Navigating the NSF ERA Empowerment Series May 2014 P RESENTED BY : D ONNA O BEID & B LANCA R EBUELTA

Housekeeping

Learning Objectives By the end of this course, you will be able to: Identify the purpose, vision and responsibilities of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Identify and understand the different types of NSF funding opportunities. Navigate the steps of the NSF proposal process. Navigate through Fastlane for proposal submission. Describe the stages of the NSF Award Acceptance and Processing. Become familiar with the NSF post-award management and reporting requirements.

NSF Overview…In the Beginning “The Government should accept new responsibilities for promoting the flow of scientific knowledge and the development of scientific talent in our youth.” – Science, The Endless Frontier, 1945

NSF Vision Advancing discovery, innovation and education beyond the frontiers of current knowledge, and empowering future generations in science and engineering. 5

1.What’s the difference between a program announcement and program solicitation? 2.What font size should the PI use? 3.How many pages can the biosketch be? 4.I need OSR to approve a no cost extension to use an unliquidated balance on an NSF award…will they do this? Test Your Knowledge! 6

Who Do We Work With in NSF? 7 Program OfficersGrants Officers Responsible for the scientific, technical, and programmatic review of proposals Responsible for the business, financial, and administrative aspects Listed in the award documents Monitors the scientific aspects of project Serve as point of contact and in most cases, have final authority to make changes to awards

Funding Opportunities H OW DOES M Y PI FIND OUT ABOUT POTENTIAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES ?

Funding Opportunities NSF Guide to Programs Compilation of funding opportunities NSF Active Funding Opportunities Lists active funding opportunities by upcoming due date Pivot 9

Different Types of Funding Type of Funding Description of NSF Support a. Standard Grant NSF provides a specific level of support for a specified period. No intent to provide additional future support without another proposal. b. Renewal Proposals Two types: Regular and Accomplish Based Renewals. Requests for additional funding for a support period subsequent to that provided by a standard grant. c. Two-Year Extensions for Special Creativity Program officer recommends extension of funding for up to 2 yrs. to particularly creative investigators, giving them extended opportunity in adventurous, "high-risk" opportunities in the same research area. d. Supplemental Funding Small amounts of supplemental funding and up to 6 mos. of additional support are requested for completion of original scope of work. Grantee must submit request at least 2 mos. before funds are actually needed. 10

Program Announcement Provides detailed award and program information including special requirements for proposal preparation and limitations on some types of costs. In terms of planning, pay careful attention to Deadlines and Target Dates: Deadlines Target Dates Submission Windows Unsolicited Proposals Limited Submissions Identifies electronic submission mechanism › Grants.gov or Fastlane 11

What is Fastlane? An interactive, real-time internet portal used to submit proposals and conduct business with NSF Currently used by NSF and its client community for all proposal, review and award interactions Utilized for post-award actions, reporting (research.gov), and supplemental requests Selected programs are being transitioned to Grants.gov for proposal submission Proposer has choice of submission method (grants.gov or Fastlane) 12

FastLane Features  Proposal Preparation  Proposal Status  Proposal File Update  Revise Submitted Proposal Budget  View/Print Award Letters  Project Reporting (research.gov)  Notifications and Requests  No Cost Time Extensions  Transfer of Award  Allows requests for cash to be deposited directly into an awardee’s bank account through an entirely electronic process 13

Fastlane Demo!

Professor Harry Upanwaite runs into your office waving an around excitedly. He can’t wait to tell you that his Program Officer said that he was recommended for funding – all he had to do was Fed Ex him a revised budget for 30% less than the original proposal, which he is proud to tell you he did promptly and without any of your help. He wants to start paying a graduate student right away and start the project on the following Monday. What do you do? Case Study 1 15

How do PIs apply for funding in Fastlane?

Getting Started in Fastlane Fastlane website: Fastlane demonstration site:  You do not have to be a registered user  Excellent way for new users (Faculty and staff) to orient themselves with the proposal process  Electronic Proposal Submission instructions can be found at:

Faculty Registration Faculty registration is mandatory! The ERA RFA (or the PI) contacts OSR for: › Individual registration (New or Transfer) › Changing a password › Forgotten passwords › For new registrations, the PI will need to provide: Name, department Highest degree and year conferred address, phone and fax numbers 18

Organization Registration Stanford is a registered institution. ERA is responsible for uploading documents into Fastlane but not submitting! OSR is responsible for: 1.Registering Principal Investigators and Administrative Staff as FastLane users 2.Signing proposals 3.Submitting proposals in Fastlane 19

Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) Contains two parts: Part I. Proposal Preparation & Submission Guidelines Part II. Award and Administration Guide Effective for proposals submitted on or after February 24, 2014 Keep in PDF or print it out! &org=NSF 20

Preparing the Proposal Proposals must conform to the instructions in BOTH the PAPPG and PA. RFA works with PI to ensure formatting is correct. If PI has a collaborative proposal and Stanford is the lead institution, be sure to link collaborative proposals Single Proposal/Simultaneous submission Link proposals by obtaining the non-lead collaborative Temporary Proposal ID and PIN 21

Proposal Forms Cover sheet Project Summary – 1 page synopsis Overview, broader impacts, intellectual merit Table of Contents – automatically generated Project Description – 15 page limit Proposal Budget and Justification References Cited – must be included! Biographical Sketches – 2 page limit; PI/Co-PIs and senior personnel 22

Proposal Forms Current and Pending Support All research projects that PI has effort devoted to. The current proposal being submitted should be included as pending support Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources Assesses the capability of the available organizational resources. 23

Proposal Forms Supplementary Docs Postdoc mentoring plan Data management plan Project summary with special characters Forms allowed as determined by the PAPPG/PA 24

Proposal Forms Single Copy Documents: List of suggested reviewers or reviewers NOT to include. Deviation Authorization Use only if prior approval has been given by NSF Proprietary information 25

Proposal Budget & Justification Prepare in FastLane. Create a budget year for each of the budget periods. Use whole dollar amounts. Use the “Save and Calculate” button to save changes. A budget justification is required for all proposals! 26

Proposal Budget - Subaward If you are including a subaward in your proposal, you must add their organization to your budget. Choose Add Another Org. Search for the institution. After choosing your subaward institution, you will be required to choose the PI for that institution Prior to adding budget, add subaward PI in the Add/Delete Non Co-PI Senior Personnel section of proposal 27

NSF Budget Restrictions Salary & Wages Salary for senior personnel is limited to no more than two months of their regular salary in any one year. This includes salary received from all NSF funded grants. Consultants – The current daily maximum rate is no longer capped. Travel Travel allowance must be consistent with both NSF and Stanford policies. Remember the Fly America Act. Cost Sharing Do not include unless specifically requested by PA. 28

Proposal Submission Prepare for OSR Review Give OSR Officer (CGO) access by allowing SRO Access to review proposal and submit. If submit rights are not given, CGO does not receive notification CGO will notify you of errors to be corrected Fastlane sends an to PI indicating the proposal has been submitted PI can then access the proposal through Fastlane 29

Proposal Preparation Tips Program announcement deviates from PAPPG. Both should be referenced during proposal preparation. Questions during proposal preparation- contact the program officer listed in the program announcement or Fastlane help is a good resource too. Sections of proposal not required should include a page that state “NOT APPLICABLE” Each section of proposal should be paginated. 30

Proposal Preparation Tips Intellectual merit and broader impact should be included in the project summary, project description, and Results from Prior NSF support. Results from Prior NSF support – only include the award most closely related to the proposal. References cited cannot include etc., et al.. Costsharing included as a cumulative in the first year budget only. 31

Supplemental Funding Submit to Program Officer at least 2 months prior to need Request via FastLane Include:  Summary of proposed work  Justification for supplement  Budget justification  Budget Cannot be used for increases in salaries or additional F&A costs 32

Original institution makes the request via FastLane. The request includes: A brief summary of progress to date. A description of work yet to be accomplished. Disbursements to date. Original institution forwards the request electronically to the new institution. Transfer of Award Original Institution Role 33

New institution provides a detailed line item budget for the transfer amount and any outstanding continuing increments. New institution electronically signs the request when submitted to NSF. Transfer of Award New Institution Role 34

What happens once a proposal is submitted?

The following issues may arise after the award is issued; consult with your OSR colleague to resolve them. Prior Approvals No Cost Time Extensions Transfer of PI to Another Institution Post-Award Concerns

Annual Progress  Submitted three months prior to the end of the current cycle.  Failure to submit timely reports may result in a delay of the next funding increment. Final Project reports  Due within 90 days following the expiration of the grant period (including cost share reports, etc.). Failure to provide final technical reports on a timely basis will delay NSF review and processing of pending proposals for all identified PIs and co-PIs on a given award. Reporting Requirements 37

Professor R. U. Awake has had an exciting breakthrough in her research. While she was analyzing the psychological profile of criminals, she came upon a striking similarity in the psychological profile of health care workers. She found the lead intriguing and wants to use her NSF funds to study further into the profile of nurses. She comes to you and wants to purchase a video camera and tapes for her interview with the nurses since she can no longer use the prison’s equipment. What are the issues? Case Study 2 38

Any Questions? 39

Next Steps… In the next day or two, you will receive an message containing: a.) a feedback form link and b.) a quiz! To receive credit for this class, you’ll need to complete both the quiz and feedback form within 7 days.

Thanks for attending!