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How to apply for Digital Government grants
This program announcement contains all the information you should need to submit a proposal for funding. Use the links at right to navigate. Should you have any questions still unanswered after reviewing this, please contact us directly.
Title: DIGITAL GOVERNMENT--NSF 99-103
Type: Program Announcement
Exposure: Public
NSF Org: CSE
Date: April 6, 1999
Delete: July 1999
Replaces: NSF 98-121
DIGITAL GOVERNMENT
PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT
NSF 99-103
DIRECTORATE FOR COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCE AND
ENGINEERING
DIVISION OF EXPERIMENTAL AND INTEGRATIVE ACTIVITIES
DEADLINE DATE: JULY 15, 1999
and second Wednesday in July in subsequent years
PLEASE NOTE: AS OF 2002, THE NEW ANNUAL DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS IS THE SECOND WEDNESDAY IN OCTOBER.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
The National Science Foundation promotes and advances
scientific progress in the United States by competitively
awarding grants for research and education in the sciences,
mathematics and engineering.
To get the latest information about program deadlines, to
download copies of NSF publications, and to access abstracts of
awards, visit the NSF Web site at: http://www.nsf.gov/
Location: 4201 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22230
For General Information (NSF Information Center): (703) 306-1234
TDD (for the hearing-impaired): (703) 306-0090
To Order Publications or Forms, send an e-mail to: pubs@nsf.gov
or telephone: (301) 947-2722
To Locate NSF Employees: (703) 306-1234
SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
GENERAL INFORMATION
Program Name: Digital Government
Short Description/Synopsis of Program:
Government at all levels is a major collector and
provider of data and user of information technologies.
The goal of the Digital Government Program is to fund
research at the intersection of the computer and
information sciences research communities and the mid-
to long-term research, development, and experimental
deployment needs of government information service
communities. Academic/government collaborations are
expected to contribute to government strategic planning
for information services while providing interesting
and unique new research problems and data sets for the
academic research community.
Cognizant Program Officer(s):
Lawrence E. Brandt,
Program Officer
Room 1160, Division of Experimental
and Integrative Activities
telephone 703.306.1980
e-
mail: lbrandt@nsf.gov.
Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)
No.: 47.070
ELIGIBILITY
-
Limitation on the categories of organizations that are
eligible to submit proposals: None
- PI eligibility limitations: None
- Limitation on the number of proposals that may be submitted
by an organization: None
AWARD INFORMATION
- Type of award anticipated: Standard Grant
- Number of awards anticipated per year: 10-20 awards
- Amount of funds available: Approximately $3 million will be
available for this initiative in FY 2000
- Anticipated date of award: January 2000 and each year
thereafter
PROPOSAL PREPARATION & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
- Proposal Preparation Instructions
- Letter of Intent requirements: To assist the Program in
planning for merit review of proposals, potential proposers are
requested, but not required, to send a short (paragraph or two)
description of the essential elements of their proposal,
including major partners, by email to dgpd@nsf.gov, approximately
three weeks before the proposal due date. A notice of intent to
propose does not bind the submitter in any way, nor is the
submission of a notice required to submit a proposal. Notices of
intent will not be reviewed for merit, but will be used to help
plan the review.
- Preproposal requirements: None
- Proposal preparation instructions: Standard NSF Grant
Proposal Guide instructions
- Supplemental proposal preparation instructions: None
- Deviations from standard (GPG) proposal preparation
instructions: None
- Budgetary Information
- Cost sharing/matching requirements: None required.
- Indirect cost (F&A) limitations: None
- Other budgetary limitations: Award amounts up to $1M/year
for proposals submitted in response to this announcement
FASTLANE REQUIREMENTS
- FastLane proposal preparation requirements: FastLane use
required
- FastLane point of contact: Helen Walston, Support Manager,
telephone: 703. 306.1980, e-mail: hwalston@nsf.gov
DEADLINE/TARGET DATES
- Full Proposal Deadline: 5:00 PM, your local time, July 15,
1999. Second Wednesday of OCTOBER in subsequent years. Note that this date has changed
PROPOSAL REVIEW INFORMATION
- Merit Review Criteria: Standard National Science Board
approved criteria and supplementary criteria as indicated below
AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION
- Grant Award Conditions: GC-1 or FDP III
- Special grant conditions anticipated: None anticipated
- Special reporting requirements anticipated: None
INTRODUCTION
The Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate
(CISE) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) announces a multi-
sector research program on Federal Information Services. The
focus is on partnerships between the academic research community
normally supported by CISE grants and government agencies with
significant information service components in their missions. The
intent is to support collaborative academic/government projects
which will inform government strategic planning while provide
interesting new data, problems and research opportunities for the
research community.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Government is a major user of information technologies,
a collector and maintainer of very large data sets, and
a provider of critical and often unique information
services to individuals, states, businesses, and other
customers. The goal of the Digital Government Program
is to fund research at the intersection of the computer
and information sciences research communities and the
mid- to long-term research, development, and
experimental deployment needs of government information
service communities. The Internet, which was created
from a successful partnership between government
agencies and the information technologies research
community, is a major motivating factor and context for
this program.
The coming decade will see the potential for nearly
ubiquitous access to government information services by
citizen/customers using highly capable digital
information/entertainment appliances. Given the
inexorable progress toward faster computer
microprocessors, greater network bandwidth, and
expanded storage and computing power at the desktop,
citizens will expect a government that responds quickly
and accurately while ensuring the privacy rights of
individuals and the integrity of provided information.
Enhancements derived from new information technology-
based services are expected to contribute to reinvented
efficient, and economical government services, and more
productive government employees. As society relies more
and more on network technologies, it is essential that
government make the most effective use of these
improvements.
There is an immediate opportunity for the broad
connection of information services providers and
research communities, in an arena drawing heavily on
the challenging and unique requirements of the
government sector, to speed innovation and development,
deployment, and application of more advanced
technologies into usable systems. By supporting mid- to
long-term research, development, and experimental
deployment, fundamental limitations encountered in
applying information technology to the government
information services domain can begin to be addressed.
Research that considers real world operating
constraints can provide valuable new problems and
insights for the academic research domain, while
demonstrating pilot systems with new capabilities for
government agencies. Such research can contribute to a
long-term transition strategy for migrating government
information services from legacy systems, through
interoperable systems of the Internet, and toward
advanced integrated global systems.
Within this context, the objective of the Digital
Government Program is to support innovative projects
that effectively and broadly address through research
the potential improvement of agency, interagency, and
intergovernmental operations and/or government/citizen
interaction. Such research is expected to enable the
generation and use of a continuous stream of advanced
information technologies for early adoption and
integration into the government information systems
community.
POTENTIAL RESEARCH TOPICAL AREAS AND TECHNOLOGIES
EXAMPLES
Examples of project areas are listed below to suggest the types
of activities envisioned for this Program. Although two sample
domains are used in some examples (i.e., government statistics
and emergency management), these are illustrative and do not
imply any priority for them.)
I. Intelligent Information Integration
This topic includes techniques to define, design and maintain
shared ontologies, or the means of mediating queries among
multiple distributed data and information sources which may
contain heterogeneous or incongruent data. Also included are
collaboration tools for network based information systems to
allow widely distributed groups of citizens or government
personnel to collaborate and interact remotely to achieve common
goals; adaptive planning environments. Examples are:
-
Automated "content" searching to generate indices, with for
mal ontologies of available government statistical data and their
meaning, and access methods.
- Automated formal processes assisting and guiding emergency
managers to locate, access and effectively use available data and
information resources.
- Systems which support integration of data and
interoperability among government agencies, including Federal,
state, local, and/or tribal government entities
II. Very large scale data and information acquisition and
management for geospatial and multidimensional data
Technologies to cost-effectively acquire, integrate, view and
assure the integrity of geographic, biological, environmental,
social, and economic data and meta-data of all types. Examples
are:
-
"Uniform" access to linked statistical data sources in the
70+ agencies that gather statistics and disseminate this in
formation across multiple sectors;
- A master USA data source index for rapid culling together of
data for emergency managers dealing with crises and critical
emergencies in the field;
- Use of digital signature technology by the creating
organization, to provide assurance of data authenticity and
integrity as the data are collected and/or accessed by outside
parties.
III. Advanced analytics for large datasets/information collections
Infrastructure to allow the broadest range of analysis techniques
to be applied to user selected views and visualization of very
large data and information sources. Examples are:
- Data mining facilities and computing utility services for
citizens to compute models of online statistical data sources;
- Information-on-demand services for emergency management
which present only the information needed to avoid information
overload.
IV. Electronic transaction and electronic commerce technologies
Common transaction media between government and the citizenry;
successful migration strategies from batch-oriented transactions
to scaleable and efficient on-line systems; data integrity and
authentication mechanisms to maintain the highest levels of
privacy and data integrity. Examples are:
-
Electronic Service Delivery via WWW and distributed kiosks
at public sites, any-time processing allowing citizens to process
benefits inquiries and requests electronically.
- Demonstrations of new security capabilities based upon novel
means of detecting fraud or unauthorized access and use of
information.
- Use of public key technology to authenticate parties to a
transaction, and ensure the integrity and confidentiality of data
transacted, especially between different public key
infrastructures (or domains) using different models for ensuring
the validity of public key certificates.
V. Information services for citizen/customers
Human computer interactions (e.g., human-centered factors),
visualization and presentation technologies to accommodate the
widest range of interaction environments and modalities,
multimedia objects, tools sets and user's needs and requirements.
Examples are:
-
Kiosk-based access for multiple service delivery;
- A Computing Services Utility allowing the citizenry remote
access to data and computational resources and enabling its
processing from publicly available computing appliances.
- Universal access
VI. Research in the Application of Information Technology to Law
and Regulation
The application of R&D in information technology to the
implementation of law, policy and regulation, such as:
-
Archiving, record keeping, and preservation
- Authentication of documents including the use of digital
signatures for that purpose
- Privacy, e.g., reliable identification of individuals to
ensure only authorized access to private information, journaling
of access and access control
- Systems to support the regulatory process, e.g. collection
and synthesis of public commentary
Relevant laws and regulations might include, but are not limited
to: Computer Security Act of 1987, Copyright Act of 1976, Federal
Records Act, National Archives and Records Administration
Regulations, Freedom of Information Act, Information Technology
Management Reform Act of 1996, Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Privacy Act, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the
Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1992.
VII. Software Engineering of Large-Scale Government Development
Projects
Many government agencies develop and use large software systems
for diverse aims, e.g.:
- NASA launch monitoring and control systems
- Bureau of the Census integrated information systems and
services
- Social Security Administration databases and financial
management
- Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control systems
- Legal record search and retrieval systems for the judicial
branch
These development projects may be more open to the participation
of software and systems researchers than similar large commercial
projects. The barriers of proprietary products and competitive
advantage are often less acute in these government projects,
allowing the collection, analysis, and reporting of data about
software development and the judicious experimental use of new
technologies and methodologies. Research could focus on the
improvement of ongoing process and product or the observation and
analysis of software development. Projects can be designed to
meet agency goals and needs while providing the setting for
significant empirical software research.
VIII. Examples of other cross-agency topical and technical areas
and related activities
Digital government projects may relate to a variety of NSF
activities such as those listed below. Further information on
CISE program areas dealing with these may be found at
http://www.cise.nsf.gov
- Partnerships for Advanced Computational Infrastructure
- High-speed Networking Access and Applications
- Computation and Social Systems
- Human Computer Interaction
- Knowledge and Cognitive Systems
- Software Engineering
- Information and Data Management
- Educational Innovation
- Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence
On-line information on NSF programs in general may be found at
http://www.nsf.gov
Examples of other cross-agency domain areas include:
-
- Electronic grant administration
- Financial systems (e.g. real-time intrusion alerts, data-
mining for patterns of abuse, access journaling)
- Geographic Information Systems (knowledge discover
algorithms over large, time-varying spatial data sets,
representation of degree of data reliability)
- Next Generation Internet applications (e.g., large file
transfer, quality of service, bandwidth reservation, synchronous
service)
- On-line intelligent learning and training
- Procurement
- Public health
- Interoperable networks and architectures
- Security, privacy and information assurance
- Summarization and semantic analysis of public comment (e.g.
issuance of regulations, the Federal Advisory Committee Act
process, commentary through the Federal Register)
- Virtual government agencies (cross-organization
collaboration, sharing of information, distributed databases)
- Criminal justice, public safety, and law enforcement
- Network and systems architectures which overarch and knit
together government agencies at all levels
CONTEXT
The context of Digital Government research can be obtained from
the following reports [Web references for other related reports
can be found at http://nii.nist.gov/pubs/pubs.html:
AGENCY CONTACTS
The individuals listed at http://www.cise.nsf.gov/eia/ (link to
EIA Programs and then Digital Government) will act in an
ombudsman capacity, and may be contacted for information and
identification of potential agency participants. The listing of
an agency or individual does not necessarily imply an agreement
to participate as a partner in any proposals.
ELIGIBILITY
At least one government agency must be a significant partner in
the definition and execution of the proposed work. Participation
by other sectors (vendors, industry, private research
laboratories, foundations) as appropriate, is encouraged. If the
primary government partners are state, local, and/or tribal, then
at least one Federal agency must endorse the proposal, to ensure
that the work proposed furthers Federal Government program goals.
Government agencies participating in proposals must be fully
engaged in the development of the proposal and subsequent project
activities. Agencies are encouraged to partner through sharing of
facilities, data, and personnel, as well as either direct funding
for researchers or joint funding with the National Science
Foundation, for support of non-government project costs. NSF
funds may not be used to support costs incurred by other agencies
directly related to carrying out their missions, such as staff,
travel, and cost of facilities. Inasmuch as NSF does not intend
to supplement the budgets of other government agencies, NSF will
support only the research elements of the work proposed. For the
non-research parts of the project, other sources of support must
be identified. Proposers are responsible for identifying and
addressing in the proposal any constraints by law or regulation
on the collection, creation, dissemination or disposition of
data; in particular as related to their government partner
agencies.
AWARD INFORMATION
Under this announcement, NSF solicits proposals for any funding
amount up to $1.0 million per year for up to three years, and
expects to make grants at a wide variety of award sizes and
durations in the following categories. Category 3 proposals are
limited to no more than $30,000 for up to one year.
1. Standard NSF research projects
2. Domain-specific cross-agency pilot projects, testbeds, or
centers
3. Planning grants - preparatory to proposals for pilot
projects or testbeds, the program will support planning grants
for up to one year. These are one-time awards that may be used
for preliminary work to determine the feasibility of a proposed
line of inquiry.
4. Human-development activities (e.g. sabbaticals for faculty
at government agencies, student internships at agencies, assign
ments of government employees at universities or vendors)
5. Workshops and other community-building, technology exchange,
or clearinghouse mechanisms related to digital government
research topics
NSF expects to fund approximately 10 to 20 three year research
awards depending on the quality of submissions and the
availability of funds. In exceptional cases, awards for up to
five years may be considered if the justification and promise are
compelling. Approximately $3 million will be available for this
initiative in FY 2000. Anticipated date of awards: January 2000
and January of each year thereafter
REQUIRED PROJECT ELEMENTS
For all proposals:
- A domain area that is primarily governmental in nature, or
where government requirements are unique
- Integration of domain experts (users, customers) during the
project life cycle
For cross agency pilot project, testbed or center proposals:
- Plans for a framework or architecture for the development of
application program interfaces, software objects, software re-
use, and modularization, to encourage sharing of functionality
across projects.
- Plans for early and regular delivery of partial research
products in accordance with a proposed set of milestones.
- Plans for evaluation, during the project and at its
conclusion, by the proposer to determine the usefulness and
usability of its research products.
- Upon project completion, plans to ensure capture of research
results; e.g., involvement of potential commercial partners
(systems integrators, software vendors), commitments by other
organizations for continued funding, etc.
Other project elements might be included depending on the nature
of the proposed work, such as privacy, authentication and
security elements, user learning and help components, human-
centered systems elements (e.g., user interfaces, visualization
tools, user interaction metrics, usability testing), use of non-
proprietary or platform-neutral technologies, ability to scale
and integrate systems, Web-compatible interfaces, use of
collaboration technologies, and integration of educational
elements.
PROPOSAL PREPARATION & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
A. Proposal Preparation Instructions.
Proposals submitted in response to this program announcement
should be prepared and submitted in accordance with the general
guidelines contained in the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG), NSF 99-2.
The complete text of the GPG (including electronic forms) is
available electronically on the NSF Web site at http://www.nsf.gov/.
Paper copies of the GPG may be obtained from the NSF Publications
Clearinghouse, telephone 301.947.2722 or by e-mail from pubs@nsf.gov.
Proposers are reminded to identify the program announcement
number (nsf99-103) in the program announcement/solicitation block
on the NSF Form 1207, "Cover Sheet for Proposal to the National
Science Foundation." Compliance with this requirement is
critical to determining the relevant proposal processing
guidelines. Failure to submit this information may delay
processing.
B. Proposal Due Dates
For electronic submission of proposals, the proposal MUST be
submitted by 5:00 PM, local time, July 15 1999, and by the second
Wednesday of October in subsequent years. Note that this date has changed Copies of the signed
proposal cover sheet must be submitted in accordance with the
instructions identified below.
Submission of Signed Cover Sheets. For proposals submitted
electronically via the NSF FastLane Project, the signed proposal
Cover Sheet (NSF Form 1207) should be forwarded to the following
address and received by NSF within one week after the proposal
has been submitted electronically.
National Science Foundation
Division of Experimental and Integrative Activities
FastLane Cover Sheet
4201 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22230
A proposal may not be processed until the complete proposal
(including signed Cover Sheet) has been received by NSF.
C. FastLane Requirements
The NSF FastLane system is available for electronic preparation
and submission of a proposal through the Web at the FastLane Web
site at http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov. The Sponsored Research
Office (SRO or equivalent) must provide a FastLane Personal
Identification Number (PIN) to each Principal Investigator (PI)
to gain access to the FastLane "Proposal Preparation"
application. PIs that have not submitted a proposal to NSF in
the past must contact their SRO to be added to the NSF PI
database. This should be done as soon as the decision to prepare
a proposal is made.
In order to use NSF FastLane to prepare and submit a proposal,
the following are required:
Browser (must support multiple buttons and file upload)
- Netscape 3.0 or greater
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.1 or greater
PDF Reader (needed to view/print forms)
- Adobe Reader 3.0 or greater
PDF Generator (needed to create project description)
- Adobe Acrobat 3.01 or greater
- Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 or greater
A list of registered institutions and the FastLane registration
form are located on the FastLane Web page.
For paper submission of proposals, the delivery address must
clearly identify the NSF announcement or solicitation number
under which the proposal is being submitted.
PROPOSAL REVIEW INFORMATION
A. Merit Review Criteria
Review of proposals submitted to NSF are solicited from peers
with expertise in the substantive area of the proposed research
or education project. These reviewers are selected by Program
officers charged with the oversight of the review process. NSF
invites the proposer to suggest at the time of submission, the
names of appropriate or inappropriate reviewers. Care is taken
to ensure that reviewers have no conflicts with the proposer.
Special efforts are made to recruit reviewers from non-academic
institutions, minority serving institutions, adjacent disciplines
to that principally addressed in the proposal, etc.
Proposals will be reviewed against the following general merit
review criteria established by the National Science Board.
Following each criterion are potential considerations that the
reviewer may employ in the evaluation. These are suggestions and
not all will apply to any given proposal. Each reviewer will be
asked to address only those that are relevant to the proposal and
for which he/she is qualified to make judgments.
What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?
How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge
and understanding within its own field or across different
fields? How well qualified is the proposer (individual or team)
to conduct the project? (If appropriate, the reviewer will
comment on the quality of prior work.) To what extent does the
proposed activity suggest and explore creative and original
concepts? How well conceived and organized is the proposed
activity? Is there sufficient access to resources?
What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?
How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding
while promoting teaching, training, and learning? How well
does the proposed activity broaden the participation of
underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability,
geographic, etc.)? To what extent will it enhance the
infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities,
instrumentation, networks, and partnerships? Will the results
be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological
understanding? What may be the benefits of the proposed
activity to society?
The following additional evaluation criteria will be employed:
- Feasibility of proposed work
- Degree of government agency endorsement and commitment
- Potential for impact on government information services and
facilitation of mission accomplishment
- Degree of in-kind leverage demonstrated by government
project partners, including personnel, facilities, and
involvement of associated but separately funded projects which
will benefit the proposed work.
Integration of Research and Education
One of the principal strategies in support of NSF's goals is to
foster integration of research and education through the
programs, projects and activities it supports at academic and
research institutions. These institutions provide abundant
opportunities where individuals may concurrently assume
responsibilities as researchers, educators, and students and
where all can engage in joint efforts that infuse education with
the excitement of discovery and enrich research through the
diversity of learner perspectives. PIs should address this issue
in their proposal to provide reviewers with the information
necessary to respond fully to both NSF merit review criteria.
NSF staff will give it careful consideration in making funding
decisions.
Integrating Diversity into NSF Program, Projects, and Activities
Broadening opportunities and enabling the participation of all
citizens -- women and men, underrepresented minorities, and
persons with disabilities -- are essential to the health and
vitality of science and engineering. NSF is committed to this
principle of diversity and deems it central to the programs,
projects, and activities it considers and supports. PIs should
address this issue in their proposal to provide reviewers with
the information necessary to respond fully to both NSF merit
review criteria. NSF staff will give it careful consideration in
making funding decisions.
B. Merit Review Process
Most the proposals submitted to NSF are reviewed by mail review,
panel review, or some combination of mail and panel review.
All proposals are carefully reviewed by at least three other
persons outside NSF who are experts in the particular field
represented by the proposal. Reviewers will be asked to
formulate a recommendation to either support or decline each
proposal. A program officer assigned to manage the proposal's
review will consider the advice of reviewers and will formulate a
recommendation. In most cases, proposers will be contacted by
the program officer after his or her recommendation to award or
decline funding has been approved by his or her supervisor, the
division director. This informal notification is not a guarantee
of an eventual award. NSF will be able to tell applicants
whether their proposals have been declined or recommended for
funding within six months for 95 percent of proposals in this
category. The time interval begins on the proposal deadline or
target date or from the date of receipt, if deadlines or target
dates are not used by the program. The interval ends when the
division director accepts the program officer's recommendation.
In all cases, after final programmatic approval has been
obtained, award recommendations are then forwarded to the
Division of Grants and Agreements for review of business,
financial and policy implications and the processing and issuance
of a grant or other agreement. Proposers are cautioned that only
a Grants Officer may make commitments, obligations or awards on
behalf of NSF or authorize the expenditure of funds. No
commitment on the part of NSF should be inferred from technical
or budgetary discussions with an NSF program officer. A principal
investigator or organization that makes financial or personnel
commitments in the absence of a grant or cooperative agreement
signed by the NSF Grants Officer does so at its own risk.
AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION
A. Notification of the Award.
Notification of the award is made to the submitting organization
by a Grants Officer in the Division of Grants and Agreements.
Organizations whose proposals are declined will be advised as
promptly as possible by the cognizant NSF Program Division
administering the program. Verbatim copies of reviews, not
including the identity of the reviewer, will be provided
automatically to the Principal Investigator.
B. Grant Award Conditions.
An NSF grant consists of: (1) the award letter, which includes
any special provisions applicable to the grant and any numbered
amendments thereto; (2)the budget, which indicates the amounts,
by categories of expense, on which NSF has based its support (or
otherwise communicates any specific approvals or disapprovals of
proposed expenditures); (3) the proposal referenced in the award
letter; (4) the applicable grant conditions, such as Grant
General Conditions (NSF GC-1)* or Federal Demonstration
Partnership Phase III (FDP) Terms and Conditions.* and (5) any
NSF brochure, program guide, announcement, or other NSF issuance
that may be incorporated by reference in the award letter.
Electronic mail notification is the preferred way to transmit NSF
grants to organizations that have electronic mail capabilities
and have requested such notification from the Division of Grants
and Agreements.
* These documents may be accessed electronically on NSF's Web
site at: http://www.nsf.gov/. Paper copies may be obtained
from the NSF Publications Clearinghouse, telephone 301.947.2722
or by e-mail from pubs@nsf.gov.
More comprehensive information on NSF Award Conditions is
contained in the NSF Grant Policy Manual (GPM) Chapter II, (NSF
95-26) available electronically on the NSF Web site. The GPM
also is available in paper copy by subscription from the
Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402. The GPM may be ordered through the GPO Web
site at: http://www.gpo.gov.
C. Reporting Requirements.
For all multi-year grants (including both standard and continuing
grants), the PI must submit an annual project report to the
cognizant Program Officer at least 90 days before the end of the
current budget period.
Within 90 days after expiration of a grant, the PI also is
required to submit a final project report. Approximately 30 days
before expiration, NSF will send a notice to remind the PI of the
requirement to file the final project report. Failure to provide
final technical reports delays NSF review and processing of
pending proposals for that PI. PIs should examine the formats of
the required reports in advance to assure availability of
required data.
NSF has implemented a new electronic project reporting system,
available through FastLane, which permits electronic submission
and updating of project reports, including information on:
project participants (individual and organizational); activities
and findings; publications; and, other specific products and
contributions. Reports will continue to be required annually and
after the expiration of the grant, but PIs will not need to re-
enter information previously provided, either with the proposal
or in earlier updates using the electronic system.
Effective October 1, 1998, PIs are required to use the new
reporting format for annual and final project reports. PIs are
strongly encouraged to submit reports electronically via
FastLane. For those PIs who cannot access FastLane, paper copies
of the new report formats may be obtained from the NSF
Clearinghouse as specified above. NSF expects to require
electronic submission of all annual and final project reports via
FastLane beginning in October, 1999.
D. New Awardee Information
If the submitting organization has never received an NSF award,
it is recommended that the organization's appropriate
administrative officials become familiar with the policies and
procedures in the NSF Grant Policy Manual which are applicable to
most NSF awards. The "Prospective New Awardee Guide" (NSF 97-
100) includes information on: Administration and Management
Information; Accounting System Requirements and Auditing
Information; and Payments to Organizations with Awards. This
information will assist an organization in preparing documents
that NSF requires to conduct administrative and financial reviews
of an organization. The guide also serves as a means of
highlighting the accountability requirements associated with
Federal awards. This document is available electronically on
NSF's Web site at: http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf97100.
CONTACTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
General inquiries should be made to the Digital Government
Program. Lawrence E. Brandt, Program Officer, Room 1160, Division
of Experimental and Integrative Activities, National Science
Foundation, Arlington, VA 22230, telephone 703. 306.1980, e-
mail: lbrandt@nsf.gov. For questions related to use of FastLane,
contact Helen Walston, Support Manager, 703.306.1980, e-mail:
hwalston@nsf.gov.
OTHER PROGRAMS OF INTEREST
THE NSF GUIDE TO PROGRAMS IS A COMPILATION OF FUNDING
OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IN SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS,
AND ENGINEERING. GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS OF NSF PROGRAMS, RESEARCH
AREAS, AND ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION ARE
PROVIDED IN EACH CHAPTER. BEGINNING IN FISCAL YEAR 1999, THE NSF
GUIDE TO PROGRAMS ONLY WILL BE AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY. MANY NSF
PROGRAMS OFFER ANNOUNCEMENTS CONCERNING SPECIFIC PROPOSAL
REQUIREMENTS. TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THESE
REQUIREMENTS, CONTACT THE APPROPRIATE NSF PROGRAM OFFICES LISTED
IN APPENDIX A OF THE GPG.
Any changes in NSF's fiscal year programs occurring after press
time for the Guide to Programs will be announced in the NSF E-
Bulletin, available electronically on the NSF Web site at:
http://www.nsf.gov/home/ebulletin/. The direct URL for recent
issues of the Bulletin is http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/publicat/
bulletin/bulletin.htm. Subscribers can also sign up for NSF's
Custom News Service to find out what funding opportunities
are available.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
The National Science Foundation (NSF) funds research and
education in most fields of science and engineering. Grantees
are wholly responsible for conducting their project activities
and preparing the results for publication. Thus, the Foundation
does not assume responsibility for such findings or their
interpretation.
NSF welcomes proposals from all qualified scientists, engineers
and educators. The Foundation strongly encourages women,
minorities, and persons with disabilities to compete fully in its
programs. In accordance with federal statutes, regulations, and
NSF policies, no person on grounds of race, color, age, sex,
national origin, or disability shall be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any program or activity receiving financial
assistance from NSF (unless otherwise specified in the
eligibility requirements for a particular program).
Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with
Disabilities (FASED) provide funding for special assistance or
equipment to enable persons with disabilities (investigators and
other staff, including student research assistants) to work on
NSF-supported projects. See the program announcement or contact
the program coordinator at (703) 306-1636.
The National Science Foundation has Telephonic Device for the
Deaf (TDD) and Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS)
capabilities that enable individuals with hearing impairments to
communicate with the Foundation regarding NSF programs,
employment, or general information. TDD may be accessed at (703)
306-0090 or through FIRS on 1-800-877-8339.
PRIVACY ACT AND PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENTS
The information requested on proposal forms and project reports
is solicited under the authority of the National Science
Foundation Act of 1950, as amended. The information on proposal
forms will be used in connection with the selection of qualified
proposals; project reports submitted by awardees will be used for
program evaluation and reporting within the Executive Branch and
to Congress. The information requested may be disclosed to
qualified reviewers and staff assistants as part of the review
process; to applicant institutions/grantees to provide or obtain
data regarding the proposal review process, award decisions, or
the administration of awards; to government contractors, experts,
volunteers and researchers and educators as necessary to complete
assigned work; to other government agencies needing information
as part of the review process or in order to coordinate programs;
and to another Federal agency, court or party in a court or
Federal administrative proceeding if the government is a party.
Information about Principal Investigators may be added to the
Reviewer file and used to select potential candidates to serve as
peer reviewers or advisory committee members. See Systems of
Records, NSF-50, "Principal Investigator/Proposal File and
Associated Records," 63 Federal Register 267 (January 5, 1998),
and NSF-51, "Reviewer/Proposal File and Associated Records," 63
Federal Register 268 (January 5, 1998). Submission of the
information is voluntary. Failure to provide full and complete
information, however, may reduce the possibility of receiving an
award.
Public reporting burden for this collection of information is
estimated to average 120 hours per response, including the time
for reviewing instructions. Send comments regarding this burden
estimate and any other aspect of this collection of information,
including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: Reports
Clearance Officer; Information Dissemination Branch, DAS;
National Science Foundation; Arlington, VA 22230.
YEAR 2000 REMINDER
In accordance with Important Notice No. 120 dated June 27, 1997,
Subject: Year 2000 Computer Problem, NSF awardees are reminded of
their responsibility to take appropriate actions to ensure that
the NSF activity being supported is not adversely affected by the
Year 2000 problem. Potentially affected items include: computer
systems, databases, and equipment. The National Science
Foundation should be notified if an awardee concludes that the
Year 2000 will have a significant impact on its ability to carry
out an NSF funded activity. Information concerning Year 2000
activities can be found on the NSF web site at
http://www.nsf.gov/oirm/y2k/start.htm.
Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) No.: 47.070 -
Computer and Information Science and Engineering
OMB No.: 3145-0058
NSF 99-103 (Electronic Dissemination Only)
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