Grant and Cooperative Agreement-Related Policy and Systems Issues Following the Resumption of Operations at the National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is emerging from a 35-day funding lapse in appropriations and shutdown of the agency. This page provides guidance for the NSF proposer and awardee community regarding the initial resumption of operations. This page will continue to be updated as more information becomes available. Questions regarding the guidance provided below, as well as other post-shutdown questions, should be directed to the Policy Office in the Division of Institution & Award Support at policy@nsf.gov.
MESSAGE FROM THE NSF DIRECTOR
Updated January 31, 2019
This document addresses grant and cooperative agreement policy and systems issues that may arise during the initial resumption of operations at the National Science Foundation during the three-week Continuing Resolution (CR).
Unfortunately, the recent lapse in appropriations (lapse) resulted in missed panels, a backlog of proposal actions, and delays that may result in the cancelation of related activities and certain programs. It is fully recognized that it will take time to work through this extensive backlog of activities. The Foundation is establishing processes that will enable us to focus on a specific set of high-priority areas, particularly in light of the three-week CR.
Proposers, awardees and reviewers who have questions are encouraged to await communications from NSF, at least initially, as we resume operations. We appreciate your patience.
PROPOSAL PREPARATION & SUBMISSION
Updated February 14, 2019
- The issuance of new funding opportunities (program descriptions, announcements or solicitations) and Dear Colleague Letters (DCLs) will resume in the coming days.
- The NSF FastLane system, Grants.gov and Research.gov were available for proposal preparation and submission during the lapse.
- The implementation date for the revised NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 19-1) is February 25, 2019.
Updated 1/31/19 Impact on Existing Due Dates
Guidance to the proposer and awardee community was updated on January 25, 2019, to specify that NSF will be extending the deadline date for the solicitations or Dear Colleague Letters (DCLs) listed in the table below. The table has now been updated to include any additional affected solicitations and DCLs, along with the revised deadlines. Deadlines for published program descriptions, announcements, solicitations and DCLs that do not appear on the list below remain unchanged.
| Pub ID | Title | Original Deadline | Submission Type | New Deadline Date* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19-500 | Joint DMS/NLM Initiative on Generalizable Data Science Methods for Biomedical Research (DMS/NLM) | 16-Jan-19 | Full proposals | 14-Feb-19 |
| 19-543 | Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR): Institutes for Data-Intensive Research in Science and Engineering - Ideas Labs (I-DIRSE-IL) | 28-Jan-19 | Preliminary proposals | 4-Mar-19 |
| 19-018 | Dear Colleague Letter: EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Society - Supported Jointly with the Partnership on AI | 28-Jan-19 | EArly-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGERs) | 28-Feb-19 |
| 19-030 | Dear Colleague Letter: Leadership-Class Computing Allocations | 1-Feb-19 | Supplemental funding requests | 14-Feb-19 |
| 19-518 | Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR): Data Science Corps (DSC) | 4-Feb-19 | Full proposals | 14-Feb-19 |
| 19-526 | Materials Innovation Program | 4-Feb-19 | Full proposals | 26-Apr-19 |
| 19-524 | Training-based Workforce Development for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (CyberTraining) | 6-Feb-19 | Full proposals | 14-Feb-19 |
| 19-530 | Ideas Lab: Cross-cutting Initiative in CubeSat Innovations | 8-Feb-19 | Preliminary proposals | 12-Feb-19 |
| 19-523 | EarthCube Office | 11-Feb-19 | Full proposals | 28-Feb-19 |
| 19-511 | Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) | 14-Feb-19 | Full proposals | 4-Mar-19 |
| 19-509 | NSF/CASIS Collaboration on Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology on the International Space Station (ISS) to Benefit Life on Earth | 15-Feb-19 | Full proposals | 4-Mar-19 |
| 19-531 | Frontier Research in Earth Sciences (FRES) | 20-Feb-19 | Full proposals | 21-Feb-19 |
| 19-532 | Enabling Quantum Leap: Quantum Idea Incubator for Transformational Advances in Quantum Systems (QII - TAQS) | 21-Feb-19 | Preliminary proposals | 22-Feb-19 |
* NSF will be modifying each solicitation or DCL to reflect the new deadline date.
Proposal Review Process
Decisions about panels that were canceled due to the lapse will be at the discretion of individual divisions/offices. Panelists on canceled or to-be-rescheduled panels will be contacted by the cognizant NSF Program Officer with a status update; please await guidance from the cognizant NSF Program Officer.
Proposal Processing Time
In many cases, the Foundation will not be able to meet our customer-service standard of informing applicants/proposers about funding decisions for their proposals within six months of the deadline or target date, or receipt date, whichever is later. We will, however, work to make decisions as quickly as practicable.
Issuance of New Grants and Cooperative Agreements
Grants or cooperative agreements impacted by the lapse will be awarded as early as practicable.
UPDATED 2/14/2019 The implementation date for the revised set of NSF Grant Conditions is February 25, 2019.
Issuance of Continuing Grant Increments (CGIs)
Priority will be given to processing of CGIs that could not be processed during the lapse.
POST-AWARD ADMINISTRATION
Performance of Work
During the lapse, awardees were authorized to continue performance under their NSF awards to the extent that funds were available, and the term of the grant or cooperative agreement had not expired. During the lapse, as always, any expenses incurred were required to be necessary for performance of the work and allowable in accordance with 2 CFR § 200, Uniform administrative requirements, cost principles, and audit requirements for Federal awards.
Payments
Payments and the ability of awardees to draw down funds under grants and cooperative agreements via the Awardee Cash Management $ystem (ACM$) were reinstated on January 28, 2019.
Project Reporting
Research.gov was available during the lapse for submission of required Annual, Final and Project Outcomes Reports. All reports submitted during the lapse will be reviewed and acted upon by NSF as early as practicable, with priority being given to awards with a contingent CGI due to be awarded.
No-Cost Extensions and Other Post Award Transactions
NSF electronic systems were available for use by the awardee community to submit no-cost extension, award transfer, supplemental funding request and other post award notifications and requests via NSF electronic systems. All requests submitted during the lapse will be processed by NSF as early as practicable.