At the 2016 NSF AISL Principal Investigator meeting (see http://www.informalscience.org/about-caise/pi-meetings/2016-pi-meeting – free registration required) a group of media producers gathered to discuss the barriers, both real and perceived, to seeking funding from the AISL program. Comments are summarized here and the participants are listed at the end of the post.

PREMISE

The number of mass media projects funded by AISL has declined significantly in the last few years, to roughly half of the number of proposals funded per year between 2000 and 2010. (Mass media includes TV, online video, radio, large-format and theatrical films.) Given the enormous impact of STEM mass media on all audiences, particularly children, the group gathered in this session had a thoughtful discussion of current barriers and possible strategies that might help restore the media portion of the AISL portfolio. (Note: Participants are listed at the end of this document.)

CHALLENGES

• The level of competition has increased dramatically.
• AISL’s budget has been flat and/or reduced in the past few years; while at the same time there are more submitted proposals with larger budgets. The result is fewer projects funded.
• The diversity of the portfolio has expanded. A decade ago, the ISE porfolio consisted of three buckets: museums, media and community projects. The portfolio now includes a much greater variety of projects, including research, software, new kinds of outreach, in short, the field has “exploded.”
• The emphasis on research has been a particularly challenge for media producers, both for the requirement to develop sound research initiatives and for the portion of the total budget that research requires. (See below for recent changes to this requirement.)
• The resources and time need to create a competitive proposal have increased.
• Managers of media organizations question whether the likelihood of funding (presently less than 10% of proposals are funded) justifies the high cost. Independent producers may simply not have the time or money to make this investment.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROSPECTIVE PI’S

• Review the solicitation: the specific research requirement of 2013-2014 has been modified.While “Knowledge Building” and strategic impact are still high priorities, research, specifically, is not required in the Innovations in Development or the Broad Implementation categories.
• Explore CAISE resources for model projects, collaborators, researchers, and evaluators. Also use the NSF Award Search site. Use Element Code 7259 in the Advanced Search tab for AISL, or search by program officer. Detailed results can be downloaded to Excel.
• Ask funded PI’s if they’d be willing to share a copy of their proposal. Some may say no but it never hurts to ask.
• Regarding the writing of the proposal itself: Share the responsibility of writing with your partners; ask them for help with the heavy lifting
• Evaluation/research partnerships need not be exclusively with universities to be competitive: the quality of the evaluation and research is what matters, and there are many, experienced AISL/ISE evaluators and researchers.
• Since there are no preliminaries in AISL, preparing 1-2 page summaries for your program officer can inform your process. Also share these summaries with other external reviewers, to help predict the reactions of a review panel.
• Apply for a smaller grant to support the development of the proposal, either a Collaborative Planning grant, Exploratory Pathways grant, or other opportunities, such as EAGER or RAPID.
• Seek planning funding outside the NSF. One PI had success with a Kickstarter campaign!
• Explore funding opportunities with other divisions within the NSF. Some of the PI’s in the conversation have had success applying to different NSF programs different, complementary components of their projects.
• Media proposals can be submitted to the related content directorates; if there is interest (and budget) this strategy can generate internal co-funding with AISL.
• Contact program officers and offer to be on a panel. This is the best way to learn the nuances of creating a competitive proposal, and panelists do not need to have been funded to take part.

 

PARTICIPANTS (Alphabetical)

• Ethan Allen, Pacific resources for Education & Learning
• Karen Blair Thompson, Consultant
• Martha Cordona, Graduate Student
• Sue Ellen McCann, KQED
• Barbara Flagg, Multimedia Research
• John Fraser, New Knowledge Network
• Nick Hristov, Winsten-Salemn State U.
• Seth Kramer, Ironbound Films
• Valentine Kass, NSF
• Patti Parson, PBS Newshour
• Wendy Pollock, Consultant
• Saul Rockman, Rockman et al
• Pamela Rosenstein, Nova ScienceNOW– NSN
• Barri Scott, SoundVision Productions
• Ross Spears, James Agee Film Project
• Tullan Spitz, Oregon Public Broadcasting
• Sandy Welch, NSF
• Marisa Wolsky, WGBH

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