National Science Foundation News and Opportunities
NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Guidelines update effective June 1, 2020.
On June 1, 2020, NSF will implement the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 20-1) for proposals submitted or due on or after this date. The revised PAPPG implements a variety of changes and clarifications, the highest profile of which requires use of an NSF-approved format for the preparation of the biographical sketch and current and pending support.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing stress on proposers, the research community has not been able to adequately prepare and train their staff for the implementation of the new requirements.
NSF has therefore made the decision to delay the requirement to use NSF-approved formats for the biographical sketch and current and pending support sections of NSF proposals until October 1, 2020. Proposers must continue to format these documents in accordance with PAPPG requirements (see PAPPG sections II.C.2.f and II.C.2.h). NSF encourages the community to use these formats and continue to provide valuable feedback as we enhance them for future implementation.
Over the coming week, NSF will make updates to existing policy guidance, websites and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to reflect the change. NSF will communicate further with the community once these updates have been made.
Webinars covering the use of NSF-approved formats as well as all of the significant changes to the PAPPG are available on the NSF Policy Outreach website.
NSF will continue to implement all other changes to the PAPPG beginning June 1, 2020, including the following:
· New requirement for proposing organizations to submit government-wide representations and certifications in the System for Award Management (SAM);
· New requirement for providing e-mail documentation of Program Officer approval for the submission of RAPID and EAGER proposals; and
· Clarifications to current and pending support coverage as well as other changes throughout the document.
You are encouraged to review the by-chapter summary of changes provided in the Introduction section of the PAPPG. If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact the DIAS/Policy Office at policy@nsf.gov.
Regards,
Jean Feldman
Head, Policy Office
Division of Institution & Award Support
National Science Foundation
email: policy@nsf.gov
SCiENcv: Science Experts Networks Curriculum Vitae Information and Tutorial
Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) is a new electronic system that helps researchers assemble the professional information needed for participation in federally funded research. SciENcv gathers and compiles information on expertise, employment, education and professional accomplishments. Researchers can use SciENcv to create and maintain biosketches that are submitted with grant applications and annual reports. SciENcv allows researchers to describe and highlight their scientific contributions in their own words.
A SciENcv biosketch will be required for NSF proposal submissions beginning in 2020; NIH and other agencies will begin the requirement in 2021.
From Jean Feldman, National Science Foundation Policy Office Head
Dear Colleagues:
We are excited to announce that effective March 30, 2020, the research community can prepare and submit separately submitted collaborative proposals from multiple organizations in Research.gov. Proposers can now prepare Full, Research proposals in Research.gov that are:
- Single submissions from one organization (available since April 2018)
- Single submission collaborative proposals with subawards (available since June 2019)
- Separately submitted collaborative proposals from multiple organizations
What’s New for Separately Submitted Collaborative Proposals?
- Proposal Preparation: Proposers can select a separately submitted collaborative proposal as an option in the Proposal Creation Wizard and identify themselves as part of a lead or non-lead organization.
- Linking: The lead organization can initiate a request to link proposals with non-lead organizations. However, all proposals in the collaboration must be prepared and submitted in Research.gov and cannot be a mix of Research.gov and FastLane proposals.
- New “Submission Pending” Status: The Research.gov submission process for separately submitted collaborative proposals is different than the submission process in FastLane.
- A new Research.gov “Submission Pending” status informs the organization that their proposal submission is pending in a queue until all linked lead and non-lead proposals in the collaboration attain “Submission Pending” status and can be submitted to NSF as a set.
- Separately submitted collaborative proposals with a “Submission Pending” status can be edited, but the Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) must resubmit the edited proposal to return it to a “Submission Pending” status.
- A Proposal File Update (PFU) is not required to edit the proposal at the “Submission Pending” stage. However, a PFU could be utilized after the entire collaborative set is submitted to NSF and a proposal ID number for each separately submitted collaborative proposal is generated.
- Submit Proposal Wizard: The AOR Submission Wizard screen will display the lead and non-lead organization information.
- Other Related Changes:
- Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan: A Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan is only required when funds for postdoctoral scholars are requested on the budget. A proposal compliance error will block proposal submission if there is a mentoring plan but no requested funds.
- Print Concatenate: This functionality is available for lead and non-lead proposals.
- New Automated Compliance Error/Warning Messages and Business Rules for Separately Submitted Collaborative Proposals: Compliance checks triggering an error will prohibit proposal submission to NSF, whereas checks triggering a warning will allow proposal submission to NSF.
- Delete In-progress Proposals: Proposers can delete their in-progress separately submitted collaborative proposals.
- Redesigned Research.gov “About” Page with New and Updated FAQs: Check out our redesigned Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission webpage with links to new and updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) organized by topic.
What’s Ahead?
We are also happy to share that NSF is currently developing the following capabilities in Research.gov:
- Other Authorized User (OAU) role changes
- Support for Single Copy Documents
- Submission of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I and Phase II proposals
- Submission of Rapid Response Research (RAPID), Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER), and Research Advanced by Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (RAISE) proposals
Stay tuned for additional information about these developments in the coming months!
Help NSF Build Research.gov
Research.gov is being developed incrementally, and features will expand with the goal of eventually transitioning all proposal preparation and submission functionality from FastLane to Research.gov. NSF strongly encourages the use of Research.gov where possible and wants feedback on your experience, so we can continue to offer a better user experience. Please submit your feedback on the Research.gov Feedback page (select “Proposal Preparation & Submission” under the Site Area dropdown menu).
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Last updated: 4/27/2021