Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2020-21

NSF Notification: NSF 20-1
New Guidelines: NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide

As you may know, beginning June 1, NSF will implement the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 20-1) for proposals submitted or due on or after this date. As you may also be aware, NSF has delayed the requirement to use NSF-approved formats for the biographical sketch and current and pending support sections of NSF proposals until October 5, 2020. Proposers must continue to format these documents in accordance with PAPPG requirements (see PAPPG sections II.C.2.f and II.C.2.h). NSF encourages the community to use these formats and continue to provide valuable feedback as we enhance them for future implementation.
NSF has made updates reflecting this implementation to the following policy guidance, websites and frequently asked questions:

• Biographical Sketch section of the PAPPG, Chapter II.C.2.f;
• Current and Pending Support section of the PAPPG, Chapter II.C.2.h;
• NSF-Approved Formats for the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support;
• Frequently Asked Questions related to Current and Pending Support;
• Frequently Asked Questions on Using SciENcv; and
• Frequently Asked Questions on Using NSF Fillable PDF format.

In addition, webinars covering the use of NSF-approved formats as well as all of the significant changes to the PAPPG are available on the NSF Policy Outreach website.
You are encouraged to review the by-chapter summary of changes provided in the Introduction section of the PAPPG. For system-related questions, please contact FastLane User Support at 1-800-673-6188 or fastlane@nsf.gov. Policy-related questions regarding the content of the formats should be directed to policy@nsf.gov.

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NJIT Pandemic Recovery Plan

Research Continuity and Phased Recovery Plan
Guidelines and Protocols: Phase-1 Minimal Research Operations

NJIT faculty, staff, and students at research facilities must follow the specific social distancing and safety protocols including the use of personnel protective equipment (PPE) as required by the institutional, state and federal guidelines in the respective phase of the research continuity plan. State and national information regarding current conditions can be found at:

• New Jersey’s COVID-19 information hub: https://covid19.nj.gov/index.html
• White House Plan for Opening up America Again: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Guidelines-for-Opening-Up-America-Again.pdf
• CDC guidelines on “Symptoms of Coronavirus”: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
• CDC guidelines on “Use of Cloth Face Coverings to Help Slow the Spread of COVID-19”: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html

We are currently in Phase-0 of the research continuity plan. In preparation to implement the Phase-1 Research Recovery Plan for minimal research operations, the following Phase-1 protocols and guidelines should be adapted. Faculty requesting Phase-1 minimal research operations as defined below should submit the PRO-1 approval form (posted on the research website https://research.njit.edu/njit-pandemic-recovery-plan) through the department chair and college dean to the office of research at dhawan@njit.edu by June 5, 2020.  

Recovery Phase-1 Protocol: Minimal research operations approved through chairs, deans and senior vice provost for research to pursue time-sensitive priority research such as projects related to COVID-19 response; approved Essential Research Operation (ERO) plans in Phase-0; long-term research experiments with cell-lines, animals, and human subjects that were already underway before Phase-0; grants and contracts expiring within six months; submission of proposals in response to special solicitations (Requests for Proposals); and projects involving students with graduation requirements.

• Requests for projects considered time-sensitive should be directed to departmental chairs.  The dean and senior vice provost for research will provide guidance as needed.
• All research operations at NJIT facilities in this phase must follow the highest possible level of social distancing implemented.
• Research that can be conducted remotely should be continued to the extent possible.

The guidelines on implementation of Phase-1 research recovery plan are posted on the website https://research.njit.edu/njit-pandemic-recovery-plan.

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Guidance on Financial Management of Grants and Contracts

Agency Information Links

https://research.njit.edu/njit-pandemic-recovery-plan

Funding agencies such as NSF and NIH are following the OMB guidance with respect to grant management during this disruption to university business and research.  The financial management of the research grants and contracts with links to funding agencies is posted on the research website https://research.njit.edu/njit-pandemic-recovery-plan.  Principal investigators should check with the websites of their specific funding agencies for more information.  A multiple Funding Agencies Research Impact Guidance Matrix by the Council of Government Relationships is posted on the website  COGR's Federal Agency Guidance Matrix (XLS) (Updated).

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Office of Research Administration Operations

All Office of Research processes continue during this period of remote operation.   Our hours of usual operation remain 8:30-4:30 Monday through Friday.   All staff are available by email and most have their office phone numbers forwarded to them through Cisco Jabber.   You should receive a reply to an inquiry within 24 hours.  You may always reach out to your college’s research administration support person for assistance.

Principal investigators who have subaward activity with other institutions or contracts with industry partners are asked to discuss the current situation with their counterparts to determine if the COVID-19 disruption will require a modification to the existing agreements.  If it is determined that a modification is required, please contact Justin Samolewicz at Justin.m.samolewicz@njit.edu to discuss next steps.

Budget transfers or other actions needed to comply with this guidance should follow the standard procedures.  Questions or concerns regarding post-award financial activity on grants may be directed to your grant accountant or Mariel Diaz at mmariel.diaz@njit.edu. 

Questions related to OMB guidance, research compliance or general concerns about the administration and financial management of grants and contracts may be directed to Eric Hetherington, Executive Director, Sponsored Research Programs Administration at erich@njit.edu

 

NSF: NSF-DFG Lead Agency Activity in Electrosynthesis and Electrocatalysis; Division of Chemistry: Disciplinary Research Programs (CHE-DRP); Plant Biotic Interactions; Centers for Chemical Innovation (CCI); Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers Program (IUCRC); Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES)

NIH: NIH Director’s Emergency Transformative Research Awards (R01); NIH Director’s Emergency Early Independence Awards (DP5); NIH Director’s New Innovator Award Program (DP2); NIH Director’s Pioneer Award Program (DP1); Research Program Award (R35); NIH Small Research Grant Program (R03); NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (R21); NIH Research Project Grant (R01)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Program: Vision Research Program; Peer Reviewed Alzheimer's Research Program (PRARP); FY20 Epilepsy Research Program (ERP); DoD Hearing Restoration Focused Research Award; DoN Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM)

Department of Transportation: UTC PROGRAM TIER 1 COMPETITION 2020

Department of Agriculture: Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants; Biotechnology Risk Assessment Grants Program; REAP-Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements

Department of Labor: Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grant Program

EPA: Assessment Tools for Biotechnology Products

Department of Energy: Advanced Manufacturing Office Multi-Topic FOA; Next-Generation Technologies and Field Validation; Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002252; Artificial Intelligence and Decision Support for Complex Systems

NASA: ROSES 2020: Astrophysics Pioneers; The New (Early Career) Investigator Program in Earth Science; ROSES 2020: Space Weather Science Application Operations-to-Research; Heliophysics Supporting Research; HELIOPHYSICS - Early Career Investigator Program

National Endowment of Humanities: Research and Development; Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities; Fellowships

Private Foundations: Brain Health Foundation: 2021 Scientific Innovations Award

American Heart Foundation Notification

(National and Federal News Related to Research Funding and Grant Opportunities)

Bill to Establish a New Directorate for Technology at NSF

The Association of American Universities and the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities issued statements of support for the $100 billion measure to create a new advanced-technology directorate within the National Science Foundation. Praise came as well from MIT President Rafael Reif, who tells Science's Jeff Mervis: “The legislation would provide the visible, focused, and sustained funding and approach that the U.S. urgently needs to meet the challenge posed by China’s increasing capabilities.”

The lone critic to emerge in press accounts so far is engineer Arden Bement, NSF director from 2004 to 2010, who says it would "be a mistake for a technology directorate at NSF to serve as an offset to private funding for commercial innovation and entrepreneurship.” Applied technology R&D should be funded by mission agencies, he says. But his view is not shared by France Córdova, who led the agency until March 31. “I look at it as just the opposite,” she tells the American Institute of Physics's FYI bulletin. There's now “more seamless integration of the very basic fundamental research and what people have called the use-inspired and more applied research.”. More information is posted on https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senatebill/3832.

NIH Request For Information (RFI): DIGITAL HEALTH SOLUTIONS for COVID-19

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) require services to develop digital health solutions to address the COVID-19 pandemic and enable new research into using digital health technologies to advance the public health response. The digital health solutions will facilitate approaches that leverage 6 multiple data sources, privacy-preserving technologies, and computational tools for managing population health and individuals’ lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such management could include, for example, assessing the readiness of individuals to return to work, calculating the risk of possible SARSCoV-2 infection, identifying and tracing contacts of COVID-19 cases, monitoring the health status of infected individuals, or linking individuals to clinical trials of therapies or preventative interventions for COVID-19. Particular focus includes digital health solutions for traditionally underrepresented populations as well as those with diminished access to healthcare resources.

Please see the website for request for information, Novel digital health solutions have the potential to improve care, understanding of health outcomes, and risk factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

U.S-GERMAN Partnerships in Advanced Manufacturing

As a result of a research cooperation agreement between the National Science Foundation and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), U.S. and German researchers can submit joint proposals in the areas described on the web pages for NSF's Advanced Manufacturing Program and DFG's review board 401 Production Technology. Collaborative proposals will each undergo a single review process "while allowing funding organizations to maintain budgetary control over their awards." See the Dear Colleague letter.

$4.745 B to NIH, $125 Million to NSF for COVID-19 Related Research

The Democrats' Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act passed 208-199. A House fact sheet on the HEROES Act says it would give the National Institutes of Health $4.745 billion "to expand COVID-19-related research on the NIH campus and at academic institutions across the country and to support the shutdown and startup costs of biomedical research laboratories nationwide." The bill directs $3 billion to offset "costs related to reductions in lab productivity resulting from the coronavirus pandemic or public health measures related to the coronavirus pandemic," and $1 billion "to support additional scientific research or the programs and platforms that support research:" The National Science Foundation's sum would be "to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including to fund research grants, of which $1,000,000 shall be for a study on the spread of COVID–19 related disinformation:" Lewis-Burke's overall assessment: "While the bill addresses some of the issues raised by the higher education and research community, it still falls short of relief requests submitted to congressional leadership."

How can I update my eRA Commons ID for all future NIH proposals?