National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, Virginia 22230

Dear Proposers and Submitters to the FY2004 Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) Competition

Please read this email carefully as it covers three topics critical to the successful submission of your full proposal: 1) information on the HSD Letters of Intent; 2) revised deadlines for full proposal submission; and 3) guidance on how to avoid having your proposal returned without review.

Letters of Intent to Submit Proposals for the FY 2004 HSD Competition

NSF is pleased to announce that the FY 2004 Human and Social Dynamics competition has elicited a very enthusiastic response from a wide array of communities. We received over 1000 Letters of Intent (LOIs).

When you submitted your Letter of Intent, almost immediately, you received an email duplicating the information captured in your LOI.

An “Acknowledgement of Letter of Intent for the FY 2004 HSD Competition” was later sent to you. This Acknowledgement serves as your invitation to submit a full proposal. For your proposal to be considered in this competition, you must include in the Supplemental Documentation Section of the Full Proposal, a copy of the Acknowledgement that contains your unique ID number as well as the information you provided in the LOI, which was attached to it.

Revised Deadlines for Submitting the Full Proposal for the FY 2004 HSD Competition

The LOI response has resulted in the implementation of a CHANGE IN REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SUBMISSION OF THE FULL PROPOSAL for the FY 2004 Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) competition, NSF 04-537.

To avoid overloading NSF’s FastLane system, the proposal deadline has been divided over a three day period, March 30, March 31 and April 1, 2004, according to the five-digit portion of the nine-digit zip code associated with your Awardee Institution listed on the NSF Proposal Cover Sheet. If the last digit of the Awardee Institution’s five-digit zip code is:

• {0,1,2,3}, then the deadline is March 30, 2004 (5 p.m. proposer's local time)
• {4,5,6}, then the deadline is March 31, 2004 (5 p.m. proposer's local time)
• {7,8,9}, then the deadline is April 1, 2004 (5 p.m. proposer's local time)

This will also be posted as an Advisory on the FastLane home page as will any new information pertaining to the FY 2004 HSD competition. Consult the FastLane home page regularly.

Guidance to Avoid Having Your Proposal Returned Without Review

To avoid having your proposal returned without review, be sure it

1. Is submitted in accordance with the revised deadline date criteria specified above.
2. Includes in the Supplemental Documentation Section of the Full Proposal a copy of the Acknowledgement of Letter of Intent for the FY 2004 HSD Competition, including the unique ID number, as well as the information you provided in the LOI, which was attached to it.
3. Does not fall into any category specified in the Return Without Review Section of the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG, Chapter IV. B. http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2004/nsf042/4.htm - IVB)
4. Focuses on efforts normally supported by the National Science Foundation as described in the Grant Proposal Guide (under section I. Introduction http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2004/nsf042/1.htm.
5. Is responsive to the FY 2004 HSD competition solicitation (NSF04-537), e.g., complies with the eligibility requirements as stated in the solicitation; contains a project description that conforms to specifications in the solicitation; and takes into consideration the National Science Board approved merit review criteria (intellectual merit and broader impacts) and the Additional Review Criteria specified in the solicitation.

If you require clarification on any of these points, please contact a Cognizant Program Officer for the HSD competition (see http://www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/hsd/contacts.htm).

Best wishes for a successful HSD proposal submission,

The HSD Management Team

Miriam Heller, Ph.D.
Competition Coordinator, Human and Social Dynamics (HSD)
Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 905N
Arlington, VA 22230
Voice: (703) 292-7025
Fax: (703) 292-9083
SBE Reception: (703) 292-8700
mheller@nsf.gov