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Collaborators and Other Affiliations Information

NSF requires the use of the template linked below for identifying Collaborative and Other Affiliations Information (COA) information. The content requirements specified in the template are consistent with Chapter II.D.2.h(iii) of the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide. The template has been developed to be fillable, however, the content and format requirements must not be altered by as this will create printing and viewing errors. This template must be saved in .xlsx format and directly uploaded into Research.gov as a Collaborators and Other Affiliations Single Copy Document. Research.gov will convert the uploaded .xlsx files to PDF. Using the .xlsx format will enable preservation of searchable text that otherwise would be lost. It is imperative that this document be uploaded in .xlsx only. Uploading a document in any format other than .xlsx may delay the timely processing and review of your proposal. Grants.gov Users: The COA information must be provided through use of the COA template and uploaded as a PDF attachment.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) have been developed for assistance in completion of the template.

NSF uses COA 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. In the past, the submission of COA information was often in formats that resulted in unsearchable text because of the variety of software and document formats used. By having each PI, co-PI and other senior project personnel individually upload an .xlsx document, and having Research.gov perform all of the conversions, we preserve searchable text in the resulting PDFs to the greatest extent practicable. This will help reduce the burden on NSF program staff who currently must spend time to manipulate files that are non-searchable. In addition to the benefits to the merit review process, it is hoped that this template will provide a compliant and reusable format for PIs to maintain and update their COA information for use in subsequent proposal submissions to NSF.

NOTE: Some information requested in prior versions of the PAPPG is no longer requested. THIS IS PURPOSEFUL AND WE NO LONGER REQUIRE YOU TO REPORT THIS INFORMATION.

For system-related questions, contact NSF Help Desk at 1-800-381-1532 or rgov@nsf.gov. Policy-related questions regarding the content of the COA template should be directed to policy@nsf.gov.