NSF 02-135

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 4201 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, Virginia 22230

• NSF will support the U.S. side of such collaborations, with the expectation that funding or research organizations from the appropriate country or countries will support the costs of the European participants.
• Proposals to the NSF from individual investigators, groups, centers or user facilities (in accordance with NSF guidelines) are welcome.
• Proposals to NSF must be linked to a counterpart proposal submitted by a European partner(s) to counterpart organization(s) in Europe, or to an existing project funded by such an organization. Participating European funding agencies are listed below.
• Proposals from European investigators should be submitted to the counterpart European funding organization in accordance with the guidelines of that organization. Because application guidelines differ among the participating organizations, it is not necessary to submit identical proposals to NSF and the European counterpart(s).
• This announcement does not apply to U.S. proposals for projects where the European partners are requesting support from the European Commission. For information about proposals for NSF-EC collaborative projects, please refer to
  http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf01105.
• Requests for additional funding (supplement) by a U.S. Principal Investigator to an existing NSF award may not be submitted to this competition; such requests should be made directly through the program where the existing award is administered.

1. Information clearly identifying the nature and scope of the corresponding European proposal or funded project must be provided. Include the country, name of the counterpart European agency or agencies, names and affiliation of principal participants, the European project title and its identification code (if any). Also state the requested (or granted) funds, requested (or granted) start and termination dates, and provide a technical abstract. (Limit, one page for each country involved in Europe). Participating European funding organizations are listed below.
   
   
2. A specific summary of the proposed interaction including visits between the U.S. and European partners, stating the anticipated scientific benefits of the interaction, must be provided (limit: 2 pages).

   No additional letters of support or recommendation may be included.

C. Submission and Evaluation of Proposal

The NSF proposal must describe the U.S. part of the cooperative activity in sufficient detail to enable reviewers to evaluate (1) its intellectual merit and (2) the broader impacts of the proposed activity. In addition, NSF will assess the value added by the proposed international cooperation and the extent to which the proposal integrates research and education and promotes diversity. Preference will be given to proposals where the efforts on the U.S. and European sides are balanced and junior researchers participate.

The two additional items entered into the "Supplementary Docs" FastLane form described in §B above must be included with the proposal. Proposals not meeting these requirements will be returned without review. For the benefit of reviewers, NSF strongly recommends the inclusion of the following statement in the Project Summary:

"The proposed U.S.-European interaction and anticipated benefits are discussed in the Supplementary Documents section at the end of this proposal."

Reviewers will also be alerted to the additional information in the "Supplementary Docs" Fastlane form.

Representatives from NSF's Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Directorate for Engineering, and Office of International Science and Engineering will manage the review of proposals on the U.S. side. (The appropriate Program Directors from these NSF offices will administer the review and recommendation process.) NSF anticipates that after a corresponding evaluation of the European proposal by the counterpart European organization(s), coordinated support will be arranged for successful proposals by the participating organizations. Information about counterpart proposals will be shared among the participating agencies as appropriate. While each side reserves the option to fund proposals independently, preference will be given to proposals with support from both NSF and the counterpart European organizations.

Proposals to the NSF have a target submission date of September 16, 2002. Counterpart proposals to European organizations for their support of the collaborative activities will be accepted and reviewed through their normal procedures. After consideration with the appropriate European organization(s) of the fundable proposals, NSF will, whenever possible, tell applicants at U.S. institutions whether their proposals have been declined or recommended for funding within six months of the submission date.

D. Participating European Agencies

At least one European partner must be funded or have a proposal pending at a participating European funding organization. Most participating organizations are listed below; note that some countries, e.g. Germany and Italy, include several national funding organizations. If the corresponding European funding organization is not listed below, the U.S. partner must contact Jeanne Hudson by e-mail (address: jhudson@nsf.gov subject: "NSF-Europe participation?") for further guidance before submitting a proposal. Contact information in Europe is provided for the convenience of European partners; questions from U.S. partners should be directed to the contact names provided for NSF.

If you have any questions, you are urged to contact one of the following NSF staff members:

Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences at NSF:
Dr. Lynnette D. Madsen, Program Director, Division of Materials Research,
(703) 292-4936, lmadsen@nsf.gov

Directorate for Engineering at NSF:
Dr. Robert M. Wellek, Deputy Director, Division of Chemical and Thermal Systems,
(703) 292-9054 (Fax), rwellek@nsf.gov

Office of International Science and Engineering at NSF:
Mrs. Jeanne E. Hudson, Program Coordinator for Western Europe,
(703) 292-8702, jhudson@nsf.gov

Th e 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). Before submitting a proposal suitable for the Engineering Directorate, it is recommended that you make preliminary contact with relevant NSF Engineering program director/s to ascertain NSF interest in the project area and general availability of funds.

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) 292-6865.

The National Science Foundation has Telephonic Device for the Deaf (TDD) and Federal Relay Service (FRS) 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) 292-5090 or through FRS 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: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance Officer; Division of Administrative Services; National Science Foundation; Arlington, VA 22230.

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CFDA #: 47.049