The National Science Foundation (NSF) is migrating its business applications to a modern and flexible platform from November 8 at 8:00 PM EST through November 12 at 6:00 AM EST. As part of this effort, NSF will also upgrade the alpha-numeric character set used by the FastLane and Research.gov systems to correct text errors, such as special characters displaying as question marks (“?”) in proposals and project reports. This migration has been scheduled over the Veteran’s Day holiday weekend to minimize the impact of the systems downtime on the research community and NSF staff.

During this outage, there will be no access to these websites, proposals cannot be submitted in FastLane or Research.gov, and project reports and cash requests cannot be submitted in Research.gov. However, previously saved information and uploaded documents in FastLane and Research.gov, including in-progress proposals and project reports, will be accessible after the migration is completed.

Earlier this week, VPR Vernescu announced WPI’s new internal seed grant program (Transformative Research and Innovation, Accelerating Discovery) at the ReDI Symposium. You can find his slides here.

We are pleased to announce, that we are currently in the process of moving our Proposal Routing Form (PRF) to DocuSign from the current PDF version.

Some of you may have used DocuSign already, but if not, it is really simple and compatible with both desktop and mobile devices.  You will simply get an email notification that you have a PRF to sign and you will have the ability to quickly access and sign it digitally.  You can also track your PRFs within the system if you create an account, but you do not have to create an account to sign a document.

Please contact your pre-award contact with any questions.

Below is a link to the updated PAPPG (NSF 19-1), which is effective on February 25, 2019.

https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappg19_1/index.jsp

Here are a few changes that should be noted regarding proposal preparation:

• Subawards, has been updated to clarify that the description of the work to be performed by the subaward must be included in the project description.
• Types of Proposals, specifies that “RAPID”, “EAGER” and “RAISE” must be included in the proposal project title.  The language has been updated to indicate that these proposal types are not eligible for reconsideration.
• Proposal Font, Spacing and Margin Requirements, has been updated to specify that fonts not listed in the PAPPG may be used for mathematical formulas, equations, or when inserting Greek letters or special characters.
• Synergistic Activities, has been revised to specify that a list should include up to five distinct examples that demonstrate the broader impact of the individual’s professional and scholarly activities that focuses on the integration and transfer of knowledge as well as its creation.

You can find a full list of significant changes and clarifications at:

https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappg19_1/sigchanges.jsp

If you are planning a submission to the National Science Foundation, please carefully read the update in its entirety.  Please be advised that non-compliance with these changes could result in your proposal being returned without review.

Do not hesitate to reach out to your pre-award contact with any questions or concerns.

The implementation date for the revised NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 19-1), which was scheduled to become effective on January 28, 2019, has been delayed. NSF will post a new implementation date on the NSF website as soon as practicable. In the interim, the current version of the PAPPG (NSF 18-1) applies. (https://www.nsf.gov/shutdown/grantees.jsp)

Parent announcements are broad funding opportunity announcements allowing applicants to submit investigator-initiated applications for specific activity codes. They are open for up to 3 years and use standard due dates.

Not all NIH Institutes and Centers participate on all parent announcements. Before submitting your application, make sure the NIH Institute or Center that might be interested in your research is listed as a participating organization in the announcement.
Please note that R01 applications have three options:

PA-19-091- NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)
PA-19-055- Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Required)
PA-19-056- Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

this link will take you to all the (R) Research Announcements:

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/parent_announcements.htm

NIH recently announced changes impacting grant application submissions for due dates on or after January 25,2019.
The following link will take you to all the changes that affect R15 applications, Fellowships etc.

https://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/2019/01/08/reminder-of-policy-changes/

We are sharing an update and relevant guidance regarding the current partial federal government shutdown and its potential effects on federally funded grants and contracts.

General Information and Resources:

While many federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, Department of Education and Department of Energy, are not affected by the partial shutdown, some agencies, including National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Transportation (DoT), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), are being affected. Read More

Read More

• What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.
• How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?
• What’s new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?
• Who cares? If you’re successful, what difference will it make?
• What are the risks and the payoffs?
• How much will it cost? How long will it take?
• What are the midterm and final “exams” to check for success?