MULTILINGUAL INFORMATION ACCESS AND MANAGEMENT:
CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH CO-OPERATION
PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT
NSF 99-102
DIRECTORATE FOR COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
DIVISION OF INFORMATION AND INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS
DEADLINE DATE: JULY 5, 1999
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
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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
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SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
GENERAL INFORMATION
Program Name: Multilingual Information Access and Management
Short Description/Synopsis of Program:
This Multilingual Information Access and Management
effort is intended to further the knowledge required to
build information systems that operate in multiple
languages; to provide the technologies required for
their application in a number of social and
organizational contexts; and to demonstrate the
validity of the approaches chosen. The ultimate goal of
all these activities is to accelerate the development
of new applications required by citizens and businesses
in the global information society and enable their
uptake in various contexts.
Cognizant Program Officer(s): Dr. Gary W. Strong,
Program Officer, Room 1115, Division of Information and
Intelligent Systems, telephone 703.306.1928, e-mail:
gstrong@nsf.gov.
Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)
No.: 47.070 - Computer and Information Science and
Engineering; 84.017 - International Research and Studies;
84.229 - Language Resource Centers.
ELIGIBILITY
- Limitation on the categories of organizations that are
eligible to submit proposals:
This announcement is for proposals, which are simultaneously
considered by both the NSF and the corresponding EU programs.
Proposals are accepted from European Union-United States multi-
partner projects with teams from at least two countries
participating in the EU Fifth Framework Program and at least
one team from the US. Proposals from US teams must be
submitted by US academic or non-profit institutions. To be
eligible, proposals must identify specific partners and must
be sent to the EU counterpart program for joint consideration.
- 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 or Continuing Grants
- Number of awards anticipated in FY 00: at least 2 awards for
partnership projects and 3-4 awards for planning grants leading
to project proposals in succeeding years.
- Amount of funds available: Approximately $2 million will be
available for this initiative in FY 2000 from NSF for the US
side, with similar level of funding from the European Commission
Fifth Framework Program for the European side. It is expected
that there will be calls for proposals in succeeding years
depending upon the availability of funds.
- Anticipated date of award: December 1999
PROPOSAL PREPARATION & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
- Proposal Preparation Instructions
-- Letter of Intent requirements: None
-- Preproposal requirements: None
-- Proposal preparation instructions: Standard NSF Grant
Proposal Guide instructions for the proposal to the NSF.
-- Supplemental proposal preparation instructions: None
-- Deviations from standard (GPG) proposal preparation
instructions: None
- Budgetary Information
-- Cost sharing/matching requirements: None
-- Indirect cost (F&A) limitations: None
-- Other budgetary limitations: None
- FASTLANE REQUIREMENTS
-- FastLane proposal preparation requirements: FastLane use
optional
-- FastLane point of contact: Nicola Bell, Program Assistant,
Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, telephone: 703.
306.1928, e-mail: nbell@nsf.gov
- DEADLINE/TARGET DATES
-- Full Proposal Deadline: 5:00 PM, ET, July 5, 1999
PROPOSAL REVIEW INFORMATION
- Merit Review Criteria: Standard National Science Board
approved criteria
AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION
- Grant Award Conditions: GC-1
(http://www.nsf.gov/home/grants/grants_gac.htm) or FDPIII
(http://www.nsf.gov/home/grants/grants_fdp.htm)
- Special grant conditions anticipated: None anticipated
- Special reporting requirements anticipated: None
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INTRODUCTION
Information technology, by influencing the ways in we live and
work, learn about the world and interact with each other, is
having profound effects on the global society and economy. New
opportunities are emerging for people and businesses worldwide
that can only be fully realized by providing universal access for
all. There are challenges that need to be addressed in order to
achieve such access:
- differences in language and culture are obstacles for
unrestricted communication and free circulation of information;
and
- the volume and disorganization of online digital
information, a potentially precious common knowledge capital, are
barriers to effective and productive use of this information.
Language technologies are already showing promising capabilities
in addressing these challenges. The future potential is even
greater, but requires a substantial research and technology
development effort in order to benefit our societies. In order to
improve the cost-effectiveness of such efforts, and accelerate
the availability and uptake of new results, a joint,
multidisciplinary, international effort addressing global
challenges is opportune and timely.
Now that the European Union - United States Science Cooperation
Agreement
(http://www.state.gov/www/regions/eur/eu/971205_eu_science_agree.
html) and the EU Fifth Framework Program (http://www.cordis.lu/)
are in place, multi-party, multinational proposals on
Multilingual Information Management may be submitted both to the
NSF and to the European Commission. It is expected that several
teams will be selected for funding for international cooperative
research, and several more planning grants will be awarded to
facilitate the creation of new international collaborations.
This is an invitation for EU-US, multi-partner, multi-national
project proposals in Multilingual Information Access and
Management.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The activities described herein will be supported by the Human
Language Technologies line of European Union's Information
Society Technologies program for EU partners (more specifically,
the `Multilinguality in Digital Content and Services' and
`Natural Interactivity' action lines in the 1999 Fifth Framework
Program), and the Human Computer Interaction Program of the
National Science Foundation for US partners. They will build on
and extend, by undertaking multidisciplinary research, prior
efforts undertaken separately in multilingual information access
and management and related areas.
This joint Multilingual Information Access and Management effort
is intended to further the knowledge required to build
information systems that operate in multiple languages; to create
the enabling technologies required for their application in a
number of social and organizational contexts; and to demonstrate
the validity of the approaches chosen. The ultimate goal of these
activities is to accelerate the creation and development of new
applications required by citizens and businesses in the global
information society and enable their uptake in various contexts.
This research in Multilingual Information Access and Management
is expected to:
- identify specific issues in accessing, managing and
exchanging information in a multilingual and multicultural
context;
- create the knowledge necessary for new technologies or
combination of technologies that address these issues in an
effective way; and
- evaluate the potential effect of these technologies, their
impact and benefits.
In order to undertake these activities, work is also necessary in
areas such as standards for the encoding of multilingual domain
and language knowledge and multilingual language data centers
that support research.
This cooperative research aims at avoiding duplication of effort,
encouraging a productive interchange of scientific and technical
knowledge and data, and accelerating the timely uptake of best
practices and standards.
Proposals should have the overall goal of enlarging, through new
research, the available technology base, providing platforms and
infrastructure for such research and its deployment, and
assessing and demonstrating the benefits and added value thus
achieved.
Details on specific research themes falling under the terms of
this announcement are given below.
1. Research Agenda
Desired research activities include:
- Research on technologies and systems facilitating
multilingual information access, retrieval, extraction,
translation and summarization. Internationalization of interfaces
and technologies for the localization of online multimedia
content, authoring, publishing and presentation tools for
handling linguistic and cultural diversity in a Web context,
including support for non-native language authoring, translation
and terminology management.
- Research on intelligent support for Web-based services,
intelligent language agents for electronic commerce, front ends
to complex web based transaction services, automated assistance
for directory inquiries and self-help systems using natural
language and speech input.
- Research on language and topic identification; message
translation, filtering, automated routing and answering, cross-
media messaging and communication support for multi-lingual,
distributed workgroups within and between organizations.
Addressing realistic and diverse conditions for interaction with
information systems is a pivotal issue in research. In
particular, the enhancement of human-computer interfaces capable
of supporting citizens and workers with special needs is an
important dimension of this call.
2. Research Infrastructure Agenda
- Standards for Linguistic Data: These activities include the
definition of coding and interchange standards for multilingual
spoken and written language data, with the associated tools and
methods, in support of activities within the first theme above.
- Multilingual Ontologies: The activities under this heading
include the production, validation, testing and dissemination of
ontologies for specific application domains in particular within
the context of the first theme.
- Linguistic Data Centers: These activities include networking
and cross-agreements between national and regional data centers
for the production, acquisition, normalization, certification and
distribution of spoken and written language data for research and
technology development.
3. Planning of new International Collaborations in Multilingual
Information and Cross-cultural Communication
Activities include planning for future research activities geared
towards the development of innovative and advanced language
technology in the area of multilingual information and cross-
cultural communication. Included here are the identification of
suitable partners, the specification of the purpose of future co-
operative activities, the envisaged time frame, the research and
technology baseline, the minimal goals for determination of a
successful completion of the proposed work, the expected outcome
and added value of international cooperation. Funding in these
cases is expected to be largely for travel or workshop related
activities.
ELIGIBILITY
Two different levels of effort will be funded as a result of this
solicitation: collaborating partners and planning grants. Since
EU funding must be for collaboration partnerships, planning grant
proposals are expected to build on existing international
relationships, with the goal of building toward a collaboration
partnership proposal in a later competition.
This announcement is for proposals, which are simultaneously
considered by both the NSF and the corresponding EU programs.
Proposals are accepted from European Union-United States multi-
partner projects with teams from at least two countries
participating in the EU Fifth Framework Program and at least one
team from the US. Proposals from US teams must be submitted by
US academic or non-profit institutions. To be eligible,
proposals must identify specific partners and must be sent to the
EU counterpart program for joint consideration. Collaborating
partners are expected to be balanced in terms of level of efforts
and expertise, and demonstrate the mutual benefits obtainable
from complementary international research.
Proposals must meet the terms and conditions of the EU
Information Society Technologies Program within the Fifth
Framework Program, in particular the Human Language Technologies
action lines (http://www.linglink.lu/hlt/call-for-proposals/) and
for the NSF (GC-1: http://www.nsf.gov/home/grants/grants_gac.htm
or FDPIII: http://www.nsf.gov/home/grants/grants_fdp.htm).
Proposals that only include partners on one side or do not meet
the terms and conditions of both sides will not be funded under
this solicitation.
AWARD INFORMATION
The anticipated duration of collaboration partnership projects is
24 to 36 months. Planning grants are expected to have a duration
of 6 to 12 months.
Under this announcement, collaboration partnership proposals may
request up to $500,000 per year for up to three years. NSF
expects to make grants at a wide variety of award sizes and
duration, funding approximately 2 three-year collaboration
partnership research awards depending on the quality of
submissions and the availability of funds. NSF also expects to
fund 3-4 planning efforts at up to $100,000 for one year.
Approximately $2 million will be available for this initiative in
FY 2000 from NSF for the US side, with similar level of funding
from the European Commission Fifth Framework Program for the
European side. Anticipated date of awards: December 1999. It is
expected that there will be calls for proposals in succeeding
years depending upon the availability of funds.
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:
. 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 (NSF 99-102) 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.
Proposals should have a single, jointly developed workplan
involving all partners, which clearly sets out the division of
labor, the expected results, synergies and added value, and
budgets for each side. This workplan will be the core of the
proposal narrative and will be the same plan for the separate
proposals sent to each side, EU and NSF.
B. Budgetary Information
Proposal budgets on NSF Form 1030 must show the costs for only
the US side. The budget justification pages must, however,
include, for reference, the budgets for the EU side in the format
specified for EU proposals.
C. Proposal Due Dates.
For paper submission of proposals, the paper copies of the
proposal MUST be received by 5:00 PM, ET, July 5, 1999. Copies
of the proposal must be made and submitted to NSF according to
the normal procedures for paper proposals identified in the GPG.
For electronic submission of proposals, the proposal MUST be
submitted by 5:00 PM, ET, July 5, 1999. 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 by July 12, 1999:
National Science Foundation
Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, Suite 1115
4201 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22230
Attn: MLIAM
A proposal may not be processed until the complete proposal
(including signed Cover Sheet) has been received by NSF.
D. 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 . 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 4.0 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.
Reviews 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?
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 Programs, 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 of the proposals submitted to NSF are reviewed by mail
review, panel review, or some combination of mail and panel
review. Proposals submitted in response to this announcement
will be reviewed by panel review only. Funding decisions on
proposals submitted in response to this announcement will be made
jointly by NSF and the appropriate European Union Program
Management.
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
(DGA). 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: . 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: .
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: .
CONTACTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
General inquiries should be made to the Human Computer
Interaction Program, Dr. Gary W. Strong, Program Officer, Room
1115, Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, National
Science Foundation, Arlington, VA 22230, telephone 703.
306.1928, e-mail: gstrong@nsf.gov. For questions related to use
of FastLane, contact, Nicola Bell, Program Assistant, Information
and Intelligent Systems, 703. 306.1928, e-mail: nbell@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, at
. 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:
. The direct URL for recent
issues of the Bulletin is 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; 84.017 -
International Research and Studies; 84.229 - Language Resource
Centers
OMB No.: 3145-0058
NSF 99-102