Effective 04/24/17: New NSF Form for Identifying Collaborators and Other Affiliations on Grant Applications

MU Grants Community,

Please see below information related to a new format for the Collaborators and Other Affiliations document included in your grant application forms in NSF Fastlane.

Dear Colleagues:

On April 24, 2017, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will initiate a new pilot requiring the use of a spreadsheet template for identifying Collaborators and Other Affiliations information for Principal Investigators (PIs), co-PIs, and other senior project personnel identified on proposals.

The NSF Proposal and Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 17-1) requires PIs, co-PIs, and other senior project personnel identified on NSF proposals to individually upload Collaborators and Other Affiliations information as a Single Copy Document (see PAPPG Chapter II.C.1.e).

NSF uses this information during the merit review process to help manage reviewer selection. To expedite identification of potential reviewers, having a standard, searchable format for this information is essential. The new pilot will standardize Collaborators and Other Affiliations information across the Foundation and will ensure that the information is submitted in a searchable format. Results from the pilot will be assessed and will determine how to proceed with this section of the proposal in the future.

Effective April 24, 2017, NSF will require the submission of a spreadsheet template to identify collaborators and other affiliations. Please note that the spreadsheet template:

• Has been developed to be fillable. However, the content and format requirements must not be altered by submitters.
• Must be saved in .xlsx or .xls formats and directly uploaded into FastLane as a Collaborators and Other Affiliations Single Copy Document.
• Will be converted by FastLane from an .xlsx or .xls file to a PDF file.
• Has been tested in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice.
• Will enable preservation of searchable text that otherwise would be lost. Must be uploaded in .xlsx or .xls formats only. Uploading a Collaborators and Other Affiliations Single Copy Document in any other format may delay the timely processing and review of your proposal.
• Will be directly linked in FastLane. The template and associated instructions may also be accessed directly at: https://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/coa.jsp.

In addition to the merit review process benefits, the Collaborators and Other Affiliations template will reduce administrative burden and improve efficiencies by providing submitters with a compliant and reusable format to maintain this information for use in subsequent proposal submissions to NSF.

Please be advised that the new Collaborators and Other Affiliations pilot beginning on April 24 will only be for FastLane proposal submissions. Grants.gov proposal submissions will continue to follow the instructions in NSF Grants.gov Application Guide Chapter VI.2.4.

We encourage you to share this information with your colleagues. For system-related questions, please contact FastLane User Support at 1-800-673-6188 or fastlane@nsf.gov. Policy-related questions should be directed to policy@nsf.gov.

Thank you,

NSF ERA Forum Team

National Science Foundation

4201 Wilson Boulevard

Arlington, VA 22230

Grant Connections | December 2016 Notes

Notes from the December Grant Connections meeting are included below for your reference.  We hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, January 25th.

 

Issuance of Revised NSF Award Terms and Conditions

Please share as appropriate. 

Dear Colleagues:

I wanted to make you aware that the Foundation’s entire suite of Award Terms and Conditions (see full listing below) has been revised to align with changes to the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 17-1). All references to the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and Award & Administration Guide (AAG) have been replaced with references to the PAPPG. Each set of terms and conditions is accompanied by a summary of changes made to that document.

The revised Terms and Conditions will apply to all new NSF awards and funding amendments to existing NSF awards issued on or after January 30, 2017.

Revisions have been made to the following documents:

• Grant General Conditions (GC-1);
• Cooperative Agreement Financial & Administrative Terms and Conditions (CA-FATC);
• Cooperative Agreement Supplemental Financial & Administrative Terms and Conditions for Managers of Large Facilities;
• Cooperative Agreement Supplemental Financial & Administrative Terms and Conditions for Managers of Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCS);
• International Research Terms and Conditions;
• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I Grant General Conditions; 
• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II Grant General Conditions; and
• Administration of NSF Conference or Group Travel Grant Special Conditions (FL 26). 

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact the DIAS Policy Office on (703) 292-8243 or by email to policy@nsf.gov.

Regards,

Jean

Jean Feldman
Head, Policy Office
Division of Institution & Award Support (DIAS)
Office of Budget, Finance and Award Management

New FAQs on Proposal Preparation and Award Administration for Use with the New PAPPG (NSF 17-1)

Below please find a message from NSF: 

Dear Colleagues:

We are pleased to announce that a revised set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Proposal Preparation and Award Administration has been issued. These FAQs accompany the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), (NSF 17-1), and are effective for proposals submitted or due, and awards made on or after, January 30, 2017.

If you have any questions regarding these FAQs, please contact the Policy Office in the Division of Institution & Award Support at 703.292.8243 or by e-mail to policy@nsf.gov.

Regards,

Jean Feldman
Head, Policy Office
Division of Institution and Award Support
Office of Budget, Finance & Award Management

Keeping up with the FLSA Final Rule - Impact on Grants - Update as of 09/17/2016

MU Grants Community,

As we are nearing the effective date (December 1) for the FLSA final overtime rule, below is a summary of what we know at this time:

How NSF will handle new regulations (please see NSF FLSA FAQs):

• NSF released a FAQ on 8/10 describing the rules and how they would impact current and future awards. NSF awards typically allow for rebudgeting without sponsor approval, provided the rebudgeting action does not change the scope of the project.
• NSF will not be unilaterally supplementing awards with additional funds; however, if you determine rebudgeting would result in a change of scope or that supplemental funding is needed to comply with the new regulations, we are encouraged to contact your NSF Program Officer to discuss the issue. We cannot guarantee there will be funds available, but there are specific policies that address requesting supplemental funding, and we would be happy to walk you through this process should you desire to do so.

How NIH will handle new regulations:

• Released on 8/10, NIH has provided us with updated FY2017 stipend levels for postdoctoral trainees and fellows on NRSA awards. These stipend levels are in line with the new FLSA regulations. This guidance does not address how NIH will handle postdocs working on non-NRSA awards, particularly as it relates to supplemental funding to cover this extra expense for institutions. In a blog posted 8/30, the NIH’s Deputy Director indicated the NIH would be releasing more guidance and FAQs in the coming months. Please note that the typical rules for rebudgeting NIH awards are similar to those of the NSF; we would typically be able to rebudget to account for the new FLSA guidelines without sponsor approval, provided it did not change the scope of work. We have not received any indication that additional funds would be available to NIH awardees.

How the University is handling new regulations:

• The University’s overview, FAQs and timelines as it relates to the new FLSA regulations can be found here. Although there is no official guidance online that we are aware of, we have been told there is no fund at MU to cover the salary increases, and those increases will need to come from grant, department or divisional funds. Postdocs and other salaried employees who were under the new FLSA salary floor will receive their salary increases on 12/1/16.

Guidance from OSPA on how to handle the regulations moving forward:

• Effective immediately when filling out proposals, OSPA would encourage PIs to budget postdocs at the new floor of $47,476 plus the correct fringe rate regardless of their current salary. If you have concerns about current awards and how to make up the budget shortfall caused by the new regulations, please don’t hesitate to contact your OSPA pre-award/post-award liaison directly and we can discuss your options for potentially requesting additional funds from the sponsor, if available.

FAQs on NSF's Implementation of the Department of Labor's FLSA Final Overtime Rule

MU Grants Community,

Please see the FAQ information below from the NSF Policy Office regarding the implementation of the FLSA final rule.

***

Dear Colleagues:

The Department of Labor recently announced the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) final over time rule. The FLSA final overtime rule automatically extends overtime pay protections to millions of workers and could impact some personnel on NSF grants, including postdoctoral researchers. The National Science Foundation continues to acknowledge the important role of postdoctoral researchers on NSF-funded projects, and, in general, NSF postdoctoral programs already include a stipend or salary in excess of the new minimum established by the FLSA final overtime rule.

Since the announcement of the new rule, NSF has received many questions on how this rule will affect NSF-funded projects. NSF has created a set of Frequently Asked Questions in order to address these questions. The FAQs are posted on the NSF Policy Office website at http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/faqs/flsa_faqs.pdf.

We encourage you to share this information with your colleagues. Please direct any additional policy-related questions not addressed in the FAQs to policy@nsf.gov.

Regards,

Jean

Jean Feldman
Head, Policy Office
Division of Institution & Award Support (DIAS)
Office of Budget, Finance and Award Management

New Process for Resetting FastLane/Research.gov Passwords

MU Grants Community,

On Monday, August 1, NSF will implement a more convenient and secure process for resetting NSF passwords. NSF awardees and proposers will no longer be able to reach out to Sponsored Projects Offices (SPO) to reset their passwords on both FastLane and Research.gov; instead, they can reset their own password. Please note that this implementation was rescheduled from Monday, July 25, due to a power outage which caused all servers to shut down.

To reset passwords, awardees and proposers can go to www.research.gov and click “Log In,” then “Forgot Password.” After entering their NSF ID and clicking, “Send Temporary Password,” they will be able to reset their passwords using the temporary password sent to their email address on file.

Passwords must be between 8 and 20 characters and use three of the four categories below:

• Upper-case letter
• Lower-case letter
• Number
• One of these special characters # & % ! @ ( )

In addition, the last six passwords cannot be reused, and accounts will be locked for five minutes after the tenth unsuccessful password attempt.

Important Information Regarding Automated Compliance Checking of NSF Proposals

MU Grants Community, 

Please see the information below regarding planned additions to the automated compliance checks on NSF applications.

Click here for a complete list of automated system compliance checks for Fastlane.

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Grant Connections | March 2016 Meeting Notes

Notes from the March Grant Connections meeting are included below for your review and reference.

Thanks to all who attended. We hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, April 27.

 

Grant Connections - March 2016

Wednesday, March 23, 2016
11:00 a.m. – noon
Room 572 of the Bond Life Sciences Center

Agenda

• Hot Topics including the allowability of student fees 
• Preparing and Submitting your NSF Grant Application. Next in the new Grant Connections discussion series on common proposal submission issues, Hannah Clampitt from OSPA will share the secrets to success for National Science Foundation (NSF) grant applications through FastLane. 
• Grants and Contracts Incentive (GCI) Plan. A series of forums is underway to discuss potential changes to the GCI Plan. OSPA Director Craig David will give us an update. 

Mark your calendars! Meetings are scheduled for the following dates.

• April 27, 2016
• May 25, 2016

OSPA Updates: New NIH and NSF application guidelines for 1/25/16 due dates | New DHHS salary cap | Proposal submission deadlines policy | Grants training

National Institutes of Health
REMINDER: For 1/25/16 due dates and after, revised SF424 Application Guides
Refer here for the prior notice with full details. Significant changes include updated application requirements and review language to enhance reproducibility of research findings through increased scientific rigor and transparency. Note that the new “Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources” attachment is required only for applications that propose to use biological and/or chemical resources.

New DHHS Salary Cap, Effective 1/10/2016
Executive Level II of the Federal Pay Scale, which sets the cap limit for salaries on DHHS awards, has increased from $183,300 to $185,100 effective January 10, 2016. The Sponsored Programs Procedure Guide (SPPG) is updated here, including links to relevant NIH Notices and salary cap history (FY 1990 to present).

National Science Foundation

REMINDER: For 1/25/16 due dates and after, revised Proposal & Award Policies and Procedures Guide (NSF 16-1)
Refer here for the prior notice with full details. Significant changes include a new single-copy document required for each senior project personnel regarding collaborators and other affiliations and new submission instructions for biosketches and current and pending support.

NSF proposal deadlines extended to 1/26/16 | NSF closed today (1/25) due to inclement weather

All proposal deadlines from January 22 and January 25 are extended to January 26, 5:00PM submitter's local time, as a result of NSF closure.

• As per NSF's guidance related to deadline submissions, failure to submit by 5:00PM (submitter's local time) will result in the proposal not being accepted. 
• Please select the updated deadline date in the Deadline/Target Date dropdown in the Remainder of the Coversheet section of your proposal before submitting your proposal to NSF. 
• NSF is closed on Monday, January 25, due to inclement weather. FastLane user support is unavailable. 

If you have not done so already, please alert your SGCA to any proposals (or awards) potentially affected by funding agency closures or closures or delays at collaborating institutions (i.e., anticipated subawards).

OSPA Updates 10/23/2015

New Links on the OSPA website for quick reference to data management and public access resources

• Many funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have requirements for data sharing and data management plans. Under Proposal Development Resources on the OSPA main page, you can now find a link to an MU Libraries resource page on Data Management Plans. 
• The NIH public access policy requires scientists to submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that arise from NIH funds to PubMed Central immediately upon acceptance for publication. NIH will delay processing of non-competing continuation grant awards if publications arising from that award are not in compliance with the public access mandate. Under Federal Guidance and Regulations on the OSPA main page, you can now find a link to an MU Libraries resource page on the NIH Public Access Policy.
  
  Note that NSF recently released its own public access policy. The library resource page will be updated soon to incorporate NSF and other funder policies. In the meantime, frequently asked questions about the NSF policy can be found here. 

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An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education highlights the ever-stricter administrative requirements for submitting grant proposals:

Application guidelines are nothing new, but the ferocity with which they are being enforced is. The wrong font size on a proposal could lead to its rejection, forcing the applicant to wait months until the next grant cycle to resubmit. The delay can prove damaging with the tenure and promotion clock ticking.

Grant Programs Get Persnickety

Sponsor Notices: NSF PAPPG (NSF 16-1) effective 1/25/16 | NIH Webinars; 2016 Policy, Instructions, and Form Changes

MU Grants Community,
Please take note of the following federal agency announcements. Should you have questions about the applicability of this guidance to current or anticipated projects, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

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National Science Foundation (NSF)

A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), (NSF 16-1) has been issued. The new PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 25, 2016. Significant changes include:

• Enforcement of 5 p.m. submitter’s local time across all NSF funding opportunities 
• Implementation of NSF’s Public Access Policy 
• NSF’s implementation of the US Government Policy for Institutional Oversight of Life Sciences on Dual Use Research of Concern 
• Provision of Collaborators and Other Affiliations information as a new single-copy document, instead of as part of the Biographical Sketch 
• Submission of Biographical Sketches and Current and Pending Support separately for each senior personnel 
• Revision of timeframe for submission of final project reports, project outcomes reports and financial closure of awards to 120 days after the award end date 

Given the number of important revisions, the community is strongly encouraged to review the by-chapter summary of changes provided in the Introduction section of the PAPPG.

Grant Connections | August Meeting Notes

Please use these notes from the August Grant Connections meeting for your review and reference. Thanks to all who attended. We hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, September 23, when Dr. Mark McIntosh will be the invited guest.

Dr. McIntosh is Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Strategic Initiatives in the Office of Research, Graduate Studies, and Economic Development, as well as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. In anticipation of our conversation with Dr. McIntosh, send questions or topics to Julia Rodriguez at rodriguezj@missouri.edu or call her at 884-1783.

Grant Connections | July Meeting Notes

Notes from the July Grant Connections meeting are included below for your review and reference. Though meeting notes are disseminated to the full Grants Community listserv, we encourage your continued (or new!) attendance. Your contributions to discussion and the selection of topics are crucial to the ongoing success of the meetings.  We hope to see you at the next meeting on Wednesday, August 26.

 

NSF Notices: New Automated Proposal Compliance Checks | Update on Rollouts in Research.gov

MU Grants Community,

Please take note of the following information from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Should you have questions about the applicability of this guidance to current or anticipated projects, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

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New Automated Proposal Compliance Checks in FastLane

On July, 24, 2015, the next set of automated proposal compliance checks will be released in FastLane. The checks will trigger warning messages if the following proposal sections do not exist for proposals submitted in response to a Program Solicitation for the applicable funding mechanism type (Conference, Equipment, Ideas Lab, Facility/Center, and Fellowship):

• References Cited
• Biographical Sketch(es)
• Budget Justification: Primary Organization 
• Budget Justification: Sub recipient Organization 
• Current and Pending Support
• Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources

Sponsor Notices: NIFA | NSF | NIH

MU Grants Community,

Please take note of the following federal agency announcements. Should you have questions about the applicability of this guidance to current or anticipated projects, please contact your OSPA Pre-Award or Post-Award staff.

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United States Department of Agriculture | National Institute of Food and Agriculture

NIFA issued guidance regarding an updated acknowledgement statement for USDA support by NIFA. NIFA’s Office of Grants and Financial Management will add this same statement to award terms as appropriate.

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National Science Foundation 

On July 24, 2015, NSF will take a next step in its transition from FastLane to Research.gov by releasing the following ten additional notifications and requests in Research.gov and retiring them from FastLane: 

• Long-term Disengagement of the PI/PD or co-PI/co-PD (>3 months) 
• Pre-Award Costs in Excess of 90 Days 
• Significant Changes in Methods/Procedures 
• Significant Changes/Delays or Events of Unusual Interest 
• Changes in Objectives or Scope 
• Reallocation of Funds Provided for Participant Support Costs 
• Change in Person-Months Devoted to Project 
• Withdrawal of PI/PD or co-PI/co-PD 
• Rearrangements/Alterations in excess of $25,000 (construction) 
• Conflicts of Interest

Grant Connections | May Meeting Notes

Notes from the May Grant Connections meeting are included below for your review and reference. Though meeting notes are disseminated to the full Grants Community listserv, we encourage your continued (or new!) attendance. Your contributions to discussion and the selection of topics are crucial to the ongoing success of the meetings. Thank you in advance! 

 

Notice to NSF Applicants: Important Information Regarding Automated Compliance Checking of NSF Proposals

MU Grants Community,

Please see the notice below from the National Science Foundation regarding new automated compliance checks at proposal submission, effective April 24, 2015.

As a reminder, the memo linked here from OSPA Director Craig David, dated February 27, 2015, provides MU submission guidelines to ensure adequate time for proposal review and successful submission. Under this policy, a complete and final proposal, accompanied by the necessary internal approvals, must be received by the Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (OSPA) at least five (5) business days prior to the sponsor’s due date and time.

Please contact your OSPA pre-award staff with questions.

Dear Colleagues:

On April, 24, 2015, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will release updates to FastLane that may impact the way you work. Proposals submitted in response to Program Solicitations in FastLane will undergo a series of automated proposal compliance validation checks to ensure they comply with requirements outlined in the PAPPG (Chapter II.C.2 of the Grants Proposal Guide (GPG)). These checks will automatically validate a proposal for compliance against proposal sections per type of funding mechanism. For example, an error message will appear if a project description or budget are not provided in proposals submitted in response to a Program Solicitation.