It’s not easy to write a good grant proposal. But it can be even harder to write one for the first time, especially if you’re not quite sure who will be reading your proposal. So today, I want to say a little bit about how an NSF mathematics panel is run, and give you some idea of who your target audience should be.

Before I start, I want to include a pseudo-legal disclaimer. For fairly obvious reasons, you are not supposed to reveal that you served on any particular panel. But I am allowed to say that I have served on *some* panels, and there is enough uniformity in the process to make me confident that what I say should resemble your reality if you decide to apply. (Let me also mention that I had some help on this post from a friend [whom I shall refer to as the…