Preparing and Submitting Proposals to the National Science Foundation NSF

1. Preparing and Submitting Proposals to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Nancy Daneau Kimberly Schulman NYU Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) July 26, 2007

2. Agenda Materials About the NSF Electronic Systems Nuts and Bolts of Putting Together a Proposal Review Criteria Hints and Tips Resources

3. About the NSF Independent Federal Agency Unique: Responsible for overall health of science and engineering across all disciplines Other Federal agencies support research focused on specific missions Awards 25% of all Federal funding going to academic institutions for basic research 2,000+ recipients

4. What NSF is NOT Does not fund Technical assistance Research requiring security classification Development of products for commercial marketing Market research for inventions Research with disease-related goals (unless bioengineering which applies engineering principles to problems in biology and medicine) Development or testing of drugs Construction of public works No grants to State and local governments

5. Proposal and Award Statistics NSF receives 40,000 proposals annually 11,000 are funded Receives several thousand applications for Graduate fellowships Postdoctoral fellowships

6. NSF Organizational Structure

7. NSF Organizational Structure (cont�d)� Mechanisms to manage cross-cutting interdisciplinary efforts Advisors from science & engineering communities 50,000 scientists and engineers each year Serve on formal and ad hoc committees Serve as peer reviewers Grants-funding divisions for each discipline Program officers Scientists responsible for proposal review, funding *recommendations*, and programmatic monitoring **Not authorized to commit NSF funding Grants and Agreements Officers (DGA) Responsible for business, financial, administrative aspects, pre-award through close-out **Only individuals authorized to commit NSF funding

8. Identifying NSF Funding Opportunities Types: Unsolicited (program descriptions and announcements that describe areas of interest to NSF directorates) Solicited (program announcement where NSF defines competition and sets a deadline for receipt of applications) NSF Website www.nsf.gov �My NSF� http://www.nsf.gov/mynsf Personalized emails that give you information on funding opportunities based on your identified interests, publications, changes in proposal and award management, and upcoming NSF regional grants conferences Grants.gov www.grants.gov Searchable database

9. NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) One consolidated source for information relative to NSF proposals and awards Found at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/papp/nsf07140.pdf NSF Grants Proposal Guide (GPG) is incorporated into the new PAPPG as Part I NSF Grant Policy Manual (GPM), now the NSF Award & Administration Guide (AAG) is incorporated into the new PAPPG as Part II

10. Submitting Proposals to NSF All proposals to NSF must be submitted electronically NSF Fastlane (https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov), OR Grants.gov (www.grants.gov) How do you know which one to use? Funding Opportunity instructions (remember, program announcement instructions always take precedence) All collaborative proposals submitted as separate submissions from the partnering institutions MUST be submitted via Fastlane To submit via Fastlane, follow PAPPG http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/papp/nsf07140.pdf To submit via Grants.gov, follow the NSF Grants.gov Application guide http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/docs/grantsgovguide.pdf

11. NSF Fastlane Capabilities Proposal prep and submission Proposal file updates (can only be done by PI) Revised budgets Check the status of proposals in the review cycle Proposal Status Inquiry Submit project reports Post-award admin functions Notifications and Requests Change in PI No-cost extensions

12. How does one get an account through NSF Fastlane?OSP will help you, just go to: http://www.nyu.edu/osp/res/ for web-based registration in Fastlane and other systems

13. Grants.gov Single government-wide portal for finding and applying for Federal grants on-line Unlike Fastlane, Grants.gov serves as a �mailbox� that is limited to receiving and distributing to federal agencies electronic packages If NSF announcement requires use of grants.gov, follow NSF Grants.gov application guide (http:/www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/docs/grantsgovguide.pdf) General instructions NSF-specific instructions Grant application package instructions NSF-specific forms and instructions Once Grants.gov submitted proposal inserted into NSF Fastlane, no other interaction with Grants.gov required

14. When to submit Target dates Proposals can be submitted anytime on or before the target date If submitted after, they will be accepted but may not be reviewed until the next panel meeting Submission �windows� Periods of time during which you can submit a proposal End of submission window converts to �deadline�

15. When to submit (cont�d)� Deadline dates Firm dates after which proposals will not be accepted or reviewed If deadline falls on a weekend; automatically extended to the following Monday Deadlines falling on holidays move to the following business day Deadlines are by COB local time (5 p.m.) Exceptions to deadlines Natural disasters (contact your program officer via phone, email, etc.) Generally, deadlines will be extended five business days in these cases

16. Nuts and Bolts of Preparing a Proposal to NSF First and foremost Involve OSP and your Project Officer Share draft budgets for review early and often Prepare the Application for Approval for Research and Training Proposal Submission (synopsis) Internal routing and approval form Requires Chair and Dean�s signatures Proposal will be submitted without approvals to meet deadline, but withdrawn if synopsis with approvals does not follow Complete Researcher�s disclosure statement (conflict of interest) with every proposal and Agreement to Disclose (inventions and patents) with your first application to a federal sponsor

17. Nuts and Bolts of Preparing a Proposal to NSF (cont�d)� Format If proposal doesn�t conform to GPG or solicitation-specific instructions, proposal may be returned without review Deviations authorized must be documented Check proposal against the Proposal Preparation checklist Exhibit II-1

18. Nuts and Bolts of Preparing a Proposal to NSF (cont�d)� Page numbering Fastlane does not paginate automatically so be sure to do so before uploading files Particular files (project description, budget justification, etc.) Formatting Requirements Fonts allowed (must be 10 point or larger and black) Windows: Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype, or Georgia Typeface Macs: Arial, Helvetica, Palatino, or Georgia TeX: Computer Modern

19. Nuts and Bolts of Preparing a Proposal to NSF (cont�d)� Spacing Characters must not exceed 15 characters per inch No more than 6 lines of text within a vertical inch Margins: at least 1 inch Use single column format for text; columns are hard to read electronically

20. Components of an NSF proposal Cover Sheet Awardee and performing org (pre-filled upon log-on to Fastlane) Program announcement/solicitation number If none, select �grant proposal guide� If no deadline, select �no closing date� Title of proposed project Budget (pre-fills) and duration (enter start date 6 months out and # of months needed to complete project) PI Information (pre-populated once PI logs in) Previous NSF award Awardee Organization Information (pre-populated) Performing/Research Organization (if different) Other (e.g. beginning investigator, disclosure of lobbying, proprietary/privileged info., vertebrate animals, human subjects, high resolution graphics)

21. Components of an NSF proposal (cont�d)� Project Summary Abstract, suitable for publication Written in third person and include statement of objectives and methods Limited to one page Summary must specifically address the Intellectual Merit of the proposed activity the Broader Impacts of the proposed activity If separate statements addressing these review criteria not included, proposal will be returned without review

22. Components of an NSF proposal (cont�d)� Table of Contents Automatically generated by Fastlane Project Description Limited to 15 pages Includes results from prior NSF support (no more than 5 pages) NSF award number, amount and period of support Title of the project Summary of results List of resulting publications Description of available data If renewal request, description of tie-in for the current proposal to completed work Must be a clear statement of work that addresses the two review criteria Intellectual merit Broader impacts If *unfunded* collaborations proposed, describe and include letter from collaborator in supplementary documentation section Use of website URL�s not recommended unless a reference citation

23. Components of an NSF proposal (cont�d)� References cited Must use standard, acceptable style No page limitation Include website for those available electronically Biographical Sketches Include only for senior/key personnel Defined as individual(s) responsible for scientific or technical direction of project Limited to two pages per individual

24. Components of an NSF proposal (cont�d)� Biosketches to include: Professional preparation (undergrad, grad, and post-doc education and training) Appointments (in chronological order, most recent first) Publications (up to 5 most relevant to proposed project and up to 5 other significant) Synergistic activities Up to 5 examples, e.g. innovations in teaching and training, development of research tools, role in increasing participation of groups underrepresented Collaborators and other affiliations Co-authors during 48 months preceding proposal submission Co-editors during 24 months preceding proposal submission Graduate advisors, thesis advisor, post-doc sponsors within past 5 years If none, state as such Used to ensure no conflicts of interest arise during selection of reviewers) Do NOT include any personal information

25. Components of an NSF proposal (cont�d)� Budget Each year must have a budget (cumulative generated automatically in Fastlane) Costs must be allowable, allocable, and reasonable A-21, Cost Principles for Educational Institutions NYU policies Direct Costs Facilities and Administrative (Indirect) Costs

26. Budget Categories Salaries and Wages (lines A&B) $�s requested for faculty and other key personnel must be in proportion to the effort devoted to the project For key personnel, entering $0 dollars and no effort is unacceptable Must be NYU employees External collaborators should be listed on the budget page as either consultants (G.3) or subawards (G.5.) For summer: total of faculty member�s salary charged across all NSF-funded grants may not exceed two-ninths of academic year salary (2 summer months; may not charge academic year salary) If confidential (i.e. faculty does not want anyone outside the NSF to see salary rates): Salary line reflects total for all personnel as a single figure Person-month may be omitted Check box on cover sheet titled �proprietary or privileged information� Detail must be provided on separate paper and marked as confidential, submitted electronically as a single-copy document NSF will not share with reviewers

27. Budget Categories (cont�d)� Salaries of admin and clerical staff Generally part of the administrative portion of the F&A/indirect cost pool and therefore not direct-charged Exceptions: Major projects or center grants (defined in Exhibit C of OMB Circular A-21, Cost Principles for Educational Institutions) http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a021/a21_2004.html Projects requiring extensive data collection and analyses Conference grants requiring administrative support for making extensive travel arrangements

28. Budget Categories (cont�d)� Fringe Benefits (line C) Calculated either as percentage of salary and wages, per federally negotiated F&A rate agreement or by actual cost direct based on individual�s benefit selections Here at NYU we use our federally negotiated fringe benefit rate (27% as of 9/1/07 with estimated increases of � percent (.5%) per year thereafter) Equipment (line D) Items costing $3,000 or above with useful life of at least one year General purpose items such as personal computers or office furnishings not allowable unless purchased exclusively for use on the research project and deemed integral to the scope of work

29. Budget Categories (cont�d)� Travel (line E) Itemize by destination and cost Include airfare, lodging, per diem, mileage, etc. Airfare must be economy U.S. carriers must be used whenever possible (Fly America Act) Domestic Includes U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico Foreign Must identify country to be visited and relevance Dependent travel covered only under specific circumstances

30. Budget Categories (cont�d)� Participant Support Costs (line F) Transportation, per diem, stipends and other costs of trainees on NSF-funded grants for: Conferences Meetings Symposia Workshops Trainees may NOT be employees Exception: local school districts where teachers are trainees In this case, stipends may be categorized as participant support as long as school district has accounting mechanism in place to track and report stipends separate from salary

31. Budget Categories (cont�d)� Other Direct Costs (lines G1. to G6.) Materials and supplies (G1) Lab supplies such as beakers, chemicals, etc Animals Publication costs (G2) Reprints Reports Consultant services (G3) No cap on rate, but must be reasonable, based on market Specify affiliation, rate (hourly/daily), number of hours/days required, travel costs if applicable Computer services (G4) Generally, only for access to supercomputing centers, data warehouses specifically set up for large data collection Charge only when institutional policy indicates as such

32. Budget Categories (cont�d)� Subawards (G5) Transfer of a substantive portion of the programmatic effort Separate budget for each subrecipient should be included along with SOW (refer to section on collaborative proposals presented later) If not included in the proposed budget, issuance of subaward requires prior approval by NSF Other (G6) Other costs not attributable to major cost categories E.g. tuition remission (see http://www.nyu.edu/osp/policies/basicinfo.php), human subject payments, etc.

33. Budget Categories (cont�d)� Total direct costs (Line H) Sum total of lines A-G Facilities and Administrative (F&A)/Indirect Costs (line I) Applied as a percentage of specific categories of cost Based on negotiated rate agreement with cognizant agency DHHS agreement dated 7/2/2007 Rate is 53.5% for period 9/1/07-8/31/08 and 54% effective 9/1/08 (see http://www.nyu.edu/osp/policies/basicinfo.php) Basis for rate is Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) 53.5% X total direct costs less equipment, participant support, tuition remission, and that amount exceeding the first $25K on each subaward

34. Budget Categories (cont�d)� Total direct and indirect costs (line J) Sum total of comprehensive cost estimate Amount of the request (line L) Should be the same as line J Cost Sharing (line M) NSF does NOT require any cost sharing mandatory cost sharing requirements by program and institutional 1% aggregate rules rescinded However, *if* identified either on line M or in budget pages or narrative (e.g. time and effort for which no salary is requested), becomes a condition of the award and must be tracked and reported upon and will be audited

35. Components of an NSF proposal (cont�d)� Justification Not to exceed three pages Must provide specifics on how cost estimates were derived and explain why costs are necessary for the accomplishment of the activities described in the SOW E.g. base rates of pay for salaried positions and the roles/responsibilities of each position, estimates for travel including airfare, lodging, per diem should be specified Provide reference to federally negotiated rate agreement for F&A/indirect cost and fringe benefit rates

36. Components of an NSF proposal (cont�d)� Current and Pending Support Disclose support from any and all sources Include awards even where no salary is being requested (must show time and effort committed to project) List total award amount (direct + indirect) for entire award period covered List number of person-months committed for each year (CAL, AY, SUM)

37. Components of an NSF proposal (cont�d)� Facilities, Equipment, and Other Resources Describe facilities and resources available to conduct the SOW Special Information and Supplementary Documentation Takes the place of appendices Usually, program announcement will specify need for items May only include the following: Rational for performance off-site Letters of commitment documenting collaborators planned participation Information on environmental impact Work in foreign countries Research in Greenland Antarctic proposals Research in a registered historic place Research with genetically engineered organisms Documentation regarding research with human subjects, hazardous materials Tech transfer management plans RUI or REU�s NO LETTERS OF SUPPORT UNLESS REQUESTED (e.g. training grants)

38. Other considerations Common circumstances Collaborative proposals Can be submitted in two ways Together, with the lead institution completing all requisite portions of the proposal and populating with collaborators scope of work, roles and responsibilities Results in subaward(s) issued to collaborators by lead institution At time of submission, NYU OSP needs subrecipient�s SOW, budget, and letter of collaboration reflecting approval by authorized representative

39. Collaborative proposals (cont�d) Separately, by �linking� the proposals Lead submits first with title �Collaborative Research:�.� Non-lead institution(s) assign a PIN to proposal Provides PIN and temporary proposal ID number to lead institution before lead submits Lead institution enters each collaborators PIN and temporary proposal ID into Fastlane by using �link proposal� option in the Form Preparation screen Collaborators include everything EXCEPT project summary, project description, and references cited Linked proposals should all be submitted within close proximity to one another Results in separate awards made by NSF directly to each organization

40. Single Copy Documents Information about PI/PD�s and Co-PI�s (gender, race, ethnicity, etc.) Authorization to deviate List of suggested reviewers and those not to include Proprietary or privileged information (including confidential salary info.) Proposal certifications (AOR) Conflict of interest Drug-free workplace Debarment and suspension Lobbying Nondiscrimination Flood hazard insurance

41. Review Criteria Questions that must be answered in your proposal What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity? What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity? Timeframe for review and award Six months for programmatic review Often, a revised budget will be requested to match available funding level Contact OSP; program officials typically contact PI only Submit revised budget timely or risk losing funding Typically thirty days for DGA to issue award once program office makes final recommendation

42. Other hints and tips Your copy of the announcement should be highlighted, dog eared�.read and re-read Look for special terms and conditions included Be sure you know the deadline date (target vs. deadline) Margin and spacing reqt�s Be sure to follow, can look different depending on type of computer you are using (Mac vs. PC) Do not exceed page limitations on sections and use page numbering where possible Remember, if intellectual merit and broader impacts statements not included, proposal will not be reviewed so make a header for those sections to ensure they stand out Project Summary should be in the 3rd person, active voice When you �view/edit/submit� in Fastlane, hit �allow SRO access� Make sure PI is reachable on deadline day to address any last minute issues Submit via Fastlane whenever possible; submit via Grants.gov when required

43. NYU and NSF Resources NYU Office of Sponsored Programs/Project Officers http://www.nyu.edu/osp/about/ NSF: See Frequently Asked Questions on Proposal Preparation http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/faqs.pdf Help with Broader Impact Statement http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/broaderimpacts.pdf Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) Replaced Grants Proposal Guide (GPG) and Grants Policy Manual (GPM) for proposals submitted on or after June 1, 2007 http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/papp/nsf07140.pdf Grants.gov and NSF Fastlane http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/fastlane.jsp Contact NSF Policy Office, Division of Institution & Award Support policy@nsf.gov; (703) 292-8243 Fastlane Help Desk fastlane@nsf.gov; (703) 292-8142 or (800) 673-6188 NSF offices/directorates http://www.nsf.gov/staff/orglist.jsp