You can watch a recording of the webinar here.

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) hosted a webinar on March 12, 2024 to go over updates in the new Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 24-1) that applies to all proposals submitted or due on or after May 20, 2024.

There are many updates in PAPPG (NSF 24-1) from the previous version; a written summary of changes can be found here. Additionally, we will have a series of posts on the IOS blog over the next few weeks to highlight some of the changes.

This post focuses on changes to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support which starts at ~30:35 minutes into the webinar.

NSF developed Common Forms for both the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support to help harmonize requirements across Federal Research Funding Agencies.

Biographical Sketch:

1. All senior/key persons are required to complete the Biographical Sketch Common Form in SciENcv as described in Chapter II.D.2.h.i.a of the PAPPG. This biographical sketch is used to assess how well qualified the individual, team, or organization is to conduct the proposed activities. Individuals are required to disclose contracts associated with participation in programs sponsored by foreign governments, instrumentalities, or entities, including foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment programs. Senior/key persons must certify they are not a party of a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (MFTRP).
2. The 3-page limitation has been removed from the biographical sketch. However, the content limitations are similar, so the length will be approximately the same.
3. ‘Synergistic Activities’ has been removed from the Biographical Sketch and now must be included as a separate upload for each senior/key person in Research.gov. This upload may be up to one page with a maximum of five distinct examples of synergistic activities, which demonstrate the broader impact of the individual’s professional and scholarly activities that focus on the integration and transfer of knowledge as well as its creation.

Current and Pending (Other) Support:

1. All senior/key persons are required to complete the Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form as described in Chapter II.D.2.h.ii of the PAPPG. This form is used to assess the capacity or any conflicts of commitment that may impact the ability of the individual to carry out the research effort as proposed. This information helps assess any potential scientific and budgetary overlap/duplication with the project being proposed. In addition, the senior/key persons must certify they are not a party of a Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (MFTRP).