National Science Foundation (NSF) Quick Reference

Overview

The following “checklist” is a quick reference but does not replace review of the full PAPPG and applicable NSF solicitations.

Before Starting

• Go through solicitation again and note any important distinctions
  • Search for “return without review” as NSF will return your submission without letting you fix it
• Unless specified in an NSF program, proposals are submitted in Research.gov
• Check package for Errors. Some common errors:
  • Research.gov will generate errors if a header does not match the PAPPG header exactly
  • Research.gov will paginate, do not add page numbers 

Research.gov Cover Sheet

• Requested start date should allow at least 6 months for NSF review, processing, and decision
• See below for International options
• Live Vertebrate Animals
  • Pending/Approval Date and Assurance # D16-00542 (A3955-01)
• Human Subjects
  • Pending/Approval Date and Assurance # 00004556
• For Renewals, previous award number is provided

Project Summary

• Limited to 1 page
• Three separate, distinct sections with separate headers: ​
  • Overview
  • Intellectual merit
  • Broader impacts

Project Description

• Limited to 15 pages, unless otherwise noted in the solicitation
• Should provide a clear statement of work
• URLS must not be used in the Project Description
• Must include a separate section within the narrative titled “Broader Impacts”
• If any PI or co-PI identified on the project has received NSF funding in the past five years, information on the award is required, and they must include a separate section within the narrative titled “Results from Prior NSF Support:”
  • Results from Prior Support must include distinct headers for separate sections on “Intellectual Merit” and “Broader Impacts”

• May use up to 5 pages to discuss results of prior PI/Co-PI, NSF-funded work with an award end date in the past five years; or any current funding, including no cost extensions. (Unless otherwise stipulated in solicitation)
• No more than 1 award from each PI/Co PI can be listed. If a PI/ Co PI has not had NSF support in the last 5 years, that must be stated

References Cited

• This section must include bibliographic citations only
• No page limits, unless otherwise noted
• All Author names listed, fully written out (i.e., No “et al.”)

Proposal Budget

• All senior personnel listed have effort and funding requested
• If foreign travel is requested, international activities must be identified on the Cover Page
• Meets FOA specifics
• Minimum/maximum costs
• Allowed/required costs
• Matches internal budget

Budget Justification

• 5-page limit for lead and each subaward
• Costs are specified, itemized, and justified
• Justifies the inclusion of all items listed in the budget
• URLs are allowed to be included in the budget justification
• Includes definition of the term “year”. MSU defines our years based on project periods   
• Unless otherwise stipulated in the solicitation, travel is allowable if it is necessary to the proposal objectives or to disseminate results
• All travel (both domestic and foreign) must be itemized and justified
• Computer equipment under $5k may be budgeted under materials and supplies (computers must be essential and allocable)
• No cost share language (unless required per FOA)
• The F&A rates applied, approved bases, and total amount of F&A must each be specified
• Speakers and trainers are not considered participants
• Participant Support cost cannot be used to cover room rental fees/catering costs/supplies related to NSF-sponsored conference or incentive payments to research subjects
• Justification for consultants must include the individual’s expertise, primary organization affiliation, normal daily compensation rate, and number of days of expected service to the project
• When costs typically considered as entertainment are necessary to accomplish the proposed objectives, they must be included

Documents and Other Requirements for Senior/Key Personnel

1. Biographical Sketches:

• Page limitation has been removed
• Professional Preparation and Appointments should be in reverse chronological order
• Personal information should not be listed (home address, home phone #, SSN, etc.)
• Limited to 5 related products and 5 other products
• Must include the location of undergrad, grad, and postdoc institutions
• Must be uploaded separately for everyone listed on the proposal as senior personnel
• Other personnel should be uploaded as a single pdf to the Other Supplementary Documents section of the proposal

2. Current & Pending Support

• Current and pending includes all project support, including internal funds, allocated toward specific projects
• Double check this against what is in KR

3. Collaborators and Other Affiliations

• A COA table is uploaded for each Senior/Key Person

4. Synergistic Activities

• 1 page limit
• 5 distinct examples
  • Each item must be one activity and must not be followed by a listing of additional sub-activities. For example, it is acceptable to summarize that the PI served on ten review panels, however, the PI must not list the specific panels for that distinct example

Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources

• If no facilities will be applicable, a statement must be uploaded 

Data Management Plan

• Limited to 2 pages
• May include only a statement that no detailed plan is needed, if it has a clear justification

Mentoring Plan (if applicable)

• Required for Postdocs and Grad Students
• Limited to 1 page
• Must be included if either the submitting or any subaward institutions request funding for a post-doctoral researcher

Supplementary Documentation, Single Copy Documents, and Special Information

• If submission will be late, a single copy document must be attached to explain why
• Authorization to Deviate from NSF Proposal Preparation Requirements (if applicable)
• Letters of collaboration should not contain endorsements or evaluation of the proposed project, unless specifically required by the solicitation and should follow the NSF-given language
• Lists of suggested reviewers should include the email address and organization affiliation of persons who it is believed are well qualified to review the proposal
  • Proposers may designate persons they would prefer not to review the proposal, indicating why
• Special Information and Supplementary Documentation, if requested by the solicitation
• Rationale for performing all of part of the project off-campus
• No Letters of Support (unless required by FOA)
• Safe and Inclusive Work Environment Plan (include if FOA requires)
• Seeking & Obtaining Tribal Nation Approval (if applicable)
• The person who submits your proposals (Authorized Organization Representative) will need to certify that all senior personnel associated with the proposal have been made aware of and have complied with their responsibility under that section to certify that they are not a party to a malign foreign talent recruitment program

Cover Page (if international)

• If foreign travel is budgeted, check the “International Activities” box and list the activity country names   
• If foreign country is unknown, use the “worldwide” option
• If foreign organizations are involved, in addition to providing justification in project description, the box for “Funding of a Foreign Organization, including through use of a subaward or consultant arrangement” must be checked on the cover sheet
• If funding is budgeted for an international branch campus of a U.S. IHE, the box for “Funding of an International Branch Campus of a U.S. IHE, including through use of a subaward or consultant arrangement” must be checked on the Cover Sheet
• Do not list more than 5 countries in Activity Country Names section
• If off-campus or off-site research is proposed, check the “Off Campus or Off-Site Research” box; provide a Safe and Inclusive Work Environments Plan as a supplemental document, if required by solicitation. Refer to the funding announcement for details on what the plan is required to include

Font, Margins, Spacing, and Formatting

• Fonts: Arial, Courier New, or Palatino Linotype font size of 10 points or larger; Times New Roman font size of 11 points or larger; or Computer Modern family of fonts at a font size of 11 points or larger
• In some versions of Microsoft Word, Arial 10 and Courier New 10 will produce line spacing errors. If that happens, try changing the line spacing to 1.05 as a workaround
• A font size of less than 10 points or other fonts not specified, such as Cambria Math, may be used for mathematical formulas or equations, figures, table or diagram captions and when using a Symbol font to insert Greek letters or special characters. PIs are cautioned, however, that the text must still be readable
• Margins: Must be at least an inch in all directions, no proposer-supplied information in margins
• Paper size: 8.5” x 11”
• Single-column format should be used

Collaborative Proposals

• A collaborative proposal is defined by the National Science Foundation’s Proposal and Award Policies & Procedures Guide (NSF-PAPPG) as a proposal in which “investigators from two or more organizations wish to collaborate on a unified research project.”