The U.S. National Science Foundation relies on external reviewers to help carry out its merit review process, ensuring that proposals are reviewed in a fair, competitive, transparent and in-depth manner.
We depend on a diverse pool of qualified reviewers like you to share your time and expertise. As a reviewer, you provide helpful advice to NSF program officers on each proposal's merits and provide constructive comments to proposers to help strengthen their projects.
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How to become a reviewer
If you are interested in becoming a reviewer for the NSF Directorate for Geosciences, please complete this survey.
This link takes you to a form that you can fill out to provide GEO with a central, searchable list of self-identified potential reviewers. By filling out the form, you provide GEO program officers information that helps them cross-reference needed reviewer expertise with volunteers from diverse organizations, geographic locations and experiences. For example, some GEO programs require experts from academia, while others would benefit from experts with experience in industry. GEO will only use the information you share as part of setting up the merit review process.
For questions about the reviewer sign-up tool, please email georeviewer@nsf.gov.
What does a reviewer do?
Reviews come in two types — ad hoc and panelist. These two roles are complementary.
- An "ad hoc" reviewer is solicited to review just one proposal at a time (rarely two) and does not attend the panel. The individual ratings from ad hoc reviewers are provided to the panelists after the panelists have submitted their reviews and in time for the panel discussion. Ad hoc reviewers are not reimbursed for their time.
- A panelist reviews a relatively large number of proposals, rating each one. Each proposal is reviewed by multiple panelists, and then all panelists participate in a multiday discussion of each proposal's merits. Panels can be in-person or virtual. In-person panelists are reimbursed for travel costs to NSF headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, and both in-person and virtual panelists are provided a flat rate for their time.
Benefits of serving as a reviewer
In addition to providing a great service to NSF and the science and engineering community, reviewers benefit from reviewing and serving on panels. For example, reviewers gain first-hand knowledge of the peer review process, learn about common problems with proposals, discover strategies to write strong proposals, and, through serving on a panel, meet colleagues and NSF program officers managing programs related to their interests.