What Big Red Pen is …and isn’t.
This isn’t coaching. It’s not editing.
This isn’t feedback on your half-baked idea or messy first draft. And this obviously isn’t a guarantee for getting funded.
What I provide is a mock panel-style review, the kind you’d get if your proposal was dropped in a real NSF review.
✅ What This IS:
A detailed reviewer summary with comments on:
Intellectual Merit – strengths and weaknesses
Broader Impacts – strengths and weaknesses
Solicitation-specific criteria, if applicable
A mock panelist’s perspective, never sugarcoated.
A professional assessment grounded in 10+ years of panel experience
You’ll walk away with a 1–2 page document that mimics what actual reviewers submit to NSF program officers.
❌ What This ISN’T:
I won’t edit your draft.
I won’t rewrite your aims or restructure your paragraphs.
I won’t coach you over Zoom about your research plan.
I won’t give detailed margin comments.
🕓 When to Use This:
This review is best done mid-way through your writing process:
After you’ve completed a full, coherent first draft
Before you start polishing language
When you’re ready to know if your ideas are landing or falling flat or what blindspots you still have.
If you want someone to tear through your narrative like a real reviewer would, and give you a reality check before you submit, that’s what Big Red Pen is.
If you want a writing coach or editor, that’s not what I do (and I’m happy to point you toward someone else who does).
I do reviews. The kind that makes your proposal sharper, more focused, and more likely to survive the sharks on a real panel.
Check out my packages, or email me (catherine [dot] hulshof [at] gmail [dot] com) for a Scope of Work and to discuss details.
