Preliminary Proposal Questions-April 2, 2010

1. Does one submit a Preliminary Proposal directly to NSF? To the G8 Site? To both?

2. Can a U.S. PI participate in more than one proposal?

3. Can a U.S. co-PI participate in more than one proposal?

4. Can co-PIs be from nonacademic U.S. institutions?

5. Can a research institution/group from outside the G8 be included in the collaboration?

6. What is the duration of the award?

7. What types of costs are allowable in proposals submitted to this competition?

8. How does the Preliminary Proposal submission differ from standard NSF proposal submission?

9. How does the Preliminary Proposal review differ from normal NSF review procedures?

10. Are there any differences in award administration? What are the rules regarding Intellectual Property rights?

11. Can one skip the preliminary proposal and still submit a full proposal?

12. Will significant project changes (e.g. scope, PI/co-PIs, timeframe, funding requested) be permitted from preliminary proposal to the full proposal?

13. How many NSF awards are anticipated? In what timeframe?

14. Should I submit the preliminary budget in Dollars or Euro’s?  What is the maximum amount of award that can be requested to NSF?

15. Is this initiative associated with any other effort (e.g. workshop)?

 

1. Does one submit a Preliminary Proposal directly to NSF? To the G8 Site? To both?

One Preliminary Proposal per collaboration is submitted by the Lead PI (only) directly to the G8 Site:
http://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/international_cooperation/research_collaboration/g8-initiative/

2. Can a U.S. PI participate in more than one proposal?

U.S. PIs (lead or otherwise) can be PIs in no more than one proposal.  However, they can be co-PIs in multiple proposals.

3. Can a U.S. co-PI participate in more than one proposal?

Yes.  U.S. PIs and co-PIs can participate in more than one proposal as co-PIs.

4. Can U.S. co-PIs be from nonacademic U.S. institutions?

No.  But researchers from nonacademic U.S institutions may be collaborators.

5. Can a research institution/group from outside the seven countries be included in the proposal?

Yes, as collaborators but not as PIs or co-PIs.  No award funding is available for research outside of the seven countries. 

6. What is the duration of the award?

Award duration is  typically between two years and three years. 

7. What types of costs are allowable in proposals submitted to this competition?

Standard NSF Allowability of costs applies to U.S. awards.

8. How does the preliminary proposal submission differ from standard NSF proposal submission?

One preliminary proposal per collaboration will be submitted via the G8 Website.   This preliminary proposal can be amended prior to the submission deadline.  After the preliminary proposal submission deadline, only unavoidable and approved changes, such as changing affiliation of PI/co-PIs will be accepted.  Withdrawals can be made at any time.  U.S. PIs who are invited to submit full proposals will submit the full proposals to NSF via FastLane.

9. How does the preliminary proposal review differ from normal NSF review procedures?

All preliminary proposals submitted to the G-8 Initiative will be peer reviewed by an international panel of experts using guidelines that incorporate the NSF review criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. In addition, the following evaluation criteria (found in the Call for Proposals) will be used:

• Scientific quality and innovativeness of the joint research plan
• Sound project management, methodological approach, feasibility and appropriateness of the joint research plan
• Added value to be expected from the research collaboration
• Balanced cooperation
• Competence and expertise of teams and complementarities of consortium (inter-disciplinary / inclusion of all necessary expertise)
• Appropriateness of resources and funding requested
• Expected impacts: e.g. scientific, technological, economic, societal
• Opportunities for early career researchers

Each of the seven countries will be represented on this panel.

10. Are there any differences in award administration?   What are the rules regarding Intellectual Property rights?

Standard NSF award terms and conditions will apply, i.e., Grant General Conditions or Research Terms and Conditions, as applicable to the awardee organization.  Awards will incorporate the standard NSF term relating to intellectual property.   

11. Can one skip the preliminary proposal and still submit a full proposal?

No.  A preliminary proposal is required prior to submission of a full proposal.  Full proposals are by invitation only.  Only those who submit a preliminary proposal will be considered for an invitation to submit a full proposal.

12. Will significant project changes (e.g. scope, PI/co-PIs, timeframe, funding requested) be permitted from preliminary proposal to full proposal?

The full proposal must be closely based on the scope of work contained in the preliminary proposal and changes should not be a significant deviation from the direction, focus and team composition stated in the preliminary proposal. Budget refinement can occur between preliminary proposal and full proposal submission.

13. How many NSF awards are anticipated? In what timeframe?

At least three U.S. multiyear awards are anticipated in early 2011.

14. Should I submit the preliminary budget in Dollars or Euros?  What is the maximum amount of award that can be requested to NSF?

The preliminary budget should be submitted in Euros but U.S. awards will be in Dollars. Full proposals submitted to NSF will require a G8 budget in Euros and the standard NSF FastLane budget in Dollars. NSF anticipates making multiple awards each at the level of approximately $150,000 per annum for a maximum of three years, pending the availability of funds.

15. Is this initiative associated with any other effort (e.g. exascale workshops)?

No.  While exascale investigations and workshops continue to be a research topic of interest for many communities, this initiative is only indirectly related to those efforts.  It is specifically focused on computational science research for globally significant science or engineering which requires exascale.