The slides are available HERE  

The Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) held a Virtual Office Hour (VOH) on December 21, 2023, providing information on current solicitations and Dear Colleague Letters the community might wish to investigate.  The focal topic this month was information on navigating NSF for both new and established investigators. 

Program Directors provided a brief introduction to the structure of both NSF and the Directorate for Biological Sciences. This introduction was followed by discussion of the proposal submission process from the perspective of a Principal Investigator (PI). We then provided an overview of the merit review process and discussed strategies that PIs can implement to help improve their NSF grant proposals. 

The following questions were some of those asked by the audience: 

Regarding the Safe & Inclusive Field (SAIF) Plan, what is defined as off-campus and where does one upload the Safe & Inclusive plan? – There is a helpful FAQ document on the Safe & Inclusive Field Plan requirement that can be found HERE. The SAIF Plan is a project-specific 2-page Supplementary Document that will be considered under the Broader Impacts review criteria for any proposal with off-campus or off-site research submitted to a solicitation participating in the BIO/GEO pilot. Off-campus or off-site research is defined as data/information/samples being collected off-campus or off-site, such as fieldwork, and research activities on vessels and aircraft. Each proposing organization must determine whether the proposed work is considered off-campus or off-site. Please contact your organization’s Sponsored Projects Office (or equivalent) for assistance in this determination.  

What is NSF’s policy on resubmissions and how does one go about including a response to previous reviewers? – The Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) discusses the subject of resubmission HERE in Part 1 Chapter IV.E. In brief, a declined proposal may be resubmitted, but only after it has undergone substantial revision. Further, all submissions to NSF are viewed as new submissions, so it is not a requirement to include a response to previous reviewers. As such, it is up to the PI of the proposal to decide whether they want to utilize space within their 15-page Project Description to discuss how their substantial revisions have strengthened the proposal and/or addressed the previous reviews.  

Regarding submission of an ROA (Research Opportunity Award) Supplement, what is required to be submitted, when can an ROA be submitted, and what is the recommended budget? – ROA supplements are part of the Facilitating Research at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (NSF 14-579) solicitation. The purpose of ROAs is to enable faculty from Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) to participate in NSF-supported research projects by providing support for summer or sabbatical research (e.g., salary, per diem, and travel funds). ROA supplement requests can either be included within a new proposal submission or submitted after a proposal has been awarded. In either case, the supplement request must be submitted by the PI of the proposal or active award, but the collaboration between the PI and the PUI faculty member can be initiated either by the PUI faculty themselves or by the PI contacting a PUI faculty.  

IOS has specific guidance on preparing supplemental funding requests that can be found HERE. Typically, the supplement request document will be 3 to 5 pages and address how the ROA will contribute to both the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts of the project. NSF’s fiscal year runs from October to September, so we recommend requests be submitted prior to March 1 of each year (or earlier!). ROA supplement budgets depend on the type of request and duration, but typically range between $20,000 and $80,000.  

We strongly encourage the PI of the active award to contact their managing Program Director to obtain further guidance before submitting an ROA supplement request. Please note that supplement requests are competitive and subject to NSF review, approval, and availability of funds. 

For more information on navigating NSF, check out the NSF 101 series on Science Matters.  

Join us on January 18th, 2024 for our next IOS Virtual Office Hour, which will focus on Catalyzing Across Sectors to Advance the Bioeconomy (CASA-Bio).  Register for our next VOH HERE!