Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Launching Early-Career Academic Pathways in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (LEAPS-MPS) NSF 22-604
GENERAL TO ALL:
- How can I indicate which MPS Division funds the type of research that would be supported in this proposal?
- Can undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs be supported on a LEAPS award?
- Can a LEAPS award be used for course reduction?
- Can a LEAPS award be used for summer salary?
- Can a LEAPS award be used to pay for travel?
- Can a LEAPS award be used for equipment?
- Can a LEAPS award be transferred to another institution if the Principal Investigator moves during the time of the award?
- Must the Principal Investigator be in the tenure track or equivalent position at the time of submission?
- What NSF awards are considered exceptions?
- What positions would be considered tenure-track equivalent?
- Must the start date of the tenure-track position be before or on the LEAPS proposal deadline?
- Are visa-holders eligible?
- Can a Principal Investigator submit proposals to LEAPS-MPS and CAREER in the same cycle? Should the topic(s) be different?
- Can a Principal Investigator submit a proposal to LEAPS if they have another award pending/still under consideration at NSF?
- Can a Principal Investigator submit a proposal to LEAPS if they have grants from other agencies/organizations?
- What if the Principal Investigator receives tenure during the LEAPS award period?
- Can someone from a non-MPS Department, such as from an Engineering school apply? Can someone with a PhD from outside the MPS fields apply?
- Is there a cap on the number of years one can be post-PhD for this program?
- Will Principal Investigators at Carnegie Research 1 (R1) that are Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) be considered?
- Will Carnegie Research 1 (R1s) that are not MSIs be considered?
- What should be in the institutional letter of support?
- In the proposal, should the focus of the LEAPS Impact Statement be on improving the whole institution, or the Principal Investigator's department?
- What would happen if an awardee were to change institutions?
- Is educational research supported?
- Will proposals be evaluated at the MPS level? Or within the MPS Divisions?
- What if a proposed research program is interdisciplinary and crosses more than one MPS/NSF division?
- Will additional consideration be given to proposals from Principal Investigators who identify as members of one of the listed underrepresented groups?
- Can a LEAPS proposal be submitted as an RUI?
- How can I find examples of what has been awarded in the program before?
BUDGET
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR ELIGIBILITY
INSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS
OTHER TOPICS
GENERAL TO ALL:
How can I indicate which MPS Division funds the type of research that would be supported in this proposal?
If using Research.gov, select "Prepare New Full Proposal" and then search for and select the LEAPS-MPS solicitation (NSF 22-604) in Step One of the Full Proposal wizard. The MPS Directorate will be prepopulated by the system in Step Two, however you must select the appropriate Division (Astronomical Sciences, Chemistry, Materials Research, Mathematical Sciences, Physics) within MPS to send your proposal. Upon selection of the Division, Research.gov will automatically prepopulate the applicable Program. Grants.gov Users: The program solicitation number will be pre-populated by Grants.gov on the NSF Grant Proposer Cover Sheet. For the NSF Unit of Consideration, select one of the five receiving programs in one of the Divisions (Astronomical Sciences, Chemistry, Materials Research, Mathematical Sciences, Physics) within MPS, as noted in the solicitation. Please choose one choice as the appropriate program.
Can undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs be supported on a LEAPS award?
Yes.
Can a LEAPS award be used for course reduction?
Please consult with the cognizant Program Officer in the Division that would support the planned research. See the LEAPS-MPS program page for contact information. MPS programs may be supportive of course reductions for PIs at institutions with high teaching loads.
Can a LEAPS award be used for summer salary?
Yes, in accordance with the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) Chapter II.C.2.g(i), the Principal Investigator (PI) and senior personnel (if any) can each request up to two months of their regular salary in any one year to account for time spent on this project.
Can a LEAPS award be used to pay for travel?
Yes, provided the travel is directly related to activities within the scope of this project.
Can a LEAPS award be used for equipment?
- Yes, but equipment acquisition should not be the focus of the award. There are a number of solicitations specifically aimed at developing new technologies and instrumentation and if interested in one of those funding opportunities, please contact the cognizant Program Officer to discuss.
- Principal Investigators interested in major equipment acquisition or development might consider the NSF Major Research Instrumentation program: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5260. Please see the solicitation for details. Institutional submission limits apply.
Can a LEAPS award be transferred to another institution if the Principal Investigator moves during the time of the award?
See Chapter VII.B.2.f of the PAPPG for details and guidance and contact the cognizant Program Officer to discuss.
Must the Principal Investigator be in the tenure track or equivalent position at the time of submission?
As specified in the solicitation, the PI must be "a new investigator, i.e., in the pre-tenure period, at the time of submission, as a tenure-track faculty member in a U.S. IHE eligible to receive NSF support". New investigators in tenure track equivalent positions are also eligible. See the solicitation for more detail.
What NSF awards are considered exceptions?
As listed in the solicitation, individuals who served as Principal Investigators, or co- Principal Investigators, on Fellowship, Conference/Workshop, Equipment, Travel and Instrumentation Infrastructure and Research Opportunity Award (ROA) grants are eligible to submit proposals to the LEAPS-MPS program. More specifically, this includes awards made through the Major Research Instrumentation program, Campus Cyberinfrastructure awards made through the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, awards whose primary focus is to support a conference or workshop, unpaid senior personnel (mentors) in Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) awards, Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) awards for computational time, and Fellowship awards. Other similar types of awards (those that do not support research) may also be exceptions. Please contact the cognizant Program Officer to check if questions remain.
What positions would be considered tenure-track equivalent?
The submitting institution must determine whether the position is tenure track equivalent. Guidance is in the solicitation.
Must the start date of the tenure-track position be before or on the LEAPS proposal deadline?
Yes.
Are visa-holders eligible?
Maybe. Per the solicitation, eligibility is no longer restricted by immigration status. Provided the PI eligibility conditions are met, institutions decide which employees may submit proposals.
Can a Principal Investigator submit proposals to LEAPS-MPS and CAREER in the same cycle? Should the topic(s) be different?
Yes, however, PIs are advised the PAPPG, (Chapters I.G and IV.B) prohibits submission of a proposal that is a duplicate of, or substantially similar to, a proposal already under consideration by NSF from the same submitter. If proposals are determined to be substantially similar, the second submitted proposal may be returned without review. The PI should talk with the cognizant Program Officer for the subsequent program (LEAPS or CAREER or any other research program) that would be evaluating the proposal to assess the degree to which the proposals overlap. If determined to be sufficiently distinct, each proposal should be listed as Pending Support within the other proposal's Current and Pending Support section, to the extent that timelines allow.
Can a Principal Investigator submit a proposal to LEAPS if they have another award pending/still under consideration at NSF?
Yes, provided the proposals are sufficiently distinct. The PAPPG, (Chapters I.G and IV.B) prohibits submission of a proposal that is a duplicate of, or substantially similar to, a proposal already under consideration by NSF from the same submitter. If proposals are determined to be substantially similar, the second submitted proposal may be returned without review. The PI should talk with the cognizant Program Officer for the subsequent program (in this case LEAPS) that would be evaluating the proposal to assess the degree to which the proposals overlap. If determined to be sufficiently distinct, each proposal should be listed as Pending Support within the other proposal's Current and Pending Support section, to the extent that timelines allow. Also note that the priority of LEAPS-MPS is to support new investigators with no previous or existing research funding.
Can a Principal Investigator submit a proposal to LEAPS if they have grants from other agencies/organizations?
LEAPS awards are intended to support MPS Principal Investigators in launching their research careers such that LEAPS-MPS awards are followed by a competitive proposal to a traditional NSF/MPS funding program. An individual with funding from another agency is eligible to submit. All proposers should demonstrate why this award is critical to help initiate their research programs.
What if the Principal Investigator receives tenure during the LEAPS award period?
Eligibility is determined at the time of the solicitation deadline. Once an award is made, changes in tenure status will not affect the award in place.
Can someone from a non-MPS Department, such as from an Engineering school apply? Can someone with a PhD from outside the MPS fields apply?
Yes, to both questions. As long as the proposed research fits within the scope of what at least one MPS Division would fund, as long as the award will position you to seek future funding from an MPS Division, and as long as the broadening participation plan is developed as outlined in the solicitation, you are eligible to apply. The field of origin of the PhD and the home department of the proposer are not eligibility criteria.
Is there a cap on the number of years one can be post-PhD for this program?
No.
Will Principal Investigators at Carnegie Research 1 (R1) that are Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) be considered?
Yes, although Principal Investigators will need to strongly justify the potential impact of the award.
Will Carnegie Research 1 (R1s) that are not MSIs be considered?
Yes, although Principal Investigators will need to strongly justify the potential impact of the award.
What should be in the institutional letter of support?
Please refer to the solicitation for details. This is described in the section on Special Information and Supplementary Documentation.
In the proposal, should the focus of the LEAPS Impact Statement be on improving the whole institution, or the Principal Investigator's department?
Please refer to the solicitation. The Impact Statement should address the impact on career of the individual, the department's ability to address broadening participation, and the institutional research environment. The specifics of the Broadening Participation plan will vary between proposals but should focus on broadening the participation of members of underrepresented groups within MPS fields as described in the solicitation.
What would happen if an awardee were to change institutions?
Please refer to the PAPPG, VII.B.2.f for guidance on transferring a grant to another organization.
Since the LEAPS Impact Statement is institution specific, and the Broadening Participation plan may also be institution specific, if a PI wishes to transfer the award to a new institution, this may represent a change of scope and a new Impact statement and a new Broadening Participation plan maybe requested by the cognizant Program Officer. A change of scope, new impact statement, and new Broadening participation plan is subject to NSF approval. Please refer to PAPPG, VII.B.1 for guidance.
Is educational research supported?
For the most part no. The proposal must describe research within the scope of topic areas covered by the five MPS Divisions, which are: Astronomical Sciences (AST), Chemistry (CHE), Materials Research (DMR), Mathematical Sciences (DMS), and Physics (PHY). PHY does support a limited amount of Physics Education Research aimed at Physics majors.
Will proposals be evaluated at the MPS level? Or within the MPS Divisions?
All proposals must be submitted to a specified program in one of the five MPS Divisions. Proposals will be evaluated within the most appropriate MPS Division.
What if a proposed research program is interdisciplinary and crosses more than one MPS/NSF division?
Interdisciplinary projects that connect MPS areas to other disciplines and sub-fields are welcomed as those that connect to fields not within the purview of MPS. However, the bulk of the effort must fall within one of the areas within the purview of MPS. You must choose one of the five participating MPS Divisions to receive your proposal.
Will additional consideration be given to proposals from Principal Investigators who identify as members of one of the listed underrepresented groups?
There is no criterion that the Principal Investigator be a member of an underrepresented group, although members of such groups are strongly encouraged to submit.
Can a LEAPS proposal be submitted as an RUI?
No.
How can I find examples of what has been awarded in the program before?
Navigate to the program webpage: https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/launching-early-career-academic-pathways-mathematical-and-physical-sciences
And towards the bottom click on "Browse projects funded by this program."