Changes to NSF Biosketches and Current & Pending Support, effective October 4th
Posted: 10/14/2021 (CSDE Research)
The National Science Foundation has issued an updated Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), effective October 4th, which includes changes to the NSF biosketch and current & pending support documents. Both can be prepared using SciENcv, or by completing an NSF-fillable PDF form.
Tip: If you prefer the PDF forms, download the documents to your computer and complete them in Adobe. If you populate the form directly in a web browser (e.g., Chrome, Firefox) and select the “Save to PDF” or “Print to PDF” function, this can corrupt the data, resulting in validation errors when uploading the PDF document to NSF systems.
Summary of Changes:
- NSF Biographical Sketch
- Page limit increased from two to three.
- References allow for the use of “et al.” and no longer require listing every author.
- Expanded explanation of appointments: Appointments to include any titled academic, professional, or institutional position whether or not remuneration is received, and whether full-time, part-time, or voluntary (including adjunct, visiting, or honorary). For professional appointments, identify all current domestic and foreign professional appointments outside of the individual’s academic, professional, or institutional appointments at the proposing organization. NSF Current & Pending Support
- NSF Current and Pending Support
- New! Statement of the Overall Objectives for each project or in-kind contribution.
- New! Statement of Potential Overlap. Summarize potential overlap with any active or pending proposal or in-kind contribution and the proposed work in terms of scope, budget, or person-months planned or committed to the project by the individual.
- Clarification: Person-month information included in current and pending support should reflect how much time the individual is planning to spend, or has committed to spend on a project. This may differ from the person-months requested in the budget.
Why would you have a difference between effort compensated in the budget, and effort devoted to the project? Answer: “NSF regards research as one of the normal functions of faculty members at institutions of higher education. Compensation for time normally spent on research within the term of appointment is deemed to be included within the faculty member’s regular organizational salary.”
A summary of all new changes is listed at the beginning of the PAPPG, available HERE.
Questions? Email Belinda Sachs, CSDE’s Grants Manager (belindab@uw.edu). To submit a proposal through CSDE, please complete a Planning Proposal Submission Form.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is also implementing changes to its biosketch and other support forms, effective in January 2022 ~ stay tuned for updates!