September 7, 2005

All of us at the National Science Foundation are deeply saddened by the devastation and suffering of the people in the areas affected by hurricane Katrina. The Foundation's grantee community has our sincerest sympathies as they work to restore their institutions' capabilities.

Perhaps more importantly, the affected institutions can be assured that they have our support. The Foundation pledges strong and continuing sponsorship of research and education in the areas affected by the storm and its aftermath. We are committed to minimize disruption to our grantees, to the academic science and engineering enterprise, and to the valuable federal investment in colleges, universities, faculty and students in the region. To that end, we are prepared to be as flexible, accommodating and creative as possible.

Many of our awardee institutions in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi have announced delays or alterations in the fall schedule. Some may be closed for months. In addition, numerous faculty and students may be relocating to other institutions.

NSF will do everything possible to ensure continuity of the research and education projects that we support, and we also will provide frequent updates--on our web site, and by e-mail to investigators and their institutions--concerning procedures to achieve that goal.

In the short term, NSF will extend existing awards to institutions in the disaster area that are scheduled to expire before October 1, 2005. The Foundation also will make every effort to assist in the transfer of awards for faculty and students who temporarily change institutions, including movement of fellowship stipends, as appropriate, to new awardees. That being said, it is vital that each investigator contact his or her program officer as soon as feasible to discuss how each NSF-supported project has been impacted. This is a necessary step in any further action that NSF may take with respect to funding.

We also have established a hotline specifically dedicated to hurricane Katrina where institutions, faculty and students may address questions relating to NSF awards at (800) 381-1532. Questions may also be addressed by e-mail to katrina@nsf.gov.

The Foundation also will be posting updated information regarding specific assistance opportunities on our web site on this page. We encourage you to visit the site regularly.

Working together, we can restore the momentum of discovery that the hurricane slowed, but did not stop.

Arden Bement
Director, National Science Foundation

NSF Implementation of the October 5th OMB/OSTP Joint Announcement Entitled, Hurricane Relief on Federal Research Awards

Updated Hurricane Katrina Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

KATRINA RELATED FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Small Grants for Exploratory Research: Hurricane Katrina: https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf05053

Human and Social Dynamics - Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER) on Human Aspects of Hurricane Katrina: https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf05049

Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER): https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/nsf04_23/2.jsp#IID1

RELATED INFORMATION

NSF Katrina Hotline, (800) 381-1532 katrina@nsf.gov

Joint Announcement Hurricane Relief on Federal Research Awards from the Office of Science and Technology Policy: http://www.ostp.gov/html/Hurricane%20relief1.pdf

National Academies Information for Students, Scholars, and Scientists Displaced by Hurricane Katrina: http://www7.nationalacademies.org/visas/Katrina.html

National Institutes of Health Response to Hurricane Katrina Disaster: Information for Investigators and Institutions: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/katrina/index.htm

Department of Energy's Office of Science Responds to Hurricane Katrina: http://www.sc.doe.gov/Sub/Newsroom/News_Releases/DOE-SC/2005/Hurricane/Hurricane.htm

Hurricane Katrina Recovery: Government Sources: http://www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/PublicSafety/Hurricane_Katrina_Recovery.shtml

CampusRelief.org - Information Clearinghouse: http://www.campusrelief.org/

Department of Education/Federal Student Aid Help: http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/katrina.html

U.S.ICE Information for F/M Nonimmigrant Students: http://www.ice.gov/graphics/sevis/katrina/faq_student.htm

FEMA Hurricane Katrina Information: http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/resources_katrina.shtm

Grants.gov: http://www.grants.gov/