NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures

Guide (PAPPG)

Effective for proposals submitted and awards issued on or after

January 5, 2008http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_

summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf081

One Source for Information Relative to NSF Proposals and Awards

NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) is incorporated into the new PAPPG as Part I NSF Grants.gov Application Guide will be incorporated into

the PAPPG later GPG now includes a subject index

NSF Grant Policy Manual (GPM) is incorporated into the new PAPPG as Part II Renamed the NSF Award & Administration Guide (AAG)

Both GPG and GPM (now AAG) used to be stand-alone documents

NSF Grant Proposal Guide (Part I of the PAPPG)http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg081

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG

Chapter 1, Pre-Submission Information Section A, NSF Proposal Preparation and Submission

Mechanisms Chapter title now “Pre-Submission Information” Describes Fastlane and Grants.gov

Section E, Categories of Proposers supplemented Clarifies definition of “Universities and Colleges”

Institutions located and accredited in the U.S. Specifies circumstances whereby other Federal

agencies/FFRDCs may submit proposals to NSF directly Special Projects National and International programs International Travel Awards

NSF Program Officer reviews and makes determination

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Section F, When to Submit Proposals New section, “Special Exceptions to NSF’s Deadline

Date Policy” Replaces NSF practice of posting notices to NSF website

regarding impacting event Extensions to deadlines impacted by natural disasters

granted with PRIOR APPROVAL of NSF Program Officer Request authorization to submit late proposal, by

telephone or email Follow Program Officer’s verbal or written guidance In general, deadline is extended 5 business days

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Section G.3., Registering in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) Instructions on how to register in the CCR,

required prior to submitting proposal to NSF Proposed subrecipients/subawardees must also

register

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Chapter II, Proposal Preparation Instructions Section B.2., Proposal Margin and Spacing Requirements

Fonts allowed in NSF proposals Arial at 10 points or larger Courier New at 10 points or larger Helvetica at 10 points or larger Palatino at 10 points or larger Times New Roman at 11 points or larger Computer Modern at 11 points or larger Georgia Typeface

Black font No smaller than 10 point

Mathematical formulas, equations, figure, table or diagram captions may use less than 10 points but must still be legible

No more than 6 lines of text within a vertical space of 1 inch Margins, in all directions must be 1 inch

Page formatting: use standard, single-column format for text (ease of use for reviewers viewing proposals electronically)

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Section C.1.e, Proposal Certifications AOR signature now includes (in addition to others

previously included) Certification regarding Nondiscrimination

Compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Age Discrimination Act of 1975

Certification regarding Flood Hazard Insurance Applicable only to those areas identified by FEMA as flood

hazard zone If yes, AOR must certify that community participates in national

flood insurance program OR building and equipment is covered by flood insurance

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Section C.2.a., Cover Sheet Revised to match format in Fastlane and provide explanatory

information on each “field” of info. Requested Section C.2.f., Bio sketches

Personal information should NOT be included on the bio sketch or with proposal

Section C.2.g., Budget GPG covers allowability from budget preparation prespective

e.g. specifies that consultants and subrecipients should NOT be listed on salary lines (A), but rather in the consultant line (G.3) and subawards line item (G.5)

Specifies that salaries for administrative and clerical support are normally F&A and not to be charged as direct cost, unless project requires extensive amount AND institution consistently treats like costs in same manner (defined in A-110).

AAG provides guidance from an allowability and administrative perspective (A-21)

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Section C.2.g.(i)(a), Salaries and Wages Lines A&B should include only employees of the proposing

org. Section C.2.g.(ii), Fringe Benefits

If direct costs, charged as a percentage or based on actual costs for individual employee Charge in accordance with approved agreement with cognizant

federal agency Section C.2.g.(v), Participant Support Costs

Clarification, finally on educational projects at local school districts If participants trained are employees of the local school district,

costs are participant support if stipend or training allowance method used school must have sub-accounts in place to differentiate

between salary and stipend payments

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Section C.2.g.(vi)(a), Materials and Supplies Defined: tangible personal property, other than equipment,

costing less than $3,000 (per NYU’s threshold) Include cost estimates for items representing substantial amount of

line item total

Section C.2.g.(viii), F&A/Indirect Costs Rate applied is to be used for life cycle of the grant (until

renewal is submitted) If org does not have negotiated rate agreement, must now

prepare an indirect cost proposal Based on expenditures for most recently ended fiscal year Submitted to NSF only if award is to be made Also applies to subrecipient organizations

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Section C.2.g.(xi), Cost Sharing Eliminates NSF program-specific cost sharing Eliminates statutory (1%) institutional cost sharing

requirement on unsolicited proposals NO COST SHARING EXPECTED BY NSF IN ANY

CIRCUMSTANCE If included, has NO bearing on NSF’s review

Section C.2.j, Special Information and Supplementary Documentation Do not submit letters of support with a proposal unless

required by specific solicitation If required, letters must be specific to the proposal and unaltered

Proposals that do not comply may be returned without review

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Section D.5 and D.6, Proposals Involving Vertebrate Animals and Proposals Involving Human Subjects Reorganized and formatted to match the SF 424 R&R

form Section D.7, Proposals for Conferences,

Symposia, and Workshops Costs associated must be identified in the SOW and

approved by NSF

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Section D.10, Support for Development of NSF Centers New to the GPG Describes NSF support for Centers and Centers

Programs Investigations at the frontier of knowledge not normally

attainable through individual investigations Focus on integrative learning and discovery Demonstrate leadership in broadening participation through

focused invesments in diverse partner institutions and individuals

10 year life cycle

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Section D.11, Support for Development of Major Facilities and Equipment New to the GPG Describes NSF support for Construction and Major

Research Equipment Exhibits II-1 through II-7

Were previously included as appendices to the GPG Now included as exhibits to Chapter II since relevant

to proposal preparation

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Chapter III, Proposal Processing and Review Section A, Review Criteria

Adds a flowchart (Exhibit III-1 titled “NSF Proposal & Award Process & Timeline) to show how the review and award process works

Revises intellectual merit review criterion to include evaluation of proposals for potentially transformative concepts

Section B, Selection of Reviewers New to the GPG Describes the process by which NSF selects reviewers

Special knowledge of the field Knowledge of subfields to evaluate broader impacts Broad knowledge of S&E infrastructure to evaluate contributions to societal

goals Diversification

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Section F, Review Information Provided to PI Once decision has been made, PI receives the

following info. through Fastlane Description of the context in which the proposal was

reviewed; Copies of all reviews used in decision (with reviewer

identification redacted); Copy of panel summary if applicable; and Site visit reports, if applicable

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Chapter IV, Non-Award Decisions and Transactions Used to be named “Withdrawals, Returns, and

Declinations” Section C, Declinations

PI’s will receive information and explanation for decision along with copies of reviews once decision receives concurrence of cognizant Division Director

Accessible via Fastlane Section D, Reconsideration

Moved to the GPG from the GPM (now the AAG) When reconsideration request made of the AD/Office Head,

changes the timeframe during which the results of the reconsideration request must be furnished to the proposer Now 45 days (from 30)

Summary of Significant Changes to the GPG cont’d…

Chapter V, Renewal Proposals Section B, Accomplishment-Based Renewal

Special types of renewal proposals For investigator who has made significant contributions over

a number of years in the area of research Contact NSF Program Officer before preparing

NSF Award & Administration Guide(Part II of the PAPPG)http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=aag081

Summary of Significant Changes to the AAG

Used to be called the Grants Policy Manual (GPM)

Now called the Award & Administration Guide

Summary of Significant Changes to the AAG cont’d….

Chapter I, NSF Awards Section A, Acceptance of Assistance Agreements

New section indicating that NSF drawdown is the indicator of award acceptance

Includes procedures if institution chooses NOT to accept award

Section D.3., Changes in Grant Periods Effective date of an award may NOT be changed

Summary of Significant Changes to the AAG cont’d….

Section E.3., Continuing Support Generally, no approval need be sought for continuing

increments Increments funded at level indicated in award notice so long

as: Satisfactory progress has been made NSF has funding Grantee has submitted an annual report (3 months

before the end of current period) NSF approves annual report

Continuing increments released when NSF Program Officer approves annual report Grantee notified by email

Summary of Significant Changes to the AAG cont’d….

Chapter II, Grant Administration Section D, Cost Sharing

Eliminates NSF program-specific cost sharing Eliminates statutory (1%) institutional cost sharing

requirement on unsolicited proposals No cost sharing expected by NSF under any circumstance IF COST SHARING INCLUDED ON LINE M, IT BECOMES

MANDATORY, MUST BE TRACKED/REPORTED AND IS SUBJECT TO AUDIT.

Summary of Significant Changes to the AAG cont’d….

Section E.5, Grant Closeout Financially closed

One full quarter after award expiration/termination date Based on FCTR submitted

Administratively closed After receipt of the Final Project Report Once all other administrative requirements have been met

**NSF reserves the right to recover disallowed costs until such time a final audit is conducted

Summary of Significant Changes to the AAG cont’d….

Chapter IV, Grantee Standards Section A, Conflict of Interest Policies

References and hotlinks to COI policies and procedures now included

Chapter V, Allowability of Costs Section B.6.a., Consultant Services

No longer a limit on daily rates for consultants Rates should be comparable, based on market value for

similar services

Summary of Significant Changes to the AAG cont’d….

Section B.8.a, Participant Support Costs Clarification, finally on educational projects at local school

districts If participants trained are employees of the local school district,

costs are participant support *if* stipend or training allowance method used school must have sub-accounts in place to differentiate

between salary and stipend payments

Section C.5.i, Meetings and Conferences Travel, meal, and hotel expenses of grantee employees

who are not on travel status are UNALLOWABLE No more pizza lunches in the lab to “discuss research”!

Summary of Significant Changes to the AAG cont’d….

Section D, Indirect Costs Federally negotiated rate in effect at time of award

must be used throughout the life of the award “Life” defined as a competitive segment Competitive segment defined as period of years approved

by the Federal agency at the time of award Foreign grantees/entities can recover

*IF* entity has a negotiated rate agreement with a U.S. Federal agency

Summary of Significant Changes to the AAG cont’d….

Chapter VI, Other Post Award Requirements and Considerations Section D, Intellectual Property

Hotlinks to web site where Patent Rights, Copyrightable Material, and Intellectual Property Rights clauses can be found

Updated to reflect that invention reports should be submitted electronically Via iEdison Invention Information Management System

Summary of Significant Changes to the AAG cont’d….

Section L, National Security Requires PI to notify NSF Program Officer if research

results found to involve potentially classifiable information

Chapter VII, Grant Administration Disputes and Misconduct In old GPM, was called Grant Administration

Highlights Section C.2.e, Research Misconduct

Includes hotlink to online training by the Office of Research Integrity (ORI)