Manju Hingorani: Make sure everybody has a chance to
Manju Hingorani: come in and get settled before we start our presentation.
Manju Hingorani: Okay, I think it's time to start, Steve, Are you good with the we share in the slideshow,
Steve DiFazio: if I can unmute? Yes, all right, let's get started then, and so again. Welcome, everybody. I'd like to first call on the program directors who have joined us today to introduce themselves. Briefly,
Manju Hingorani: I am Manju Hingarani. I am a program director in the genetic mechanisms cluster in molecular and cellular biosciences. Steve
Steve DiFazio: and I am also in the um Genetic Mechanisms cluster in Mcb. And I am a pet drunk professor at West Virginia University as well.
Manju Hingorani: Matthew
Matthew Buechner: Hi I'm Matthew Buchner in the Cell Dynamics and Function Cluster of Mcb. And Emeritus from the University of Kansas
Manju Hingorani: Question
Wilson Francisco (Molecular Biophysics): Yeah,
Wilson Francisco (Molecular Biophysics): of
Wilson Francisco (Molecular Biophysics): Uh. Good afternoon. My name is Wilson Francisco. I'm. A program director in the molecular Ba. Physics cluster of Ncv.
Manju Hingorani: And Anthony
Anthony Garza: Hi Everyone I'm Anthony Gars i'm a program director in the Systems and Synthetic biology cluster of Mcb.
Manju Hingorani: And we have Olaf Corning and teline vessel who will be um amazing at getting the show running and keeping it running. Um, all right. So again welcome, everybody, and um let's get started. Um, I want to first tell you that um. You can submit your questions. Um, By the Q. And a box on your screen. You may like to submit your question anonymously. Um. And but if you have specific questions about your project, please, uh contact Us
Manju Hingorani: Director by email?
Manju Hingorani: Um, Also, just to um give you a heads up about the next Mtv: virtual office hours. Um On March twentieth we have an office hour. I'll just set a new time, so uh it's on the new requirements by Nsf for uh for a safe and intensive work environment plan for projects that include off campus or off side research. Um. So this is a new requirement. And
Manju Hingorani: um. And on April twelfth we have how to write a great and as a proposal, but links for both of these are up on the Mcdonald's blog website that you use to to register for this um office hour.
Manju Hingorani: Um. And so today's topic is the new Mcb Sol. Recitation for core programs. This was just released a few weeks ago. It's nsf twenty-three, d five hundred and eight, so we're going to talk a lot about um Mcd. Priorities and and some uh important important information. That's a new and changed and and just important for you to know. In the solicitation,
Manju Hingorani: slides and recordings of past presentations are at again at the Mcd blog website, and there are some really nice important resources.
Manju Hingorani: For example, there are slides in recording our of an august uh tenth, two thousand and twenty-two workshop uh or uh office hour. Um, That was on working with an Nsf program director um and This is a particularly useful um office hour recording for people who are new to the
Manju Hingorani: I also want to note as we go through these um slides. First of all, these slides will be put up very soon after the amphithear is over, and any underlying text to me,
Manju Hingorani: and it's a hyperlink, and that leads to the corresponding program or policy that we will discuss, so it will be very useful for you to download these slides or quick links
Manju Hingorani: next slide.
Manju Hingorani: Okay, So let me start by noting the three major goals in Nsa's current strategic plan, and they are to empower stem talent across the breadth of society um to discover new knowledge by pushing research from tears and to impact society beneficial ways by enabling translation of foundational knowledge. And Mcd. Programs and priorities are obviously aligned with these and some strategic goals.
Manju Hingorani: So Mcb supports research that advances mechanistic knowledge of fundamental and emergent properties of living systems and research that leads to quantitative and predictive understanding of the structure. The function. The evolution of these systems at molecular, subcellular and cellular scales.
Manju Hingorani: The division prioritize reason prioritizes research projects that um explore new concepts that exploit experimental and theoretical approaches to solve important problems and questions. Um that incorporates and sizes, approaches from other disciplines, chemistry, home, science, engineering, math physics, and so on um to eliminate principles and processes governing life at the molecular cellular level, um and projects and research that um
Manju Hingorani: utilizes a diverse spectrum of model in normal non-moral organisms. Um. We also welcome news-inspired research with ah with potential to address major societal challenges and i'll discuss Ah use inspired research a bit more in an upcoming slide. Ah! And projects that pursue Ah! Potentially transformative ideas, even if their higher risk are welcome.
Manju Hingorani: So um
Manju Hingorani: continue on in this way, and the the Nsf. And Mtv. Are fully committed to uh the full participation of diverse people and institutions in the scientific enterprise. And so we value intentional efforts to include individuals who are under represented in their fields, and to build capacity in a variety of institution types. So these can be Msis Pis community colleges. In addition to our institutions and across the Us. Especially in
Manju Hingorani: in export jurisdictions. And these efforts can include education and training of the next generation of scientists and collaborations that involve different types of institutions. Um, we're not prescribing these, and then it's your efforts may not be limited to these, but these are examples um that we see often. Um: So on that note I should add that you can ask for support for education and drawn in participation activities.
Manju Hingorani: Okay, So we um. And as I will pay you to do this wonderful work Um, and we recommend that you recommend that um that you request such funds when you submit your proposal. Um post award. Supplemental funding request should be reserved for unanticipated opportunities,
Manju Hingorani: and the new solicitation provides budgetary guidance for various activities for example, to support a school student, or a teacher, or an undergraduate, or all the way down the list, a faculty member from a primarily undergraduate institution with an roa, And That's a research opportunity. Award. Um. So you can provide opportunities for such faculty in your,
Manju Hingorani: in your, in your proposed in your project, and and and seek for funding to support them. Um! So um! All of these, all of these numbers are in the solicitation you can find them there and make use of this information. Um. So let me come back to describing Mcb in this slide here. Here, here's a look at some of the numbers
Manju Hingorani: um the definer in fiscal year, two thousand and twenty, two. Andcb had a research budget of one hundred and fifty forish million dollars. The and division received six hundred and ninety proposals. The yield was two hundred and thirty, three awards, and that's equivalent to a success Rate of um, thirty, four percent um, although I should say that This comes with a warning label like stock Market Advice that cost performance is not a guarantee of future results. Um, but a pretty healthy success rate
Manju Hingorani: last year, which was wonderful.
Manju Hingorani: Um! As you develop your proposal, you should keep in mind that the Median award size is two hundred and thirty thousand dollars per year in ah internal cost and ah! The award duration can range anywhere from two years for an exploratory high-risk higher board type Project um to five years for a career project um award sizes for pi. It's primarily undergraduate. Institutions are usually on the lower end of
Manju Hingorani: the scale, commensurate with the scale, and the scope of the project of the types that we see from Pis. And you should also note that there is no deadline for submitting proposals to the core program.
Manju Hingorani: Um, Ah, Steve, you can click, and and it takes five months on average, to reach a decision. So so, even though there's no deadline, you do get your decision back in a pretty good time
Manju Hingorani: on the next slide again. I'll continue to describe the Mcb Core programs. We comprise four clusters um that cover broad research themes. So these four clusters are molecular about physics, genetic mechanisms, cellular dynamics and function and systems and synthetic biology. And you noted that program directors from each of these constants is here today. If you have any specific questions to ask them about these properties. First,
Manju Hingorani: all four clusters prioritize projects that integrate across spatial and temporal scales that investigate molecular and cellular evolution that synergize experimental research with computational or mathematical modeling, and that develop innovative and broadly applicable methods and tools and technologies for for new avenues of inquiry. Um! That's it. I'm going to go ahead and Ah go into a bit more detail
Manju Hingorani: about each cluster. So we'll start with molecular bad physics, and Mb. Is interested in computational and experimental research on the structure, dynamics and function of biological molecules, um supermolecular assemblies and their interactions. The program prioritizes projects that apply experimental and computational approaches in a just degree, and that's seek relevance to physiological conditions.
Manju Hingorani: And these areas are of particular interest. So, again, computation or large-scale complications that incorporate experimental constraints um again to Ah! To to make the work more real um and applicable to physiological conditions. Ah! Biomolecular folding and dynamics on multiple timescales! Ah! Exploring different properties of the biomolecules, um and structure and dynamics and assembly, and everything that goes into the
Manju Hingorani: workings of micromolecular complexes in membrane-bound or membraneless environments understanding the principles that permit life at extremes
Manju Hingorani: quantum phenomena in biological systems or using quantum devices to investigate biological systems, um and development of innovative experimental tools that push the frontiers of bi physics.
Manju Hingorani: Um! I should ah note that um! For all clusters as research areas, mature and frontiers shift program interests change. So you should check each cluster's website for the most up to date description of priorities.
Manju Hingorani: So the next cluster is genetic mechanisms and genetic mechanisms. Gm. Supports research on everything to do with the central dogma at large. So mechanisms involved in the organization in dynamics, processing expression, regulation and evolution of genetic and epigenetic information, obviously in diverse organisms. I've been saying that about all clusters. So the program is interested in um, specifically in predictive understanding of spatial temporal coordination
Manju Hingorani: and regulation of processes that maintain, replicate, transcribe, and translate the genome um relationships between genomic and epigenomic characteristics and determinants of molecular and cellular phenotypes, transcriptomics ep transcriptomics and other ah rna-based regulatory mechanisms
Manju Hingorani: structure functional relationships and and of of of all the macromolecules involved in genetic and epigenetic processes and mechanisms of evolution, of genes and genomes. And again, development of novel technological solutions to these challenges is encouraged
Manju Hingorani: cellular dynamics and function. Cdf wants to advance mechanistic understanding of the structure, function, and evolution of cellular and subsectionular systems and like all other clusters, supports research and diverse model and non-modal organisms across the tree of life. And these following areas are of particular interest predictive understanding of cellular behavior through integrating computational modeling and experimentation. There are some common themes here. You'll be noticing that
Manju Hingorani: um evolutionary approaches to understanding the rules governing cellular functions, um integration of structure and function with emerging solar properties across broad, spatial, temporal scales, um, including cellular organization, through self-conscious matter, um and and then, again, development or adaptation of innovative tools and technologies to enable cellular research
Manju Hingorani: systems, and so that biology, Ssb. Supports systems, biology, or synthetic biology, research to understand a variety of molecular and cellular mechanisms in again, diverse Ah! New or emerging ah established new or emerging model systems, and the program is interested in many different things because it's systems in synthetic biology is large. So, for example,
Manju Hingorani: the um, the events and um structures and system-wide uh properties that drive uh assembly and function and emerging properties of natural and synthetic microbial communities. Um, they're interested in um in in what makes us genetic cells or sound like systems and interested in the origins of life. Um requirements for minimal self in synthetic systems that explore biological diversity beyond what's currently known in nature.
Manju Hingorani: Um, synthetic systems that employ epigenetic regulation um systems that ah store information and process, information, process, biological information, integration of multiomics, data for mechanistics, insight into all kinds of cellular processes. Ah, mechanistic modeling of gene, regulatory control, Ah, particularly involving signaling and metabolic networks and interactions amongst those that are so. Systems level
Manju Hingorani: research. Um And again, um, Everybody all of us encourage development of experimental, computational mathematical tools to advance Ssb. And all sorts of Mcv Research.
Manju Hingorani: So the next thing I want to I I want to go back to remember. I mentioned Ah, that um Mcb welcomes use inspired research, And by that we mean research with outcomes that have put potential for beneficial, broader impact on society in addition to creation of new knowledge, and on this particular slide I want to clarify what that means in relation to mentally related research. So the and Nsf. Of
Manju Hingorani: proposal and award policies and preparation guide It's a mouthful, so we'll just call it Pap G. Um! There's a new one out twenty, three minus one, and this. Um, What's written here is the language that is included in the path. G.
Manju Hingorani: And basically that says that biological research on mechanisms of disease in humans, and that intuitive theology, diagnosis, or treatment of diseases or disorders is normally not supported by the Nsf. Um and biological research. To develop animal models of such conditions, or or testing or procedures for treatment are also not eligible for support.
Manju Hingorani: But um
Manju Hingorani: use inspired basic research that has societal benefits. I just told you that that's welcome. So if that includes um future implications for human health that could be supported. So um, for example, research on mechanisms of Dna damage and repair could be supported. But um trying to develop Dna repair pathways or or enzymes as drug targets, You know um fundamental questions about viral structure, et cetera.
Manju Hingorani: Yes, therapeutic interventions against viral infections. No
Manju Hingorani: mechanisms underlying cell mortality. Yes, metastases of tumor cells. No, but i'm sort of giving you these binary answers. But Ah, Usually it's a gray zone, or it seems like a gray zone, and I can be clarified if Pi is, just send um a pro contact, a program director and send their one page summary. And when we'll help you clarify that before you put the effort into preparing a proposal.
Manju Hingorani: Um, all right. So I think um after that, what I want to. I want to switch gears a bit, because so far I've been describing
Manju Hingorani: and Cd cluster interest in specific areas. But I also Um. And you must noted, as we go to as I went through the priority areas that we value interdisciplinary. Research. Okay. So within Mcb, we sometimes informally co- review and co-front projects that bridge the edges between clusters and Mcb is one of four divisions in the biological Sciences Directory, which supports research planning, as you can see in this graphic all scales of biological organization, from
Manju Hingorani: molecules to ecosystems and all of our programs encouraged cross-disciplinary forays, and again we all informally core, review, and sometimes co-fund interdisciplinary projects. So if your project has potential to create new knowledge in more than one biological subdiscipline or at multiple scales of biological organization. You should contact the program director. And the programs, you think are most appropriate to find out the best fit in one or more of
Manju Hingorani: was programs
Manju Hingorani: and um. We have formalized this welcome map in all nearby solicitations. Um, by adding a new track for collaborative proposals, and this is called the integrative Research in biology track, or into bio, which, in the case of Mcb supports projects that integrate molecular and cellular bias sciences with other subdisciplines of biology. So this track is specifically to support collaborative proposals that tackle bold questions that are integrated up
Manju Hingorani: approach across some disciplines of biology um to advance fundamental understanding of biological systems across different scales of organization. So there are special requirements, for into bio projects again, they they should
Manju Hingorani: excuse me.
Manju Hingorani: They should involve two or more investigators with diverse um, expertise and perspectives. They have to provide in the proposal a graphical illustration of the integrative strategy. They must have integrative training and education. A plan is required as part of broader impacts, and the title must start with empires. So we can keep track of these types of proposals. Um and um
Manju Hingorani: uh, I also want to note that while we're emphasizing, and this is a requirement that in bio projects must ban biological participants obviously concepts and approaches from distance beyond biology are welcome to advance new discoveries in biology. Um. And you'll get sick of hearing this message by the end of this presentation. But it does bear repeating. You must contract a Pd. Uh program director, and in this case specifically to determine suitability for the
Manju Hingorani: um. And speaking of other disciplines. Um! What I said about informal core review and co-founding of interdisciplinary projects between programs is true across all of and Nsf. Um, And so in the case of Ncb. That happens mostly with programs in the mathematical and physical sciences, directorate so chemistry of life processes, physics of living systems, mathematical biology, record you and co-found with them. Ah, with engineering biology and health programs in the
Manju Hingorani: Directorate and with the foundations of emerging technologies in the size directorate that's computer and information science and engineering. And again, beyond these informal
Manju Hingorani: apple review and co-funding mechanisms, sometimes we formalize this interdisciplinary welcome map by publishing dear common letters, Dc. L's: Dear Colleague: letters um are in an Nsfy mechanism, and they're used to spotlight particular research areas of interest, and these often spend multiple programs across Nfs. So i'm going to give you examples of two new Dcls that were published. Um, just this week. Um! That are of interest to the Mcdonald's,
Manju Hingorani: and they both focused on violence by design. The first one is to encourage early stage transdisciplinary collaboration of two or more investigators, and this is in biological and the engineering sciences. Um. To do research with potential for violence by design applications. Um. And the idea of linking the um. The biological researchers and the engineers is to accelerate translation of, to to sort of have an iterative
Manju Hingorani: process where they inform each other and accelerate translation of research findings um into into outcomes that could be ready for commercialization over time. Um, there are a particular directors that are participating. So the Bio Directorate integrative organism of systems and also live in engineering and the new Tip Directorate. Their programs that are participating in this Dcl:
Manju Hingorani: And again, contact the program director. The other Dc: I want to highlight is um is is is from a special program. This is convergence uh accelerator. This is um A program in Nss. New technology innovations and partnerships. Tip Directory and the D. Cl. Uh. Its purpose is to inform the community of an upcoming funding opportunity that funds cross disciplinary teams. Um on a pretty large scale uh to develop and prototype
Manju Hingorani: to societal needs and this particular topic areas bio-inspired design innovations. Um So So The idea is to develop these solutions through violence by design concepts, tools and technology. And um. So I urge you to uh check the funding opportunities, Page and the Mcdonald because we keep that one updated um with a list of such calls that are of interest to the Ncd. Community. Um. So now i'm going to let my colleagues see the Fasio take over and tell you what
Manju Hingorani: about Dcls other types of proposals and some more useful information about the Mcp solicitation.
Steve DiFazio: Okay, great. Thank you, Mantu. So another type of opportunity that we wanted to. Highlight is fundings for international collaborations which often are highlighted in these dear colleagues. Letters
Steve DiFazio: So and Nsf Doesn't typically provide direct support to researchers and institutions based outside of the Us. But there are ways to fund foreign collaborators through sub awards,
Steve DiFazio: as we've been saying, it's always a good idea to contact the program officer for doing this. Um, Because there are specific requirements to justify those expenditures. Um. Alternatively, there are a lot of established partnerships with international science funding agencies. So we're just going to highlight a few here. Um. So these arrangements typically enable Nsf. To support the Us. Based partner directly, and then the foreign funding agency usually funds the
Steve DiFazio: overseas portion of the of the collaborative project.
Steve DiFazio: So um one. The first one we'll highlight is this: us is really by national foundation, collaborative research. Uh for collaborative research. This is the Cross Nsf program. So it's multiple directorates within the agency. Um Within Mcd. The call is focused on research that's essentially at molecular subset or cellular. Well, um, and it has to be aligned with the core priorities that we've been discussing thus far.
Steve DiFazio: Some of these Tcls are like this, where they have kind of very broad topic areas.
Steve DiFazio: There are other types that narrow the topic areas down sometimes quite a bit. So this other
Steve DiFazio: opportunity is the Nsf. Bio Uk: Research and Innovation partnership The.
Steve DiFazio: And for this one there are the specific topic areas that are listed there, and these actually change year to year. So the deadline for this particular call has now passed. But
Steve DiFazio: just be on the lookout for this opportunity. If you have collaborators in the Uk, it may end up being that the the focal areas are are in the areas that you're currently collaborating in, are thinking about collaborating.
Steve DiFazio: And then, finally, there are some that are. They're pretty wide open. So the a Andr or it's kind of in between being very specific and very wide open. So this is the French agency that's related to physics.
Steve DiFazio: Um. And so these calls are focused on the topic from physics from molecules to cells, so they're essentially biophysics proposals. Um, there are deadlines in this case. Uh, if you end up submitting to the French agency. Uh But the no deadline policy applies on the Nsf side, and I should say in some cases Nsf. Manages the reviews of these um international collaborative proposals. So that's the case with the Us. Is rarely.
Steve DiFazio: And then in some cases it depends on the relevance to the program where you end up submitting it. And that's the case with the A Andr program. If the research topic is more of interest to a Andr than it is to Nsf: then you would submit A. And Rs Lead Agency, and they would manage the review,
Steve DiFazio: but it's still the same arrangement. Where Nsf. Funds the Us. Part of the project and the French agency from the French.
Steve DiFazio: Okay, um couple of others to highlight. So there's this um German uh. So the German Science Agency, the Dfg: This is a meet agency opportunity. So again, this is a case where um, it's wide open, so molecular and cellular biology essentially, and and this is one of the cases where you you choose the agency that will uh, where you submit the proposal, and then they will manage to review,
Steve DiFazio: then the Swiss Nsf. Lead agency opportunity.
Steve DiFazio: So. Um! This one also is in multiple divisions. But for Mcb it's essentially whatever the Mcb Core priorities are, this one requires an expression of interest form. There are no deadlines. If you submit to Mcd. Deadlines do apply if you submit to the Swiss National Science Foundation,
Steve DiFazio: And then, finally, we just wanted to mention that it is possible to request supplemental funding to an existing proposal. And, in fact, there is this special program
Steve DiFazio: that that provides supplemental funding to enhance collaborations between nsf-funded researchers and researchers that are funded by the European Research Council
Steve DiFazio: and so for example. And so the the award is essentially to fund an overseas visit and to spend time in the collaborating lab. And so you can fund part of a sabbatical this way. It's It's a really nice opportunity, And We also wanted to mention that you can include funds in your proposal to support, travel, to work in a lab or a country that that falls that's completely consistent with assembly.
Steve DiFazio: Okay, um. These aren't specifically part of the Mcb. Core solicitation. But they are common um alternative funding mechanisms that typically get reviewed together with Mcb Core proposals, and so the first one will. Highlight is called an eager grants. So the early concept grants for exploratory research, and these are intended to support mostly high risk, high record research ideas that would not review well or
Steve DiFazio: panel. Um, there are limited size. You can see there two years, three hundred K. And you should contact a program officer. In this case it's required that you contact the program Officer, pick your idea. The program officers will discuss it internally, and then one hundred.
Steve DiFazio: If they think the idea fits the eager criteria, and also is consistent with cluster priorities, we will invite the proposal.
Steve DiFazio: The second one to highlight are these: raise awards, which are um research advanced by interdisciplinary science and engineering, and so these are also to support high-risk high reward. Projects. But this is specifically for interdisciplinary research,
Steve DiFazio: and so essentially combining a produce for multiple fields. In this case you have to have two different program officers for each of the different programs. Um agree to invite the proposal, and these are larger, so it's five up to five years up to a million dollars. Um, and sometimes this mechanism it's described in the Phd. And in principle. You can submit these anytime
Steve DiFazio: practice. They're often called out specifically by dear colleague letters or other mechanisms,
Steve DiFazio: and then the third one we'll. Highlight is the research coordination networks. And so these are, strictly speaking, research proposals. These are organizational proposals. So it's for the establishment and organization of networks of researchers, spanning
Steve DiFazio: and usually disciplinary organizational geographic and international boundaries. So you have to show that there's a need to enhance coordination, and there's a purpose for it. So there's essentially a good scientific motivation helps if it's an emerging field. It doesn't have to be you just have to show that the need is there.
Steve DiFazio: These have budgetary guidelines of five years. Five hundred K.
Steve DiFazio: Um. It is possible to deviate from that. Um, but that's under very specific conditions. So that's again yet another case where you should talk to your program Officer thinking of a Webinar Cn. Proposal, and those can be submitted to any program, including any of themc programs, and the ones that I talked about previously do not have their own solicitation. They're actually described in the Pa. Ppg: This one does have a solicitation.
Steve DiFazio: Okay. So now we just want to highlight one opportunity. That, again, is not, strictly speaking, part of the Mcb core solicitation. But this is an Mcb-specific program that gets reviewed in the
Steve DiFazio: panels. That mostly cover The proposals submitted to the core programs. So this is a great opportunity for mid-career or late career scientists to essentially change the direction of their research program and expand into a new area.
Steve DiFazio: And So the way the program works is you can get funding for up to six months in the first year of the program. So that's the year we refer to as the Sabbatical or or Training year.
Steve DiFazio: Um. And so you get what the the thinking is. You would be released from quite a bit if you're teaching and administrative responsibilities to be able to focus on becoming um conversant in a new research area. And then you can get an additional two years of funding out of this program to actually implement the research.
Steve DiFazio: Now, the program does have specific requirements, as you can see there. So again, there's a separate standalone solicitation that you should definitely consult if you're thinking of submitting one of these, and they are specific again for, uh, people who are a little further along in their career so associated to a professor.
Steve DiFazio: Okay,
Steve DiFazio: Now, we just wanted to mention a couple of things about this new Papp. So the Pa. Ppg is is the the kind of governing um document that has all of the policies and procedures that relate to so many. Grant proposals to Nsf.
Steve DiFazio: And I'm. Going to suggest that you read this. But um, it's not obviously not required. But this is always the place We go to look up policies when people have questions about them, and it's probably available on the web. So it's always there, for where you can go and look at some changes. So this gets updated regularly, because of course, the policies change regularly over time. There's a handy link here that will show you the summary of the changes in two thousand and twenty-three. That's typically what happens when we release new documents
Steve DiFazio: and solicitations. But we will highlight a few requirements here first. So the first is this new requirement that there should be a plan for the safe and inclusive working environments. If the research is to be conducted in part or full at an off campus or off-site facility.
Steve DiFazio: So after April the eighteenth proposals to Bio Ngo, that involves such off-site work
Steve DiFazio: must submit a plan approved by their authorized organizational representative that designates how
Steve DiFazio: that that it's how they will foster safe and harassment-free environments wherever the science is conducted
Steve DiFazio: Now, we're not going to go into any more detail about this here? I'm sure there are questions, but I'm going to recommend that you instead of ten. But I mean you can ask us some questions about it now. But there's going to be a full webinar about this on March twentieth from three to four. Pm: One:
Steve DiFazio: okay. Second thing that is being emphasized in the new papp. Is this policy about
Steve DiFazio: Don't use research of concern? So this refers to research that involves, for example, potential pathogens or toxins like nerve agents that could be used for nefarious purposes, or that that just could cause large-scale problems
Steve DiFazio: and so it's the researcher's responsibility to self-identify. If they're working on this type of research for these types of organisms or across our procedures.
Steve DiFazio: And so there are two policy documents that are linked here that will allow you to determine whether or not your work is is a Dual-use research concern type project,
Steve DiFazio: and you have to indicate that on the cover page.
Steve DiFazio: And then, finally, there's there's some new requirements for bio sketches and current pending. Ah support statements. So after October twenty third of this year, both of those will have to be produced, using the cyan for it.
Steve DiFazio: Okay. So we thought it would be useful to take a few minutes to go over
Steve DiFazio: the general structure of a solicitation and just highlight a few things about what to look for when you're reading a new solicitation.
Steve DiFazio: So, as I mentioned, the Phpg. Lays out the overall policies governing proposals. But there may be rules that deviate from those policies, and the solicitation takes precedence. So it is super important with each new solicitation that you actually go out and and read it and read it through. But we'll highlight here just a few things to pay attention to.
Steve DiFazio: All Nsf. Solicitations have the same format. So we're hoping this is a useful exercise. So the first thing is, when you search for an opportunity, you may end up on this landing page. This is not the solicitation. This has a link to your full solicitation, and that's where you're going to get all the details.
Steve DiFazio: Okay,
Steve DiFazio: So once you connect to say the html document. There's a lot. There's a table of contents with live links to the sections that i'm showing an example of here. They all have the same format for all the solicitations. Um. And so the introduction is going to give you just a quick overview of the program, so you can get a quick view of whether or not your research is a good fit for that solicitation.
Steve DiFazio: Don't. Stop there. You should definitely go down to the program description which has much more detail about the program, and also often has links out to web pages that are updated on a regular basis, so such as the Mcv. Solicitation has links out to our cluster descriptions that may be updated more frequently than the solicitation document itself. So those are supposed to be living living web pages that will tell you what the current core priorities are.
Steve DiFazio: Um: Okay. The second thing is, it is really important to read the whole description, because you often find special requirements in the description that you might otherwise miss, if you just read the introduction and then skim through the rest.
Steve DiFazio: All right. So next up there are two sections and different parts of the solicitation that may or may not give you guidance for budget.
Steve DiFazio: So there's the award Information section, and in the case of the Mcb. Ah, solicitation, it's either some guidance there it's Find you on the earlier slide, talked about what the average budgets are. And then this slide says how much total money is available,
Steve DiFazio: and approximately how long the the projects are expected to last. Really, what it comes down to is the budget, and the duration should be dictated by the science. Now, if you don't have much experience with and Nsf.
Steve DiFazio: And if those average numbers. Aren't that useful to you. You want to get more information about it. The typical award sizes. You can actually go out to that original solicitation landing page, and at the bottom there is this button that will give you a list of all the active awards that are funded by the program and their budgets.
Steve DiFazio: Okay, Next thing to highlight is, there's the the following couple of sections. So eligibility and then the proposal, preparation and submission instructions. If you're an experienced investigator, and you've read a bunch of solicitations. You might be tempted to skip those sections because they look like
Steve DiFazio: The truth is, those sections are ah often updated for each solicitation, and there are often specific requirements, So, for example, and the Mcb. Solicitation There is information about that in bio-track at the end of the section,
Steve DiFazio: and only there at the end of the section on the proposal preparation and or Sorry, The Merit Review Section,
Steve DiFazio: also information about that new, safe and inclusive working environment plan. The
Steve DiFazio: okay final thing about the solicitation is the agency. Contacts at the end are extremely useful because those are good first points of contact. Now, if you already know that a program officer, it works in the area, or it has expertise in the area that you're interested in writing a proposal about contact that person directly by all these. But if you have no other contacts, it's good to start the names that are at the end of the solicitation under agency contacts.
Steve DiFazio: Okay, So this is Ah, this is our last content slide. So um few take home messages. So remember that expect, except for a few special programs. The Bio directorate, including Mcb, has no submission deadline, so you can submit your proposal whenever it's ready.
Steve DiFazio: So when it's in good shape, and you have it sufficient preliminary data that's the time you should send it in.
Steve DiFazio: We'd also like to highlight that Nsf. Is is receptive to high-risk, projects, and with especially those with potential for high impact.
Steve DiFazio: Um, we support interdisciplinary research and education, and there are lots of formal and informal mechanisms to do that, and we also encourage international collaborations.
Steve DiFazio: And Nsf. Will support your education and outreach efforts, and we have a common goal of creating a more diverse scientific community. It's a major priority of the agency.
Steve DiFazio: And then we're also cognizant of the challenges faced by investigators as they go through their careers, and that sometimes people in the big career stage can be neglected. And so there are funding opportunities that will enable you to
Steve DiFazio: rejuvenate your research program or reorient it, so that you can attain greater impact
Steve DiFazio: so essentially to evolve the program as the science involves. And then, finally, i'm just going to reiterate once again that it's important to um. Run your ideas by a program officer unless you're super sure which program you'd like to submit to.
Steve DiFazio: And so the best way to do that is to send a one-page summary in advance, and the that should address both the intellectual merit and the rudder impact components of the project, and then tips to for how to prepare that one page summary can be found in a previous uh office hour. Presentation uh this one was in February, twenty twenty. So if you go out to the link that's at the beginning of the slides, you'll be able to find that.
Steve DiFazio: And then finally,
Steve DiFazio: there is a Pdf. Of this slide presentation that will be available to you shortly after the office hour completes our conclusions.
Steve DiFazio: Um! Just highlight. A few more virtual office hours coming up. So we mentioned the safe and inclusive work Environment Office hour. There's a very popular one how to write a great Nsa. Proposal that I highly recommend coming up on May the twelfth
Steve DiFazio: Um. The career program we didn't even mention today because it has its own uh has its own separate office hour coming up. This is one of the flagship programs that cuts across most of Nsf. And then there's going to be one specifically on broader impacts, which is often the stumbling block for people who are new to Nsf.
Steve DiFazio: And with that I will just
Steve DiFazio: ah highlight this initiative that Nsf. Has now to enhance the the footprint of your science by tagging nsf-funded research on social media with this nsf stories hashtag, and also that if you have a breakthrough or something notable in your research, Please contact your managing program officer, and they will have the opportunity to run that up the chain
Steve DiFazio: in our media department and potentially again help you amplify the the reach of your science,
Steve DiFazio: I think. With that we are at questions.
Olaf Corning: We are. If you have any questions, please put them in the chat. Thank you for the fantastic overview of Mtv's core.
Olaf Corning: I will read questions allowed for the program vectors to answer them. Some questions have also been answered through text by which you can see if you go to the questions and answers click over to the answer tab and then click, show all on any question you're interested in,
Olaf Corning: but we've gotten quite a few questions, so let's dive in from Thomas. We
Olaf Corning: should. You contact one program director from one cluster first, or both at the same time. If you think your project may overlap, if you submit to Mcb, and the project is better suited for Ios, will the Grant be rejected or sent to Ios for their approval. Matthew, would you like to answer that?
Matthew Buechner: Okay. Ah, I answered it in text. I didn't realize I got it.
Matthew Buechner: I'll just pause for a moment, or we can read the unanswered ones first. Okay, because there are open ones building up. But let's finish this one first.
Matthew Buechner: Okay, this is a general programming pick. The person you think is closest to what you are want to write about. Um and write to them first. I I've seen cases where people write to a whole bunch of people, and hoping one of them will answer, and everyone thinks everyone on our end thinks somebody else answered it. The person doesn't get answered at all. So best to pick one, or maybe two, and write to them first, and then, if we don't think it fits in our program. We will talk
Matthew Buechner: to the other members of Mcv. And we're on the same floor with Ios. We can reach out to them, too. It's allowed um. And so if your proposal is a suitable, if we think it's more suitable for Ios, we'll talk with the program officers there, and if they're excited by it, we will ask your permission to transfer it to another program or to another division. We we don't do it behind your back.
Matthew Buechner: But when we, if we ask to do it, it's because we think that they have the reviewers who will give your proposal the best possible
Olaf Corning: perfect,
Olaf Corning: and Scott asks you mention that the medium annual budget was two hundred and thirty K. Per year in total costs. Some institutions have high indirect rates. So what is the range around this meeting?
Manju Hingorani: So um Scott, we can really give out any more detailed data than that number, because that's publicly available. But um, I think Scott. Ah, Steve in his um, just a couple of slides ago, actually answered your question Very well. One is that your budget um should be driven by the science. So figure out the scope and scale of your project, and then ask for the resources that you need and the personnel you need to get that science done.
Manju Hingorani: Um. And this guidance of two hundred and thirty k median is is just to let you know that if it's too far beyond that. It might be a little bit difficult for our programs to fund the project. But the budget is not a review criteria,
Manju Hingorani: so a proposal will not be rejected because of a too high budget we have the flexibility of
Manju Hingorani: if if you want to fund a project, but it's too far beyond what we can support. We have the flexibility of working with you to re-scope the project for a budget cut um if if you can handle that um, and uh, and then i'll reiterate that uh, Steve also mentioned that you can look at the past awards uh that have been made by the program from the program page. And and that's a really good way of figuring out, because that those are specific numbers. Right? That's yeah
Manju Hingorani: you what the scope of the project is, and then there's a clear budget number associated with that award. So those examples can be great To get a sense of what your budget should be.
Steve DiFazio: I I wanted to for a quick caveat in there. Sometimes those budget numbers are for a single year, and sometimes they're for the full project, so you just have to be a little bit careful of that. But it will give you a general idea
Olaf Corning: thing to keep an eye out, for Eric has two questions: one while there is no submission, deadline? Is there a better time of year to submit to other times of year
Olaf Corning: and two? Are we still limited to one submission per fiscal or fiscal year or division. Mcb. Versus Ios, et cetera.
Manju Hingorani: So we're kind of proud on, and and pretty surprised and proud of the fact that we're turning around these ah decisions, and in on an average of five months. Um! And it's been continuing for the past four years, so it's pretty stable, so really there is no better time of the year. The budget is also spread out throughout the year, so there's no benefit to applying early in the year versus later in the year. There is one. And and you do ask a good question, because there is one particular time where the wait Time may be a bit.
Manju Hingorani: That's if you submit your proposal in early summer. Um! We usually don't have panels in summer. Um, because we're we're busy with those out activities for that fiscal year. And so your proposal might have to wait until a fall panel to be reviewed. Um! And so really our advice. Our general advice is, if you're in April, and you, haven't submitted a proposal, yet the May is will take another couple of months um to make it better, and submitted in summer for a full count.
Manju Hingorani: I'm going to link um
Manju Hingorani: in the chat. Make sure everybody gets it uh to a blog post that address. Exactly this question. Um. So you're welcome. Everybody's welcome to take a look at that. That just came in through the chat. Um, Your second question, Are we still limited to one submission? Um uh! That was sort of an initial uh uh limit that was placed for it. Didn't even last for a couple of months. I think the sense was that maybe we would be inundated with proposals in the No deadline era. And so it was limited. Uh,
Manju Hingorani: but just for a little bit um, and that limit was lifted, so there is no limit. Um! Ah! To submit it. You can submit as many proposals as you'd like. The only limit is that you cannot submit a duplicate or near duplicate, or substantially overlapping proposal Ah, to and nsf at the same time to to different programs and Nsf. At the same time. And, in fact, if you're not a beginning investigator, you can't submit a duplicate or substantially overlapping
Manju Hingorani: proposals to any program in the biological sciences, directorate, and any other funding agency
Olaf Corning: speaker. One. Thank you. The next question is, could you say more about education and outreach support mechanisms. Ra-hss-s are reviews, reps, intern rats, or ras.
Olaf Corning: How do we apply for these? Is it encouraged to engage undergraduates through these mechanisms rather than budgeting into the proposal directly.
Steve DiFazio: Um, so I I i'll take a crack at this, so we greatly prefer that these get budgeted upfront into the proposal, as supplements. Now, some of these are available as standalone proposals where you have multiple, so like uh Rt cycles? Or are you? Site proposals where it's essentially a program.
Steve DiFazio: Um, but the mechanism we're talking about specifically, here is when it's a supplement to the proposal. It doesn't have to be opposed to a word supplement.
Steve DiFazio: Yes, correct.
Manju Hingorani: Now I'm. I'm going to clarify. Not so. So. So these um These support mechanisms, the titles, Rajas, are you reps They really mean a lot to us for coding that to you. What we're trying to emphasize is that if you want to support um undergraduates, High school students, high school teachers
Manju Hingorani: um post backs um in your project, and absolutely include those people as um. Ah, you know personnel in your grant application itself. Um. And and so so that answers your question. I think you you should budget for them in the proposal, and the numbers that are given in the solicitation are a guide to what kinds of levels of funding we can support.
Manju Hingorani: What Steve was referring to is that if you already have an assembly board, you can also ask for a supplementary supplemental funding. Um. And in this case we're encouraging that you ask for supplemental funding only if an unanticipated opportunity arises. You found a great student, or you found an opportunity to broaden participation. Then you can ask us for a little bit of money to support that person. But we actually would really rather that you plan these activities right up front and ask for for the
Manju Hingorani: funding to support these activities. And then this other thing that Steve had started mentioning was that the
Manju Hingorani: some of these support mechanisms, like the ru research experiences for undergraduates, or ah or for post-baccalaureates that's called ramp, now these are also ah available, or and Nsf. Conferences and site or institutional scale programs. Um. And so you can look for those. Ah, those are separate solicitations in separate programs and not the um Mcb: Core programs.
Okay,
Manju Hingorani: I hope that, answered the question. Sorry, Steve. I I just wanted to clarify that they're not just all the supplements.
Olaf Corning: Thank you, and for G we have. How are the eager raise, and our Cn. Proposals reviewed?
Steve DiFazio: So eager and race proposals may be reviewed, and internally, and, in fact, often are reviewed internally by essentially multiple program directors will provide reviews, and if we made based on those reviews, they can be reviewed externally.
Steve DiFazio: Um, It's just kind of at the discretion of the program.
Steve DiFazio: Our Cn proposals to typically reviewed externally in panels
Olaf Corning: and just the budget. The budget also triggers external reviews. If it's over a certain limit, we have to ask for external reviews, but that that's not reached by eager proposals. Those are for the most part reviewed internally.
Olaf Corning: Also, my Justin, from Madhan, can a proposal include an expense component earmarked for outreach, such as say, having and Nsf projects supported exhibits at a local museum or organizing an outreach event in a public space.
Matthew Buechner: Absolutely. Yes, In fact, the panels often like that, because when you budget money for are your broader impacts, outreach activities.
Matthew Buechner: It means you really are going to do them, and we'll have a ah a record of the outreach that you has taken place. Um, We always like to see that you've got assessment of those activities as well to see how many people visited them, or what the effect was
Matthew Buechner: of your outreach activities. So yes, those are highly encouraged, and we're happy when they appear
Olaf Corning: going to a question that had a was answered via text
Olaf Corning: from Thomas, if you have a project that addresses a scientific question, but also equally addresses undergraduate stem education beyond the five pages for a rui, Grant proposal, does Mcb, also partner with the Edu director to Co. Fund the proposal.
Manju Hingorani: Matthew, you're muted. Yeah.
Matthew Buechner: Yeah. I gave an answer, but i'm not sure if it's the right Answer.
Manju Hingorani: I can elaborate a little bit. Um, I I think that um the Edu directorate, you know they have their own priorities. They're often on a larger scale than discipline-specific
Manju Hingorani: um programs like mcp um. So it's we. We found that it's it's relatively rare that there's enough intersection for um for for for co-funding. It has happened in the past, but so um but but it's rare. Um. But again, we're internally program directors are always looking for opportunities to take a one-page summary to another program director in another program, so that we can learn more about their
Manju Hingorani: program and figure out if there are opportunities for Core review and co-funding. So back to the same answer. Send your one paid summary, and we will go and shop it around. If we think that there's potential, it's a learning experience for us and and a potential to expand our our budgetary capacity. If we're interested in a project, Thank you for that question.
Matthew Buechner: I can. I can add one thing. One thing that we have seen is you could have a collaborative proposal, either all from the same as
Matthew Buechner: institution, or with separate institutions where one person is somebody in the humanities or arts who is doing an outreach activity related to your project. And we've seen that with historians artists sometimes. So if you've got something that requires more, you can actually have a collaborative proposal with one person asking for
Matthew Buechner: the other aspects of broader impacts working together on an evolved. Okay,
Manju Hingorani: do you have to remember that the Edu Directorate is also funding research right? So they're funding research into education, and that is often not the emphasis of a component that you've got
Manju Hingorani: in in your Mcd proposal, for example. Um, But sometimes you could be going into a really large direct, You know, really large-scale sort of research into the educational component. You're you're proposing it in that case there may be an overlap. Send a summary
Olaf Corning: when in doubt, reach out to your program tractor.
Olaf Corning: And with that I don't believe. Oh, we actually got a few more questions and does eager. Accept a pi and copy eyes.
Manju Hingorani: Yes, yes; but the limit is three hundred thousand dollars total. So you have to negotiate that with your with your copi,
Manju Hingorani: I think there's one more question,
Olaf Corning: and if Eric does a request to support outreach programs include ongoing programs, particularly if they are used to increase accessibility to underprivileged communities,
Manju Hingorani: So this is an opportunity for me to broadcast that for broader impacts we emphasize impact. We're happy with innovation, but we emphasize impact. So if you're going to continue ongoing programs or plug into an institutional program that's going on at your at your institution. Ah, that's fine. What you have to make sure is that you are. Describe. You describe prospectively what you're going to do, where your
Manju Hingorani: and where your efforts are going to take you. So your question that you know ongoing program uh that particularly aims now in the future. To to increase accessibility, to underprivileged communities would be a great way to expand on an on way program and very welcome. Um, you really do just have to describe why you're going there. Um! What you're hoping to achieve what your goals are. Um! How are you going to do it? And how are you going to assess whether you're successful and ask for the money you need?
Manju Hingorani: Get it done.
Olaf Corning: And with that we've answered all the questions
Olaf Corning: I am going to put in the chat for everyone, the link to the recordings for different office hours.
Olaf Corning: We will upload a recording of this office hour shortly if you heard an answer, but missed it before you could write it down.
Manju Hingorani: All right. Well, thank you, everybody. Thank you, Olaf Matthew, Antony Wilson, Steve,
Manju Hingorani: and see you all the participants next month.
Manju Hingorani: I think you can stop recording Now, Ola,
Manju Hingorani: over to me.