Title: Proposal Dos and Don’ts and Financial Impacts
Author: Carl Wagenfuehrer
Organization: NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO)

Abstract:
The Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) issues NASA Research Announcement (NRA) awards through various solicitations, inviting institutions to propose for funding in order to develop and mature instrument, component, and sensor web technologies.  Once received, these proposals are evaluated on three criteria: intrinsic merit, relevance, and cost realism and reasonableness.  This presentation will focus on the third criterion.  The poor quality of cost and budget sections in proposals have eliminated the selection of several worthy technology bids.  We will present the cost criterion as reflected in the solicitation, how we review the proposals, and provide real examples from proposals, which have been ranked lower due to this factor.