Navigating the NSF

ERA Empowerment SeriesMay 2014

PRESENTED BY: DONNA OBEID & BLANCA REBUELTA

Housekeeping

Learning ObjectivesBy the end of this course, you will be able to: • Identify the purpose, vision and responsibilities of the

National Science Foundation (NSF).• Identify and understand the different types of NSF

funding opportunities.• Navigate the steps of the NSF proposal process.• Navigate through Fastlane for proposal submission.• Describe the stages of the NSF Award Acceptance

and Processing.• Become familiar with the NSF post-award

management and reporting requirements.

 

NSF Overview…In the Beginning

“The Government should accept new responsibilities

for promoting the flow of scientific knowledge

and the development of scientific talent

in our youth.” – Science, The Endless Frontier, 1945

NSF VisionAdvancing discovery, innovation and

education beyond the frontiers

of current knowledge,

and empowering

future generations in

science and engineering.

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1. What’s the difference between a program announcement and program solicitation?

2. What font size should the PI use?

3. How many pages can the biosketch be?

4. I need OSR to approve a no cost extension to use an unliquidated balance on an NSF award…will they do this?

Test Your Knowledge!

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Who Do We Work With in NSF?

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Program Officers Grants OfficersResponsible for the scientific, technical, and programmatic review of proposals

Responsible for the business, financial, and administrative aspects

Listed in the award documents Listed in the award documents

Monitors the scientific aspects of project

Serve as point of contact and in most cases, have final authority to make changes to awards

Funding Opportunities

How does My PI find out about potential funding opportunities?

Funding OpportunitiesNSF Guide to Programs • Compilation of funding opportunities• http://www.nsf.gov/funding/browse_all_funding.jsp

NSF Active Funding Opportunities• Lists active funding opportunities by upcoming due date• http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_list.jsp?org=NSF&ord=date

Pivot• http://pivot.cos.com/about_pivot

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Different Types of Funding

Type of Funding Description of NSF Support

a. Standard GrantNSF provides a specific level of support for a specified period.No intent to provide additional future support without another proposal.

b. Renewal Proposals Two types: Regular and Accomplish Based Renewals. Requests for additional funding for a support period subsequent to that provided by a standard grant.

c. Two-Year Extensions for Special Creativity

Program officer recommends extension of funding for up to 2 yrs. to particularly creative investigators, giving them extended opportunity in adventurous, "high-risk" opportunities in the same research area.

d. Supplemental Funding

Small amounts of supplemental funding and up to 6 mos. of additional support are requested for completion of original scope of work. Grantee must submit request at least 2 mos. before funds are actually needed.

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Program AnnouncementProvides detailed award and program information including special requirements for proposal preparation and limitations on some types of costs.

In terms of planning, pay careful attention to Deadlines and Target Dates:

• Deadlines• Target Dates • Submission Windows• Unsolicited Proposals• Limited Submissions• Identifies electronic submission mechanism› Grants.gov or Fastlane

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What is Fastlane?• An interactive, real-time internet portal used to

submit proposals and conduct business with NSF

• Currently used by NSF and its client community for all proposal, review and award interactions

• Utilized for post-award actions, reporting (research.gov), and supplemental requests

• Selected programs are being transitioned to Grants.gov for proposal submission

https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/index.jsp

• Proposer has choice of submission method (grants.gov or Fastlane)

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FastLane Features

Proposal Preparation

Proposal Status

Proposal File Update

Revise Submitted Proposal Budget

View/Print Award Letters

Project Reporting (research.gov)

Notifications and Requests

No Cost Time Extensions

Transfer of Award

Allows requests for cash to be deposited directly into an awardee’s bank account through an entirely electronic process

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Fastlane Demo!

Professor Harry Upanwaite runs into your office waving an email around excitedly.

He can’t wait to tell you that his Program Officer said that he was recommended for funding – all he had to do was Fed Ex him a revised budget for 30% less than the original proposal, which he is proud to tell you he did promptly and without any of your help.

He wants to start paying a graduate student right away and start the project on the following Monday.

What do you do?

Case Study 1

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How do PIs apply for funding

in Fastlane?

Getting Started in FastlaneFastlane website: https://www.Fastlane.nsf.gov

Fastlane demonstration site: You do not have to be a registered user Excellent way for new users (Faculty and staff) to orient

themselves with the proposal process https://www.fldemo.nsf.gov/index.jsp

Electronic Proposal Submission instructions can be found at:https://www.FastLane.nsf.gov/guides/EB_Proposal_Submission.pdf

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Faculty Registration• Faculty registration is mandatory!

• The ERA RFA (or the PI) contacts OSR for:

› Individual registration (New or Transfer)

› Changing a password

› Forgotten passwords

› For new registrations, the PI will need to provide:

• Name, department

• Highest degree and year conferred

• E-mail address, phone and fax numbers

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Organization Registration

Stanford is a registered institution.

ERA is responsible for uploading documents into Fastlane but not submitting!

OSR is responsible for:

1. Registering Principal Investigators and Administrative Staff as FastLane users

2. Signing proposals

3. Submitting proposals in Fastlane

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Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide(PAPPG)

• Contains two parts:• Part I. Proposal Preparation & Submission

Guidelines• Part II. Award and Administration Guide

• Effective for proposals submitted on or after February 24, 2014

• Keep in PDF or print it out!

http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf14001&org=NSF

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Preparing the Proposal

• Proposals must conform to the instructions in BOTH the PAPPG and PA.

• RFA works with PI to ensure formatting is correct.

• If PI has a collaborative proposal and Stanford is the lead institution, be sure to link collaborative proposals

• Single Proposal/Simultaneous submission

• Link proposals by obtaining the non-lead collaborative Temporary Proposal ID and PIN

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Proposal Forms • Cover sheet

• Project Summary – 1 page synopsis

• Overview, broader impacts, intellectual merit

• Table of Contents – automatically generated

• Project Description – 15 page limit

• Proposal Budget and Justification

• References Cited – must be included!

• Biographical Sketches – 2 page limit; PI/Co-PIs and senior personnel

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Proposal FormsCurrent and Pending Support• All research projects that PI has effort devoted to.• The current proposal being submitted should be

included as pending support

Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources• Assesses the capability of the available organizational

resources.

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Proposal FormsSupplementary Docs

• Postdoc mentoring plan• Data management plan• Project summary with special characters• Forms allowed as determined by the PAPPG/PA

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Proposal FormsSingle Copy Documents:• List of suggested reviewers or reviewers NOT to

include.

Deviation Authorization• Use only if prior approval has been given by NSF

• Proprietary information

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Proposal Budget & Justification• Prepare in FastLane.

• Create a budget year for each of the budget periods.

• Use whole dollar amounts.

• Use the “Save and Calculate” button to save changes.

• A budget justification is required for all proposals!

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Proposal Budget - Subaward• If you are including a subaward in your proposal, you

must add their organization to your budget.

• Choose Add Another Org.

• Search for the institution.

• After choosing your subaward institution, you will be required to choose the PI for that institution

• Prior to adding budget, add subaward PI in the  Add/Delete Non Co-PI Senior Personnel section of proposal

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NSF Budget RestrictionsSalary & Wages

• Salary for senior personnel is limited to no more than two months of their regular salary in any one year. This includes salary received from all NSF funded grants.

• Consultants – The current daily maximum rate is no longer capped.

Travel

• Travel allowance must be consistent with both NSF and Stanford policies. Remember the Fly America Act.

Cost Sharing

• Do not include unless specifically requested by PA.28

Proposal Submission• Prepare for OSR Review

• Give OSR Officer (CGO) access by allowing SRO Access to review proposal and submit. If submit rights are not given, CGO does not receive notification e-mail

• CGO will notify you of errors to be corrected

• Fastlane sends an email to PI indicating the proposal has been submitted

• PI can then access the proposal through Fastlane29

Proposal Preparation Tips• Program announcement deviates from PAPPG. Both

should be referenced during proposal preparation.

• Questions during proposal preparation- contact the program officer listed in the program announcement or Fastlane help is a good resource too.

• Sections of proposal not required should include a page that state “NOT APPLICABLE”

• Each section of proposal should be paginated.

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Proposal Preparation Tips• Intellectual merit and broader impact should be included in

the project summary, project description, and Results from Prior NSF support.

• Results from Prior NSF support – only include the award most closely related to the proposal.

• References cited cannot include etc., et al..

• Costsharing included as a cumulative in the first year budget only.

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Supplemental FundingSubmit to Program Officer at least 2 months prior to need

Request via FastLane

Include: Summary of proposed work Justification for supplement Budget justification Budget

Cannot be used for increases in salaries or additional F&A costs

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Original institution makes the request via FastLane. The request includes:

• A brief summary of progress to date.

• A description of work yet to be accomplished.

• Disbursements to date.

Original institution forwards the request electronically to the new institution.

Transfer of Award Original Institution Role

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• New institution provides a detailed line item budget for the transfer amount and any outstanding continuing increments.

• New institution electronically signs the request when submitted to NSF.

Transfer of Award New Institution Role

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What happens once a proposal is submitted?

The following issues may arise after the award is issued; consult with your OSR colleague to resolve them.

• Prior Approvals

• No Cost Time Extensions

• Transfer of PI to Another Institution

Post-Award Concerns

Annual Progress

Submitted three months prior to the end of the current cycle.

Failure to submit timely reports may result in a delay of the next funding increment.

Final Project reports

Due within 90 days following the expiration of the grant period (including cost share reports, etc.).

Failure to provide final technical reports on a timely basis will delay NSF review and processing of pending proposals for all identified PIs and co-PIs on a given award.

Reporting Requirements

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Professor R. U. Awake has had an exciting breakthrough in her research.

While she was analyzing the psychological profile of criminals, she came upon a striking similarity in the psychological profile of health care workers.

She found the lead intriguing and wants to use her NSF funds to study further into the profile of nurses. She comes to you and wants to purchase a video camera and tapes for her interview with the nurses since she can no longer use the prison’s equipment.

What are the issues?

Case Study 2

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Any Questions?

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Next Steps…• In the next day or two, you will receive an email

message containing:

a.) a feedback form link and b.) a quiz!

• To receive credit for this class, you’ll need to complete both the quiz and feedback form within 7 days.

Thanks for attending!