Title: Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (DDIG) Date: 09/15/03 Replaced: NSF 00-95 Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (DDIG) Program Solicitation NSF 02-173 Replaces Document NSF 00-95 [NSF Logo] National Science Foundation Directorate for Biological Sciences Division of Environmental Biology Division of Integrative Biology and Neuroscience Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time): November 21, 2003 [Third Friday in November] and Third Friday in November each year thereafter. REVISIONS AND UPDATES The deadline dates for this program solicitation were originally stated as: November 26, 2002 by 5 p.m. proposer's local time Thereafter Third Friday in November by 5 p.m proposer's local time. To clarify the deadline dates for 2003 and annually thereafter, we are restating the deadline dates as: November 21, 2003 [Third Friday in November] by 5 p.m proposer's local time Thereafter Third Friday in November each year by 5 p.m proposer's local time. SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS General Information Program Title: Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (DDIG) Synopsis of Program: The National Science Foundation awards Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants in selected areas of the biological sciences. These grants provide partial support of doctoral dissertation research in order to improve the overall quality of the research, to allow doctoral candidates to conduct research in specialized facilities or field settings away from the home campus, and to provide opportunities for greater diversity in collecting and creativity in analyzing data than would otherwise be possible using only locally available resources. Cognizant Program Officer(s): * Division of Environmental Biology, telephone: (703) 292-8480, email: ddig-deb@nsf.gov * Division of Integrative Biology and Neuroscience, telephone: (703) 292-7875, email: ddig-ibn@nsf.gov Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): * 47.074 --- Biological Sciences Eligibility Information * Organization Limit: U.S. institutions that are eligible for awards from the National Science Foundation, including colleges, universities, and other nonprofit research institutions such as botanical gardens, marine and freshwater institutes, and natural history museums may submit proposals. The NSF encourages collaborations with scientists at foreign institutions; however, primary support for any foreign participants/activities must be secured through their own national sources. * PI Eligibility Limit: A student must have advanced to candidacy for a Ph.D. degree to be eligible to submit a proposal. A statement that the student has advanced to candidacy for a Ph.D. signed by the department chairperson, graduate dean, or similar administrative official is required (see "Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions"). The proposal must be submitted through regular university channels by the dissertation advisor(s) on behalf of a graduate student who is at the point of initiating or is already conducting dissertation research. The student must be enrolled at a U.S. institution, but need not be a U.S. citizen. Institutions should limit applications to outstanding dissertation proposals with unusual financial requirements that cannot be met otherwise. Preference may be given to projects that are underway and for which feasibility is demonstrated. * Limit on Number of Proposals: 1. A student may submit only one proposal in a given year and may not submit a new proposal after receiving funding for a previous DDIG proposal. Award Information * Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant * Estimated Number of Awards: 90 * Anticipated Funding Amount: $900,000 Approximately $900,000 annually contingent upon the availability of funds. Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions A. Proposal Preparation Instructions * Full Proposal Preparation Instructions: This solicitation contains information that deviates from the standard Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) proposal preparation guidelines. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. B. Budgetary Information * Cost Sharing Requirements: Cost Sharing is not required. * Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: Indirect costs not allowed. * Other Budgetary Limitations: Other budgetary limitations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. C. Due Dates * Full Proposal Deadline Date(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time): November 21, 2003 [Third Friday in November] and Third Friday in November each year thereafter. Proposal Review Information * Merit Review Criteria: National Science Board approved criteria apply. Award Administration Information * Award Conditions: Standard NSF award conditions apply. * Reporting Requirements: Additional reporting requirements apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary of Program Requirements I. Introduction II. Program Description III. Eligibility Information IV. Award Information V. Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions A. Proposal Preparation Instructions B. Budgetary Information C. Due Dates D. FastLane Requirements VI. Proposal Review Information A. NSF Proposal Review Process B. Review Protocol and Associated Customer Service Standard VII. Award Administration Information A. Notification of the Award B. Award Conditions C. Reporting Requirements VIII.Contacts for Additional Information IX. Other Programs of Interest I. INTRODUCTION The National Science Foundation awards Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants in selected areas of the biological sciences. These grants provide partial support of doctoral dissertation research in order to improve the overall quality of the research, to allow doctoral candidates to conduct research in specialized facilities or field settings away from the home campus, to participate in scientific meetings, and to provide opportunities for greater diversity in collecting and creativity in analyzing data than would otherwise be possible using only locally available resources. II. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION Proposals whose focus falls within the scope of any program in the Division of Environmental Biology (DEB), or the Animal Behavior or Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology programs in the Division of Integrative Biology and Neuroscience (IBN) are eligible. Please note that DEB programs generally do not support research in marine ecology. The duration and grant amount are flexible but must be justified by the scope of work and documented in the proposal. Grants are typically awarded for periods up to 24 months and for amounts up to $12,000. Note: Students doing international research, having a formal affiliation with a foreign research institution, may be eligible for additional funding. Please contact the appropriate program in NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering (http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/int/). These awards are intended to provide supplemental funds for items not normally available from the student's university or other sources. They are not intended to provide the total costs of a student's dissertation research. Allowable items include travel to specialized facilities or field research locations and professional meetings, use of specialized research equipment, purchase of supplies and services not otherwise available, fees for computerized or other forms of data, and rental of environmental chambers or other research facilities. Funds may be requested for research assistants in special circumstances and with special justification. Two primary examples of circumstances where such assistance may be requested include: 1) cases where simultaneous observation or data-recording is critical, yet impossible without assistance; and 2) cases where safety requires the presence of another person. These are only examples for illustration, and other types of situations will be considered if carefully justified in the proposal. Funds may not be used for stipends, tuition, textbooks, journals, allowances for dependents, publication costs, dissertation preparation or reproduction, or indirect costs. The budget justification must explain why and how the requested funds are supplemental to funding from the university or other sources. While the Foundation provides support for doctoral dissertation research, the awardee is wholly responsible for the conduct of such research and preparation of the results for publication. The Foundation, therefore, does not assume responsibility for such findings or their interpretation. This program does not support research with disease-related goals, including research on the etiology, diagnosis, or treatment of disease, abnormality, or malfunction in human beings, animals, or plants. III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION A student must have advanced to candidacy for a Ph.D. degree to be eligible to submit a proposal. A statement that the student has advanced to candidacy for a Ph.D. signed by the department chairperson, graduate dean, or similar administraative official is required (see "Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions"). The proposal must be submitted through regular university channels by the dissertation advisor(s) on behalf of a graduate student who is at the point of initiating or is already conducting dissertation research. The student must be enrolled at a U.S. institution, but need not be a U.S. citizen. Institutions should limit applications to outstanding dissertation proposals with unusual financial requirements that cannot be met otherwise. Preference may be given to projects that are underway and for which feasibility is demonstrated. A student may submit only one proposal in a given year and may not submit a new proposal after receiving funding for a previous DDIG proposal. For purposes of this competition, NSF will not support research on human disease, including work or the etiology, diagnosis, treatment of physical or mental disease, abnormality, or malfunction. Studies of animal models for such conditions, the design and testing of drugs or other procedures for their treatment are also not eligible for support. NSF does not normally support technical assistance, pilot plant efforts, research requiring security classification, the development of products for commercial marketing, or market research for a particular project or invention. IV. AWARD INFORMATION Under this announcement, proposals may be submitted for amounts up to $12,000, although this limit may be higher for projects having a formal affiliation with a foreign research institution. NSF expects to fund 80-90 standard 24-month awards depending on the quality of submissions and the availability of funds. The duration and grant amount are flexible but must be justified by the scope of the work and documented in the proposal. There is approximately $900,000 available annually, contingent upon the availability of funds. The anticipated date of awards: June. V. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS A. Proposal Preparation Instructions Full Proposal Instructions: Proposals submitted in response to this program announcement/solicitation should be prepared and submitted in accordance with the general guidelines contained in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG). The complete text of the GPG is available electronically on the NSF Website at: http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?gpg. 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. Specific instructions for Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants are: 1. Information about all Principal Investigators/Project Directors including the student and other co-PIs should be provided on NSF Form 1225. The NSF Form 1225 is created automatically in FastLane when you update your personal information. 2. Cover Page (NSF Form 1207) * Begin the Project Title on the Cover Page with "DISSERTATION RESEARCH:" followed by a brief title of the dissertation research project. * Select the Division to which the proposal is directed in the "NSF Unit(s) Consideration" section of the FastLane Cover Page. Only the Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) or the Division of Integrative Biology and Neuroscience (IBN) are appropriate consideration units. * List the primary dissertation advisor as the "PI/PD" and list the student and other advisors as "CO-PI/PD". * If international cooperative activities are involved, complete the relevant section of the Cover Page. If such activities are proposed, reviewing programs may also include NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering. 3. The Project Summary should be no more than 200 words. 4. Project Description * This section is limited to 8 single-spaced pages including figures and tables. For projects with an international cooperative component, one additional page may be used solely to furnish details on arrangements at the foreign site. This page must be labelled "International Cooperation". * Character size may not be smaller than 10 points, although 12 points is preferred. Text may contain no more than 15 characters per 2.5 cm including punctuation and spaces. Warning: Many 10-point fonts exceed these guidelines. * The main body of the proposal should present in sufficient detail to permit evaluation: a description of the overall dissertation project including its design and scientific significance, progress to date, and what new data would be collected with the grant, including its design and analysis, that would otherwise not be gathered. Special Notice: If color images are included, add a statement under the image that states: "Use NSF FastLane to view this figure in color." Proposers may not submit separate copies of color pages for DDIG proposals. * The "Results from Prior NSF Support" section is not required. 5. Budget Justification In the Budget Justification explain the need for each budget item requested in the context of the proposed research project and why the institution cannot provide it. A request for per diem allowance for time away from a home base to conduct research should be carefully justified in terms of only those living costs in excess of those in the vicinity of the home campus or institution. A proposal may be returned if this justification for budget items is missing. 6. Special Information and Supplementary Documentation Scan all Special Information and Supplementary Documentation and transfer as PDF in the "Supplementary Docs" form of FastLane. YOU MUST INCLUDE A CONFIRMATION THAT IS LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT: THIS STUDENT HAS ADVANCED TO CANDIDACY FOR A Ph.D. DEGREE. This statement must be signed by the department chairperson, graduate dean or similar administration official. If the university does not grant candidacy or where candidacy is conferred near the completion of the degree period, an explanation, signed by one of the officials noted above, must be provided. While letters of collaboration and/or agreement to provide access to facilities are allowed as supplementary documents, no letters of general recommendation are permitted. 7. BIO Proposal Classification Form (PCF): Complete the BIO PCF, available on the NSF FastLane system. The PCF is an on-line coding system that allows the Principal Investigator to characterize his/her project when submitting proposals to the Directorate for Biological Sciences. Once a PI begins preparation of his/her proposal in the NSF FastLane system and selects a division, cluster, or program within the Directorate for Biological Sciences as the first or only organizational unit to review the proposal, the PCF will be generated and available through the Form Preparation screen. Additional information about the BIO PCF is available in FastLane at https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a1/BioInstr.htm. Students are discouraged from submitting similar dissertation proposals simultaneously to programs in both the Biological Sciences Directorate, (BIO) and the Office of International Science and Engineering, (OISE). Where proposals involve an affiliation with a foreign research institution, OISE and BIO program officers will coordinate a single review. Proposals received after the deadline, or proposals that do not comply with guidelines specified in this announcement and the relevant portions of the NSF Grant Proposal Guide will be returned unreviewed. Proposers are reminded to identify the program announcement/solicitation number (02-173) in the program announcement/solicitation block on the proposal Cover Sheet. Compliance with this requirement is critical to determining the relevant proposal processing guidelines. Failure to submit this information may delay processing. B. Budgetary Information Cost Sharing: Cost sharing is not required in proposals submitted under this Program Solicitation. Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: Indirect costs not allowed. Other Budgetary Limitations: Budgetary Limitations: Up to $12,000 for 24 months. This limit may be higher for projects having a formal affiliation with a foreign research institution. Please see the full program announcement for further information. C. Due Dates Proposals must be submitted by the following date(s): Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time): November 21, 2003 [Third Friday in November] and Third Friday in November each year thereafter. For electronic submission of proposals, the proposal MUST be submitted on the deadline by 5:00 PM, submitter's time. D. FastLane Requirements Proposers are required to prepare and submit all proposals for this announcement/solicitation through the FastLane system. Detailed instructions for proposal preparation and submission via FastLane are available at: http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a1/newstan.htm. For FastLane user support, call the FastLane Help Desk at 1-800-673-6188 or e-mail fastlane@nsf.gov. The FastLane Help Desk answers general technical questions related to the use of the FastLane system. Specific questions related to this program announcement/solicitation should be referred to the NSF program staff contact(s) listed in Section VIII of this announcement/solicitation. Submission of Electronically Signed Cover Sheets. The Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) must electronically sign the proposal Cover Sheet to submit the required proposal certifications (see Chapter II, Section C of the Grant Proposal Guide for a listing of the certifications). The AOR must provide the required electronic certifications within five working days following the electronic submission of the proposal. Proposers are no longer required to provide a paper copy of the signed Proposal Cover Sheet to NSF. Further instructions regarding this process are available on the FastLane Website at: http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov VI. PROPOSAL REVIEW INFORMATION A. NSF Proposal Review Process 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, or adjacent disciplines to that principally addressed in the proposal. The National Science Board approved revised criteria for evaluating proposals at its meeting on March 28, 1997 (NSB 97-72). All NSF proposals are evaluated through use of the two merit review criteria. In some instances, however, NSF will employ additional criteria as required to highlight the specific objectives of certain programs and activities. On July 8, 2002, the NSF Director issued Important Notice 127, Implementation of new Grant Proposal Guide Requirements Related to the Broader Impacts Criterion. This Important Notice reinforces the importance of addressing both criteria in the preparation and review of all proposals submitted to NSF. NSF continues to strengthen its internal processes to ensure that both of the merit review criteria are addressed when making funding decisions. In an effort to increase compliance with these requirements, the January 2002 issuance of the GPG incorporated revised proposal preparation guidelines relating to the development of the Project Summary and Project Description. Chapter II of the GPG specifies that Principal Investigators (PIs) must address both merit review criteria in separate statements within the one-page Project Summary. This chapter also reiterates that broader impacts resulting from the proposed project must be addressed in the Project Description and described as an integral part of the narrative. Effective October 1, 2002, NSF will return without review proposals that do not separately address both merit review criteria within the Project Summary. It is believed that these changes to NSF proposal preparation and processing guidelines will more clearly articulate the importance of broader impacts to NSF-funded projects. The two National Science Board approved merit review criteria are listed below (see the Grant Proposal Guide Chapter III.A for further information). The criteria include considerations that help define them. These considerations are suggestions and not all will apply to any given proposal. While proposers must address both merit review criteria, reviewers will be asked to address only those considerations that are relevant to the proposal being considered 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 the 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? NSF staff will give careful consideration to the following in making funding decisions: 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 learning perspectives. 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 -- is 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. Additional Review Criteria: Proposals submitted in response to this announcement will be reviewed by Panel Review, in some cases supplemented by Mail Review. B. Review Protocol and Associated Customer Service Standard All proposals are carefully reviewed by at least three other persons outside NSF who are experts in the particular field represented by the proposal. Proposals submitted in response to this announcement will be reviewed by Panel Review, in some cases supplemented by Mail Review . Reviewers will be asked to formulate a recommendation to either support or decline each proposal. The Program Officer assigned to manage the proposal's review will consider the advice of reviewers and will formulate a recommendation. A summary rating and accompanying narrative will be completed and submitted by each reviewer. In all cases, reviews are treated as confidential documents. Verbatim copies of reviews, excluding the names of the reviewers, are sent to the Principal Investigator/Project Director by the Program Director. In addition, the proposer will receive an explanation of the decision to award or decline funding. NSF is striving to be able to tell applicants whether their proposals have been declined or recommended for funding within six months. The time interval begins on the date of receipt. The interval ends when the Division Director accepts the Program Officer's recommendation. In all cases, after programmatic approval has been obtained, the proposals recommended for funding will be 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 and Agreements 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 a 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 and Agreements Officer does so at their own risk. VII. 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. (See section VI.A. for additional information on the review process.) B. Award Conditions An NSF award consists of: (1) the award letter, which includes any special provisions applicable to the award 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 award conditions, such as Grant General Conditions (NSF-GC-1); * or Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) Terms and Conditions * and (5) any announcement or other NSF issuance that may be incorporated by reference in the award letter. Cooperative agreement awards also are administered in accordance with NSF Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions (CA-1). Electronic mail notification is the preferred way to transmit NSF awards 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 Website at http://www.nsf.gov/home/grants/grants_gac.htm. 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, available electronically on the NSF Website at http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?gpm. The GPM is also for sale through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402. The telephone number at GPO for subscription information is (202) 512-1800. The GPM may be ordered through the GPO Website 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. The Principal Investigator shall provide a summary, in the "Special Requirements" section of each annual and final report, of all permits, licenses or other necessary approvals associated with specimen collection. The information should include the names of all permits/licenses/necessary approvals, the granting authority, date acquired, duration, and the purpose of the permit/license/approval. Within 90 days after the expiration of an award, the PI also is required to submit a final project report. Failure to provide final technical reports delays NSF review and processing of pending proposals for the PI and all Co-PIs. PIs should examine the formats of the required reports in advance to assure availability of required data. PIs are required to use NSF's electronic project reporting system, available through FastLane, for preparation and submission of annual and final project reports. This system 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. PIs will not be required to re-enter information previously provided, either with a proposal or in earlier updates using the electronic system. VIII. CONTACTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION General inquiries regarding this program should be made to: * Division of Environmental Biology, telephone: (703) 292-8480, email: ddig-deb@nsf.gov * Division of Integrative Biology and Neuroscience, telephone: (703) 292-7875, email: ddig-ibn@nsf.gov Students doing international research, having a formal affiliation with a foreign research institution, may contact the appropriate program in NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering (http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/int/). The NSF FastLane Help Desk answers general technical questions related to the use of the FastLane system, FastLane Helpdesk, telephone: 800-673-6188, e-mail: fastlane@nsf.gov. For FastLane questions specific to the Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants Program Anouncement you may contact the BIO Divisional FastLane contacts at biofl@nsf.gov. For questions related to the use of FastLane, contact: * email: fastlane@nsf.gov IX. OTHER PROGRAMS OF INTEREST The NSF Guide to Programs is a compilation of funding for research and education in science, mathematics, and engineering. The NSF Guide to Programs is available electronically at http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?gp. General descriptions of NSF programs, research areas, and eligibility information for proposal submission are provided in each chapter. Many NSF programs offer announcements or solicitations concerning specific proposal requirements. To obtain additional information about these requirements, contact the appropriate NSF program offices. 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, which is updated daily on the NSF Website at http://www.nsf.gov/home/ebulletin, and in individual program announcements/solicitations. Subscribers can also sign up for NSF's Custom News Service (http://www.nsf.gov/home/cns/start.htm) to be notified of new funding opportunities that become available. ABOUT THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION The National Science Foundation (NSF) funds research and education in most fields of science and engineering. Awardees 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, although some programs may have special requirements that limit eligibility. 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 GPG Chapter II, Section D.2 for instructions regarding preparation of these types of proposals. The National Science Foundation promotes and advances scientific progress in the United States by competitively awarding grants and cooperative agreements 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 Website at http://www.nsf.gov * Location: 4201 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA 22230 * For General Information (703) 292-5111 (NSF Information Center): * TDD (for the hearing-impaired): (703) 292-5090 * To Order Publications or Forms: Send an e-mail to: pubs@nsf.gov or telephone: (301) 947-2722 * To Locate NSF Employees: (703) 292-5111 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 proposal 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. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to an information collection unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The OMB control number for this collection is 3145-0058. 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: Suzanne Plimpton, Reports Clearance Officer, Division of Administrative Services, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA 22230. OMB control number: 3145-0058. nsf.gov | About NSF | Funding | Publications | News & Media | Search | Site Map | Help [NSF Celebrating 50 Years]The National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230, USA Policies Tel: 703-292-5111, FIRS: 800-877-8339 Contact NSF | TDD: 703-292-5090 Customize