Sponsored Programs Section: What's New
 

2019

May

  • SAO Contractual and Cost Links Updated for 2019

    The updated documents are available here.

2018

February

  • NSF New Award Requirements Regarding Reporting Harassment

    The National Science Foundation (NSF) has developed a new award term and condition that will require grantee organizations to report findings of sexual harassment, or any other kind of harassment regarding a PI or co/PI or any other grant personnel. See Important Notice 144 for full details.

  • NASA SMD Seeking Volunteer Proposal Reviewers

    NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is seeking subject matter experts to serve as mail-in and/or panel reviewers of proposals to ROSES and other SMD solicitations. Follow the links below to the volunteer review forms and click the boxes to indicate the topics in which you consider yourself to be a subject matter expert. If your skills match our needs for that review, they will contact you to discuss scheduling.

    They currently seek reviewers for:

    The names of the programs above contain links to those individual review forms, but the landing page all of these forms may be found at: http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/volunteer-review-panels/

  • Announcement of the 2018 NASA Fundamental Physics Workshop, April 9-11, 2018, in La Jolla, CA

    The 2018 NASA Fundamental Physics Workshop will be held on April 9-11, 2018, at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa, La Jolla, CA, USA. The workshop will provide a forum for NASA fundamental physics investigators to present results and discuss research ideas for future space experimentation with interested international and U.S. colleagues in the areas of Atomic and Molecular Physics (DAMOP community), Fundamental Forces and Symmetries, Dusty Plasma Physics, and Condensed Matter Physics. Specific sessions will be organized to discuss the status of the Cold Atom Laboratory slated for launch in 2018, and investigation plans by scientists using ESA's Plasma Kristall-4 facility aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and CNES' DECLIC-ALI-R ISS facility insert. A special session will be held to discuss potential research opportunities aboard NASA's Deep Space Gateway considered for the beyond-ISS era and stationed near the Moon.

    During the workshop, NASA/JPL will discuss plans for engaging the Bose-Einstein Condensate Cold Atom Laboratory (BECCAL) U.S. science community through a NASA Research Announcement. Participation by NSF and CASIS, the ISS U.S. National Laboratory manager, will also be discussed.

    All interested scientists, researchers and NASA/NSF managers are invited to participate. The participation of the current NASA-funded investigators is strongly encouraged and kindly requested. The workshop website, which includes detailed registration, program, and venue information is https://icpi.nasaprs.com/fpws2018

    There is no registration fee to participate in the workshop. Workshop participants are invited to submit abstracts for contributed talks and posters as part of their registration.

    Important deadlines:

    • Abstract Submission Deadline: February 16, 2018
    • Advance Registration Deadline: March 9, 2018
    • Hotel Reservation Deadline to Receive Discount Lodging Rate: March 9, 2018

January

  • ROSES-2017 Amendment 59: New Opportunity in B.11 the Heliophysics Space Weather Operations-to-Research (H-SWO2R) program.

    This amendment announces the creation of a joint NASA/NOAA opportunity, the Heliophysics Space Weather Operations-to-Research (H-SWO2R) program, which is a pilot component of the Heliophysics Research Program.

    NASA's role is to implement and support a national research program to understand the Sun and its interactions with Earth and the Solar System to advance space weather modeling and prediction capabilities applicable to space weather forecasting; develop and operate space-weather-related research missions, instrument capabilities, and models; and support the transition of space weather models and technology from research to operations and from operations to research. Proposers interested in this program element are encouraged to see the overview of the Heliophysics Research Program in B.1 of this ROSES NRA.

    NOAA's role is to provide timely and accurate operational space weather forecasts, watches, warnings, alerts, and real-time space weather monitoring for the government, civilian, and commercial sectors, exclusive of the responsibilities of the Secretary of Defense; and to ensure the continuous improvement of operational space weather services, utilizing partnerships, as appropriate, with the research community, including academia and the private sector, and relevant agencies to develop, validate, test, and transition space weather observation platforms and models from research to operations and from operations to research.

    Unlike other program elements in Appendix B of ROSES, submission to this program element does not involve a Step-1 proposal. Although not required, a Notice of Intent (NOI) is strongly encouraged. NOIs are requested by February 23, 2018, and 10-page proposals are due by March 30, 2018.

    On or about January 9, 2018, this Amendment to the NASA Research Announcement "Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2017" (NNH17ZDA001N) will be posted on the NASA research opportunity homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ and will appear on the RSS feed at: https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/grant-solicitations/roses-2017/.

    The NASA point of contact for this program element is Terrance Onsager who may be reached at terrance.g.onsager@nasa.gov.

  • STScI's new Help Desks powered by ServiceNow

    STScI is pleased to announce our new Help Desks powered by ServiceNow:

    • http://hsthelp.stsci.edu -- Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
    • http://masthelp.stsci.edu -- Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST)

    These are similar to the JWST Help Desk in operation since January 2017:

    • http://jwsthelp.stsci.edu -- James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

    You may submit questions via these websites that offer useful features:

    • Submit your questions directly to the appropriate team of experts
    • Access your submitted questions and continue the discussions
    • Find answers in our Knowledge Base
    • See announcements

    While we encourage you to use the new web-based system, questions may also still be submitted via e-mail (HST: help@stsci.edu; MAST: archive@stsci.edu).

  • Upcoming Due Dates: NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program Proposals

    Full Proposal Window: January 29, 2018 - February 5, 2018

    Program Guidelines: NSF 18-513

    The Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program serves to increase access to multi-user scientific and engineering instrumentation for research and research training in our Nation's institutions of higher education and not-for-profit scientific/engineering research organizations. An MRI award supports the acquisition or development of a multi-user research instrument that is, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs. MRI provides support to acquire critical research instrumentation without which advances in fundamental science and engineering research may not otherwise occur. MRI also provides support to develop next-generation research instruments that open new opportunities to advance the frontiers in science and engineering research. Additionally, an MRI award is expected to enhance research training of students who will become the next generation of instrument users, designers and builders.

    Please see the solicitation text for organizational definitions used by the MRI program. For more information, visit: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5260&WT.mc_id=USNSF_39&WT.mc_ev=click

2017

December

  • New Application for Grants.gov Proposal Submissions

    Effective 1/1/2018, Grants.gov will only allow proposal submissions via their Workspace application. Please see their alert forwarded below. If you plan on using Grants.gov, please login and familiarize yourself with the new process. While your next application may be months away, it is not too early to begin preparations to apply using Workspace.

    Grants.gov has published a recording of a recent town hall-style webinar, as well as a rundown of questions that were asked and answered during the event. They have also refreshed their Introduction to Grants.gov video series, which includes training on searching for grants, assigning user roles, and applying with Grants.gov Workspace.

    Also of note, the Grants.gov home page, has a tab "Learn Grants" that may be of interest to those who are new to the grants environment.

  • STScI Invites Scientists To Submit Proposals for JWST Cycle 1

    STScI are pleased to announce that the JWST Cycle 1 call for proposals for general observer (GO) time has been released, with up to 6,000 hours available in this cycle. Observing programs will be offered in multiple categories, determined by program size and other criteria.

    In addition, the Cycle 1 call supports Calibration Proposals, Long-Term Proposals, Treasury Proposals, and Survey Proposals. We also invite proposals for Theory Programs, Data Science Software development, and Archival Programs to support analysis of calibration and the Director's Discretionary Early Release Science (DD-ERS) data.

    Proposals are due by 8 p.m. Eastern Time on April 6, 2018. The Cycle 1 Time Allocation Committee will meet in late June 2018, with selections announced in July 2018.

    For more details, please consult the full call for proposals . Questions may be submitted to the JWST Help Desk.

August

  • ROSES-17 Amendment 24: Final text and change of submission and target selection process for D.7 K2 Guest Observer -- Cycle 6

    K2 Guest Observer (K2GO), program element D.7 of ROSES, solicits proposals for the acquisition and analysis of new scientific data from the K2 mission (http://keplerscience.arc.nasa.gov). K2 repurposes the space-borne hardware and ground-based operations of the Kepler mission (http://keplerscience.arc.nasa.gov) for a pointed survey of predetermined locations along the ecliptic plane. The fields covered by the observing campaigns under Cycle 6 are described at https://keplerscience.arc.nasa.gov/k2-fields.html.

    K2GO6 will use a new two-phase submission and target selection process, since spacecraft fuel is estimated to run out during these observations. An optional Phase-1 proposal, for all three campaigns (17-19) combined, will enable targets to be selected ahead of the observing campaigns. Phase-1 proposals, including target lists and a scientific rationale (submitted via email to keplergo@mail.arc.nasa.gov) are requested by October 12, 2017. If the spacecraft health and fuel allow, then Phase-2 proposals will be due April 19, 2018 (via NSPIRES). Phase-2 proposals are limited to use observations for targets which have been selected as part of Phase-1, the selection results of which will be published in February 2018 at https://keplerscience.arc.nasa.gov.

    On or about August 17, 2017, this Amendment to the NASA Research Announcement "Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2017" (NNH17ZDA001N) will be posted on the NASA research opportunity homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ and will appear on the RSS feed at: http://nasascience.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/grant-solicitations/roses-2017.

    Technical and implementation questions should be directed to: Geert Barentsen at geert.barentsen@nasa.gov. The NASA point of contact for programmatic information is Mario R. Perez, who may be reached at mario.perez@nasa.gov.

  • Submillimeter Array (SMA) Call for Proposals

    The SMA is currently accepting proposals for the 2017B observing semester (16 Nov, 2017 - 15 May, 2018) from principal investigators from the worldwide astronomical community. The proposal deadline is Wed., 6 Sep. 2017, 16:00 EDT (US) [Wed., 6 Sep. 2017, 10:00 HST (Hawaii)/ Wed., 6 Sep. 2017, 20:00 GMT / Thu., 7 Sep. 2017, 04:00 CST (Taipei)].

    The SMA has recently completed significant upgrades in observational capability, with more underway. Currently, the SMA observes simultaneously with two orthogonally polarized receivers, one in the 230 GHz or 345 GHz band and the other in the 240 GHz or 400 GHz band (with full polarimetric observations available using the 230+240 or 345+400 band combinations). The SWARM correlator processes 8 GHz bandwidth for each receiver in each sideband, for a total of 32 GHz, at a uniform 140 kHz resolution. This 32 GHz frequency coverage can be continuous where the tuning ranges overlap for the two orthogonally polarized receivers. In short, the SMA now provides flexible, wide band frequency coverage that delivers high continuum sensitivity and excellent spectral line capabilities. A full track offers continuum sensitivity of 200 or 500 micro-Jy (1 sigma) at 230 or 345 GHz in good weather conditions (precipitable water vapor 2.5mm and 1.0mm, respectively). The corresponding line sensitivities at 1 km/s resolution are 30 and 70 mJy. The small antennas allow access to low spatial frequencies in the sub-compact configuration and the finest angular resolution at 345 GHz in the very extended configuration is ~ 0.25". Thus, in some ways, the characteristics of the SMA may be both similar and complementary to those of the stand-alone Atacama Compact Array (ACA) component of ALMA.

    For more information about SMA capabilities, visit the SMA Observer Center website http://sma1.sma.hawaii.edu/ and explore the set of SMA proposing tools at http://sma1.sma.hawaii.edu/tools.html. Current and archived SMA Newsletters available online at https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sma/newsletter/ provide a sampling of the wide variety of science possible with the SMA.

    Instructions on proposal preparation and submission, are available at the SMA Observer Center website http://sma1.sma.hawaii.edu/. Questions or comments regarding this Call for Proposals can also be addressed to propose@sma.hawaii.edu.

    • June

    • Updated Contractual & Cost information for FY17-18

      The Contractual and Cost information page has been updated to reflect new approved rates provided by ONR Negotiation Agreement dated 16 May 2017 that shall be used for forward pricing and billing purposes for Fiscal Years 2017 and 2018. (June 2017)

    April

    • Changes to NSF Proposal Requirements

      Effective April 24, 2017, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will begin requiring the use of a spreadsheet template identifying Collaborators and Other Affiliations information for Principal Investigators (PIs), co-PIs, and other senior project personnel identified on FastLane proposals. Please see the NSF Advisory in Fastlane or Research.gov for further details.

    March

    • NSF Uniform Guidance Compliance Update

      March 15 - The final research T&C incorporating the requirements of the UG are now available at https://www.nsf.gov/awards/managing/rtc.jsp. Agency specific adaptations will follow.

    • Magellan Telescope 2017B Semester Proposals Due April 11

      March 13 - Proposals for the 6.5m Magellan telescopes for the 2017B (July 16 to January 15) semester are due at NOON, TUESDAY, APRIL 11. Please visit the TAC web pages https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/tac for detailed information, instructions, and instrument availability. Important Updates:

      • MagAO is available for proposals; this semester's MagAO run is likely to be in Aug or Sept.
      • A new possibility exists for service observing at Magellan. The cost is $800/night; not all nights are available; PI instruments are excluded. Contact Las Campanas Observatory to inquire about availability.

    • ROSES-17 Amendment 3: Releases final text for program element A.48 Advanced Component Technology

      March 7 - The Advanced Component Technology (ACT) program seeks proposals for technology development activities leading to new component- and subsystem-level space-based and airborne measurement techniques to be developed in support of the Science Mission Directorate's Earth Science Division. The ACT program is managed by the NASA's Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO). ESTO supports the development of a range of advanced technologies to meet future Earth science measurements and activities addressing the full science measurement process, from instruments needed to make observations, to data systems and information products that make those observations useful.

      The goals of the ACT program are to research, develop, and demonstrate component- and subsystem-level technology development that:

      • Enable new Earth observation measurements, and
      • Reduce the risk, cost, size, volume, mass, and development time of Earth observing instruments.
      The ACT program brings instrument components and subsystems to a maturity level that allows their integration directly into mission designs by NASA flight projects, while others "graduate" into other technology programs for further development, such as the Instrument Incubator Program (IIP; see Program element A.47 of ROSES-2017). For the purpose of this solicitation components are defined as one of the parts that make up an instrument subsystem. Subsystems are defined as a series of interconnecting components that are part of an overall instrument system. Examples of previously funded ACT awards can be found at https://esto.nasa.gov/obs_technologies_act.html.

      Notices of Intent are requested by April 19, 2017, and proposals are due by June 19, 2017.

      On or about March 7, 2017, this Amendment to the NASA Research Announcement "Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2017" (NNH17ZDA001N) will be posted on the NASA research opportunity homepage at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/grant-solicitations/roses-2017/.

    • Call for Proposals: ALMA Cycle 5 Development Program

      March 2 - We invite you to submit a study proposal to the ALMA Cycle 5 Development program: https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/alma/science_sustainability/cycle5-cfs.

      The call for proposals is open to the NA ALMA Operations Partnership, which is defined as the community of astronomers and scientists in related fields from North American ALMA partner countries. Two categories of proposals are included is in this call: General Studies (funded for 1 year up to $200,000 per individual award) and Strategic Studies (funded for 2 years up to $400,000 per individual award). Strategic Studies is a new proposal category that applies to in-depth studies directly aligned with the development priorities currently identified by the ASAC in the "Road Map for Developing ALMA" document (increasing throughput, improving mapping efficiency, improving spatial resolution and improving archive performance). Proposals can be submitted until May 1st, 2017. We also encourage prospective PIs to submit Notices of Intent (deadline March 20th, 2017).

      The primary aims of the Cycle 5 Development Program (Studies) are to:

      • give groups in North America the opportunity to propose ALMA upgrade studies that may later be implemented as part of the ALMA Development Plan;
      • support the development of conceptual and detailed designs for ALMA upgrades; and
      • encourage relevant long-term research and development in areas important for ALMA.

      The completed studies will be used, together with similar studies from the other ALMA Partners, to augment and implement the ALMA Development Plan. Please see documents developed by the ALMA Scientific Advisory Committee at the Call webpage (look in the "Reference Documents" table) for their recommendations.

      A history of past Calls for Studies may be found at the Call website https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/alma/science_sustainability/cycle5-cfs.

    • OSP Weekly Announcements

      March 1 - SI's Office of Sponsored Projects provides announcements weekly via email and archived on the OSP website. Funding Announcement is compiled from the funding opportunities offered by federal funding agencies, private foundations, and a variety of additional entities. Opportunities are screened for deadline date and grouped by discipline. This resource is developed to assist Smithsonian researchers and staff to identify funding opportunities.

      This list can be used in a variety of ways:

      • Do an environmental scan of the funding landscape of your discipline. Many opportunities come around annually.
      • Be reminded of upcoming deadlines.
      • Learn about new programs and sponsors.

      All past issues are available on the OSP website: http://prism2.si.edu/SIOrganization/OSP/Pages/Funding-Announcements.aspx.

    January

    • Call for 2017B MMT and FLWO Telescope Proposals

      Telescope proposals for the 6.5m MMT and the 1.2m + 1.5m FLWO telescopes are due at NOON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 for the 2017B (May 1 - July 31) trimester. Please visit the new TAC web pages for detailed information, instructions, and instrument availability: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/tac

      Important Updates:

      • Only limited MMT time is available in 2017B, approximately 10 dark + 0 grey + 15 bright nights, due to Binospec engineering. There is no shared-risk Binospec time. You may contact Dan Fabricant if you have a brief observation to try out.
      • The MMT Adaptive Optics system is offline for upgrades; it is expected to return sometime in 2019.
      • For those long-term proposals that have more than 5 papers to report: just state the total number of relevant papers in the progress report, and give specific details about the most recent 5.

    • Updates to National Science Foundation's FastLane System

      On January 30, 2017, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will release updates to FastLane that may impact the way you work. NSF will implement the following changes in FastLane to support the policy updates in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 17-1) and to run new and enhanced automated compliance checks on proposals:

      • Proposal Submission
        • Two new types of proposals will be incorporated into the PAPPG with new required supporting documents and automated proposal compliance checks.
          1. Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI): GOALI is a type of proposal that seeks to stimulate collaboration between academic research institutions and industry. The new GOALI automated compliance checks will require that at least one Co-Principal Investigator (PI) exists on the proposal and the "GOALI-Industrial PI Confirmation Letter" is uploaded at the time of proposal submission. All automated compliance checks applicable to Research proposals will apply to GOALI proposals. GOALI proposals were previously submitted via a program solicitation.
          2. Research Advanced by Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (RAISE): The RAISE proposal type supports bold, interdisciplinary projects. The new RAISE automated compliance checks will require that a "RAISE-Program Officer Concurrence Email" is uploaded at the time of proposal submission, the proposal award budget is less than or equal to $1 million, and the proposal duration is less than or equal to 5 years. All automated compliance checks applicable to Research proposals will apply to RAISE proposals.
        • The Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED) type of proposal will be included on the FastLane dropdown menu. All automated compliance checks applicable to Research proposals will apply to FASED proposals.
      • Deadline Submission
        • Organizations that are unable to submit a proposal prior to a deadline due to a natural or anthropogenic disaster will be required to submit a new Single Copy Document, "Nature of Natural or Anthropogenic Event," when attempting to submit a late proposal using the "Special Exception to the Deadline Date Policy" box on the NSF Cover Sheet.
      • Updated References and Terminology
        • The PAPPG (NSF 17-1) has been modified in its entirety, to remove all references to the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and Award & Administration Guide (AAG). The document will now be referred to solely as the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide and is sequentially numbered from Chapter I-XII. All system references and links to the GPG and AAG will be updated to corresponding references and links in the PAPPG (NSF 17-1).
        • "International Travel" type of proposals will be renamed to "Travel" and will be expanded to include domestic and international travel.
        • "Facility/Center" type of proposals will be renamed to "Center/Research Infrastructure."
      • Enhanced Automated Compliance Checks
        • In addition to the new compliance checks for the GOALI, RAISE, and FASED types of proposals, FastLane will run enhanced automated compliance checks across several proposal types and will generate errors or warnings when the submission or deadline validation compliance checks are not met.
        • Checks are run during "Check Proposal," "Forward to SPO," and "Submit Proposal." The complete list of FastLane automated compliance checks effective January 30, 2017, is available here.

      Note About Proposal File Update (PFU):

      The automated compliance checks also apply when a PFU is performed on a proposal. The compliance checks will be run on all sections of the proposal, regardless of which section was updated during the PFU. Proposers should be aware that if a proposal was previously submitted successfully, a PFU performed on the proposal will be prevented from submission if the proposal does not comply with the compliance checks in effect at the time.

      We encourage you to share this information with your colleagues. For system-related questions, please contact FastLane User Support at 1-800-673-6188 or fastlane@nsf.gov. Policy-related questions should be directed to policy@nsf.gov.

    2016

    October

    • New NSF Proposal Guide Effective January 2017

      NSF is pleased to announce that a revised version of the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), (NSF 17-1) has been issued. The PAPPG has been modified in its entirety, to remove all references to the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and Award & Administration Guide (AAG). The document will now be referred to solely as the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide. The document will be sequentially numbered from Chapter I-XII and all references throughout have been modified to reflect this change. Given the number of important revisions, the community is strongly encouraged to review the by-chapter summary of changes provided at the beginning of the PAPPG.

      The new PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 30, 2017. Other revisions are also included in this change.

      Webinars to brief the community on the new PAPPG will be held on November 7th and January 19th at 1 PM EST. Registration is required on the outreach events website.

      While this version of the PAPPG becomes effective on January 30, 2017, in the interim, the guidelines contained in the current PAPPG (NSF 16-1) continue to apply. NSF will ensure that the current version of the PAPPG remains on the NSF website, with a notation to proposers that specifies when the new PAPPG (including a link to the new Guide) will become effective.

    March

    • ROSES-16 Amendment 3: Separately Uploaded Total Budget Files for ROSES-2016 proposals (March 24)

      ROSES-2016 was released with new budget rules barring the inclusion of any salary or indirect rate information from the proposal document to prevent this information from being seen by peer reviewers, see Section IV(b)(iii) of the ROSES-2016 Summary of Solicitation. Although ROSES-2016 already required that the full budget must be provided in the NSPIRES cover page budgets, many proposers needed a better way to provide to NASA detailed budgetary information (such as phasing by fiscal year and indirect rate information for subawards). This Amendment allows proposers to provide that additional information to NASA without it being seen by peer reviewers.

      With this amendment, all ROSES program elements are set up to allow proposers to separately upload a "Total Budget" PDF to the same ROSES program element NSPIRES "response structure" to which the proposal is submitted. More information on requirements for ROSES-2016 budgets may be found at: http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/how-to-guide/nspires-CSlabor/

      No due dates for proposals have been changed. Lists of due dates ordered chronologically may be found at http://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2016table3.

      On or about March 24, 2016, this Amendment to the NASA Research Announcement "Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2016" (NNH16ZDA001N) will be posted on the NASA research opportunity homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ and will appear on the RSS feed at: http://nasascience.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/grant-solicitations/roses-2016.

      The NASA point of contact for ROSES-2016 is Max Bernstein, who may be reached at max.bernstein@nasa.gov. The points of contact for individual program elements are listed at http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/program-officers-list/.

    • Changes To Classification of Postdoctoral Scholars on Sponsored Projects (March 11)

      Please see the linked memo regarting changes to the classification of postdoctoral scholars on sponsored projects: SI Memo 11 March 2016. This change in Smithsonian policy has been anticipated and was discussed at the SAO general meeting held in Pratt on February 10. We will be working with the Divisions and Departments as we make the necessary transitions.

      The new policy is effective April 15, 2016 and will affect Federal grant proposals submitted after that date. During the "transition period" discussed in the memo, the Direct Operating Overhead rate will be waived for SAO proposals on salaries for positions previously proposed as stipends.

    January

    • New NSF PAPPG In Effect January 25

      We would like to direct your attention to the new NSF PAPPG to be followed for proposals due on or after January 25, 2016. The NSF website offers both html and pdf versions of the PAPPG for you to choose. At a minimum, review of the Significant Changes is suggested.

      An Advisory has been posted on Fastlane concerning changes in procedures in order to comply with the New Policies and Procedures Guide (16-1). Of particular importance:

      • The 5:00pm deadline (Eastern Time, even if submitting from Arizona or Hawaii) will be strictly enforced. Proposals submitted 5:00:01 or later will not be accepted.
      • All submittals (proposals, notifications, requests, etc.) have to be submitted by the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR)--in SAO's case, this means our Sponsored Progrms Section--by the stated deadline

      Please contact SPS if you have any questions about these changes.

    2015

    • New Proposal Guide for NSF

      (December 17, 2015)

      NSF has issued a new Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide effective January 2016. It is available here at the NSF web site in both HTML and .pdf format.

    • SI Announces New Online Course about External Grant Funding Sources

      (November 18, 2015)

      The Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) announces the popular course, Finding Funding Sources, is now available through Moodle as an online course. The course reviews the resources available at Smithsonian to help investigators identify potential sources of external funding, evaluate the fit of the proposed project to the funder's needs, and begin the process of preparing a proposal. Topics of the online course include: internal SI processes; external funding types; where to find out about external funding; searching funding databases; and honing in on your perfect funding opportunity. The course is open to all Smithsonian personnel.

      Click here to self-enroll in the course. For additional information about the online course, contact the Office of Sponsored Projects at OSPmail@si.edu or 202-633-7110.

    • The National Science Foundation (NSF) launches online survey of investigators and reviewers.

      The survey is intended to help NSF to learn more about the impact of its merit review process on proposers and reviewers. The information gathered in NSF surveys like this help NSF to serve better both those who submit grant proposals to NSF and those who undertake the task of reviewing such proposals.

      Since 2007, there has been a growth in the numbers of research projects proposed to NSF, as well as changes both to NSF's proposal submission system and to the technologies used to support the review process. The 2015 survey, entitled "Satisfaction of Investigators and Reviewers with the Merit Review Process," seeks to understand how these factors have affected NSF investigators and reviewers. The survey responses will help NSF to measure the burden and benefits associated with preparing and reviewing proposals. This feedback will be used by NSF as it works to make the review process more effective, maintaining the quality of the review process while minimizing the burden on proposers and reviewers and exploring the value of potential technological enhancements.

      Participants will have received an email from NSF that invites them to take part in the survey, followed by an email from Insight Policy Research that contains a link to the online survey. Insight Policy Research will collate the survey data on behalf of NSF. NSF would like to thank you in advance for your important contribution to the success of this survey.

    • We wish to bring to your attention a matter of concern presented by The National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Astronomical Sciences (AST):

      AST is concerned about the burden placed on the community in the writing and reviewing of proposals, especially in light of low funding rates. Guided by this, AST is seriously considering placing a limit on the number of proposals submitted by an individual principal investigator (PI) or co-PI at the November 2016 Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants (AAG) deadline. Other divisions of the NSF Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences already have taken similar steps with varying levels of restrictions. In preparation for this possible change, AST encourages members of the community to be responsible when considering whether or not to submit multiple proposals at the November 2015 deadline.

      More information can be found on the NSF AST website

      PIs should keep this concern in mind when planning and proposing to NSF.

    • NSF Announces FastLane Updates for Automated Proposal Compliance Checks

      (July, 24, 2015) The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released updates to FastLane that may impact the way you work. As part of NSF's efforts to reduce the workload associated with manually compliance checking proposals, NSF continues to focus on implementing automated proposal compliance checks to ensure that proposals submitted in response to Program Solicitations comply with requirements outlined in the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (Chapter II.C.2 of the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG)).

      The new set of automated compliance checks in FastLane will trigger warning messages if the following proposal sections do not exist for proposals submitted in response to a Program Solicitation for the applicable funding mechanism type (Conference, Equipment, Ideas Lab, Facility/Center, and Fellowship):

      • References Cited
      • Biographical Sketch(es)
      • Budget Justification: Primary Organization
      • Budget Justification: Sub recipient Organization
      • Current and Pending Support
      • Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources
      Warning messages will not prevent a proposal from being submitted. However, proposals that receive error messages will not be able to be submitted. Please note that the new set of compliance checks are in addition to the compliance checks that currently exist in FastLane. You can view a complete list of FastLane auto-compliance checks, including the new set, by clicking here.

      The FastLane Team at the National Science Foundation encourage you to share this information with your colleagues. For system-related questions, contact the FastLane/Research.gov Help Desk at 703-292-HELP (x4357) or ithelpcentral@nsf.gov. Policy-related questions should be directed to policy@nsf.gov.

    • NSF Uniform Guidance FAQ

      NSF has published Frequently Asked Questions on the National Science Foundation's Implementation of 2 CFR § 200 (Uniform Guidance). (April 2015

    • Early Alert: NSF and Increasing Public Access Requirement Coming in January 2016

      - The National Science Foundation has developed a plan outlining a framework for activities to increase public access to scientific publications and digital scientific data resulting from research the foundation funds. The plan, entitled "Today's Data, Tomorrow's Discoveries," is consistent with the objectives set forth in the Office of Science and Technology Policy's Feb. 22, 2013, memorandum, "Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research," and with long-standing policies encouraging data sharing and communication of research results.

      NSF will require that articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals and papers in juried conference proceedings or transactions be deposited in a public access compliant repository and be available for download, reading and analysis within one year of publication.

      Details of the plan are available on the NSF website. (April 2015)

    • 2015B Magellan Proposal Consideration

      - The Magallen SAC has information to those considering 2015B Magellan proposals:
      1. For the MagAO system, please remember to read the MagAO website for Information for Observers, including collaboration rules.
      2. The MagE instrument will be moved from Clay to Baade between August and September 2015 and hence will not be available for those dates.
      3. Those people interested in using M2FS should contact Mario Mateo mmateo@umich.edu) as soon as possible *before* submitting a proposal to touch base about capabilities and whether the M2FS team will be willing to support the observations. The exact rules have not been finalized, but potential users should contact Mario at least 10 days before the proposal deadline.
      4. MegaCam will be offered in 2015B and 2016A without preordained number of nights. The engineering costs for the f/5 will be charged to the institution(s) in a manner prorated to the number of MegaCam nights each institution is getting.

    • The ALMA Operations Plan envisages an ongoing international program of development and upgrades that may include hardware, software, or data analysis tools. A new Call for Development Studies is being issued on 2015 March 16. To support this new Call, an informational webinar will be held on Wednesday, 25 March 2015 at NRAO headquarters in Charlottesville, VA. An overview of the current ALMA Development Plan and studies now under way will be given and presentations will be available on line. The primary aims of these studies are to:

      • give groups in North America the opportunity to propose ALMA upgrades that may later be implemented as part of the ALMA Development Plan;
      • support the development of conceptual and detailed designs for ALMA upgrades; and
      • encourage relevant long-term research and development in areas important for ALMA.

      The release date for the FY2015 Call for Study Proposals is March 16, 2015. The period of performance for funded Studies will run from the award date (October 1, 2015) to no later than September 30, 2016 (approximately one year). Proposers are requested to submit a Notice of Intent by May 15, 2015. The closing date is June 12, 2015. Proposals received after the closing date may be rejected, at NRAO's sole discretion. Further details are can be found in the "Conditions Governing the Call for Study Proposals" (refer to the "Proposal Documents" table). A total of one million U.S. dollars ($1.0M) is available for funding Studies during the FY2016 Development Program cycle (subject to the FY2016 Federal Budget and allocation of funds). As a guideline, the NRAO expects to fund several Studies. No individual Study will be funded in excess of two hundred thousand U.S. dollars ($200K).

      An informational webinar will be held in Charlottesville, Virginia on March 25, 2015 as noted above. Interested parties may attend via telecon, videocon, or in person, and are requested to communicate their intention to participate (preferably by close of business on March 20, 2013) to the North American ALMA Science Center at almadevelopment@nrao.edu.

    • As part of the effort to modernize FastLane, NSF will transition notifications and requests from FastLane to Research.gov. The first step in this transition will be rolled out on March 23, 2015, when three new requests will be released in Research.gov. These new requests are required by the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG, NSF 15-1), and include the following:

      • Salaries of Administrative or Clerical Staff
      • Travel Costs for Dependents
      • Additional categories of participant support costs other than those described in 2 CFR § 200.75 (such as incentives, gifts, souvenirs, t-shirts and/or memorabilia)
      All other existing notifications and requests will continue to reside in FastLane and will be migrated in the future. Awardees may view the status of all notifications and requests in both FastLane and Research.gov, regardless of where they were created and submitted. For a full listing of all NSF notifications and requests, please click here.

      NOTE: Some individuals with Sponsored Project Office (SPO) responsibilities may not be able to access notifications and requests because their existing permissions in FastLane need to be adjusted to work with Research.gov. NSF sent a separate communication to these individuals.

      If you have any questions, contact the NSF Help Desk at 1-800-673-6188, or ithelpcentral@nsf.gov

    • NASA grants and cooperative agreements are governed by regulations and non-regulatory guidance. Effective Dec. 26, 2014, the regulations at 2 CFR Parts 200 and 1800 will supersede NASA's regulations, which include NASA's Grants Handbook, at 14 CFR Parts 1260 and 1273 (in their entirety). 2 CFR 200 and 1800 apply to all new grant and cooperative agreement awards awarded on or after December 26, 2014 except those cooperative agreements with commercial firms subject to 14 CFR 1274. The new regulations also apply to cooperative agreements with commercial firms when cost sharing is not required. For existing grants and applicable cooperative agreements, the NASA Grants Handbook continues to apply until new funding increments are made.

      For information about 2 CFR Part 200 and 2 CFR Part 1800 go to https://cfo.gov/cofar/. In addition to the regulations, the NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement annual (GCAM) provides internal policy guidance to NASA Technical Officers and Grant Officers to implement government-wide and NASA-specific regulations for awarding and administering grants and cooperative agreements, found in 2 CFR Parts 200 and 1800. The GCAM also applies to all new grants and cooperative agreements, awarded on or after December 26, 2014 except those cooperative agreements with commercial firms subject to 14 CFR 1274. It also applies to cooperative agreements with commercial firms when cost sharing is not required. For existing grants and applicable cooperative agreements, the GCAM will apply to funding increments made on or after December 26, 2014.

      To access a copy of the GCAM go to http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/pub/pub_library/srba/index.html

    • NASA's Science Mission Directorate announces the release of its annual omnibus solicitation, Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES) for 2015 on February 13, 2015 at http://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2015.

      This ROSES NRA (NNH15ZDA001N) solicits basic and applied research in support of NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD). This NRA covers all aspects of basic and applied supporting research and technology in space and Earth sciences. Awards range from under $100K per year for focused, limited efforts (e.g., data analysis) to more than $1M per year for extensive activities (e.g., development of science experiment hardware). The funds available for awards in each program element offered in this ROSES NRA range from less than one to several million dollars, which allow selection from a few to as many as several dozen proposals depending on the program objectives and the submission of proposals of merit. Awards will be made as grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, and inter- or intra-agency transfers depending on the nature of the proposing organization and/or program requirements. The typical period of performance for an award is four years, although a few programs may specify shorter or longer (maximum of five years) periods. Organizations of every type, domestic and foreign, Government and private, for profit and not-for-profit, may submit proposals without restriction on the number or teaming arrangements. Note that it is NASA policy that all investigations involving non-U.S. organizations will be conducted on the basis of no exchange of funds.

      Frequently asked questions about ROSES-2015 will be on the web at http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/faqs/. Further information about specific program elements may be obtained from the individual Program Officers listed in the Summary of Key Information for each program element in the Appendices of this ROSES NRA and at http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/program-officers-list/.

    • On January 26, 2015, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will release updates to FastLane and Research.gov that may impact the way you work. This update will implement revised policy and incorporate feedback received from NSF staff and the research community. It is suggested any proposals due on or about that date (1/26/15) should be submitted early, if possible, to avoid any last minute glitches that could affect a timely submission. For more details, please read this email from NSF, which will also be available on SP's Preparing NSF Fastlane Proposals and Policies & Procedures pages. (January 16, 2015).

    • The Contractual and Cost information page has been updated to reflect new approved rates provided by ONR Negotiation Agreement dated 9 January 2015 that shall be used for forward pricing and billing purposes for Fiscal Years 2015 and 2016. (January 2015)

    • In the revised and updated contracts and grants guidance in 2 CFR 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards ("Uniform Guidance"), there have been changes regarding the treatment of administrative and clerical staff labor costs as direct costs in proposals to government sponsors. SAO's current practice of including appropriate staff costs in our direct cost budgets is not changing, but we must demonstrate that such costs are allocable to a federal award. For more information, please see Administrative & Clerical Staff Salaries, which will be available in the Policies section of SP's Policies and Procedures web page, as well as the Proposals web page. (January 2015)

    2014

    • The NSF Grant Proposal Guide and the NSF Award & Administration Guide have been updated as of December 26, 2014. Summaries of significant changes can be found at the NSF website:

      For more information on NSF proposals, please visit our Preparing NSF Fastlane Proposals page. (December 2014)

    • SAO's Management Fee Policy has been updated to reflect recent announcements by NASA:

      The policy can always be found on the Sponsored Programs Section's Policies and Procedures page.

    • NSF recently held a webinar presentation outlining plans to modernize the Fastlane proposal submission system. A .pdf of the slide show can be found here; NSF welcomes your thoughts about proposal submission at NSF. Questions and comments may be shared with us by emailing modernizeproposals@nsf.gov. (December 2014)

    • The U.S. Department of Energy's Office oflnspector General (IG) recently conducted an audit of the DOE Office of Science's management of research misconduct allegations. IG found that allegations appeared to be properly addressed, but recommended that the DOE Office of Science "provide additional education and guidance on the procedures and responsibilities for conducting research misconduct allegation reviews to Department officials, laboratories, and financial assistance recipients." In response to this audit and the IG recommendation, the DOE Office of Science has established a new "Research Misconduct - Information and Frequently Asked Questions on Policies and Procedures" page on the DOE Office of Science website, with information on Federal and DOE policy and procedures on research misconduct, including links to the relevant official documents.

      Please note especially the specific requirement to notify your DOE contracting officer in the event that your institution initiates a research misconduct investigation. DOE research misconduct policies and procedures apply to all DOE-sponsored research.

    • The SAO Management Fee Policy has been updated to incorporate Appendix C, which is a list of sponsors that do or do not accept a management fee. The SAO Management Fee Policy is available in .pdf and Word format on our Policies and Procedures page under "Policies". (October 2014)

    • The SI PI Portal has been updated to include department level access. A designated Unit Administrator can now give access to grants, contracts, and Inter-Agency Agreements (IAA) in their own department. This means authorized users will now be able to see and manage all awards for their department. Please access the web site for further information. (July 14, 2014)

    • The Research.gov Team at the National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released a video tutorial on Research.gov's feature to capture citations in annual and final project reports through the uploading of a BibTeX file. This tutorial walks awardees through the creation and uploading process of a BibTeX file to a project report via Research.gov. To view the tutorial, visit the Research.gov Project Reporting page.
      The Research.gov BibTeX video tutorial is one in a series of tutorials that NSF is releasing to help awardees. This past February, NSF released the Project Reporting video tutorial, which highlights the process and tools available to complete and submit a project report.

    • NASA has provided inflation tables "for the purposes of estimating new efforts and for normalizing historical cost from prior missions. Pursuant to direction from the SAO Financial Management Department. All grant proposals, unless instructed otherwise, should include the inflation factors, identified below in all proposal budgets and budget justifications. Please Note: These factors should NOT be used if there is contract already in place. DCAA approved forward pricing indices should be used for all efforts that are already under contract." (April 7, 2014) NASA Inflation Tables

    • NSF announces changes to Research.gov reporting features, based on user feedback. Some of the changes implemented March 17, 2014 include:
      • POs will view project reports in HTML rather than PDF
      • NSF will pre-populate the Products, Organization and Participants sections of a project report from information previously submitted in Research.gov
      • The progress report pages will be redesigned to optimize space, minimize scrolling efforts, and become more user-friendly
      • PIs will be able to edit reporting periods for an Interim Project Report (IPR)
      For more information, visit the Sponsored Programs Section's Preparing NSF Reports page. (March 17, 2014)

    • Web-STGMS (STScI's web-based reporting platform) is now operational and ready for use! Check out the new look, features and enhancements, and take it for a spin! Watch the 'How To Login' video after you go to the STGMS home page, and read the 'Web-STGMS Quick Reference Guide' before beginning (this is not meant to be an inclusive step by step manual, but covers the functions most frequently used by Investigators and Administrators).
      • Browsers Supported by Web-STGMS:
        • Firefox -- Preferred
        • Safari -- Preferred
        • Chrome -- Preferred
        • Internet Explorer (IE) -- Not Preferred (IE is problematic with web-based applications. If you must use IE, only IE 9 or higher is supported)
      Experiencing problems and have already referenced 'Help' and the 'Quick Reference Guide'? Contact the STScI Grants Administration Office at gms_mail@stsci.edu or (410) 338-4200 (January 24, 2014)

    • NSF announces launch of Research.gov Demo Site in order to further improve the project reporting process. The Research.gov Demo Site provides National Science Foundation (NSF) awardees (specifically PIs, co-PIs and Sponsored Project Office staff) the opportunity to explore and familiarize themselves with preparing, submitting, and reviewing NSF project reports without actually submitting a real report.

    • New NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide, effective February 24, 2014. Available at NSF web page as .pdf download or HTML.

    2013

    2012

    2011

    2010

    2009

    2008

    2007

 
 

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