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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) ( NSF
06-604)
COLLABORATION
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
FINANCIAL/BUDGET
PROPOSAL PREPARATION
COLLABORATION
Question: What type(s) of inter-organizational collaborations
is NSF encouraging?
Answer: The HSD Program expects that proposers will put together
the best team possible to carry out the project. Simultaneously,
HSD encourages research-intensive and extensive universities
to partner with other types of colleges and universities, especially
ones serving underrepresented minority populations. Large research
universities have an opportunity to expand and enrich research
and education in Human and Social Dynamics beyond their organizations.
Question: If multiple organizations are cooperating in the proposed
project, what are the mechanisms for submitting a proposal?
Answer: NSF has two mechanisms for submission of proposals from multiple
organizations: as a single proposal, in which a single award is
being requested (with subawards administered by the lead organization);
or by simultaneous submission of proposals from different organizations,
with each organization requesting a separate award. In either case,
the lead organization’s
proposal must contain all of the requisite sections as a
single package to be provided to reviewers (that will happen
automatically when procedures below are followed.) All collaborative
proposals must clearly describe the roles to be played by
the other organizations, specify the managerial arrangements,
and explain the advantages of the multi-organizational effort
within the project description.
These collaborative proposals are described more fully in
the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?gpg.
The GPG also includes instructions for submission of these types
of proposals.
Question: One of the organizations involved in our project is
in an EPSCoR state. How do we get EPSCoR certification?
Answer: The NSF EPSCoR Office no longer requires certification
by the relevant jurisdiction EPSCoR Office as part of the co-funding
process. Therefore, participants from EPSCoR-based organizations
that are involved in the proposed cooperative project may submit
a collaborative proposal according to the corresponding submission
instructions provided in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (http://nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?gpg).
Question: My question is not in this list and is not answered
in the solicitation. What should I do?
Answer: Send an email to mailto:hsd@nsf.gov.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Question: How many proposals can an investigator submit this
year to the HSD solicitation?
Answer: No person may be a PI, Co-PI, or senior personnel on
more than one proposal submitted to this solicitation. This restriction
applies to all individuals on subawards who fall into the category
of senior personnel. For the purposes of this solicitation, senior
personnel include the Principal Investigator (PI), any co-PIs,
and any other researchers actively involved in the scientific
or technical management of the project. It does not include students,
postdocs, or consultants who provide specific expertise on a
limited portion of the project.
Question: In submitting to HSD, does the university department
of the PI matter?
Answer: No. PI affiliation within a university or non-profit
research organization does not matter. The subject of the research
does matter; the HSD competition stresses multidisciplinarity
so HSD proposals from many different university or organizational
units are anticipated.
Question: Can international organizations apply to HSD?
Answer: The HSD Program encourages international collaborations.
HSD understands that topics of interest will cross national
boundaries and that U.S. investigators will and already do
communicate and collaborate with colleagues throughout the
world to accomplish their research and educational goals.
The typical expectation is that all investigators on a project
team will receive funding from their own countries’ funding agencies, especially if the
international collaboration is with researchers in developed countries
(e.g., Europe, Britain, Japan) that have substantial resources
of their own. The eligibility rules for submission to HSD do allow
for researchers outside of the U.S. to apply indirectly to the
HSD Program — either as consultants on a lead proposal
or as subawards. In both cases, justification is required
of the unique capabilities offered or the specific research
needs that will be accomplished. No indirect costs by international
organizations are allowed. In addition, it is expected that
the international budget will be small, relative to the overall
size of the project budget.
Question: Are government labs or for-profit organizations
allowed to submit HSD proposals?
Answer: Only US universities and
colleges, and nonprofit organizations in the US, may submit proposals to
this competition.
Question: Are graduate students or unaffiliated
researchers eligible to apply to HSD?
Answer: Graduate students and unaffiliated researchers may be
included on HSD proposals. Graduate students should not be included
as PI, Co-PI, or senior personnel. Unaffiliated researchers need
to go through an eligible organization to be involved in this
HSD competition. (See the answer to the previous question.)
Question: My question is not in this list and is not answered
in the solicitation. What should I do?
Answer: Send email: hsd@nsf.gov.
FINANCIAL/BUDGET
Question: This year there are three deadlines with three different
limits on the budget. Can you explain the difference between
these three groups of proposals?
Answer: As in the past, HSD has separate deadlines, budget restrictions,
and format rules for Exploratory Research proposals (including
HSD Research Community Development proposals) and Full Research
proposals. This year HSD has created an additional category of
Full Research proposals. Budgets for this new category can be
up to $1,250,000. HSD believes that most of the research projects
can be accomplished for $750,000 or less. But, there are some
projects that may require a larger amount of funding.
Question: What are examples of projects that might require more
than $750,000?
Answer: Two examples involve surveys and international
collaborations. Large scale surveys can be very expensive. HSD
does not want researchers to reduce the scale in order to fit the
budget limits. Nor does HSD want researchers to sacrifice the analysis
in order to complete the survey. When international partners are
involved, it is often important to have graduate students and postdocs
spend a substantial amount of time visiting with the foreign
collaborators. The cost of these visits can become large very
quickly.
Question: Why not just increase the maximum request from $750,000
to $1,250,000?
Answer: As mentioned previously, HSD believes
most projects can be completed for $750,000 or less. We want investigators
to think carefully about whether additional funds are necessary
for the project. Since HSD will only make a limited number (8-10)
of awards above $750,000, investigators are discouraged from requesting
more than $750,000 unless it is abolutely necessary.
Question: How will the HSD funds be divided across the NSF directorates
and different subject areas of the solicitation?
Answer: We do not make prior decisions regarding
funding levels across the areas even though each Directorate knows
(once we get our budget from Congress) how much it is likely to
spend on new HSD awards this year. HSD is an interdisciplinary,
Foundation-wide activity and many awards receive funds from several
Directorates. Decisions about funding are made after the proposals
are reviewed, and after all Directorates have a chance to determine
which proposals are the most interesting and promising to them.
If the proposals in some particular area are of unusually high
quality, that area may attract more money than expected in advance.
Question:
May faculty request academic year salary in addition to or instead
of summer salary?
Answer: NSF typically allows summer salary on
its grants. (As stated in the Grant Proposal Guide, summer salary
for faculty members on academic-year appointments is limited to
no more than two-ninths of their regular academic-year salary.)
However, in some cases academic year salary is allowed, either
in addition to or instead of summer salary. Requests for academic
year salary need to be justified in the proposal.
Question: What kinds of administrative costs may be included
in the budget?
Answer: Many universities and colleges consider
certain kinds of administrative costs, such as lab space and secretary
salary, to be included in the indirect cost portion of the budget.
Thus, they typically cannot be included as direct costs. If you
have a question about what is allowable at your university or college,
please check with your Sponsored Research Office. It is best
situated to answer this question.
Question: May HSD proposal budgets include equipment?
Answer: Yes. Equipment that is necessary to
carry out the proposed project may be requested and should be justified
in the budget justification.
Question: How might the requested budget affect chances of success?
Are there budgets that would be inappropriate because they are
too large or too small?
Answer: HSD is an interdisciplinary, Foundation-wide activity.
A high-quality, innovative proposal that addresses the substance
of the HSD solicitation and has high societal value or impact
has the best chance of being funded. Proposers should request
the funding amounts necessary to carry out the work. Since
there are maximum award amounts, investigators should take
care to construct a project that is feasible within those
budgetary limits. Please refer to “Section
IV. Award Information” of the solicitation, which provides
information about maximum total awards based on type of project
activity. NOTE: Proposals that exceed the maximum for their
type will be returned without review.
Question: My question is not in this list and is not answered
in the solicitation. What should I do?
Answer: Send email: hsd@nsf.gov.
PROPOSAL PREPARATION
Question: What needs to be included in the Project Summary?
Answer: The Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) (available at http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg)
specifies that the Project Summary must clearly address, in separate
statements within the one-page limit, both the broader impacts
and the intellectual merit. Proposals that do not address both
merit review criteria in separate statements in the project summary
will be returned without review. The GPG also states that the
broader impacts must be addressed in the Project Description
and described as an integral part of the narrative.
Question: Will you enforce the page limits on proposals?
Answer: Yes. See the HSD solicitation, section
V.A ”Full
Proposal Instructions.”
Question: Do citations and references count against the project
description page limit?
Answer: No. They should be included in the References
Cited section of the proposal.
Question: May I submit the same proposal to HSD and to another
NSF program?
Answer: No. A unique proposal can be submitted
only once to NSF. If the proposal is a duplicate of or substantially
similar to a proposal already under consideration by NSF, it will
be returned without review.
Question: Can I request an extension of time to submit a proposal?
Answer: No.
Question: What if FastLane or my university computer is unavailable
on a submission deadline?
Answer: Please avoid this problem by submitting
early. If you choose not to submit until the last minute, it is
at your own risk.
Question: What if there is an earthquake, fire or other disaster?
Answer: Please contact us at hsd@nsf.gov immediately.
We will make determinations on a case-by-case basis.
Question: Should proposals from non-profit research organizations
address the broader impacts criterion and the integration of
research and education?
Answer: Yes. Every proposal regardless of submitting
organization will be evaluated on both NSF merit review criteria
- the intellectual merit and the broader impacts of the proposed
effort. Proposals that do not explicitly address both criteria
will be returned without review. Integrating research and education
should be addressed as well. Non-profit research organizations
should take special care to explain how their proposals will provide
these benefits.
Question: What if listing my five most recent relevant papers
would take more than two pages because these papers have several
hundred authors each?
Answer: The two-page limit dominates over the need to include
the entire list of authors for your relevant publications.
If your publications include large numbers of co-authors
and you choose to list all of the co-authors, you likely
will be able to list only a few papers. Instead, you may
want to list only the first few authors and add text reference
to additional authors, such as "Jane Doe, Soo Kim, and 26 other authors, including <Your
Name>."
Question: How do we submit supplementary documents?
Answer: Supplementary documents that are in
accordance with the solicitation should be scanned into the Special
Information and Supplementary Documentation section of
the FastLane proposal.
Question: Can I be a reviewer for HSD this year?
Answer: The HSD competition is split into two parts this
year. The Exploratory Research proposals and the HSD Research
Community Development proposals form one part. The Full
Research proposals form the second part. If you are on an HSD proposal
submitted this year then you cannot be a reviewer for that
part of the competition, but you can volunteer to be a
reviewer for the other part. If you did not submit an HSD proposal
this year in response to the current solicitation, then
you can volunteer to be a reviewer for either part. If you want
to volunteer, notify the Program Officer in the list of
contacts who is closest to your field of research. Include a URL for
your biosketch and a brief description of your research
expertise in your email. The program officer will contact you if your
area of expertise is relevant and we need reviewers in
that area. If you don’t see anyone in
the list of contacts who you feel is appropriate,
send the information to hsd@nsf.gov.
Question: Why is the Directorate for Social, Behavioral
and Economic Sciences (SBE) the only one to appear as an
option on the NSF cover sheet in FastLane? I normally apply
to Geosciences and my proposal deals primarily with Geosciences?
Answer: The SBE Directorate is coordinating the
management of all proposals submitted to the HSD Priority Area.
Program Officers from all Directorates and Divisions will participate
in the management of HSD proposals that fall into their areas
of expertise. This allows flexibility in assignment of proposals
to specific panels.
Question: Why does NSF only allow 4 co-PIs to be listed on
the cover sheet of the Full Proposal? I would like for our
project to have five (or more) co-PIs.
Answer: NSF policy limits the number of co-PIs
that can be listed on the cover sheet of any Full Proposal to four.
However, one should remember that when the Full Proposals are submitted,
a collaborative proposal from multiple organizations may
be done through simultaneous submission of proposals from the different
organizations. In this way, four co-PIs could be listed
on the cover sheet of each proposal. Alternatively, one could
request a change in senior personnel through FastLane after an award
is made if effective management of a project required
such a change.
Question: My question is not in this list and is not answered
in the solicitation. What should I do?
Answer: Send an email: hsd@nsf.gov.
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