To
support research improving the fundamental understanding of computer
and information processing, to enhance the training and education
of scientists and engineers who contribute to and exploit that understanding,
to enhance the personnel pool for these fields, to provide access
to very advanced computing and networking capabilities, and to provide
the information intensive knowledge underlying selected national
initiatives.
TYPES
OF ASSISTANCE:
Project Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES
AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
Funds may be used to pay
costs of conducting research, and obtaining access to advanced computing
and networking capabilities, salaries and wages, equipment and supplies,
travel, publication costs, other direct costs, and indirect costs.
This program does not provide support for fellowships, scholarships,
product development or marketing, or proof-of-concept experimentation.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant Eligibility:
Public and private colleges and universities; nonprofit institutions;
profit-making organizations, including small businesses; and State,
and local government agencies are eligible. The greatest percentage
of support goes to academic institutions.
Beneficiary Eligibility:
Public and private colleges and universities; nonprofit institutions;
profit-making organizations, including small businesses, and State,
and local governments.
Credentials/Documentation:
The proposal must be signed electronically by an official authorized
to commit the institution or organization in business and financial
affairs and who can commit the organization to certain proposal
certifications. Costs will be determined in accordance with OMB
Circular Nos. A-21 for educational institutions and A-122 for
nonprofit organizations. This program is excluded from coverage
under OMB Circular No. A-87.
Pre-application
Coordination: None required, except in specific
cases, but preliminary discussions with relevant National Science
Foundation program officers, by telephone or mail, are encouraged.
This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application Procedure:
Proposals must be submitted electronically via FastLane to the
Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate and
should follow the general instructions and guidelines in The "Grant
Proposal Guide," NSF 03-2. All proposals are acknowledged. This
program is subject to the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-110
for nonprofit organizations. This program is excluded from coverage
under OMB Circular No. A-102.
Award Procedure:
NSF Staff members review and evaluate all proposals, with the
advice and assistance of scientists and engineers who are specialists
in the field covered by the proposal, of prospective users of
research results when appropriate, and of specialists in other
Federal agencies.
Deadlines:
Deadlines and target dates are published in the NSF bulletin,
program announcements and on NSF World Wide Web site URL: http://www.cise.nsf.gov/.
Range of Approval/Disapproval
Time: Approximately 6 months or less, except
in special instances.
Appeals:
The Principal Investigator may request, in writing, that the National
Science Foundation reconsider its action in declining any proposal
application, renewal application, or continuing application.
Renewals:
Standard Grants, in which the National Science Foundation agrees
to support a specified level of effort for a specified period
of time, are awarded with no statement of NSF intent to provide
additional future support. Proposals for renewal of a Standard
Grant compete with all other pending proposals.
ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula and Matching
Requirements: The Grant Proposal Guide (GPG)
(Chapter II) and the Grant Policy Manual (Sec. 330) provide information
on the general NSF policy on cost-sharing.
Length and Time Phasing
of Assistance: Normally 6 months to 3 years;
occasionally longer.
POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports:
For all multi-year grants (including both standard and continuing
grants), the PI must submit an annual project report to the cognizant
program office at least 90 days before the end of the current budget
period. Within 90 days after the expiration of a grant, the PI is
required to submit a final project report. Quarterly Federal Cash
Transaction Reports are required. Other reporting requirements may
be imposed via the grant instrument.
Audits:
In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A- 133 (Revised,
June 24, 1997), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit
Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance
of $300,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a
program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities
that expend less than $300,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt
from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted
in Circular No. A-133.
Records:
Grantees are expected to maintain separate records for each grant
to ensure that funds are used for the general purpose for which
each grant was made. Records are subject to inspection during
the life of the grant and for 3 years thereafter.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
Account Identification:
49-0100-0-1-251.
Obligations:
(Grants) FY 01 $478,150,000; FY 02 est $514,880,000; and FY 03
est $526,940,000.
Range
and Average of Financial Assistance: $1,000 to $30,000,000; Average: $147,000.
In fiscal year 2001, 4963
proposals were received and 2,009 awards made. In fiscal year 2002,
approximately 5,100 proposals will be received and about 2,100 awards
will be made. In fiscal year 2003, approximately 5,300 proposals
will be received and about 2,150 awards will be made.
REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND
LITERATURE:
48 CFR Chapter 25: 45
CFR Chapter VI; "NSF Guide to Programs, Fiscal Year 2003," NSF 03-009
(http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf03009); and "Grant Proposal
Guide," NSF 03-2 (http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf032).
INFORMATION CONTACTS:
Regional or Local
Office: Not applicable.
Headquarters Office:
Assistant Director, Computer and Information Science and Engineering,
National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA
22230. Telephone: (703) 292-8900. NSF World Wide Web site URL:
http://www.cise.nsf.gov/.
Web Site Address: http://www.cise.nsf.gov
EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS:
Shang-Hua Teng of the
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign and Dan Spielman of MIT,
have formulated a new and very useful method, called smoothed analysis,
to study the performance of algorithms. They have applied their
method to gain a deeper understanding of the Simplex Method, a widely
used algorithm that has defied complete understanding for over 50
years. The Simplex Method is widely used for scheduling manufacturing,
airline flights and flight crews. Fred Jelinek of Johns Hopkins
University has sponsored a series of summer schools on computational
language engineering, including automated speech recognition and
synthesis, natural language processing, machine translation of languages,
and information extraction and summarization. Research in this field
enables applications that help us deal with non-English languages
such as machine recognition of spoken language from conversations,
radio or other sources, automatic translation between languages,
and clustering to find frequent concepts. The need for advances
in such technology was highlighted by the events of September 11
and the concomitant recognition that the U.S. has insufficient expertise
dealing with languages such as Pashto, Urdu, and Arabic. Michael
Rabin at Harvard, has created the world's first demonstrably secure
cryptosystem. Previous cryptosystems relied on both computational
limitations of the adversary and assumptions in computational complexity
theory. This system is secure against any adversary regardless of
the adversary's computing power. Ron Elber and colleagues at Cornell
are developing new algorithms for simulation to allow significantly
faster computation and simulation of protein structures, allowing
more rapid advances in our understanding of protein behavior.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:
The National Science Board
approved revised criteria for evaluating proposals at its meeting
on March 28, 1997 (NSB 97-72). All NSF proposals are evaluated through
use of the two merit review criteria. In some instances, however,
NSF will employ additional criteria as required to highlight the
specific objectives of certain programs and activities. On July
8, 2002, the NSF Director issued Important Notice 127, Implementation
of new Grant Proposal Guide Requirements Related to the Broader
Impacts Criterion. This Important Notice reinforces the importance
of addressing both criteria in the preparation and review of all
proposals submitted to NSF. NSF continues to strengthen its internal
processes to ensure that both of the merit review criteria are addressed
when making funding decisions. 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. Chapter II of the
GPG specifies that Principal Investigators (PIs) must address both
merit review criteria in separate statements within the one-page
Project Summary. This chapter 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.
Effective October 1, 2002, NSF will return without review proposals
that do not separately address both merit review criteria within
the Project Summary. It is believed that these changes to NSF proposal
preparation and processing guidelines will more clearly articulate
the importance of broader impacts to NSF-funded projects. The two
National Science Board approved merit review criteria are listed
below (see the Grant Proposal Guide Chapter III.A for further information).
The criteria include considerations that help define them. These
considerations are suggestions and not all will apply to any given
proposal. While proposers must address both merit review criteria,
reviewers will be asked to address only those considerations that
are relevant to the proposal being considered and for which he/she
is qualified to make judgements. What is the intellectual merit
of the proposed activity? How important is the proposed activity
to advancing knowledge and understanding within its own field or
across different fields? How well qualified is the proposer (individual
or team) to conduct the project? (If appropriate, the reviewer will
comment on the quality of the prior work.) To what extent does the
proposed activity suggest and explore creative and original concepts?
How well conceived and organized is the proposed activity? Is there
sufficient access to resources? What are the broader impacts of
the proposed activity? How well does the activity advance discovery
and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning?
How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of
underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic,
etc.)? To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure for research
and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks, and
partnerships? Will the results be disseminated broadly to enhance
scientific and technological understanding? What may be the benefits
of the proposed activity to society?NSF staff will give careful
consideration to the following in making funding decisions: Integration
of Research and Education. One of the principal strategies in support
of NSF's goals is to foster integration of research and education
through the programs, projects, and activities it supports at academic
and research institutions. These institutions provide abundant opportunities
where individuals may concurrently assume responsibilities as researchers,
educators, and students and where all can engage in joint efforts
that infuse education with the excitement of discovery and enrich
research through the diversity of learning perspectives. Integrating
Diversity into NSF Programs, Projects, and Activities. Broadening
opportunities and enabling the participation of all citizens --
women and men, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities
-- is essential to the health and vitality of science and engineering.
NSF is committed to this principle of diversity and deems it central
to the programs, projects, and activities it considers and supports.
