Upcoming Virtual Office Hours: CAREER Solicitation

Join us Monday, May 13th, 1 – 2pm ET for DEB’s next Virtual Office Hour: CAREER Solicitation. DEB Program Officers will be discussing the CAREER Solicitation (NSF 22-586). Upcoming DEB Virtual Office Hours are announced ahead of time on DEBrief, so we suggest you also sign up for blog notifications.   

REGISTER HERE TO PARTICIPATE

If you can’t make it to this or any future office hours, don’t worry! Come back to the blog afterwards, as we post recaps and the presentation slides of all office hour sessions. Alternatively, visit our Office Hours homepage for slideshows and recaps of past topics.    

Virtual Office Hours are on the second Monday of every month from 1 – 2pm ET. 

Upcoming Office Hours and Topics:                    

May 13: CAREER Solicitation 

June 10: Merit Review and How to Get Involved with NSF 

Asking For A Friend…

photo credit: Bernard Hermant vis unsplash

Did you know you could reach out to us whenever you want? You can contact a Program Officer (PO) directly or reach out via debquestions@nsf.gov.  We love being a liaison, translator, customer service representative, coach, advisor, and interpreter for all things NSF.  Below are some examples of common questions we receive (and one from last month). Maybe they will be helpful or inspire you to reach out with a question of your own. Hope to hear from you soon!

We have a couple questions regarding how the Core programs solicitation works when partnering with an RUI when submitting as a collaborative proposal. Can this be done if the lead institution is an RUI but the other institutions are not? If we can submit this way, would we follow the RUI guidance and select the 14-579 solicitation or we would submit directly to DEB Core (and just list RUI: in the title)?

Yes, an RUI can be collaborative, but a predominantly undergraduate institution (PUI) must have overall management responsibility and most of the researchers must be at PUIs. Yeah, it’s confusing because RUIs have their own solicitation (NSF 14-579) but when you read our Core, it says RUIs are accepted. In short, yes, you can submit to the DEB core, add ‘RUI’ in the title, and follow the guidance listed in the RUI solicitation in addition to the requirements in the Core. This is the section from the current DEB Core solicitation (NSF 24-543) that explains that: “Research Coordination Networks (RCN), and Research at Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) proposals may be submitted at any time, to any of the clusters/programs described in this solicitation but must follow the proposal preparation guidance in those solicitations.”

With regards to the Safe and Inclusive Fieldwork (SAIF) plan, we are proposing a collaborative research project in which postdocs from one collaborator’s lab will work in another collaborator’s lab. It’s not really off-site in the traditional sense – is a SAIF plan still required?

 The proposing organization is responsible for making the determination regarding whether the proposed work is considered off-campus or off-site. We do have a FAQ published that may be helpful and we also hosted an Office Hours explaining the SAIF plan. Check out the FAQs, recording, and slides located here.

I was wondering if there was a limit to the amount I could request for the budget?

There is no limit to the budget of a standard proposal submitted to the DEB Core, although there are certain proposal tracks (CAREER, STAR Grants) which do have budgetary limits. Please see NSF 24-543 for more information on these tracks. You can also check out the award sizes on past awards.

I was always told not worry about whether a submitted proposal will be co-reviewed. However, is it a good idea to talk with a PO about the proposal and potential for co-review so that the aims of the multiple solicitations can be met? Or is it more appropriate to create aims for the main solicitation and then see what happens after submission?

If you are submitting to the core program and think there’s potential for co-review, it is a good idea to reach out to a PO to discuss your ideas and what a co-review would look like. As the PI, you can suggest reviewers as you submit the proposal in research.gov and you can indicate programs of interest on the cover sheet of your proposal, which will alert POs to the possibility of co-review.

In the past, Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) students could apply for conference funding to present their results. Are there opportunities like this currently?

Funding for REU students occurs through two mechanisms – REU supplements for individual awards and REU site awards. Support for conference funding for REU students is variable. Check the REU sites website for up-to-date information on current opportunities.

4/8/24 Virtual Office Hours Recap – Opportunities for Broadening the STEM Community

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) held its latest Virtual Office Hour on April 8^th. DEB Program Officers discussed different programs as well as other insights on broadening the research community.  See below for the slides.  

We host these office hours from 1-2pm ET on the 2nd Monday of every month. There is a designated theme each time, but attendees are welcome to ask about other NSF-related topics. We host Program Officers from different programs at each Virtual Office Hour, so a wide range of scientific perspectives are represented.

The presentation and other documents are available here:

Slides (PDF)

PAPPG 23-1 – Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide

PAPPG 24-1 – Effective for proposals submitted or due on or after May 20, 2024

Broadening Participation Funding Page

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If you were unable to attend, here are some of the questions asked during the Q & A section:

Can you talk about how PIs in non-EPSCoR states can partner with those in them?

You can submit a proposal that is collaborative, where both institutions have their own budgets or have a proposal led by an EPSCoR PI. Funds must be spent by institution that is in EPSCoR jurisdiction if applying for EPSCoR funding.

Do you have any advice on Mid-Career Advancement proposals regarding the length of time the PI should spend with their mentor? Mid-career folks often can’t relocate for longer lengths of time.

PIs can propose spending a varied amount of time with mentors. Mentors are asked to support the PIs plan with a letter of support, so there is flexibility here.

Can you elaborate a little on the INTERN supplement? Is it for industry experience for students?

INTERN supplements are very popular with students, and they must be submitted by a currently funded PI. We see a lot of supplements with different places to do this internship. In DEB, NGOs are very common as are students being placed in National labs (DOE, NASA). The Smithsonian Museums are another place we see interns placed so that they gain museum experience. There are also a few DCLs where there are partnerships to support a bunch of INTERN supplements at one time such as the Air Force DCL, which is open now.

Does engaging with citizen science count towards broadening STEM participation?

Citizen science definitely could count as broadening STEM participation, but most successful proposals have an assessment or evaluation component.

Please reach out to a Program Officer if you have any questions about the proposal submission and review process in DEB programs. NSF has suggested 5 tips on working with Program Officers as part of the NSF 101 series on our Science Matters blog.

Check out the upcoming office hour topics below and be sure to check back here or on the NSF Events Page for information on how to register. Our next Virtual Office Hour, on May 13^th from 1pm-2pm Eastern Time, will focus on the CAREER Solicitation (NSF 22-586).

___________________________

Upcoming Office Hours and Topics:                   

April 8: Opportunities for broadening the STEM community

May 13: CAREER Solicitation

June 10: Merit Review and How to Get Involved with NSF

Confronting Hazards, Impacts and Risks for a Resilient Planet (CHIRRP)

The Confronting Hazards, Impacts and Risks for a Resilient Planet Program (CHIRRP) invites projects focusing on innovative and transformative research that advances Earth system hazard knowledge and risk mitigation in partnership with affected communities. Hazards compounded by changing climates, rising populations, expanding demands for resources, aging infrastructure, and increasing reliance on technology are putting our economy, well-being, and national security at risk. Researchers, academics, and community leaders will work together to develop community-driven research questions and actionable, science-based solutions that increase community resilience now and in the future.

CHIRRP currently supports planning, conference, RCNs, EAGER, and RAISE proposals that support development of community partnerships, provide training for effective community engagement, catalyze ideas, and/or support the initial conceptualization, planning and collaboration activities aimed at formulating new and sound plans for future large-scale projects.

Target Date: June 6, 2024.

AccelNet 2024 Webinar and Virtual Office Hours

Accelerating Research through International Network-to-Network Collaborations (AccelNet) is a program in NSF’s Office of International Science and Engineering that funds international networking and research coordination activity to advance progress on grand research challenges in any scientific disciplines funded by existing NSF programs. The program is particularly interested in receiving proposals from social sciences and education.

Visit the AccelNet Program page for more information (including Directorate Coordinating Committee Program Directors), including links to an upcoming webinar on April 29, 2024 and virtual office hours in May 2024. Please don’t hesitate to contact the OISE Program Directors for AccelNet (accelnet@nsf.gov).

Full proposals are due the third Monday of September annually, with the next deadline being September 16, 2024.

Asking For A Friend…

photo credit: Bernard Hermant vis unsplash

Did you know you could reach out to us whenever you want? You can contact a Program Officer directly or reach out via debquestions@nsf.gov.  We love being a liaison, translator, customer service representative, coach, advisor, and interpreter for all things NSF.  Below are some examples of common questions we receive. Maybe they will be helpful or inspire you to reach out with a question of your own. Hope to hear from you soon!

I’m working on submitting a grant to the Core Programs solicitation but I don’t know what to put for the grant duration. How do I know how many years this is going to take?

As stated in the Proposal and Awards Policies and Procedures Guidance (PAPPG), (“Requested Start Date and Proposal Duration” on page 43) “the proposed duration for which support is requested should be consistent with the nature and complexity of the proposed activity. The Foundation encourages proposers to request funding for durations of three to five years when such durations are necessary for completion of the proposed work and are technically and managerially advantageous.”

When submitting a collaborative proposal to the Core, does each institution attach their own Safe and Inclusive Work Environment Plans as a supplementary document? 

Only one SAIF Plan that covers all off-campus or off-site research must be submitted. If the proposal is a collaborative, then the lead Principal Investigator (PI) must be sure to upload the SAIF Plan as a Supplementary Document as part of the submission and check the relevant box on the lead organization’s proposal Cover Sheet.

We do have a FAQ published that may be helpful and we also hosted an Office Hours explaining the SAIF plan. Check out the FAQs, recording, and slides located here.

I am currently preparing my first NSF grant submission and wondered: can we include suggested reviewers that are at overseas institutions, or do they all have to be domestic institutions?

You are welcome to provide suggested reviewers from anywhere in the world! However, researchers from other countries may be less inclined to review for NSF so suggestions from domestic institutions are most helpful.

I’ve been out of the research game for a minute, but do you guys still require that consolidated personnel list? It was this Excel form we had to fill out and submit when applying to the Core.

Nope. Don’t worry about it anymore.

I am working with a faculty member on a collaborative proposal to the DEB Core solicitation. They are not applying to any of the special categories (STAR, NERC, IntBIO, etc..) but it IS a collaborative proposal. I wanted to confirm the naming convention for the project title, should it be Collaborative Research: DEB:_____(Title)?

The naming convention would be “Collaborative Research: (Title)”. You don’t need “DEB:” in there.

Dear Colleague Letter: Nordic-U.S. Research Collaboration on Sustainable Development of the Arctic

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and NordForsk, the science funding body of the Nordic Council of Ministers, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Research Cooperation. The MOU provides an overarching framework to encourage collaboration among U.S., Nordic, and Canadian research communities and sets out the principles by which jointly supported activities might be developed.

Applicants are encouraged to consider three keywords when developing research ideas into proposals: Security, Natural Resources and/or Societal Changes. Climate change has driven rapid transformations in the Arctic, including significant temperature rise and declining sea ice, which have profound ecological, societal, and geopolitical impacts. International research collaboration, especially that which includes local Indigenous perspectives, can open opportunities for the combination of expertise and experience from diverse research communities that have not collaborated on Arctic research before.

You can read the full DCL and review the guidelines for submission here.

Upcoming Virtual Office Hours: Opportunities for broadening the STEM community

Join us Monday, April 8th, 1 – 2pm ET for DEB’s next Virtual Office Hour: Opportunities for broadening the STEM community. DEB Program Officers will be discussing different programs as well as other insights on broadening the research community.  Upcoming DEB Virtual Office Hours are announced ahead of time on DEBrief, so we suggest you also sign up for blog notifications.   

REGISTER HERE TO PARTICIPATE 

If you can’t make it to this or any future office hours, don’t worry! Come back to the blog afterwards, as we post recaps and the presentation slides of all office hour sessions. Alternatively, visit our Office Hours homepage for slideshows and recaps of past topics.    

Virtual Office Hours are on the second Monday of every month from 1 – 2pm ET. 

Upcoming Office Hours and Topics:                    

April 8: Opportunities for broadening the STEM community 

May 13: CAREER Solicitation 

June 10: Merit Review and How to Get Involved with NSF 

New DCL: Innovative Use of Scientific Collections (IUSC)

Scientific collections are a fundamental resource underpinning scientific understanding and discovery. NSF has made significant investments in collections and collections-associated data over the last decade, and increasing and diversifying the use of collections and collections-associated data would maximize the research, training, and education return on these investments. Through this new DCL (NSF 24-069), NSF is encouraging proposals that foster Innovative Use of Scientific Collections and/or associated digital data for novel research, education, and training applications within and across STEM disciplines. 

An immense untapped potential exists for use of collections and collections-associated data in fields such as the social and behavioral sciences, epidemiology, cell and molecular biology, microbial ecology, engineering and materials science, conservation biology, Earth science, critical minerals, ocean science, polar science, and computer science, as well as in training, education, and broadening participation in STEM. Increasing and diversifying the use of collections and collections-associated data has the potential to improve understanding of their value in research, training, and education; contribute to fundamental research in fields and subfields that currently underutilize them; and broaden participation by increasing opportunities for developing or strengthening partnerships. 

3/11/24 Virtual Office Hours Recap – The Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC)

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) held its latest Virtual Office Hour on March 11^th. Representatives from the Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) discussed translating foundational research and emerging technologies into communities through civic-engaged research. See below for the slides.  

We host these office hours from 1-2pm EST on the 2nd Monday of every month. There is a designated theme each time, but attendees are welcome to ask about other NSF-related topics. We host Program Officers from different programs at each Virtual Office Hour, so a wide range of scientific perspectives are represented.

The presentation and other documents are available here:

Slides (PDF)

PAPPG 23-1 – Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide

PAPPG 24-1 – Effective for proposals submitted or due on or after May 20, 2024

_________________________

The CIVIC program has a helpful Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)page here.

If you were unable to attend, here are some of the questions asked during the Q & A section:

Do the partners need to submit biosketches? BioSketches are now created through SciENcv. Do the community partners (non-academic) need to create an ORCID (MyNCBI, eRA Commons) account and a SciENcv account to be a PI on CIVIC?

All principal investigators need to submit biosketches. Also, for stage 1, key principals (including partners) are encouraged to submit biosketches as it shows that the team has the requisite expertise. We encourage users to sign in to SciENcv with their credentials (NSF ID and password).

Are for-profit industry partners permitted in CIVIC proposals?

Yes, teams may choose to engage with industry partners. and those partners may participate as subawardees to an eligible lead organization.

Private sector partners can be valuable team members in a number of different roles, and their presence could help transition an idea from research to implementation by providing expertise, technology, or additional capacity. Whatever their role, it is important for teams with private sector partners to describe the roles of each partner and how they will manage the collaboration.

What does ‘community’ mean for CIVIC?  Does the target community have to be a specific geographic community (e.g., town, city) or can it be a distributed community (e.g., non-profit with multiple physical locations)?

A community may be a distinct geographic entity, or it could be a metaphorical community that is distributed in space.  However, if you define a community of the latter type, it must be as clear who you mean to include and how you define membership in that community. 

Does the program assume that the PI already has civic partners? What if you only have one partner? Can other partners be added between stage one and two?

Strong proposals will already have at least some partners – their involvement from the beginning should shape the purpose, goals, and methods of the project.  However, it is likely that as a project matures, other partners might be recruited.  Describing the team of partners as it exists now and how you envision it evolving through time is wise.

Will review panels for CIVIC include reviewers from multiple directorates? I’m wondering if we’re writing to a disciplinary or interdisciplinary panel.

Proposals will be assessed in NSF-led merit review panels, comprised of civic leaders and researchers, with expertise reflective of the interdisciplinary character of the proposals. Details regarding NSF’s merit review process are described in the solicitation in Section VI; additional details are available through the following link: https://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/merit_review/. Teams are encouraged to pay close attention to the additional solicitation specific review criteria provided in Section VI of the solicitation. The final selection of recipients will be made by the CIVIC working group–comprised of program officers from NSF and the partnering federal agencies, Department of Energy and Department of Homeland Security.

Please reach out to a Program Officer if you have any questions about the proposal submission and review process in DEB programs. NSF has suggested 5 tips on working with Program Officers as part of the NSF 101 series on our Science Matters blog.

Check out the upcoming office hour topics below and be sure to check back here or on the NSF Events Page for information on how to register. Our next Virtual Office Hour, on April 8^th from 1pm-2pm Eastern Time, will focus on opportunities for broadening the STEM community.

___________________________

Upcoming Office Hours and Topics:                   

April 8: Opportunities for broadening the STEM community

May 13: CAREER Solicitation

June 10: Merit Review and How to Get Involved with NSF