Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2021-35

National Science Foundation (NSF) Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG)

NSF 22-1 Effective Date October 4, 2021

https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappg22_1/index.jsp 

Significant Changes and Clarifications to the PAPPG

• Chapter II.A.2, Requests for Reasonable and Accessibility Accommodations, is an entirely new section which provides guidance on the process for submitting requests for reasonable accommodations regarding the proposal process or requests for accessibility accommodations to access NSF’s electronic systems, websites, and other digital content.
• Chapter II.C.2.f, Biographical Sketches, has been revised to increase the page limit for biographical sketch(es) to three pages. This section also has been updated to include reference to a new table entitled NSF Pre-award and Post-award Disclosures Relating to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support. The table has been developed to assist users in completion of these sections of the proposal.
• Chapters II.C.2.g(xiii)(e) and X.F, Prohibition on Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment, provides new coverage to implement Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019.
• Chapter II.C.2.h, Current and Pending Support, has been updated to require that information on objectives and overlap with other projects be provided, to help NSF and reviewers assess overlap/duplication. This section also has been updated to include reference to a new table entitled NSF Pre-award and Post-award Disclosures Relating to the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending Support. The table has been developed to assist users in completion of these sections of the proposal.
• Chapter II.E.1, Planning Proposal, provides coverage on the policies and procedures associated with this new type of proposal.
• Chapter II.E.8, Career-Life Balance (CLB) Supplemental Funding Requests, has been added as a new "Other Proposal Type". This section includes guidance on submission of such requests.
• Chapter II.E.11, Travel Proposal, , has been supplemented with new language which specifies Authorized Organizational Representatives must certify that prior to the proposer’s participation in the meeting for which NSF travel support is being requested, the proposer will assure that the meeting organizer has a written policy or code-of-conduct addressing harassment.
• Chapter VII.D.5, Grant Closeout, incorporates new requirements specified in 2 CFR §200.344(i). If a grantee does not submit all required reports within one year of the period of performance end date, NSF must report the grantee’s material failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the award with the OMB-designated integrity and performance system.

NSF Proposal and Award Policy Update Webinar

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is pleased to announce that it will offer an NSF Proposal and Award Policy Update Webinar to the research community on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 from 2:00 – 3:00pm EST. There is no cost to participate. 

The Webinar will provide an overview of significant changes and clarifications to the PAPPG that will take effect on October 4, 2021. The PAPPG Webinar details NSF's proposal preparation and submission guidelines and provides guidance on managing and monitoring the award and administration of grants and cooperative agreements made by the Foundation. 

Registration is Now Open! Please visit https://nsfpolicyoutreach.com/21-pappg/ to register for the Zoom Webinar. 

For questions prior to the webinar, please contact us at grants_conference@nsf.gov.

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New Jersey Health Foundation Announces Next Round of Innovative Research Grant Opportunities

Grant Cycle Opens September 15, 2021

https://www.njhealthfoundation.org/

New Jersey Health Foundation (NJHF) funds innovative research by faculty and students at New Jersey based organizations. NJHF currently has affiliation agreements with Kessler Foundation, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Rowan University, Rutgers University and Stevens Institute of Technology.  

NJHF along with Foundation for Health Advancement and Foundation Venture Capital Group, support the development of health-related research and start-up companies in New Jersey by providing research grants, innovation grants and impact investments to develop ideas from the research project stage to commercialization. 

NJHF's Grant Programs support exciting research projects in the very early stages of development as well as a segment of funding for community health and social service issue projects.  As a nonprofit organization, our mission is to advance innovations in health for the benefit of society.  The funding NJHF provides is critical to advance ideas that have great potential to have a positive impact on human health and patients everywhere.

We are pleased to announce a new round of funding for our next New Jersey Health Foundation Grants Program.  This year we have significantly increased the available funding to $2 million for grants.   As you may know, New Jersey Health Foundation has awarded more than $60 million through this program since its inception.

Faculty and personnel from your organization will be eligible to apply for a grant beginning September 15, 2021.   For this cycle, applications will be accepted from September 15, 2021 through November 10, 2021.  The anticipated start date for each grant is February 15, 2022.

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2021 URI Summer Research and Innovation Symposium

Student Presentation Session Video-Recordings 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JjILDQoO9tBTAfJuzuAifW9XnZn3FEo7?usp=sharing

Undergraduate research provides students a unique opportunity to learn necessary and important skills to research and innovate towards taking a leadership role in the society. As a student-centered research institution, NJIT is committed to providing opportunities for research participation beginning at the undergraduate level.

The 2021 NJIT Undergraduate Summer Research and Innovation Symposium integrated with the Innovation Day was held on July 29-30, 2021. One hundred and thirty-four (134) undergraduate students presented 108 projects with their summer research work before the in-person and virtual audience including URI External Advisory Board, faculty and students. About 200 faculty, students and staff members attended the symposium in-person over two days in Ballroom and Atrium at the Campus Center.

The video recordings of the keynote talk and student presentation sessions held at the 2021 URI Summer Research and Innovation Symposium on July 29-30, 20231 are posted at the Google Drive link https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JjILDQoO9tBTAfJuzuAifW9XnZn3FEo7?usp=sharing. The video recordings can  also be accessed though the URI program website  https://centers.njit.edu/uri/. The 2021 URI Summer Research and Innovation Symposium Book of Abstract is posted on the URI Programs website https://centers.njit.edu/uri/programs/index.php

NSF: EHR Core Research - Resource Coordination Hub (ECR Hub); Facility and Instrumentation Request Process (FIRP); Partnerships for Research and Education in Physics (PREP); Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID); Reproducible Cells and Organoids via Directed-Differentiation Encoding (RECODE); NSF-Simons Collaboration on a National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB); Competition for the Management of Operations and Maintenance of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)

NIH: Translational and Basic Science Research in Early Lesions: Coordinating and Data Management Center (U24); NCI Mentored Research Scientist Development Award to Promote Diversity (K01); Cancer Research Education Grants Program - Research Experiences (R25)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: FY22 Young Investigator Program; Reimagining Protein Manufacturing (RPM); FY2022 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF) Program; Science, Innovation and Technology Partnership Intermediary Agreement; Defense Sciences Office Office-wide; Research Interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Department of Transportation: DDETFP Transportation Fellowship Program; High Priority Program – Innovative Technology Deployment (HP-ITD)

Department of Agriculture: Farm of the Future

Department of Labor: Workforce System Technical Assistance Collaborative

Department of Commerce/EDA:  FY 2021 STEM Talent Challenge Program; American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Statewide Planning, Research, and Networks; Climate Program Office FY2022; FY2021 to FY2023 NOAA Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

EPA: Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet; FY22 Brownfields Job Training Grants; Water Innovation, Science, Engagement to Advance Water Reuse

Department of Energy: FY 2022 SBIR/STTR Phase I; FY2022 Research Opportunities in High Energy Physics; Advanced Manufacturing Office Multi-Topic FOA

NASA: ROSES 2021: Terrestrial Ecology; ROSES 2021: Heliophysics Living with a Star Infrastructure; ROSES 2021: Living With a Star Strategic Capability

National Endowment of Humanities: Summer Stipends; Humanities Connections

Private Foundations: NSF-BSF Funding Opportunities: BSF and NSF-BSF Funding Opportunities; Johnson & Johnson Innovation: Packaging Design QuickFire Challenge: Unit Dose Technologies

House Reconciliation Package Includes $3 Billion for Federal IT: The House Committee on Oversight and Reform adopted an amendment offered by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., that earmarks more than $3 billion in spending on federal IT modernization efforts. The committee voted to approve the amendment after a markup of the reconciliation package current under draft in the House. The amendment supplements IT modernization funding in three ways. First, it adds $1 billion in funding to the Technology Modernization Fund—the same amount it received under President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Those numbers represent approximately ten times more than Congress had ever previously allotted for TMF. But speaking during the markup Thursday, Connolly said more than 100 agencies have submitted applications for IT modernization projects to TMF, and “new applications continue to flood in.” More information is posted on the NextGov website.

Lawmaker to Propose Bill to Incentivize Industry Cybersecurity Cooperation Within Days: Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., plans to soon introduce legislation based on the idea that private companies will implement appropriate cybersecurity measures in exchange for a safe harbor from liability if attackers breach their systems. “I look forward to continuing to prioritize major cybersecurity reforms through this committee on a bipartisan basis, including my [Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure] bill, which is coming up in the next few days,” Katko, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said during a hearing Wednesday.  The goal of the hearing was to receive feedback from industry stakeholders on a different proposal—the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2021—a draft of which the committee released in advance of the hearing. The effort to pass cyber incident reporting legislation relates to the voluntary disclosure of an intrusion at IT management company SolarWinds by cybersecurity firm FireEye, which was among about 100 private companies and nine federal agencies affected by the supply-chain attack. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

What to Expect as Congress Returns from Recess: When Congress reconvenes, they will have a lot of work to do. Elected officials will need to tackle the upcoming end of the fiscal year, the debt ceiling, and the expiration of various COVID-19 relief benefits. At the same time, Senate and House committees must provide recommendations on spending priorities under the proposed $3.5 trillion Democrats-only reconciliation bill. Some moderate Democrats have raised concerns over the price tag; as a reminder, passing the reconciliation bill will require all Democrats in the Senate and nearly all in the House to vote in favor. These circumstances give individual members significant leverage. Finally, House Democrats will consider the Senate-passed infrastructure bill on September 27.

Energy Awards $54 Million in Microelectronics Grants: The Department of Energy has awarded $54 million in grant money to ten microelectronics projects led by its national laboratories. Announced Wednesday, the funding is geared toward research efforts that could increase energy efficiency and functionality of microelectronics and subsequently stimulate innovation nationwide. The funding further aims to push microelectronics through challenges the technology faces keeping pace with Moore’s Law—the continued shrinking of microelectronics and processing devices—as energy usage required to make continually smaller devices has not decreased at the same rate. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

Senate Passes Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and Partisan Budget Resolution: Senate passing a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, which has been hailed as major legislative milestone following years of more talk than action; 19 Republicans joined all Democrats in supporting its passage. Immediately after, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pivoted to a budget resolution that advances a broader $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” package that only has the support of Senate Democrats. If enacted, the $5 trillion in investments would represent the biggest increase in spending since World War II. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders released the following documents to help guide the process:

• Text of the FY22 Budget Resolution
• One Page Summary of the FY22 Budget Resolution
• A Detailed Summary of the Recommended Reconciliation Instructions for Committees Included in the FY22 Budget Resolution

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

Answer:         Go to Main Menu>Setting>Person Extended Attributes, click "Edit", enter it under "eRA Commons User Name" and submit the change/update.

More FAQs on Streamlyne: Please visit https://research.njit.edu/streamlyne