Review criteria by agency

Reviewed 2026-10-01. Extract the actual opportunity's rubric before critiquing a proposal. Do not average unrelated factors, invent weights or infer fundability from a generic score. Use a table linking each criterion to the applicant's evidence, remaining weakness and proposed revision.

NSF

Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts both receive full consideration; this is not a fixed 50/50 arithmetic weighting. Assess knowledge advancement, originality, design, team/resources, societal benefit and assessment, together with any additional solicitation criteria. Broader impacts can arise through the research itself. See nsf_guidelines.md.

NIH

For applicable RPG due dates on/after January 25, 2025, the simplified framework uses Importance of the Research (significance/innovation) and Rigor and Feasibility (approach), each scored 1-9, plus Expertise and Resources assessed for sufficiency. All inform overall impact. Check the mechanism: not every NIH application uses this framework. Research Strategy headings remain those required in the application guide.

Additional review criteria can influence impact despite having no separate score; these differ from considerations such as budget that do not determine scientific merit. Match protections, inclusion, clinical-trial timeline and other checks to the NOFO. Current modified review practices can leave competitive applications undiscussed; see nih_guidelines.md. Do not convert a score or percentile to predicted funding odds or use old paylines as present policy.

DOE

Use the NOFO's scientific/technical merit, method, personnel/facilities, budget, mission relevance, programmatic selection factors and any defined weighting/order. Do not apply an ARPA-E impact rubric to an SC basic-science application. Distinguish concept-paper assessment from full-application review; see doe_guidelines.md.

DARPA

Use the solicitation's actual evaluation factors and award instrument. Technical merit, national-security relevance and cost realism commonly matter, but their exact role is solicitation-specific. Test goals against baselines, credible measurements, risks, milestones and transition evidence. See darpa_guidelines.md.

Taiwan NSTC

Use the division/program's published criteria and current application forms. Innovation, feasibility, investigator capability and contribution are useful drafting questions, not a universal numeric rubric or passing-score threshold. Differentiate project outputs from claimed societal outcomes; see nstc_guidelines.md.