Tag Archives: NSF Announcement

National Science Foundation Important System Update

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The National Science Foundation sent out notification Monday, August 30th, 2021 regarding changes and updates happening to the website and its features.

“The National Science Foundation (NSF) has enabled a number of enhancements for proposals submitted in Research.gov, FastLane, and Grants.gov. In addition, the updated NSF-approved biographical sketch and current and pending support SciENcv and fillable PDF formats that fall under the revised Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 22-1) will be available to preview by September 17, 2021.

“We are also excited to announce enhanced NSF Funding Opportunity Search functionality and revamped program pages on nsf.gov and beta.nsf.gov, the new version of the NSF website. As NSF builds its new nsf.gov website in small, iterative pieces using the beta.nsf.gov platform, we are not simply moving existing content from nsf.gov to the new site. Rather, the new website will improve how information is presented for use by various audiences including prospective proposers, grantees, and the general public.

“Here’s what to know.

“Research.gov Proposal Submission System Enhancements

  • Research.gov proposal features continue to expand to support the transition of all proposal preparation and submission functionality from FastLane to Research.gov by a target date of December 31, 2022. Many NSF funding opportunities are supported in Research.gov and clearly specify whether submission via Research.gov is available or required.
  • Effective August 30, 2021, Conference and Ideas Lab proposal types, renewal and accomplishment-based renewal submission types, and preliminary proposals for Ideas Lab solicitations are all now available for submission in Research.gov. FastLane must be used to submit preliminary proposals for proposal types other than Ideas Lab until that functionality is available in Research.gov.
  • The proposal preparation landing page has been revised, and Principal Investigators will now first select the proposal submission type from the drop-down options and then will follow the proposal setup wizard to initiate a new proposal. In progress and submitted proposals are accessible from the tiles on the revised proposal preparation landing page, after first selecting the submission type from the drop-down options.
  • New automated compliance checks and associated error and warning messages for the enabled proposal and submission types were also implemented. Error messages will prohibit proposal submission to NSF, whereas warning messages still permit proposal submission.
  • New Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) were added to the Research.gov About Proposal Preparation and Submission page, and the Proposal Submission Capabilities page has been updated to reflect the latest development updates.
  • All supported proposal and submission types as well as associated compliance checks are also enabled in the Research.gov Proposal Preparation Demo Site.
  • Refer to the PAPPG (NSF 20-1) for current proposal requirements. Guidelines in the revised PAPPG (NSF 22-1) will apply for proposals submitted or due on or after October 4, 2021.

NSF-approved Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support Format Updates

Current and Pending Support Fillable PDF Updates

  • Based on feedback from the research community and NSF Program Officers, NSF has incorporated functionality as of August 30, 2021, in FastLane and Grants.gov to remove any pages which do not contain data entered by users (i.e., blank pages) from the NSF-approved current and pending support fillable PDF. This trimming functionality will be integrated in Research.gov on October 4, 2021, in coordination with implementation of the revised PAPPG (NSF 22-1) for proposals submitted in Research.gov and project reports submitted in the Research.gov Project Reporting System.
  • The trimming service only applies to the NSF-approved current and pending support fillable PDF and not to any other uploaded PDFs. Current and pending support PDFs generated in SciENcv do not include blank pages.
  • The current and pending support fillable PDF document is paginated, and the PDF page numbers will not be updated during the trimming process. This means that it is possible for the trimmed PDF to have skipped page numbers corresponding to the blank pages removed from the fillable PDF. NSF Program Officers are aware of this potential occurrence in proposals submitted to NSF.
  • Proposers with in progress proposals as of August 30, 2021, can delete previously uploaded current and pending support fillable PDFs from their FastLane or Grants.gov proposals and then re-upload them to trigger the trimming service.

Updated Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support SciENcv and Fillable PDF Formats

  • The updated NSF-approved biographical sketch and current and pending support formats will be available in September 2021 to preview before they are required on October 4th. The updated fillable PDF formats will be available for download from the NSF biographical sketch and current and pending support websites by September 3rd. Updated SciENcv formats will be available on the SciENcv Create a New Document screen by September 17th.
  • Biographical sketch format updates include increasing the page limit from two to three pages.
  • Current and pending support format updates include the addition of new sections for information on objectives and overlap with other projects to help NSF and reviewers assess overlap/duplication.
  • Although submission of the updated NSF-approved formats is not permitted (i.e., Research.gov, FastLane, and Grants.gov will not allow the 22-1 forms to be uploaded) until implementation of the revised PAPPG (NSF 22-1) on October 4, 2021, NSF is encouraging proposers and grantees to begin familiarizing themselves with the updated NSF-approved formats when they are available.

Enhanced Funding Opportunity Search Functionality and Revamped Program Pages

  • Based on extensive research with external and internal stakeholders, NSF has made significant improvements to the NSF Funding Opportunity Search functionality to help researchers and prospective researchers quickly and easily find relevant programs and NSF-funded projects in specified disciplines. Funding Search results now include short program descriptions, programs incorporated in core program solicitations with links to the relevant guidelines, and Dear Colleague Letters.
  • The revamped program pages include significant content and navigation improvements including information previously only viewable in solicitations.
  • For more information about NSF’s beta site, please visit https://beta.nsf.gov/about-beta.
    NSF will continue to enhance the site, and ongoing feedback from external and internal stakeholders is vital to the process. Feedback on the updated Funding Search and program page enhancements or any other aspect of the site may be directed to beta-nsf-feedback@nsf.gov“

NSF Revised Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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The National Science Foundation has updated and revised their Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding current and pending support.

The FAQs have been revised alongside the newly developed table, NSF Pre-award and Post-award Disclosures Relating to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support.

Contact the Policy Office in the Division of Institution and Award Support at policy@nsf.gov with any questions.

Revised NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures

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The University of Akron’s Office of Research Administration has been informed by the Head of the Policy Office at the National Science Foundation, Jean Feldman, of the following changes:

“We are pleased to announce that a revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 22-1) has been issued.

The new PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted or due on or after October 4, 2021. Significant changes include:

  • A new section covering requests for reasonable and accessibility accommodations regarding the proposal process or requests for accessibility accommodations to access NSF’s electronic systems, websites and other digital content;
  • A table entitled, NSF Pre-award and Post-award Disclosures Relating to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support. This table identifies where pre- and post-award current and pending support disclosure information must be provided. Proposers and awardees may begin using this table immediately;
  • Increasing the page limit for the biographical sketch from two to three pages;
  • Updates to the current and pending support section of NSF proposals to require that information on objectives and overlap with other projects is provided to help NSF and reviewers assess overlap/duplication;
  • Adding planning proposals and Career-Life Balance supplemental funding requests as new proposal types;
  • Updates to travel proposals will require that AORs certify that prior to the proposer’s participation in the meeting for which NSF travel support is being requested, the proposer will assure that the meeting organizer has a written policy or code-of-conduct addressing harassment.

You are encouraged to review the by-chapter summary of changes provided in the Introduction section of the PAPPG.

NSF plans to conduct a webinar covering these changes. Visit the NSF policy outreach website to sign up for notifications about this and other outreach events.

While this version of the PAPPG becomes effective on October 4, 2021, in the interim, the guidelines contained in the current PAPPG (NSF 20-1) continue to apply. 

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact the DIAS/Policy Office at policy@nsf.gov.”

NSF Critical Aspects of Sustainability (CAS)

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Economic development and human progress have led to a proliferation of manufactured chemicals and materials made from limited resources found in nature (i.e., minerals and metals, petroleum-based products and natural gas). Long-term sustainability requires consideration of the availability of specific natural resources, energy, and water usage. NSF continues to support efforts that seek to improve the efficiency with which natural resources are used to meet human needs for products and services. Sustainability research encompasses the design, manufacture and use of efficient, effective, safe and more environmentally-benign products and processes; stimulates innovation across all sectors to design and discover new chemicals and materials, production processes, and product stewardship practices; and, increases performance and value while meeting the goals of protecting and enhancing human health and the environment.

This program seeks to support basic research through core disciplinary programs aimed at improving the sustainability of resources for future generations while maintaining or improving current products in order to offer technologically-advanced, economically competitive, environmentally-benign and useful materials to a global society. In order to address these challenges, the program aims to identify opportunities for innovation in a wide range of contributing disciplines as well as integrative activities. This program encourages the development of new experimental and theoretical/modeling approaches that will aid in both reductionist and whole-systems approaches.

This program welcomes proposals in any area of research supported through the participating divisions that address the topics outlined below. The selected topics are of particular interest to core disciplinary programs in the participating divisions and do not include all funding opportunities and priorities in the area or sustainability at NSF. Proposals are submitted to the relevant core Programs indicated below in the participating Divisions, and all questions regarding proposals should be addressed by the cognizant Program Officers to which submission is contemplated. Proposals should be submitted with the “CAS:” prefix in the title.

The Division of Chemistry (CHE/MPS) welcomes proposals to its Disciplinary Research Programs, including Chemical Catalysis (CAT), Chemical Measurement and Imaging (CMI), Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms-A (CSDM-A), Chemical Structure Dynamics and Mechanisms-B (CSDM-B), Chemical Synthesis (SYN), Chemical Theory, Models and Computational Methods (CTMC), Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP), Environmental Chemical Sciences (ECS), and Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry (MSN). All proposals must be on chemical aspects of sustainability.

The Division of Materials Research (DMR/MPS) welcomes proposals to its Topical Materials Research Programs, including Biomaterials (BMAT), Ceramics (CER), Condensed Matter and Materials Theory (CMMT), Condensed Matter Physics (CMP), Electronic and Photonic Materials (EPM), Metals and Metallic Nanostructures (MMN), Polymers (POL), and Solid State and Materials Chemistry (SSMC). All proposals must be on materials aspects of sustainability and focused on fundamental materials-research approaches.

The Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems Division (CBET/ENG) has several core programs that review proposals on research topics related to sustainability, including Molecular Separations (MolS), Biosensing, Environmental Sustainability (EnvS), Biological and Environmental Interactions of Nanoscale Materials (BioNano), Combustion and Fire Systems (CFS), and Particulate and Multiphase Processes (PMP).

For the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI/ENG), proposals addressing sustainable materials processing are welcome. Of interest are manufacturing processes with reduced use of toxic components, such as solvents, carbon emissions, and pollutants; processes under ambient conditions, as opposed to extreme temperatures, pressures or other harsh conditions; and increased conservation of natural resources, such as water, raw material, and energy. Proposals to CMMI must be submitted to the Advanced Manufacturing (AM) Program and align with the scope of the program.

The Division of Earth Sciences (EAR/GEO) welcomes fundamental and transformational geosciences projects addressing the distribution of Critical Minerals and Materials in the Earth. The following programs in the division support research on this topic: Petrology and Geochemistry (CH), Geobiology and Low-Temperature Geochemistry (GG), and Frontier Research in Earth Sciences (FRES).

For additional information, including due dates for specific NSF Divisions, please visit the CAS program page.

National Science Foundation (NSF) and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Collaborative Research Opportunity in Smart and Connected Communities

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The US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) on Research Cooperation. The MOC provides an overarching framework to encourage collaboration between the US and Japanese research communities. NSF and JST are pleased to announce a collaborative research opportunity aligned with the goals of the NSF Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) Program.

Complementary expertise and resources in the US and Japan enable research in areas which are fundamental to smart and connected community solutions. Specific areas include, but are not limited to, disaster response and emergency management, precision agriculture, cybersecurity of the electric grid and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, and wired and wireless networking.

Proposals are expected to adhere to the solicitation guidelines for the NSF and JST programs from which the funding is sought and must represent an integrated, well-coordinated collaborative effort. This document provides guidelines for the preparation, submission, review, and award of NSF-JST collaborative proposals. Proposers are advised that all documents submitted to NSF or JST may be shared with the other agency in order to implement the two-way agency activities

NSF Solicitation – Smart and Connected Communities, NSF 19-564. Eligible award category: Planning Grants.

NSF Deadline: September 6, 2019

JST Solicitation – Japan (JST) – US (NSF) Joint Research 2019. Deadline: September 8, 2019.

Additional information can be found in the NSF Dear Colleague letter about the joint NSF – JST Collaborative Research Opportunity.