NSF Webinars on Transfer of Project Reports to Research.gov

In early 2013, the National Science Foundation will transfer all project reporting from FastLane to Research.gov. Principal investigators and co-PIs will use Research.gov to meet all NSF project reporting requirements, including submission of annual, final, and interim project reports and the project outcomes report.

In support of the transition, NSF will pilot the new service in Research.gov beginning in October.

NSF is hosting two webinars for grantees interested in learning more about Research.gov. Each webinar will review current and upcoming services and tools for the research community, including the transition of project reports to Research.gov, financial services available on Research.gov and the upcoming Award Cash Management Service (ACM$), and access services such as InCommon and Single-Sign On with FastLane.

NSF webinars:

• October 12: Project Reports are Moving: What’s In It for Me? (11:30-1:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time)
• November 16: How Can Research.gov Help Me? (11:30-1:00 PM Pacific Standard Time)

RAC Offices to Close During the Annual Campus Winter Break

The Office for Animal Care and Use, the Conflict of Interest Committee Office, the Office for the Protection of Human Subjects, the Sponsored Projects Office, and the Research Administration and Compliance Office will be closed during the campus energy curtailment beginning Monday, December 24, 2012 until Wednesday, January 2, 2013. Offices will reopen on Wednesday, January 2, 2013.

SPO Proposal Submission

SPO will process proposals due in December 2012 and January 2013 according to the VCR’s five-day proposal submission policy with the following exceptions:

• For proposals with deadlines that fall during the curtailment period (Saturday, December 22 through Tuesday, January 1), the due date to SPO will be no later than noon Monday, December 17, 2012.
• For proposals due the first week of January 2013, the due date to SPO shall be FIVE FULL BUSINESS DAYS. For example, if the due date is 5 pm on Wednesday, January 2, 2013, the SPO deadline is no later than noon on Tuesday, December 18, 2012. Proposals due Thursday, January 3 shall be received no later than noon Wednesday, December 19, and so on.

Principal Investigators also are encouraged to inform their SPO Research Analyst if they will be submitting a proposal with a due date just prior to, during, or just after the curtailment period. This will give SPO and the PI an opportunity to discuss the best way to handle the proposal to make sure it is submitted in a timely manner.

COI Disclosure Submission

In order to be on the agenda for any meeting, complete disclosure packets must be received no later than 10 working days prior to the date of the meeting.

• The deadline for submission for the December 20, 2012 meeting is December 6, 2012.

ACUC Protocol Submission

Please note that all protocols and protocol revisions must be submitted via email to acuc@berkeley.edu by 5 pm on the deadline date. If you wish to make changes to an approved protocol, you must first contact the Office for Animal Care and Use (OACU) to obtain a copy of the current approved version of your protocol. Failure to do so may result in your protocol being returned to you.

• The deadline for full committee review of protocol submissions for the January 9, 2013 meeting is Monday, November 19, 2012.
• Likewise, the deadline for protocol submission for the February 13, 2013 meeting is December 17, 2012.

CPHS Protocol Submission

Important: if your study is “greater than minimal risk” needing full board review and the approval will expire before January 18, 2013, you must submit your renewal application in time for review at a December 2012 CPHS meeting.

• The deadline for protocol submission for the December 7, 2012 CPHS-1 meeting is Monday, November 5, 2012.
• The deadline for protocol submission for the December 14, 2012 CPHS-2 meeting is Monday, November 19, 2012.
• There is no CPHS-1 meeting in January 2013.
• The deadline for protocol submission for the January 18, 2013 CPHS-2 meeting is Monday, December 17, 2012.
• The deadline for protocol submission for the February 1, 2013 CPHS-1 meeting is Monday, January 7, 2013.

NSF Issues New Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide

The National Science Foundation has issued the new version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), (NSF 13-1), effective for proposals submitted or due on or after January 14, 2013. The NSF PAPPG consists of the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and Award & Administration Guide (AAG).

A Dear Colleague Letter - Issuance of a new NSF Proposal & Award Policies and Procedures Guide lists major changes and resources for information on the revision.

Some significant changes include:

• Revisions to the NSF Merit Review Criteria which implement National Science Board recommendations. Changes will affect the project summary and project description sections of proposals. Annual and final reports also will be affected.
• Instructions for preparation of the Biographical Sketch have been revised to rename the “Publications” section to “Products” and amend terminology and instructions accordingly. This change makes clear that products may include, but are not limited to, publications, data sets, software, patents, and copyrights.
• Coverage on compensation of facilities and administrative (F&A) dosts (indirect costs) has been clarified to specify that, except as noted in the GPG sections on participant support and international travel grants, or as specified in an NSF program solicitation, the applicable indirect cost rate(s) negotiated by the organization with the cognizant negotiating agency must be used in computing indirect costs for a proposal.
• Modification of the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section of proposals to assist proposers in complying with the NSF cost sharing policy.

A summary of the changes by chapter is provided at the beginning of both the Grant Proposal Guide and the Award & Administration Guide.

NSF is also providing:

• A revised NSF Merit Review website with updated information about the revisions;
• A resource website for the proposer community containing presentations, fact sheets and other important links; and
• A webcast  in early November 2012 covering all of the PAPPG revisions.

Note that the revised version of the PAPPG becomes effective on January 14, 2013. In the interim, the guidelines contained in the current PAPPG (NSF 11-1) continue to apply.