New NSF Proposal Requirements

NSF has published a revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) NSF 09-29, that establishes important new proposal requirements on postdoctoral mentoring that will affect most Principal Investigators. NSF 09-29 http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf0929 will be effective for proposals received on or after April 6, 2009. We urge all PIs considering applying to NSF to review the new PAPPG carefully. Failure to meet these new requirements will result in proposals being returned without review.

The significant changes include:

• Chapter II - Section C.2j, Special Information and Supplementary Documentation – has new guidance added regarding complying with the mentoring requirement of the America COMPETES Act. Each proposal that requests funding to support postdoctoral researchers must include, as a supplementary document, a description of the mentoring activities that will be provided for such individuals. The mentoring plan must not exceed one page.
  
  Cross-references to Chapter II.C.2j have been included in the Subawards (Chapter II.C.2g (vi)(e)) and Collaborative Proposals (Chapter II.D.4) sections of the GPG to address subawards and collaborative proposals that request funds to support postdoctoral researchers.



• Chapter III – Section A, Review Record, states that the mentoring plan will be evaluated during the merit review process, under the Broader Impacts criterion.



• Chapter III – Section B, Return without Review, has been updated to reflect that proposals that do not include the mentoring plan in the Special Information and Supplementary Documentation section will be returned without review.

This version of the PAPPG becomes effective on April 6, 2009.