Dear DEB and IOS PI Communities,
Program Directors in the Division of Environmental Biology at the
National Science Foundation (NSF) are asking Principal Investigators
(PIs) (current, past, or future) to take this survey
(<http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DEB_IOS_program_feedback>http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DEB_IOS_program_feedback)
to provide feedback on our new proposal review process.
We are requesting potential respondents to complete the survey by
Wednesday, May 1, 2013.
As you are probably already aware, the Divisions of Environmental
Biology (DEB) and Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) in the
Biological Sciences Directorate (BIO) at the NSF made significant
changes to the core program review process that began in 2012. These
changes (including the new preliminary proposal requirement, a switch
to an annual deadline, and a cap on the number of proposals that PIs
can submit per cycle) were made to protect the integrity of the merit
review system, which was increasingly compromised by steep increases
in proposal submissions, diminished participation of the community in
the proposal review process, and flat budgets.
This survey is an important mechanism that the NSF is using to obtain
quantitative feedback about the new review process. Our target
audience is investigators who have had funding from DEB or IOS or who
are likely to submit a proposal to DEB and/or IOS in the next 1-2
years. We will use the results of the survey, which is anonymous, to
assess the level of satisfaction with various aspects of the new
review process. All answers are confidential, and will have no
bearing on your future interactions with the NSF. The survey should
require 10-20 minutes to complete.
In addition to this email, we are promoting this opportunity via the
DEB Blog (<http://nsfdeb.wordpress.com/>nsfdeb.wordpress.com) and
have reached out to many of the professional societies. You are
encouraged to share the survey link with interested colleagues.
Thank you for taking the time to respond to the survey and for
providing the NSF with feedback.
Sincerely,
The Division of Environmental Biology
