Grant Proposal Guide 03-2
Grant Proposal Guide
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Proposal Preparation Instructions
III. NSF Proposal Processing and Review
IV. WIthdrawals, Returns and Declinations
V. The Award and Continued Support
VI. Grant Administration Highlights
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D

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Summary of Significant Changes

Overall Document - Minor editorial changes have been made throughout the document to either clarify or enhance the intended meaning of a sentence or section. More Web links have been added to make it easier to obtain further information. All references to the Division of Contracts, Policy and Oversight have been changed to the Division of Acquisition and Cost Support. The Policy Office is now part of the Division of Grants and Agreements.

About the National Science Foundation - This section has been supplemented with a reference to new proposal preparation instructions for Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities which are now included in the Grant Proposal Guide.

Chapter I
Chapter II
  • Section C, Proposal Contents, has been reordered to improve readability of this section. The single-copy documents are grouped together in Section C.1, and C.2 discusses the various sections of the proposal. Special Guidelines can be found at the end of the Chapter in Section D.

  • Section C.1.c, List of Suggested Reviewers or Reviewers Not to Include, contains a cross-reference to the new Appendix D, Potentially Disqualifying Conflicts of Interest. The Appendix may be useful to proposers when preparing this list.

  • Section C.2, Sections of the Proposal, discusses all of the parts that represent the body of an NSF proposal. With the exception of "Special Information and Supplementary Documentation" and "Appendices", all sections listed in C.2 are required components of a proposal.

  • Section C.2.a, Cover Sheet, has been supplemented with guidance on how to identify on the proposal Cover Sheet whether the submission is a preliminary or full proposal.

  • Section C.2.b, Project Summary, has been expanded in accordance with NSF Important Notice 127, entitled, Implementation of new Grant Proposal Guide Requirements Related to the Broader Impacts Criterion. This Notice reinforces the importance of addressing both merit review criteria in the preparation and review of proposals submitted to NSF. Therefore, given the importance of broader impacts to NSF-funded projects, effective October 1, 2002, proposals that do not separately address both criteria within the one-page Project Summary will be returned without review.

  • Section C.2.d, Project Description, has been revised to reorder the content of the section and add information on Universal Resource Locators (URLs). This section also has been supplemented to state that the Project Description must be self-contained, and not include URLs, as reviewers are under no obligation to view such sites.

  • Section C.2.f, Biographical Sketch(es), has been supplemented with additional information on Co-Editors. In addition to listing all collaborators within the preceding 48 months, all co-editors of a journal, compendium, or conference proceedings during the 24 months preceding the submission of the proposal must be listed in the Biographical Sketch. A reference has been added to the new Appendix D, Potentially Disqualifying Conflicts of Interest.

  • Section C.2.j, Special Information and Supplementary Documentation, has been revised to reference the new section of the GPG (Chapter II, Section D.2) regarding Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED).

  • Section D.1, Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER) Proposals, has been modified to reflect that all NSF Directorates will now consider extension or supplementation of SGER awards. It should be noted, however, that this is approved for only a small fraction of SGER awards and is at the discretion of the NSF Program Officer, with concurrence of the Division Director.

  • Section D.2, Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED), has been added as an entirely new section. Proposers may request funding of special equipment or assistance for scientists or engineers with disabilities who will be, or are serving as Senior or Other Personnel on an NSF proposal/grant. Requests may be made as part of a competitive proposal submission or as a supplemental funding request to an existing NSF grant.

  • Section D.3, Collaborative Proposals, has been clarified to state that collaborative proposals must be submitted within a reasonable timeframe to one another. Failure to submit all components of the collaborative proposal on a timely basis may impact the review of the proposal.

  • Section D.5, Proposals Involving Vertebrate Animals, has been revised to:

    • Extend the definition of vertebrate animals to include rats, birds and mice; and

    • State that the same rules apply to individuals who will be using vertebrate animals in their grant activities. Written approval of an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) must be submitted electronically as part of the supplementary documentation for the proposal and must contain an appropriate organizational signature.

  • Section D.6, Proposals Involving Human Subjects, has been supplemented with additional information on human subjects issues, including Frequently Asked Questions and Vignettes. The information is available via a link to the NSF Website.

Chapter III
  • Section A, Review Criteria, has been expanded in accordance with Important Notice 127. This Important Notice reinforces the importance of addressing both merit review criteria in the preparation and review of all proposals submitted to NSF. Therefore, given the importance of broader impacts to NSF-funded projects, effective October 1, 2002, proposals that do not separately address both criteria within the one-page Project Summary will be returned without review. This section also has been supplemented to reference proposals for large facility projects as an example of situations where special review criteria may be employed.

  • Section C, Proposal File Updates, is an additional section in Chapter III that describes the new FastLane Proposal File Update module. This module allows an authorized individual of an organization to request the replacement of files associated with a previously submitted proposal. Information regarding how and under what circumstances a file update may be requested is provided in this section as well as an explanation of how the process functions.

  • Section D, Revisions to Proposals made during the Review Process, clarifies that a revised budget request consists of the revised budget and a Budget Impact Statement.

  • Section E, Award Recommendation, has been updated to reflect that large facility projects may require additional processing time and review in accordance with NSF's Guidelines for Planning and Managing the Major Research Equipment Account.

Chapter IV
  • Section A, Withdrawals, has been revised to state that proposals must now be withdrawn electronically via the new FastLane Proposal Withdrawal System. This new FastLane module automates the proposal withdrawal process and provides a mechanism that will help organizations to more effectively manage their proposal portfolio at NSF, as well as to help eliminate the submission of duplicate proposals. Information regarding how and when a proposal may be withdrawn is provided as well as an explanation of how the process functions.

  • Section B, Return Without Review, has been expanded to include additional reasons why a proposal may not be considered by NSF.

  • Section D, Reconsideration, has been updated to reflect that the Grant Policy Manual (GPM) Section 900 contains information regarding the categories of actions that are subject to the NSF reconsideration policy.

Chapter V

Chapter VI
  • Section C, Transfer of PI, has been supplemented with information detailing the transfer request process, including the information that must be provided in conjunction with a request. If supplementary documents need to be submitted in conjunction with the transfer request, they also must be provided via FastLane. Any special terms and conditions cited in the original award document, including any cost sharing requirements, will be reflected as a condition of the award to the new grantee organization. A reference to the GPM has been included for further information.

Appendix D is a new addition to the GPG and contains information on potentially disqualifying conflicts of interest with regard to reviewers of NSF proposals.