August 9, 2024

Dear Colleagues:

NSF EPSCoR affirms its commitment to a long-term partnership with EPSCoR jurisdictions in supporting successful and sustainable transitions for building research, education, and workforce development capacity within the jurisdiction. The transitioning of the Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-1 program to two new RII programs, E-RISE RII and E-CORE RII, represents an opportunity for EPSCoR jurisdictions to re-envision how activities undertaken by the NSF EPSCoR Jurisdiction or State Office can be transitioned and sustained, either within their current structure or within a new structure. With this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), NSF EPSCoR will accept supplemental funding requests to facilitate transition of activities and personnel supported by NSF EPSCoR Jurisdiction or State Offices, as further described below. Supplemental funding requests may be submitted by existing RII Track-1 recipients in their final year and E-CORE RII recipients succeeding a recently expired Track-1 award.

Supplemental funding requests must be in alignment with NSF EPSCoR programmatic goals and must not support activities already included in a related pending E-CORE RII proposal or active E-CORE RII award. Requests may include administrative support for essential jurisdiction-wide activities, and activities essential for sustaining partnerships between the Jurisdiction or State EPSCoR Office and other aligned organizations. Requests may also include support for activities essential for sustaining research infrastructure that could support any researcher in the jurisdiction or provide resources essential for the sustainability of activities seeking to create a diverse scientific workforce within the jurisdiction.

Examples of such essential jurisdiction-wide activities and research infrastructure eligible for support include, but are not limited to: education and outreach, workforce development, broadening participation activities, project coordination and management, jurisdiction-wide communication of opportunities, efforts necessary for maintaining existing partnerships with aligned institutions or entities that could impact the sustainability of research infrastructure and economic development of the region, pre- and post-award grant support, and advising. Support for new research, activities, or an expanded scope of work, in an RII Track-1 or E-CORE project is not allowed.

Eligibility Considerations

Before preparing and submitting a supplemental funding request, the Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) of the current RII Track-1 or E-CORE RII award must contact the project’s managing NSF Program Officer (PO) to discuss the extent of the budget spend-out of the current award, the timing of any required no-cost extensions (NCEs), the types of activities for which funding would be requested, and the recommended duration of those activities.

Supplemental funding requests responding to this DCL will only be considered for (i) active RII Track-1 projects with unliquidated balances of less than $1,000,000 and that are in their final or NCE year or (ii) E-CORE RII awards in Year 1 of the award succeeding an RII Track-1 award that expired no more than 12 months before submission of the supplemental funding request.

Only one supplement per eligible recipient is permitted under this DCL.

Supplemental Funding Request Preparation Instructions

Requests for supplemental funding must be prepared by the recipient institution/organization using Research.gov. The narrative of the supplemental funding request should not exceed six pages in length and must include the following sections:

1. A brief summary of the NSF EPSCoR Jurisdiction or State Office goals, activities, and impacts and outputs from the current or recently expired RII Track-1 award, specifically within the following categories.
   1. Research Competitiveness – impact of the current or recently expired RII Track-1 award on the research competitiveness of the jurisdiction and essential Jurisdiction or State Office activities that contributed to achieving enhanced research competitiveness in the jurisdiction.
   2. Education and Workforce Development (EWD) – essential EWD activities that were successful during the current or recently expired RII Track-1 award.
   3. Broadening Participation (BP) – essential BP activities that were successful during the current or recently expired RII Track-1 award in maintaining or increasing STEM participation.
   4. Communication and Dissemination – essential activities for communication within and beyond the jurisdiction, and for the dissemination of results that impact the jurisdiction and beyond, including nationally and internationally.
   5. Research Infrastructure – a description of the research infrastructure that has been essential in enhancing the research capacity and sustainability of the current or recently expired RII Track-1 award.
2. A description of the activities and/or roles for which supplemental funding is requested, including:
   1. Rationale for which essential activities and personnel need to be transitioned with supplemental funding.
   2. Roles, responsibilities, and accountability structure for all personnel that will be supported by the supplement.
   3. Rationale for which key partnerships will be sustained as a result of this supplemental funding.
   4. Key communication efforts, outreach and education programs, and programs that broaden participation in STEM over the duration of the supplement.
   5. Rationale for supporting essential research infrastructure that would aid the transition to the project’s sustainability (if appropriate).
3. A plan and a timeline for securing long-term, sustainable support for the activities described in the supplement, including resources beyond the NSF EPSCoR RII program.

Key considerations for preparing the budget and budget narrative are below.

1. Supplemental funding requests may be up to $700,000 and may be requested for a period of up to 12 months
2. If the supplement will support trainees in any of the activities above, the number of trainees to be funded may not exceed the average number of trainees supported per year with NSF RII Track-1 funds for the same activity during the previous five years. Proposers should clearly state the number of trainees and the amount requested for each trainee and provide evidence that an adequate applicant pool exists at the participating institutions.
3. This DCL supersedes previous NSF EPSCoR supplemental funding guidance for bridge activities of current Track-1 awards.
4. Supplements awarded in response to this DCL will not affect eligibility for planning proposals announced in DCL NSF 24-097.

Sincerely,

Alicia J. Knoedler
Office Head, Office of Integrative Activities

Sandra Richardson
Section Head, Research Capacity and Competitiveness

POINTS OF CONTACT

• Chinonye Nnakwe Whitley, Program Director, email: cwhitley@nsf.gov
• Benjamin J McCall, Program Director, email: bjmccall@nsf.gov
• Casonya Johnson, Program Director, email: casjohns@nsf.gov
• Jeanne Small, Program Director, email: jsmall@nsf.gov