NSF Project Summary worksheet

Reviewed 2026-10-01. Use this structure for a standard research proposal under the current supplemented PAPPG unless the solicitation specifies otherwise. The finished summary is at most one page. This worksheet is not a completed proposal or an official form.

Overview

[Applicant supplies the question, specific gap, proposed activities and methods, main objectives and anticipated contribution. Write for a broad scientific audience; define technical terms and distinguish predictions from established findings.]

Intellectual Merit

[What knowledge will this project add? Explain the scientific significance, new approach, evidence for feasibility, and why the design and team can answer the question. Replace claims such as "the first" with an evidence-backed comparison.]

Broader Impacts

[Which concrete societal benefit is plausible, through the research or related activities? State activities, intended beneficiaries, responsible people/partners, resources, timing and assessment. Verify partner commitments before describing them.]

Illustrative planning fragment, not a real commitment: "In Year 1 the team will pilot two data-analysis teaching modules with one partner course. In Year 2 it will revise them using student feedback and release accessible materials with a maintenance plan. Reach and learning outcomes will be assessed against a documented baseline."

Select activities based on the research and actual capacity; there is no mandatory "five-pillar" formula. Follow current NSF priorities and the solicitation when defining participant eligibility. Do not copy protected- characteristic quotas or preferential-selection language from an older sample.

Final checks

• Keep Overview, Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts identifiable and substantive.
• Remove all placeholders, advice and sample text not grounded in the applicant's plan.
• Use at least one-inch margins and at most six lines per vertical inch. PAPPG allows Arial (not Narrow), Courier New or Palatino Linotype at 10 points or larger, or Times New Roman/Computer Modern at 11 points or larger. Choose legibility over density.
• Export and inspect the actual PDF at 100%; count pages after export, not in Markdown.
• Verify the summary agrees with the description, budget and confirmed partnerships.
• A summary's Broader Impacts section does not replace the separately headed Broader Impacts section required within the Project Description.