There is about a month left to the Discovery grant deadline. If you don’t have a draft of your proposal done (or at least outlined) – get going! In an ideal world you should be sending your draft proposal out to your peers for review and feedback at this point. Ask at least two (trusted) peers from your department or field (hopefully at least one with significant experience with NSERC proposals) to review your proposal critically and provide feedback on the following questions:

• Does the literature review provide enough background to the topic?

• Is there enough detail in the methodology? Other avenues to explore?
• Does the scope of the work seem reasonable? Achievable?
• Do I address the “merit of the proposal” assessment criteria?
  • Originality and innovation
  • Significance and expected contributions to research
  • Clarity and scope of objectives
  • Clarity and appropriateness of methodology
  • Feasibility
  • Extent to which the scope of the proposal addresses all relevant issues, including the need for varied expertise within or across disciplines

You want a scientific critique of the proposal, not editorial analysis. It is reasonable to ask your colleagues to provide feedback within a week and indicate that you want high level feedback not detailed editorial comments. The best reviewers will give you insightful comments that expand, revise or otherwise change the scope of your proposal rather than a pat on the back “it’s good”.