SPICE Treasure Hunt #1: Campus Quest

What are treasure hunts and how can they help you prepare an NSF proposal? These treasure hunts have been created, tested, and updated by the Supporting Proposal Incubation and Creation for Educators at Two Year Institutions (SPICE) community. Each will involve questions, suggestions, and tasks to assist in the process of submitting an NSF grant proposal. These treasure hunts are not exhaustive and should be a basis for continued discussion in our forum spaces. We will also have forum space for suggestions and updates of the treasure hunts, as they will constantly evolve with use.    Why is this important? While faculty are the Primary Investigators, a successful NSF proposal involves a federal contract with your institution or organization. Many research intensive institutions rely on external funding generated to support faculty initiated projects and therefore support that work with robust offices of research, budgeting support, and staff support. Often primarily teaching institutions have less infrastructure to support proposal preparation and post-award grant management, and that is useful information to have early in the grant writing process.   What should you expect to get out of it? The answers to these questions will help at many points during the proposal process, and getting them done early will set you up for success.   Suggestions for getting started Start at the beginning with looking for a Grants Office or other local resources. Share what you have found or not found in our forums [link here] and converse with other SPICE community members about the process. Check out the SPICE Glossary for any phrases or words that are unfamiliar to you