03 October 2023

Mandatory changes for NSF grant proposal submissions

Changes to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) were released earlier this year and affect all proposal submissions on or after January 30, 2023. The NSF has provided a summary of these updates and an FAQ document to explain their impacts on the submission process and the responsibilities of the proposers. Of particular note are the following: 

 

  • Mandatory use of SciENcv to prepare biosketches and current/pending support 
  • The NSF has mandated use of the SciENcv online tool for the preparation of biographical sketches and current and pending (other) support for proposals submitted or due on or after October 23, 2023. This requirement is absolute, and the NSF will not permit proposal submissions that do not adhere to the new expectations. Please note: 
  • Any My NCBI account holder can create one or more delegates for their My NCBI account. Once a delegate has accepted their invitation, the delegate(s) can view, edit, and create profiles in the original account holder’s SciENcv. 
  • SciENcv will produce NSF-compliant PDF versions of documents that proposers will save and submit as part of their proposals in Research.gov. Attempts to upload documents that are not in an NSF-approved format will trigger a Research.gov compliance error message. 
  • It is imperative that the file names of the SciENcv-generated documents remain unchanged. Any alteration of the file names without following the instructions precisely will risk rejection by the Research.gov system. 
  • Non-compliant documents submitted through Grants.gov will error out when they reach Research.gov and there may be no recourse to correct and resubmit the application, so you are strongly encouraged to use Research.gov for all your NSF proposal submissions. 

 

  • Mandatory Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR)  
  • Effective July 31, 2023, all faculty, staff, and trainees involved in any new NSF-funded research grant must complete RECR training. Individuals requiring training will be contacted by the Duke ASIST Office (contact asist@duke.edu with questions) and RECR training will satisfy Duke’s Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training requirement. Funding proposals must describe how the institution meets these requirements in the facilities, equipment and other resources section. Further details and sample language for applications are available on myRESEARCHpath. 

 

  • Plans for a Safe and Inclusive Work Environment 
  • A project-specific plan for creating and maintaining a Safe and Inclusive Work Environment is required for proposals with research conducted off-campus or off-site. A plan template is available for investigators to complete when preparing proposals. More information concerning plan requirements can be found on myRESEARCHpath. 

 

Please communicate these new requirements to your investigators as they begin preparing proposals for the NSF. Links to guidance on meeting these requirements have been compiled on myRESEARCHpath. Grants administrators can always reach out to ORS/ORA with questions. 

From Office of Research Administration and Office of Research Support