Graphene exploded onto the scene in 2004, but between 2001 and 2004 Georgia Tech researchers pursued research into graphene. We submitted our first NSF proposal in 2001, which developed into a second NSF proposal and a patent (US 7,015,142 B2), both submitted in 2003. All of this built up to our first paper on graphene in 2004.
You can read our NSF proposals below.