[CCoE Notice] NSF Undergoing Major Changes Effective 1/14/13

[Fritz Claydon]

The National Science Foundation <http://www.nsf.gov/> (NSF) is making major
changes that will affect how researchers will prepare and submit proposals
for funding.  There also is a change to the way proposals are reported
upon. All changes will go into effect Jan. 14.

Failure to follow the new guidelines could result in a faculty member’s
proposal not being accepted or in a report being lost.

A significant change is that FastLane will reject proposal submissions if
key elements of a proposal are not completed correctly. The rejection will
be marked “Proposal Not Accepted.” The new NSF Proposal and Award Policies
and Procedure Guide (PAPP) states if the proposal, “does not contain the
project summary, including an overview, and separate statements on
intellectual merit and broader impacts it will not be accepted by
FastLane.” This new non-award category will also apply to data management
plans as well as postdoctoral mentoring plans.

Because of FastLane’s new ability to block submissions of non-compliant
proposals, NSF strongly suggests submitting proposals several hours before
the deadline to allow time to correct errors.

For the first time in 13 years, the National Science Board has made changes
in the merit review criteria that will affect the way in which proposals
will be reviewed and scored. There also are significant changes to many
proposal elements including biosketches and proposal summaries.

NSF also has clarified the appropriate use of indirect costs, or facilities
and administrative costs, as well as cost sharing and conflict of interest
polices.

Within the next few months NSF will shut down FastLane for reporting
functions only and will use Research.gov. FastLane will still be used for
proposals submissions.

The new NSF PAPP Guide can be found at
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf13001.


-- 
Fritz Claydon Ph.D.
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Associate Dean of Administration and Research
University of Houston
Cullen College of Engineering
713.743.4204
fclaydon at uh.edu

  [image: Carnegie Designation Tagline Logotype - UH Logotype only]

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