NSF MPS Data Management and Sharing Plan Requirements

All proposals to U.S. National Science Foundation programs must include a Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP) created with the web-based tool released on Research.gov on April 27, 2026.

In addition to the DMSP requirements described in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), some programs in the NSF Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (NSF MPS) provide additional guidance, which is included on this page.

Researchers submitting proposals for which a detailed DMSP is not needed should note the following from chapter II.D.2.(i).(ii) of the PAPPG:

"A valid Data Management and Sharing Plan may include only the statement that no detailed plan is needed, for example, if no data, samples, physical collections, software, curriculum materials, or other materials are to be produced in the course of the project. However, such a statement must be accompanied by a clear justification."

Principal investigators submitting proposals to MPS Astronomical Sciences programs should follow the DMSP requirements contained in the PAPPG and PAPPG policy supplement Implementation of Policy Changes to Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) 24-1, Supplement 2.

Principal investigators submitting proposals to MPS Chemistry programs should follow the DMSP requirements contained in the PAPPG and PAPPG policy supplement Implementation of Policy Changes to Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) 24-1, Supplement 2.

Principal investigators submitting proposals to MPS Materials Research programs should follow the DMSP requirements contained in the PAPPG, PAPPG policy supplement Implementation of Policy Changes to Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) 24-1, Supplement 2 and the guidance below:

Making data easily accessible in digital form enables materials research to be done more efficiently and in ways that effectively build on past research. The Materials Genome Initiative provides one example of how digital data that is easily found, accessed and reused can accelerate the discovery of new materials and speed their incorporation into new products. More generally, data accessibility is a prerequisite for materials research at the desktop.

This is embraced by the materials research community and forms the basis of guidance specific to MPS Materials Research programs; a good DMSP supports data provenance and assures that proper credit is ascribed to the creator of the data.

MPS Materials Research recognizes the need for flexibility in developing DMSPs appropriate to the practices and needs of each research area under its purview. The DMSP must be consistent with community expectations and best practices appropriate for the proposed research and education activities. MPS Materials Research relies on the process of peer review to enable the broad materials community to determine the adequacy and responsiveness of a DMSP.

Increasingly, modern materials research values and expects data in digital form that is findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable and properly presented together with metadata. The metadata provides adequate information about the data to enable reproduction. Data available in this way accelerates materials research, enables and supports data-intensive research, and may be reproduced and extended by other researchers. These expectations are reflected in the reviewing community.

Data management under an award is expected to be dynamic. Annual and final project reports must discuss how the DMSP was carried out and record changes made to that plan in the course of the project (see below).

Data management plan content

The DMSP provides an explanation of how the proposal complies with NSF policy and prevailing best practices on the dissemination and sharing of the research and education products of the project. Because there is community interest in capturing research data in digital form and making it broadly available in a form that is findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable, the discussion below will expand considerations for data and only briefly comment on other products. The DMSP should include adequate project-specific detail and should convince the reviewers that it is consistent with the research and education data products produced by the specific project. 

In the spirit of promoting an open and digitally accessible materials research environment, a minimal strategy would be to make the data findable and accessible to the community in a form that links the data to adequate annotation, including what the data are and what parameters were used to generate them, using robust mechanisms. The latter could include well-maintained and sustained websites, digital libraries, repositories, and other data resources, which should be described in annual and final project reports.

Budgetary considerations

Per the PAPPG, proposal budgets may include the cost of making findings and other research products available publicly. The cleanup, documentation, storage and indexing of data and databases are among the allowed items in the proposal budget. Infrastructure, human resources and education may also be involved in an effective plan to manage data that is appropriate for the project.

A compelling justification for any costs associated with implementing the DMSP should appear in the budget justification section of the proposal. Consistent with community expectations, MPS Materials Research encourages innovations that, where appropriate and practical, enable efficient and effective data curation, sharing, reuse and management through cyberinfrastructure that operates under the principles that data should be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Data management strategies should use and leverage existing cyberinfrastructure and resources to the fullest extent practical.

Additional considerations for center and facility proposals

MPS Materials-supported facilities, including Materials Innovation Platforms and shared experimental facilities supported by the Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs), provide services to the community in the form of access to instrumentation, which results in users creating data. The associated DMSPs of facilities and MRSECs should describe plans and policies concerning storage, curation and access to data, addressing both intramural and extramural research activities. When appropriate, the DMSP should reference or include provisions for appropriate protection of privacy, confidentiality, security, intellectual property, or other rights or requirements. DMSP guidance and requirements provided in funding opportunities and other proposal preparation or review instructions supersede the considerations presented here. For example, the DMSP for a Materials Innovation Platform proposal should be a component of a broader knowledge sharing plan, as they not only share data, but also tools, codes, samples and know-how.

Principal investigators submitting proposals to MPS Mathematical Sciences programs should follow the DMSP requirements contained in the PAPPG and PAPPG policy supplement Implementation of Policy Changes to Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) 24-1, Supplement 2.

Principal investigators submitting proposals to MPS Physics programs should follow the DMSP requirements contained in the PAPPG and PAPPG policy supplement Implementation of Policy Changes to Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) 24-1, Supplement 2.