Course project
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The purpose of the course project is to learn how to write a grant proposal for a
major funding organization. You may work alone or in groups of two. For graduate
students who are interested and who do an outstanding job, I will consider working
with you to actually submit a proposal and use it to fund you. For others, this will
still be a valuable skill to learn.

The deliverables are due at the beginning of class on the listed due date.


Phase I
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In the first phase of the project, you will familiarize yourself with various
funding agencies. The major government ones are NSF, DARPA, and NIH. Go to their
web sites and research their programs. Also, using any resources you can, identify
one other major funding agency or corporate program. 

Deliverable: For each of the four programs, write a paragraph or two describing 
it. What kind of research they fund, the duration of the funding, how long until 
notification, qualifications, etc. Give some estimate of how hard it seems to 
get this funding and describe the types of proposals they require.

Due:   September 18, 2003



Phase II
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You should start thinking about phase II of the project while still working on phase I.
In this phase, you will identify a research problem. This should be something that you
are very interested in, that relates to computer and information security. Ideally, the
problem will have a broad enough scope, that it would take 2-3 years or longer to solve, 
but not be so difficult that significant progress cannot be made in that time frame.

Deliverable: A one-page write-up describing the research problem that you have identified,
and why you think that this is a good problem in terms of scope, importance and level of
difficulty.

Due:   October 2, 2003


Phase III
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Pick a specific program within one of the funding agencies you identified in phase I.
For example, you could pick Carl Landwehr's Trusted Computing program at the NSF.

Deliverable: Please turn in a write-up of one page or less describing the program you
chose, and all of the relevant details such as when proposals are due, what the funding
range is, propoosal length, and other requirements. Justify your choice of this program
for the project you chose in phase II. 

Due:  October 23, 2003


Phase IV
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Write the proposal. The most important areas to focus on are: why the problem is important,
previous work in the area, the solution that you propose for the problem, why it is important
for your funding agency to fund this work. Besides that, focus on the requirements in the proposal
description of the funding agency. Keep to their page limits, and make sure you understand all
of the requirements. It's okay to actually phone the program manager and ask for clarifications.

Deliverable:  Turn in a full proposal, as you would submit it to the funding agency.

Due: November 21, 2003



Phase V
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In this final phase, you will be given someone else's proposal to critique.

Deliverable: Write a 1-2 page analysis of the proposal you are critiquing. Would you fund this
work? Why or why not? If you are nor familiar with the funding agency, do a little research and
then explain if this proposal is appropriate for this program.

Due: December 5, 2003