* The ideas presented in this paper represent the views of the authors and not an official policy of the NSF. 1 Russell Pimmel, Program Officer, Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation, rrpimmel@nsf.gov 2 Stephanie Adams, , Program Officer, Engineering Education and Centers Division, National Science Foundation, sadams@nsf.gov 3 Barbara Anderegg, Program Officer, Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation, bandereg@nsf.gov 4 Susan Burkett, Program Officer, Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation, sburkett@nsf.gov 5 Gary Gabriele, Division Director, Engineering Education and Centers Division, National Science Foundation, ggabriel@nsf.gov 6 Sue Kemnitzer, Program Officer, Engineering Education and Centers Division, National Science Foundation, skemnitz@nsf.gov 7 Bevlee Watford, Program Officer, Division of Undergraduate Education, National Science Foundation, bwatford@nsf.gov Abstract – Since all NSF proposals are evaluated using the intellectual merit and broader impacts criteria, applicants need to address these in a convincing way to make their proposal competitive. The goal of this interactive workshop is to increase the participant's ability to design projects and write proposals that respond effectively to these two criteria. The workshop consists of a series of small group activities that will encourage participants to update their conceptual understanding of the issues by correcting their misconceptions and by connecting new knowledge to their current understanding. The workshop will address three issues: (1) activities that contribute to a project's intellectual merit, (2) activities that contribute to a project's broader impacts, and (3) defining and critiquing a project's intellectual merit and broader impacts. The workshop will be lead by a group of NSF program directors from the Division of Undergraduate Education and the Engineering Education and Centers Division of NSF