FY 2000 Report on the NSF Merit Review System - Chapter 4 Table of Contents Highlights 1. Proposals and Awards 2. Methods of Proposal Review 3. Appendix Tables 4.
Some programs try to manage proposal pressure by requiring submission of preliminary proposals.
The intent of preliminary proposals is to limit the burden imposed on proposers, reviewers and NSF staff. Review of preliminary proposals varies widely, ranging from non-binding advice from program officers to proposers, to recommendations from external reviewers. The use of preliminary proposals has increased in frequency over the past several years in NSF programs. In FY 2000, NSF acted on 1,281 official preliminary proposals that were logged into the proposal processing system. Of these, NSF encouraged the submission of full proposals in 236 cases and discouraged submission in 1,045 cases.