United States-Israel Collaboration in Computer Science (USICCS) NSF 17-515 Frequently Asked Questions

Can I submit a proposal to NSF 17-515 without having one submitted to the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF)?

No.  You must have also submitted a coordinated proposal to BSF by the November 15, 2016 BSF deadline. See http://www.bsf.org.il/data/FormsToDownload/BSF-NSF_Computer_Sciences_program_Call.pdf for BSF guidelines and requirements.

Where can I find out about the BSF solicitation and proposal requirements?

You can find information about the BSF program at http://www.bsf.org.il.

How do the BSF and NSF proposals get linked?

The BSF and NSF proposals get linked by proposal title. In the NSF proposal title, BSF should be followed with a colon, then the BSF Application Number with a colon, then the title of the project (identical to the title submitted to BSF). For example, if the title of the proposal to BSF is "Title of Proposal" and the Application ID is 0123456, the NSF proposal title should be "BSF: 0123456: Title of Proposal."

Why are the submission deadlines for the NSF and BSF proposals different?

The submission deadlines for the NSF and BSF proposals were selected to align with the processing time required for organizing and reviewing projects. BSF proposals are due November 15, 2016, and the coordinated NSF proposal can be submitted between February 1, 2017 and February 15, 2017.

Is there a budget limit on the proposal submitted to NSF?

The budget should be commensurate with the cost and effort required for the work conducted during the visits in Israel.  We expect to have $400,000 in funding available in Fiscal Year 2017. As we would like to make 6-9 awards, we expect the average award size to be about $50,000 in total over the 4-year term of the award.

Will BSF make the same number of awards as NSF? Will every BSF award in Computer Science be co-funded by NSF?

NSF’s participation is intended to augment BSF’s existing program supporting collaborative efforts between the two countries.  It is expected that BSF will make more awards than NSF in this joint program.  There may be a small number of proposals supported by NSF that are not supported by BSF due to lack of funds.

Can the NSF travel funds be used to pay travel for Israeli researchers to the US?

The funds are intended to pay for travel expenses of US researchers visiting Israel.  However, NSF understands that there may be exceptional cases where alternative travel arrangements are necessary.  In such cases, please contact your program officer for further guidance.

The project on which I would like to collaborate with an Israeli researcher is on a topic not mentioned in the NSF solicitation, but it is in scope for the BSF solicitation. Can I still apply?

Yes, you may still apply, as long as the topic area falls under an area represented by a core research program in CISE.

Will NSF oversee the review process? Will I receive reviews and a review summary?

BSF will run the review process as described in more detail in Section VI.B. of the NSF solicitation. Proposals submitted will be reviewed by BSF's merit review process using NSF’s merit review criteria of intellectual merit & broader impacts. You will receive 3 to 5 ad hoc reviews but no panel summary. The reviews will be identical to the ones the Israeli PI receives for the proposal submitted to BSF.

I have an active award within the CISE Division of Computing and Communications Foundations (CCF). Can my Israeli collaborator and I submit the proposal of this CCF award to the BSF-NSF program?

No, a proposal submitted to both BSF and NSF cannot correspond to a proposal that has already resulted in an NSF award.

If unavoidable circumstances prevent travel during one of the years of the award term, can I use the funds for another purpose?

Actual expenditures do not have to precisely match the planned amounts in each year of the award’s term.  Funds can be used in later years (including no-cost extensions to the original term of the award).  Because the purpose of the program is to promote collaboration, the funds are expected to be used to support travel leading to collaborative research.