A Submission Window Deadline Date for Unsolicited Proposals to DMR

Beginning October 1, 2005, the Division of Materials Research (DMR), in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), will accept unsolicited proposals only during a submission window beginning the first Monday in October and ending the first Friday in November, annually. This change replaces the annual November 1 target date with a submission window for all unsolicited proposals and will stay in effect until further notice.

There will be one submission window: first Monday in October through the first Friday in November each year. The last date of the submission window is an absolute deadline date. Proposals must be submitted through FastLane. Proposals received outside of this submission window, or that are not in compliance with the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG), will be returned without review. Full details are described below.

DMR has established one proposal submission window for all unsolicited proposals submitted to the DMR disciplinary programs, except those described in Paragraph 4 below. Unsolicited proposals that do not arrive within this submission window, as well as proposals that do not explicitly address NSF's primary review criteria (intellectual merit and broader impacts), will be returned without review.

NSF's Grant Proposal Guide defines submission windows as designated periods of time during which proposals will be accepted for review by NSF. For purposes of NSF, the end date of a submission window converts to, and follows the same policies as, a deadline date. (See http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/nsf04_23/1.jsp#IF.)

1. DMR no longer uses a November 1 target date for the submission of unsolicited proposals to disciplinary programs. Instead, DMR uses a submission window, and the last date of a submission window is a deadline date, as described above.

2. Proposals must be submitted within the SUBMISSION WINDOW that begins on the first Monday in October each year, and ends on the first Friday in November each year at 5:00 p.m. submitter's local time.

3. Proposals that are not in compliance with the NSF GPG may be re-submitted. Such proposals must arrive at NSF within the submission window. Revised proposals submitted either before or after the submission window will be returned without review.

• The DMR submission window deadline date is the first Friday in November each year.

• Under the DMR submission window that ends on the first Friday in November: Proposals may only be submitted from the first Monday in October through 5 p.m. submitter's local time on the first Friday in November. Proposals received before the first Monday in October, and proposals received after 5:00 p.m. submitter's local time on the first Friday in November, will be returned without review.

4. The following types of requests are NOT subject to the submission window restrictions described above. PI’s are strongly encouraged to discuss these submissions with program directors prior to submission.

• Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER) or proposals for workshops or conferences may be submitted at any time during the year.

• Supplements to existing grants to fund Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), Research Experiences for Teachers (RET), Creativity Extensions, or supplement requests for any other purpose, may be submitted at any time during the year.

5. Proposals that are submitted under an NSF program solicitation are solicited proposals, and are not restricted to the SUBMISSION WINDOW for unsolicited proposals described above. The following programs have individual solicitations with a deadline that currently falls outside the submission window. Please check the current solicitation for the deadline date.

• Instrumentation for Materials Research (IMR) program.
• Instrumentation for Materials Research – Major Instrumentation Projects
• (IMR-MIP) program.
• Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) program.
• Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) program.

Dr. Thomas A. Weber
Division Director
Division of Materials Research