This solicitation has been archived.

Title: DMR Nugget Request
Date: 08/08/06


July 17, 2006

Dear Colleague:

Providing support for your research and education activities is a
priority for each of us in the Division of Materials Research. We
especially regard the timely communication of your achievements to
non-specialist audiences - those in other technical fields,
teachers, students, industry, government, and the public - as
an important shared responsibility. Making your results accessible
to us and to the public enables us to explain why our investment in
materials research is essential. We request your help in DMR to do
this effectively. While your response is entirely voluntary, it will
help us to illustrate the excitement and importance of the research
and education NSF supports.

You can help us in two ways:

    1.  Send us a "nugget" 1. Attached to this letter is a suggested 
	template (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2006/nsf06041/
	nugget_template.ppt) for providing us with such a nugget, 
	that is, a crisp summary with an interesting and informative 
	image highlighting your DMR funded work 2. A nugget comprised 
	of two viewgraphs featuring the NSF merit review criteria 
	Intellectual Merit (first viewgraph) and Broader Impacts 
	(second viewgraph) can make a compelling story. We plan to 
	use these nuggets to illustrate the work that DMR supports. 
	They might be used in talks and presentations or posted on 
	our web page, for example. The text and graphics should 
	capture the essence of the activity you wish to highlight. 
	The graphics are particularly important and can include 
	static or dynamic images, photographs, or animations. 
	"Narrated nuggets", in which grantees and/or their co-workers
        provide narration accompanying their text and graphics (images 
	or videos), are also acceptable. The text and graphics should 
	be at the level of a press release, explaining briefly and 
	in non-technical language what has been accomplished and why 
	it is significant. The collections of nuggets will be made 
	available to the public on the Division's website and in CD 
	format. By sending us a nugget you grant NSF the right to
        reproduce and disseminate your images for various possible
        uses. If you are planning to patent your work it is your
        responsibility to consult with the appropriate person at
        your institution to ensure that sending us the requested
        material does not jeopardize your intellectual property rights.

    2.  Let us know as much in advance as possible if you will be
        making a major presentation of your research at a meeting, or
        if a paper is to appear in a journal such as Science or Nature.
        We can then work with you, your public relations personnel, and
        our public relations staff (the NSF Office of Legislative and
        Public Affairs, OLPA) to bring additional attention to your
        work. To do this most effectively, send an email to your DMR
        program officer, to me at lhaworth@nsf.gov, or to OLPA at
        tellus@nsf.gov. We are aware that some journals have embargoes
        related to publicity on forthcoming articles, and we will work
        with all parties involved to ensure compliance with journal
        policies.

Please send only information that DMR can share, put on a public NSF
web site, or distribute. If you have questions or comments regarding
these two requests, please contact us. By working together, we hope
to share the excitement of your achievements with opinion leaders
and with the public.

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

W. Lance Haworth
Acting Director
Division of Materials Research
National Science Foundation
lhaworth@nsf.gov

1Please include your last name and NSF award number in the file
name, and send the nugget by e-mail to your DMR Program Officer.

2Examples of recent DMR nuggets can be accessed via the DMR web page
at http://www.nsf.gov/materials (click on Research and Education
Highlights).