NSF ANNOUNCEMENT-Important Notice 127, Implementation of new Grant
Proposal Guide Requirements
Merit review Criterion 2 for proposals to the National Science
Foundation asks "What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?"
NSF Important Notice 127 states that beginning October 1, 2002,
proposals received that do not address both review criteria in the
project summary will be rejected without review.
The Advisory Committee to the Office of Polar Programs convened a
working group to provide suggestions to reviewers for considering
Criterion 2 and develop specific examples of activities that meet
Criterion 2, which are available on the OPP web site at:
http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/opp_advisory/oaccrit2.htm
Please contact your NSF program officer or research support and
logistics provider or call the Arctic Section of the Office of Polar
Programs at 703/292-8029 for more information.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
Arlington, VA 22230
Notice No. 127
July 08, 2002
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO PRESIDENTS OF UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES AND HEADS OF
OTHER NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GRANTEE ORGANIZATIONS
SUBJECT: Implementation of new Grant Proposal Guide Requirements Related
to the Broader Impacts Criterion
The National Science Board approved the use of two merit review criteria
in March 1997, and each subsequent issuance of the Grant Proposal Guide
(GPG) since 1997 has continued to strengthen the coverage relating to
the importance of broader impacts in the preparation and review of
proposals submitted to NSF. In addition, two separate Important
Notices/1 have been issued to inform/remind the community of NSF's
intentions in this area.
In an effort to increase compliance with these requirements, the January
2002 issuance of the GPG incorporated revised proposal preparation
guidelines relating to the development of the Project Summary and
Project Description. The GPG now specifies that Principal Investigators
(PIs) must address both merit review criteria in separate statements
within the one page Project Summary. The GPG also reiterates that
broader impacts resulting from the proposed project must be addressed in
the Project Description and described as an integral part of the
narrative. Examples illustrating activities likely to demonstrate
broader impacts are available electronically at the web site:
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2002/nsf022/bicexamples.pdf
In order to ensure that proposals are treated equitably, the FastLane
system has been enhanced to remind/inform PIs of the new proposal
preparation requirements. Through incorporation of reminders in the
proposal preparation process in FastLane, as well as increased coverage
of these guidelines on the NSF web site, we expect to increase
compliance by informing PIs of the requirements at the point in the
process when the information will be most useful.
Effective October 1, 2002, NSF will return without review proposals that
do not separately address both merit review criteria within the Project
Summary. We believe that these changes to NSF proposal preparation and
processing guidelines will more clearly articulate the importance of
broader impacts to NSF funded projects.
We continue to appreciate your commitment to conveying the importance of
both intellectual merit and broader impacts of research and education
activities to both the Principal Investigators who are developing and
submitting proposals, as well as to those who may serve as proposal
reviewers. NSF continues to strengthen its internal processes to ensure
that both of the merit review criteria are addressed when making funding
decisions.
Rita R. Colwell
Director
Important Notice 121, New Criteria for NSF Proposals, and Important Notice
125, Merit Review Criteria, both addressed the issuance and implementation
of broader impacts of the proposed effort in the preparation and review of
proposals submitted to NSF.
This notice can be found on the NSF web site at
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2002/od127/imptnot.pdf. All notices can be found on
the NSF web site through the online document system
http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/index.html