Excellence of Researchers: Outstanding Merit of the Proposal: Very Strong Training of HQP: Very Strong Thus, bin OVV. Awarded $ 34 k (down from $ 46k previously) If I had to do it again, I would have spent a bit more time emphasizing my past and future HQP. I had one external reviewer who had a bit of an axe to grind, and claimed that "proposing today to simulate natural motions using physics has proved not to be possible". It's difficult to argue with someone who claims that what you're trying to do is simply impossible. On the other hand, another review (I suspsect from a well known school and someone who knows my work very well), said that I could indeed complete many if not all of the proposed directions, despite some of them having been clearly very ambitious, long-term goals. Thus it may be worthwhile to recapitulate in your research proposal which goals are long term and high risk and that this is in fact what the DG program wants, at least in part.