Request for Input
Merit Review Criteria Revision and Principles
National Science Foundation
Submission deadline: Thursday, 14 July 2011
Comments can be submitted to:
meritreview [at] nsf.gov
For further information, please go to:
http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/2011/06_mrtf.jsp
Over the past year, the National Science Board (NSB) has been conducting
a review of the National Science Foundation's merit review criteria
(Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts). At the Board's May 2011
meeting, the NSB Task Force on Merit Review proposed a revision of the
two merit review criteria, clarifying their intent and how they are to
be used in the review process. In addition, the Task Force identified a
set of important underlying principles upon which the merit review
criteria should be based. NSF is now seeking input on the proposed
revision and principles.
The Task Force looked at several sources of data for information about
how the criteria are being interpreted and used by the National Science
Foundation (NSF) community, including an analysis of over 190 reports
from Committees of Visitors. The Task Force also reached out to a wide
range of stakeholders, both inside and outside of NSF, to understand
their perspectives on the current criteria. Members of NSF's senior
leadership and representatives of a small set of diverse institutions
were interviewed; surveys about the criteria were administered to NSF's
program officers, division directors, and advisory committee members and
to a sample of 8,000 of NSF's Principal Investigators (PIs) and
reviewers; and the NSF community at large was invited to provide
comments and suggestions for improvements through the NSF web site
(http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/2011/01_19_mrtf.jsp). The
stakeholder responses were very robust--all told, the Task Force
considered input from over 5,100 individuals.
One of the most striking observations that emerged from the data
analyses was the consistency of the results, regardless of the
perspective. All of the stakeholder groups identified similar issues,
and often offered similar suggestions for improvements. It became clear
that the two review criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts
are in fact the right criteria for evaluating NSF proposals, but that
revisions are needed to clarify the intent of the criteria, and to
highlight the connection to NSF's core principles.
The two draft revised criteria, and the principles upon which they are
based, are at: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/2011/06_mrtf.jsp.
Comments are being collected through Thursday, 14 July 2011. NSF invites
you to send comments to: meritreview [at] nsf.gov. It is expected that NSF
will develop specific guidance for PIs, reviewers, and NSF staff on the
use of these criteria after the drafts are finalized. Your comments will
help inform development of that guidance, and other supporting documents
such as FAQs.
Submission deadline: Thursday, 14 July 2011.
Comments can be submitted to:
meritreview [at] nsf.gov.
For further information, please go to:
http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/2011/06_mrtf.jsp.