The National Science Foundation (NSF) presents an online guide for proposal writing. The U.S.

government is one of the nation’s largest providers of grant funding, and the NSF is an independent federal agency that oversees funding for a large number of scientific research projects. (A grant proposal, or grant, is a type of proposal that seeks money from a government agency, foundation, or other funding source for a specified project.) The mission of the NSF is

“to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare;

to secure the national defense. . . .” With an annual budget of $7.5 billion for 2016, the NSF funds approximately 24 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. The NSF provides

“limited-term grants—currently about 12,000 new awards per year, with an average duration of three years—to fund specific research proposals that have been judged the most promising by a rigorous and objective merit-review system.

Most of these awards go to individuals or small groups of investigators. Others provide funding for research centers, instruments, and facilities that allow scientists, engineers, and students to work at the outermost frontiers of knowledge”

(http://www.nsf.gov/about/glance.jsp). Go to the National Science Foundation website and do a site search for the “guide for proposal writing.”

Once the pdf opens, scan the table of contents and read sections that interest you. In particular, read on page 20 “Little Things that Can Make a Difference.” Create a PowerPoint® presentation about the key points of that section.