February 2023
Note: The mandate to use SciENcv only for the preparation of Current and Pending (Other) Support information will go into effect for new proposals submitted or due on or after October 23, 2023. In the interim, proposers may continue to prepare and submit this document via use of SciENcv or the NSF fillable PDF. The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), however, encourages the community to use SciENcv prior to the October 2023 implementation.
Information regarding NSF pre-award and post-award disclosures relating to current and pending (other) support is available on the Policy Office website. The site includes a table which identifies where these disclosures must be provided in proposals as well as in project reports. The disclosure table is updated periodically, therefore individuals are encouraged to bookmark the NSF Pre-award and Post-award Disclosures Relating to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support website to ensure they are accessing the current table.
1. Where do I find information on NSF-Approved Formats for Current and Pending (Other) Support?
Information on NSF-approved formats for current and pending (other) support is available on the Policy Office website.
2. Do I list my proposed project on the Current and Pending (Other) Support information?
NSF uses the information provided in current and pending (other) support to assess the capacity of the individual to carry out the research as proposed, as well as to help assess any potential overlap/duplication with the project being proposed. In addition to ongoing projects and proposals currently under consideration from whatever source, information on this proposed project also must be provided and listed as "Pending". See PAPPG Chapter II.D.2.h(ii) for additional guidance.
3. I understand that prior to making a funding recommendation, the cognizant NSF program officer will request that an updated version of Current and Pending (Other) Support be submitted via Research.gov. What do I do if there have been no changes in my current and pending (other) support since proposal submission?
If there have been no changes to the information, senior personnel must download the existing current and pending (other) support information and recertify with a new date.
4. What steps must be taken if, after proposal submission, the proposer realizes a disclosure was not included in the current and pending (other) support information?
The steps to be taken depend on whether the proposal is in pre- or post-award status:
Pre-award
- If discovered prior to a deadline date, or in the case of a target date or no-deadline, prior to NSF assigning reviewers, an organization may use the proposal file update mechanism to submit revised current and pending (other) support information; or
- If discovered after reviewers have been assigned (and prior to award), the proposing organization should contact the cognizant program officer.
Post-award
- If discovered after award that a disclosure should have been submitted at the time of proposal submission, but was not, the AOR has 30 days to submit a post-award request to NSF.
5. A project that was listed as "pending" has since been awarded. Do we need to notify NSF that this project has been funded?
After an award has been made, a change in active other support must be reported to NSF as part of the annual or final annual project report submission to NSF. Additional information is available on the Research.gov About Project Reports website.
6. If the individual is not requesting salary support on the budget, does the proposal still need to be listed in current and pending (other) support?
Person-month information included in current and pending (other) support may differ from the person-months requested on the budget for a given project. For current and pending (other) support, senior personnel are required to provide the number of person-months (or partial person- months) per year to be devoted to the project by the individual. NSF uses the information provided in current and pending (other) support to assess the capacity of the individual to carry out the research as proposed, as well as to help assess any potential overlap/duplication with the project being proposed.
7. The actual effort on a project will exceed NSF's two-month rule. How do we show this on future proposals without violating NSF policy?
For current and pending (other) support, NSF is asking how much time the individual is planning to spend to complete the scope of work on the proposed project and/or award. NSF is not asking for how much time is specified on the budget for a particular individual. If the individual will be spending time on the proposed project or award, then that time must be reported in current and pending (other) support.
8. How should individuals report projects that exceed five years in current and pending (other) support?
For projects that exceed five years, individuals should report on the next five years of the project in current and pending (other) support. For example, if the individual is in year three of a ten-year award, they would report on years three through seven.
9. The NSF-approved current and pending (other) support formats require us to provide person-months per year committed to the project, however, our organization's fiscal year spans two calendar years. Which year should we include when reporting person-months per year?
If you are reporting person-months that span two calendar years, you should enter the latter year. For example, if your entry covers your organization's fiscal year of July 2022 through June 2023, you would enter 2023 for the year and include the corresponding person-months as defined and used by your organization in proposals submitted to NSF.
10. How should person-months be reported when an organization's fiscal year extends beyond the end date of the award?
Given that the date entered in the year field cannot exceed the last year of the award, person- months information should be aggregated into the last year of the award. For example, if the award end date is August 2023 and the organization's fiscal year runs from July 2022 to June 2023, the person-months for July and August 2023 should be aggregated and shown in the entry for 2023.
11. I have an NSF award that I previously included in Current and Pending (Other) Support that has since received a no-cost extension. If there is no change in the number of person-months, how should this be reflected in the Current and Pending (Other) Support?
The "Project/Proposal End Date" field should be revised to reflect the updated end date for the award. If there is no change in person-months necessary to complete the scope of work, then the "Person-Month(s) (or Partial Person-Months) Per Year Committed to the Project" field would remain the same as previously reported.
12. I have an NSF award that I previously included in Current and Pending (Other) Support that has since received a no-cost extension. If there is a change in person- months, how should this be reflected in the Current and Pending (Other) Support?
The "Project/Proposal End Date" field should be revised to reflect the updated end date for the award. If there is a change in person-months, then the "Person-Month(s) (or Partial Person- Months) Per Year Committed to the Project" field should be updated to reflect the entire amount of time for that year, including the no-cost extension period, necessary to complete the scope of work.
13. What is the scope of "research endeavors" that must be reported in current and pending (other) support? For example, a trainee's research that will result in their dissertation is not part of the PI's individual research endeavors, correct? Should only the research endeavors of an individual be reported and not all the research in their lab?
"Research endeavors" in the context of the guidance provided in PAPPG Chapter II.D.2.h(ii) does refer to the endeavors of the particular individual. The current and pending (other) support information that must be provided is all pending and current support that is either provided directly to the individual, or to the individual through their organization in support of that individual's research endeavors. Therefore, a trainee's research does not need to be reported.
14. Are honorarium services or payments related to research activities and if not, how do they apply?
Services and/or payments related to research oversight, research supervision, and co-authoring research papers, are not considered honoraria, but rather research funding.
15. If my organization serves as a subawardee, in the 'Total Award Amount' field of current and pending (other) support, should I list the total amount requested for my subaward or the total award amount for the overall project?
The total award amount requested or received by the subawardee organization must be provided in Current and Pending (Other) Support.
16. If my organization serves as a subawardee, in the 'Overall Objectives' field of current and pending (other) support, should the objectives for the entire project be entered or only those for my organization's part of the project?
The subawardee should only describe the objectives of their portion of the project in the 'Overall Objectives' field.
17. I have received funding classified as 'confidential' per the client. Must I include information for the confidential project in the current and pending (other) support section of the proposal?
Yes, if your organization seeks NSF funding, the information must be disclosed. Section 223 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law No: 116-283 (01/01/2021)) and NSF policies require disclosure, even if such funding is deemed confidential.
To the extent allowed by law, NSF does not publicly disclose any information regarding pending proposals. With regard to proposals that receive NSF funding, NSF typically does not disclose information in the proposal regarding current and pending (other) support from non-U.S. Government sources. NSF needs the information in the current and pending (other) support section of the proposal to assess the individual's capacity and any potential overlap/duplication with the project being proposed.
18. If there will be no effort in a given year (i.e., year 2 of a 3-year project) by an individual listed as senior personnel, what, if anything, should be reported in current and pending (other) support for that year?
In instances when senior personnel are not actively working on a project during each year, only years in which they are committing time should be listed. In the example above, only years 1 and 3 would be entered in current and pending (other) support. Year 2 would not be listed.
19. Must the objectives of all current and pending projects/proposals be included in the current and pending (other) support information, or do we only list the objective of the proposal being submitted?
The brief statement of the overall objectives is required for all current and pending projects/proposals and/or in-kind contributions listed.
20. Does effort prior to the current year need to be included for each activity on the current and pending (other) support document?
Only current and future effort should be included in current and pending (other) support.