NSF's Project Reporting Enforcement Pilot
NSF is planning to improve the recipient compliance with existing annual project reporting requirements. NSF relies on annual project reports to monitor the progress made on grants and cooperative agreements, assess the impact, and communicate any concerns to Principal Investigators (PIs). NSF award terms and conditions clearly state that PIs must submit annual project reports 90 days prior to the end of the annual budget period of the project, and if reports are not approved by the cognizant NSF program officer by this date, the report is considered overdue. NSF has identified that a significant number of overdue annual reports are a risk to the Agency’s effective operation.
To encourage more timely submission of annual project reports, NSF plans to leverage and assess the effectiveness of exercising our existing authority to temporarily withhold cash payments pending the submission and approval of annual project reports. This includes awards that have overdue project reports of 60 days or more from three participating Divisions at NSF, the Divisions of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF); Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI); and Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS).
Starting on October 2, 2023, through January 31, 2024, PIs and AORs for grants or cooperative agreements with overdue annual project reports will receive a notice (the “First Notice”) informing them that the annual report is overdue and request that the report is submitted as soon as possible. If the report remains overdue by the beginning of the second month, PIs and AORs will receive a Second Notice, and if the report remains overdue by the third month, a Final Notice will be sent informing the recipient that NSF is acting to temporarily withhold award cash payments on the grant or cooperative agreement through the Award Cash Management System (ACM$). This process ensures that each award will have at least 60 days after an annual report becomes overdue to have the report submitted and approved by NSF.
Principal investigators are reminded of the requirement for timely project report submission. For guidance on report submission, refer to About Project Reporting and the Project Reporting FAQs on Research.gov, including the FAQs. For technical assistance, contact the Research.gov Help Desk at (800) 381-1532 or rgov@nsf.gov. Award-specific questions should be directed to the Managing Program and Grants and Agreements Officer listed on the award notice. All other questions can be directed to this mailbox nsfprc@nsf.gov.
NSF's Safe and Inclusive Working Environment
NSF has implemented a requirement for projects proposing off-campus or off-site working environments to have in place a plan for a Safe and Inclusive Working Environment. This plan will now be a requirement of a complete Cayuse record and will be producible to the NSF upon request. Certain Directorates of the NSF have launched a pilot whereby the Plan is included in the Supplementary Documents section of your proposals. Individual solicitations will include additional information surrounding applicability.
The University of California Office of the President Research Policy Analysis and Coordination issued memo RPAC-23-01 addressing this topic.
NSF Biosketch
As of January 30, 2023, NSF has instituted new requirements for the Biosketch, which are described in the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG). NSF has published a table entitled NSF Pre-award and Post-award Disclosures Relating to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support, which helps identify where and what disclosure information should be provided.
The use of SciENcv to prepare the Biosketch and Current and Pending is mandatory as of October 23, 2023. Investigators are encouraged to create their accounts and import their publications as soon as possible. FAQs on using SciENcv
NSF Current and Pending Support
Similarly, as of January 30, 2023, NSF requires a new Current and Pending Support format. Full details about the requirements of the Current and Pending Support can be found in the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG). NSF has published a table entitled NSF Pre-award and Post-award Disclosures Relating to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support, which helps identify where and what disclosure information should be provided.
As with the Biosketch, NSF requires the use of SciENcv for their Current and Pending Support documents. SciENcv will produce NSF-compliant PDF versions of the current and pending support format. FAQs on using SciENcv
