GRC Conference Highlight: NSF Policy Update

by Graeff, Frank

Big changes have come to the National Science Foundation (NSF) in recent months. In addition to their recent relocation from their Ballston, Va. campus, 2018 is bringing new policies on sexual harassment in NSF-funded labs, new functionalities to Research.gov, and the latest revisions to the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG). Jeremy Leffler, an outreach specialist in the NSF Policy Office spoke at the GRC Funding Competitiveness Conference last week to help guide attendees through the shifting landscape.

NSF recently released Important Notice No. 144, which explains how NSF will require organizations to report findings of sexual harassment, or any other kind of harassment regarding a PI/co-PI or other grant personnel. Leffler explained that NSF will solicit feedback on this new award term and condition through the Federal Register process within the next several weeks, but in the meantime, NSF expects all awardee organizations to establish and maintain clear and unambiguous standards of behavior to ensure harassment-free workplaces.

Leffler also explained that the long process of rolling out Research.gov is about to hit a new milestone. Beginning February 26, 2018, NSF will preview the new Research.gov proposal preparation interface to the community for feedback and for a chance to get used to the new environment. In late April 2018, proposers will be able to prepare and submit non-collaborative research proposals in Research.gov.

The presentation also took us through the 2018 PAPPG changes previously detailed in GrantWeek. Those changes include:

  • Increase in the Budget Justification page limitation from three pages to five pages;
  • Implementation of the standard Collaborators and Other Affiliations template that has been in pilot phase since April;
  • Addition of a new eligibility subcategory on international branch campuses of U.S. Institutions of Higher Education;
  • Revision of eligibility standards for foreign organizations; and
  • Restructuring of coverage on grantee notifications to and requests for approval from NSF, including referral to the Prior Approval Matrix available on the NSF website;

For an archived webinar explaining PAPPG updates, click here. To access the full PAPPG, click here. To keep abreast of new NSF changes, you can access NSF Proposal & Award Policy Newsletters here.