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.
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.
