IV. Withdrawals, Returns and Declinations
A. WITHDRAWALS
A proposal may be withdrawn at any time before a final decision is made.
Both the PI and the Authorized Organizational Representative must sign
a request for withdrawal. NSF will send confirmation of withdrawal requests.
NSF must be notified if any funding for the proposed project is received
from another source or sponsor. If it is brought to NSF’s attention that
funding for a proposal to NSF has been accepted from another sponsor,
NSF will send a withdrawal confirmation letter to the PI and the Authorized
Organizational Representative without waiting for the official withdrawal
request.
NSF does not normally return the copies of withdrawn proposals to the
proposer but does retain a file copy. Copies of reviews received by NSF
before a proposal is withdrawn will be provided to the PI.
NSF provides copies of withdrawal, return, declination, reconsideration
or resubmission information to both the PI and the Authorized Organizational
Representative.
B. RETURNS
Proposals may not be considered for review by NSF for the following
reasons: (1) inappropriate for NSF funding; (2) submitted with insufficient
lead time before activity is to begin; (3) does not meet NSF requirements
for proposal content, page limitations, format, electronic submission
via FastLane (unless a deviation has been obtained in advance of the paper
submission [see Chapter II, Section A. for further information on deviations])
etc.; (4) does not meet announced proposal deadline date requirements;
(5) the proposal was previously reviewed and declined and has not been
substantially revised; or (6) the proposal is a duplicate of or substantially
similar to a proposal already under consideration by NSF.
C. DECLINATIONS
A PI whose proposal for NSF support has been declined generally will
receive information and an explanation of the reason(s) for declination
along with copies of the reviews considered in making the decision. If
that explanation does not satisfy the PI, he/she may request additional
information from the cognizant NSF Program Officer or Division Director.
D. RECONSIDERATION
If the explanation provided does not satisfy the PI, he/she may request
that the cognizant NSF Assistant Director or Office Head reconsider the
action to determine whether the proposal received a fair and reasonable
review, both substantively and procedurally. A PI whose proposal has not
been accepted because it is inappropriate for consideration by NSF may
also request reconsideration of this determination. The request for reconsideration
must be in writing and must be received within 90 days after the date
of the declination letter or return. If the proposing organization is
still not satisfied after reconsideration by the responsible Assistant
Director/Office Head, it may, within 60 days after the determination by
the Assistant Director/Office Head, request further reconsideration by
the NSF Deputy Director. Consult GPM Section 900 (https://www.nsf.gov:80/bfa/cpo/gpm95/ch9.htm#ch9-1)
for additional information on the NSF reconsideration process.
E. RESUBMISSION
A declined proposal may be resubmitted, but only after it has undergone
substantial revision. Resubmittals that have not clearly taken into account
the major comments or concerns resulting from the prior NSF review may
be returned without further review. The Foundation will treat the revised
proposal as a new proposal, subject to the standard review procedures.
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