics development NSF CAREER Course (Hanover Research) |
Ongoing cohort activities:
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| Milestones: Complete draft budget; draft graphics | ||
| June | Workshop: Open | Workshop: Open NSF CAREER Course (Hanover Research) |
Ongoing cohort activities:
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| Milestone: Finalize other required documents | ||
| July | Workshop: Post-submission topics | Workshop: Post-submission topics NSF CAREER Course (Hanover Research) |
Ongoing cohort activities:
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| Milestones: Full proposal package review before routing; complete proposal submission by July 24 and celebrate! |