On Behalf of the National Science Foundation (NSF): Outline of Changes to NSF Grant Application Submission Process

For information regarding this post on behalf of the National Science Foundation (NSF), please contact the following individual:

Kim Deutsch
NSF
Email: KDeutsch@nsf.gov
Phone: 703-292-4497

Dear Colleagues,
Effective August 23, 2010, NSF will implement several important changes to the application submission process through Grants.gov.
These changes include:
• Implementation of the latest versions of the Project/Performance Site Location(s) (v1.4) and Research & Related Other Project Information (1.3) forms; and
• Automation of compliance checking for the Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan in the Research & Related Other Project Information form

Please see below for detailed descriptions of these changes to assist you in meeting these requirements.

Regards,
Jean Feldman

Overview of Changes
R&R Forms
Overview of Change: Effective August 23, 2010, NSF application packages will include the latest versions of the R&R Project/Performance Site Location (v1.4) and Research & Related Other Project Information (1.3) forms for funding submissions through Grants.gov.

Please note: opportunities posted prior to August 23 will continue to use the older versions of these forms since applicants may be in the process of preparing their application.

Customer Impact: Applicants submitting proposals to NSF through may notice the following changes:

1. Project/Performance Site Location(s) (v1.4): This version of the form allows up to 30 project/performance sites. However, NSF only accepts the first one listed. Any additional sites will not be included with the submission. DUNS ID is no longer a required field, but is encouraged, if applicable
2. Research & Related Other Project Information (1.3): The Human Assurance Number is always optional. In the older version of the form, applicants were not able to enter the Human Assurance Number unless the project was NOT exempt and the IRB review was NOT pending.

Grantee System Impact: Effective August 23, Grantee Systems must use the latest versions of the schemas referenced above for NSF funding opportunities for application submission.
Mentoring Plans
Overview of Change: On April 24, 2010, NSF initiated automated compliance checking of applications which request funding to support postdoctoral researchers. Such applications must include a one-page postdoctoral mentoring plan as a supplementary document.

Customer Impact: Applications that do not comply with this requirement will not be inserted into NSF’s FastLane system and therefore cannot be reviewed. The plan must be included as an attachment in Field 12 of the R&R Other Project Information form if the Postdoc line in the budget (Section B of the R&R Budget and each R&R Subaward Budget attachment) is greater than zero.

As a reminder, the instructions in Chapter II.C.2.j of the Grant Proposal Guide stipulate that each proposal that requests funding to support postdoctoral researchers must include, as a supplementary document, a description of the mentoring activities that will be provided for such individuals.

Grantee System Impact: Applicants may want to consider implementing a system edit that would prevent submission of an application to NSF if the Postdoc line in the budget (Section B of the R&R Budget and each R&R Subaward Budget attachment) is greater than zero and no mentoring plan is included.

Applications that do not comply with this requirement will not be inserted into NSF’s FastLane system and therefore cannot be reviewed.

The attachment file name must be “Mentoring Plan.pdf”.

However, Grants.gov and even some Grantee Systems modify the name after submission by adding information before or after the name. Even the spaces might be replaced. All of these changes to the file name are not an issue. NSF will accept an attachment ending with “.pdf” with any characters at the beginning or end of the file name and the following variations:
• MentoringPlan – run together with no spaces or special characters
• Mentoring&Plan – where any one character in that spot is acceptable