Dear Colleague Letter: Special Guidelines for Submitting Proposals for NSF/GEO/EAR – MOST-Taiwan (GEMT) Collaborative Research

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Dear Colleagues:

SCOPE

The Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) in the Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) of the National Science Foundation is pleased to announce a collaborative research opportunity with Taiwan that will allow U.S. and Taiwan researchers to submit a joint proposal that will undergo the NSF review process. The Department of Natural Sciences and Sustainable Development (DNSSD) of the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan (MOST1) serves as NSF’s partner in the collaboration. The research area is in the disciplinary subjects covered by the NSF/GEO/EAR programs in the Disciplinary Programs Section.

NSF/GEO/EAR DISCIPLINARY PROGRAMS SECTION

This document provides guidelines for the preparation, submission, review, and award of NSF/GEO/EAR-MOST/DNSSD joint proposals. During this two-year phase (fiscal years 2019 and 2020), NSF/GEO/EAR and MOST/DNSSD will evaluate the outcomes (number of proposals, success rates, and participation) of the collaboration.

Proposals must represent a true intellectual collaboration between the U.S. and Taiwan researchers with clear benefits to the research. Proposers are advised that all documents submitted to NSF may be shared with MOST/DNSSD to coordinate the implementation of the joint collaboration.

PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION

  • Prior to submission, NSF proposers may contact the cognizant EAR program officer to discuss the research focus of the international project.
  • The NSF proposal must be submitted to the appropriate EAR Disciplinary Programs Section program by the U.S. organization in accordance with the individual EAR program solicitation. The Taiwan partner submits a parallel proposal to MOST/DNSSD via its submission system.
  • Proposals to NSF must be submitted via FastLane, or Research.gov in accordance with the proposal preparation guidelines specified in the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide or via Grants.gov in accordance with proposal preparation guidelines specified in the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide.
  • The proposal title should be prefaced with “GEMT:”
  • The project description must describe the nature of the collaboration and the role of the Taiwan partners.
  • Taiwan researchers must not be listed as co-PIs on the NSF Cover Sheet. The NSF proposal should include the biographical sketches of all senior personnel, including the Taiwan partners, and be formatted in accordance with the standard NSF biographical sketch requirements. Collaborators and other Affiliations Information of the Taiwan partners must follow the same format required by the PAPPG but be included as “Additional Single Copy Documents”.
  • The budgets submitted to NSF must include only the funding requested by the U.S. organization. The NSF proposal also should include a PDF copy of the MOST/DNSSD budget as a supplementary document.
  • The NSF budget justification must clearly differentiate between the U.S. and Taiwan proposal budgets; proposals that request duplicative funding may be returned without review.

MERIT REVIEW

  • NSF/GEO/EAR-MOST/DNSSD proposals will be reviewed alongside all other standard proposals received in the same funding round and will not undergo a separate or special review process.
  • Proposals will be reviewed in accordance with NSF’s merit review criteria of intellectual merit and the broader impacts of the proposed activity. A description of the NSF merit review process is provided on the NSF merit review website at: https://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/merit_review/.
  • NSF/GEO/EAR will be responsible for implementing the merit review process. Unattributed reviews may be shared with MOST/DNSSD.

FUNDING DECISIONS

  • Funding recommendations will be discussed with MOST/DNSSD. Each agency will use its standard internal policies and procedures to determine whether a proposal will be awarded or declined. All funding decisions are subject to the availability of funds. It is important to note that there are no separate NSF funds available for these efforts.
  • If a decision is made to fund a proposal, the U.S. organization(s) will be supported by NSF and the Taiwan organization(s) will be supported by MOST/DNSSD.
  • All proposers will be advised whether their proposals have been recommended for funding or declined by the appropriate funding agency. U.S. proposers will receive from NSF copies of the reviewers’ unattributed comments and, where applicable, a panel summary. Should a proposal be declined for funding, proposers should refer to the respective agency resubmission policies.
  • Because the participating agencies have different funding cycles, it is possible that some projects may have delayed start dates until funds become available.

POSTAWARD CONSIDERATIONS

  • Awardees will comply with the award conditions and reporting requirements of the agency from which they receive funding.
  • Grantees will be required to include appropriate acknowledgement of NSF and MOST support in reports and/or publications of work performed under the awards. An example of such an acknowledgement would be: “This material is based on work supported by NSF under Award No. [grantee enters award number], in partnership with the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan.”
  • No-cost extensions and supplemental funding requests will be considered using standard procedures. Requests for changes in the objectives or scope of the funded project will be discussed with MOST/DNSSD.

Dr. William E. Easterling,
Assistant Director, Directorate for Geosciences
National Science Foundation