1. SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 SERIES 4, SESSION 7 OF APPLICANTS & ADMINISTRATORS PREAWARD LUNCHEON SERIES (AAPLS) What You Need to Know Before Applying for National Science Foundation (NSF) Funding

2. Presenters Office of Research Administration Christine Woodroffe Sr. Associate Director Suzanne Rocha Assistant Director Alison Golosovker Research Administration Coordinator Maria Harlow Associate Director Leigh Curley Associate Director

3. Session Overview 1.Introduce Research Funding at NSF 2.Overview and How to Submit a Compliant Proposal Internal approval FastLane Application components 3.Things to Consider Collaborative proposals Salary of Senior Project Personnel (“2 months rule”) Cost share

4. Research Funding at NSF CORE STRATEGIES 1.Foster integration of research and education through the programs, projects, and activities it supports at academic and research institutions. 2.Broadening opportunities and expanding participation of groups, institutions, and geographic regions that are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (stem) disciplines, which is essential to the health and vitality of science and engineering.

5. What is NSF? An independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 Supports all fields of fundamental science and engineering, except for medical sciences Ensures that research is fully integrated with education

6. NSF is divided into 7 directorates Biological Sciences Computer & Information Science & Engineering Education & Human Resources Engineering Geosciences Mathematical & Physical Sciences Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

7. Funding Statistics Annual budget of $7.2B in FY2014 Funds ~24% of all federally supported basic research conducted by US universities, and over 2,000 colleges, universities, K-12 schools, businesses, informal science organizations and other research organizations in the US Receives over 40,000 proposals per year, of which ~11,000 are funded Tufts received ~10% of its sponsored funding from NSF in FY2013 (~$15M USD)

8. Tufts NSF Funding Statistics

9. Funding Opportunities & Budget Details Funding opportunities fall into three categories: program descriptions; program announcements; and program solicitations Budget ceiling is not typically dictated, but directorates or programs may offer guidance and program announcement may specify Funding rate is ~20% for research grants with an average duration of 3 years and average annual award size of $160,500 (FY2013) “Institutions must use” full indirect cost (F&A) rate, calculated on the modified total direct costs (except for special programs as specified in program announcement or solicitation)

10. Unless specified, proposals submitted to NSF must be submitted electronically via use of either the NSF Fastlane system* or Grants.gov. *Tufts ORA recommends proposal preparation and submission via the NSF Fastlane system GRANT PROPOSAL GUIDE, FEBRUARY 2014 HTTP://WWW.NSF.GOV/PUBS/POLICYDOCS/PAPPGUIDE/NSF1 4001/GPG_INDEX.JSP HTTP://WWW.NSF.GOV/PUBS/POLICYDOCS/PAPPGUIDE/NSF1 4001/GPG_INDEX.JSP Applying to NSF

11. NSF Proposal & Award Process Timeline

12. NSF Fastlane Registration Tufts University is registered as an organization in Fastlane In order to submit a proposal, a PI needs to be added as a user under Tufts in Fastlane  Contact Alison Golosovker for Medford Alison.Golosovker@tufts.edu  Contact Vicki Laake for Boston Vicki.Laake@tufts.edu If a PI is transferring to Tufts, they will need to register in Fastlane via Tufts University (previous institution credentials do not carry over)

13. Application Process obtain internal approvalregister in FastLane complete proposal in Fastlane route proposal to ORA Signing Official for review and submission

14. Typical Proposal Contents

15. Cover Sheet Note: Be sure to follow page formatting instructions throughout application Title of Proposed Project Must describe the purpose of the research in nontechnical terms to the fullest extent possible. NSF may edit the title of a project prior to making an award. For Collaborative and Certain Programs (such as MRI, Career, REU) the title must start with “Collaborative:” or “MRI:” or “REU:” followed by the project title. Check the program announcement. Budget and Duration Information Make sure the total “Amount of This Request” is identical to Line L of cumulative budget page. Project duration is normally 3 to 5 years Other Information PI and Co-PI information If Preliminary Proposal, check block on cover sheet and at full proposal stage fill in block showing preliminary proposal number assigned by NSF Project Performance Site location

16. Summary, Description & References Cited Project Summary (1 page limit) Written in the third person Broken down into 3 sections: overview, intellectual merit and broader impacts Program announcement may contain special instructions, such as inclusion of key words Project Description (15 page limit) 15 page limit, unless otherwise specified in the program announcement Address both merit review criteria (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts), and include separate section that discusses the broader impacts of the proposed activities Project description must be “self-contained”; reviewers are not obligated to view URLs Must contain section on results from prior NSF support received within the last 5 years (PI and Co-PIs) References Cited (no page limitation) Include bibliographic citations only Cannot be used to provide parenthetical information outside of the 15-page Project Description. If there are no references, insert a document stating “Not Applicable.”

17. Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources (no page limitation) Description of available internal and external resources (physical and personnel) directly applicable to the proposed project. Ensure that no quantifiable financial information is provided (ie., cost sharing commitments). Include information such as available computer systems, laboratory equipment, library resources, etc. The description should be narrative in nature. If there are no facilities required, insert a document stating “Not Applicable.”

18. Budget and Budget Justification Justification should follow budget format sections/headings and justify each budget line item. Costs - necessary, reasonable, allocable, and allowable. Follow PA/RFA special instructions and special allowable/unallowable costs. If the program announcement does not require a budget, insert text or upload document stating “Not Applicable.” *Note: If no person months/salary are requested for senior personnel, they should be removed from the budget; their names remain on cover sheet; role should be described in Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section of the proposal.

19. PostDoc Mentoring Plan; Data Management Plan Postdoctoral Researcher Mentoring Plan (1 page limit) If support for postdoctoral researchers is requested, must include a description of the mentoring activities (career counseling, training in grant proposal preparation, publications and presentations) for such individuals. Data Management Plan (2 page limit) Required for each proposal, a description of how the proposal will conform to NSF policy on dissemination and sharing of research results. If a Data Management Plan is not needed, a document must be uploaded and state that no detailed plan is needed, as long as the statement is accompanied by a clear justification.

20. Biosketch Biographical Sketches (2 page limit per individual) Required for all senior project personnel* The following information must be provided:  Professional Preparation  Appointments  Products: publications, data sets, software, patents, copyrights  Synergistic Activities  Collaborators & Other Affiliations *NSF defines Senior Project Personnel as: 1) PI and Co-PIs; 2) Faculty Associate (faculty member) - an individual other than the Principal Investigator(s) considered by the performing institution to be a member of its faculty or who holds an appointment as a faculty member at another institution, and who will participate in the project being supported.

21. Current & Pending Current and Pending (no page limitation) The PI and each senior personnel complete their own All current project support from whatever source (e.g., Federal, State, local or foreign government agencies, public or private foundations, industrial or other commercial organizations) must be listed, including this proposed project. The proposed project and all other projects or activities requiring a portion of time from the researcher must be included, even if they receive no salary support from the project(s). The total award amount for the entire award period covered (including indirect costs) must be shown as well as the number of person-months per year to be devoted to the project, regardless of source of support. Ensure the budget amount for the proposed project equals the amount shown on the cover page and Line L of cumulative budget page. Make sure current NSF support does not total more than two months.

22. Things to Consider

23. Collaborative Proposals Proposals that include collaboration with other institutions require all institutions to be registered in FastLane Submission options: 1.prime institution submits a proposal with subcontract(s) 2.each institution submits their part of the proposal and receives a separate award directly from NSF if funded lead-PI/proposal must be identified and proposals must be linked through a PIN # and submitted within a “reasonable timeframe of one another” and meet the deadline. Required proposal sections differ based on the organization’s role as Lead/Non-Lead Organization. Check your Directorate and program to see if option 2 is allowed

24. Salary of Senior Project Personnel (“2 months rule”) NSF operates on the assumption that research is a normal faculty function included within the terms of an individual’s appointment at their institution Senior Project Personnel cannot receive more than 2 months of salary in any one year from all NSF-funded grants Any compensation greater than 2 months requires justification in budget/justification and NSF approval via award notice Tufts defines the year as September 1 st – August 31 st

25. Cost Sharing Voluntary Cost Sharing: Voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited All available organizational resources necessary and available to the project must be described in the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section Mandatory Cost Sharing: Only for programs that require cost sharing as stated in the program announcement Any other inclusion of cost sharing requires authorization by NSF Director, National Science Board or legislation Listed on Line M of budget and legally binding and subject to audit

26. NSF supports all fields of fundamental science and engineering, except for medical sciences To submit a compliant proposal: 1.Follow the program announcement/solicitation instructions 2.Allow time well in advance for planning, registration, approvals, preparation, review/revisions, and submission Conclusions