. How to Identify NSF-Supported Researchers With Whom to Work on an ROA

The first step in obtaining a Research Opportunity Award (ROA) is to identify researchers with NSF support in areas of interest to you. There are at least three approaches that you can use to identify such individuals: Call or e-mail an NSF program officer in relevant disciplines;

NSF programs that support research in your area can be identified using the NSF Guide to Programs. Names, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of program officers in those programs can be found in the NSF staff directory.

· Search active grants in NSF program(s) supporting research in your area of interest;

To search active NSF awards by the NSF program of interest to you, go to the link on this page "Search Awards." There you will be able to choose awards from the NSF Directorate and the related Divisions and subsequently the related programs of those Divisions of interest to you. Here you will see only currently active awards. You may select either "all active NSF awards" or "all active RUI/ROA awards." or

· Search all NSF awards by a keyword or words.

Using the award search at the top of the main NSF page will take you to several options for searching awards including "Full Text Search." Any of these methods return all NSF awards since 1989, whether active or inactive, that match your criteria. Be sure and check the expiration date of the award. A first guess about whether an award is still active can be made from the first two digits of the award number, which indicate the fiscal year in which the proposal was received. Most NSF awards have a duration of three years. For example, the award 9674232 would have been submitted during Fiscal Year 1996, and probably has expired. Clicking on an award title will provide not only the abstract, but also the NSF program officer as well as the Principal Investigator and her/his address and telephone number.