The content for the project narrative is discussed elsewhere. Here, our intent is strictly to look at the form of the Project Narrative. Please note that it is always best to organize your proposal using the outline provided in the FOA – Using the outline provided makes it much easier for the reviewers to find pertinent information while evaluating your proposal against pre-determined criteria which is also detailed for you in the FOA under the section entitled, MERIT REVIEW, Phase I – Merit Review Criteria.

When preparing a Project Narrative for the first time, companies often ask how long each section should be. The following general guidelines come from a review of the format of a sample of winning proposals.

• The average number of figures and tables was nine.
• Companies varied widely in the number of citations that they included – ranging from 0 to 35. The average number of citations was also nine.
• The first section of the Narrative Briefing entitled “Identification and Significance of the Problem or Opportunity, and Technical Approach” was on average 4.5 pages in length. This is where companies made sure that they demonstrated that they understood the problem of interest to DOE, presented their innovation; and made sure that it was adequately discussed
• The average length of the Public Benefit section was three-quarters of a page.
• The work plan including the tasks was typically five pages in length.
• The average number of tasks in a work plan was six.

Remember it is what you say in the project narrative that counts, as well as the ease with which reviewers can extract the information needed to determine if the proposal is responsive and innovative. The content for various sections of the project narrative is discussed in other modules.