Clarifications of Program Announcement NSF 97-91
Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education (POWRE)

November 17, 1997

Dear Colleague:

In total, NSF received 634 proposals and supplement requests for the July 1, 1997, deadline in the POWRE program. The submissions requested a total of approximately $48 million. In most cases, each NSF Directorate and the Office of Polar Programs reviewed proposals in panels of appropriate disciplinary representation. In some cases, POWRE program officers obtained ad hoc mail reviews to supplement or in lieu of panel deliberations.

For the current fiscal year the deadline for receipt of POWRE proposals is December 9, 1997. POWRE supplement requests will be accepted through February 17, 1998. The following clarifications of the current POWRE Program Announcement are provided to highlight information in key areas of the program guidelines.

• POWRE awards are designed to provide a one-time input of funds at a critical stage in the principal investigator’s career, a means by which she can take advantage of an opportunity that will contribute to a significant, identifiable advance in her career path. They are not intended to be a substitute for awards made through other NSF programs nor to provide funds to establish a laboratory. Potential principal investigators are encouraged to discuss their ideas for proposals and supplements with the NSF program officers in their discipline.
• POWRE proposals will be reviewed in accordance with the NSF’s merit review criteria detailed in the POWRE Program Announcement (NSF 97-91). Please pay particular attention to the following three POWRE-specific criteria included in the announcement:

1. Applicant’s career objectives and relevance of the proposed activities to these objectives.

1. Impact of a POWRE award on the applicant’s academic advancement and/or leadership roles.

1. The match between the proposed activity and the research and/or educational environment and facilities at the host institution (for activities involving a host institution).

• Tenure or tenure-track status is not an eligibility factor, but the applicant must be the Principal Investigator on a POWRE proposal. If the institution requires that tenured or tenure-track faculty serve as responsible persons for grant administration at the departmental level, and the applicant is not in that status, another individual may sign as the faculty sponsor in the cover page "Names" block on the first "Co-PI/PD" line; re-label it: "Other Endorsement."
• A proposal for a visiting professor or visiting researcher may come from the home institution (current institution of PI) or the host institution (institution PI will visit).
• On the NSF cover sheet (NSF Form 1207), indicate the appropriate directorate and division abbreviation and the program most closely associated with the proposed activity (see Appendix A of the NSF Grant Proposal Guide for a listing of programs and abbreviations). In the block "Program Announcement/Solicitation No./Closing Date," use "POWRE Program/NSF 97-91 / December 9, 1997." No co-investigator can be listed. The title should be descriptive of the planned activities. Begin the title with "POWRE:" for proposals and "POWRE SUPPLEMENT:" for supplements.
• Proposal submission (other than supplements): Fifteen (15) copies of each proposal, including one copy with original signatures, should be sent to:

• Supplement submission: Eight (8) copies of the supplement request, including one copy with original signatures, should be submitted directly to the disciplinary program handling the award to be supplemented. Investigators should remember to address the POWRE-specific criteria in these requests. Supplement requests must be submitted no later than February 17, 1998, although they may be submitted earlier. Supplement requests received after 5:00 p.m. on February 17, 1998, will be returned without review. Principal investigators should NOT use FastLane to submit a POWRE supplement request.

A new program announcement will be issued for the December 9, 1998, deadline.

Please note that NSF will continue to use Directorate web sites (given below) for clarifying FAQs and additional information on subsequent POWRE program opportunities. There are minor variations among the Directorates in the program characteristics, including award amount, so these web sites should be consulted before the proposal is prepared. Abstracts of POWRE awards made in FY’97 will be available from the central NSF POWRE web site under "Crosscutting Programs."

Questions about the POWRE program may be addressed to the following members of the NSF POWRE Coordinating Committee, given with their directorate/office affiliation and POWRE web site address (where applicable). General questions may be addressed to Priscilla Nelson, POWRE Program Coordinator, at pnelson@nsf.gov.

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES:
Eve Barak, (703) 306-1442, ebarak@nsf.gov,
http://www.nsf.gov/bio/pubs/nsf9791/biopowre.htm

COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING:
Rita Virginia Rodriguez, (703) 306-1981, rrodrigu@nsf.gov,
http://www.cise.nsf.gov/cda/POWREhome.html

EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES:
Margrete Klein, (703) 306-1649, mklein@nsf.gov

ENGINEERING:
Janet Rutledge, (703) 306-1302, jrutledg@nsf.gov,
http://www.eng.nsf.gov/news/POWRE.htm

GEOSCIENCES:
Michael Mayhew, (703) 306-1557, mmayhew@nsf.gov,
http://www.geo.nsf.gov/adgeo/powre/

MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES:
Denise Caldwell, (703) 306-1807, dcaldwel@nsf.gov,
http://www.nsf.gov/mps/phy/powre.htm

POLAR PROGRAMS:
John Lynch, (703) 306-1033, jlynch@nsf.gov

SOCIAL, BEHAVIORAL AND ECONOMIC SCIENCES:
Bonney Sheahan, (703) 306-1733, bsheahan@nsf.gov,
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/sber/common/powrehp.htm

NSF # 98-21
OMB #4145-0058