Notices and Announcements

With the second major hurricane – Hurricane Irma – to strike the United States, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and its staff remain strongly committed to supporting the people and institutions affected by these storms. Now that the consequences of these disasters are upon us, new science and engineering questions are being raised. Through this Dear Colleague Letter, NSF encourages the submission of proposals that seek to address the challenges related to Hurricane Irma.

The Proposal & Award Policy Newsletter is a quarterly publication designed to provide information about upcoming changes and clarifications to policies and procedures that affect how you prepare and submit proposals, and manage NSF awards.

The Research Office writes to inform the UD Research Community of several reforms and new initiatives the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be implementing in the upcoming weeks and months with the aim of enhancing clinical trials stewardship.

The Research Office has created a template to assist with the new NSF Collaborators & Other Affiliations Requirements. Instructions on how to use the template can be found using the link.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced an updated salary cap for grant and cooperative agreement awards and extramural research and development contract awards. Effective January 10, 2016, the Executive Level II salary cap will be raised to $185,100. This change effects the following:

NIH grant/contract awards for applications/proposals that request direct salaries of individuals in excess of the applicable RATE per year will be adjusted in accordance with the legislative salary limitation and will include a notification such as the following: None of the funds in this award shall be used to pay the salary of an individual at a rate in excess of the applicable salary cap.

NIH competing grant awards with categorical budgets reflecting salary levels at or above the new cap(s) that are issued on or after the January 10, 2016 effective date, will reflect adjustments to the current and all future years so that no funds are awarded or committed for salaries over the limitation.

The salary limitation provision DOES apply to subawards/subcontracts for substantive work under an NIH grant or contract.

NSF has released a new version of the PAPPG, to take effect January 25, 2016. Key changes include new formatting guidance for letters of collaboration, page limitations for Collaborators and Other Affiliations information and updated submission deadlines.

ONR has recently released new guidance pertaining to No Funds Extensions, effective immediately. The new guidance spells out the maximum extension time allowable and what parties need to be involved at each step.

Beginning April 24, 2015, proposals submitted in response to Program Solicitations in Fastlane will undergo a series of automated proposal compliance validation checks to ensure they comply with requirements in the Proposal & Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG).

The following changes will be made to FastLane to support the revised PAPPG:

• Budget Form Update
• Budget Justification Upload
• Cost Sharing Notifications Requirement
• New Funding Mechanism

Automated Compliance Checks

• Page Count
• Budget
• Proposal Section

Effective Date: January 26, 2015

A new version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) , (NSF 15-1) has been issued. The PAPPG is comprised of documents relating to the Foundation’s proposal and award process and consists of the: (a) Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) for guidance on the preparation and submission of proposals to NSF and and (b) Award & Administration Guide (AAG) to guide, manage, and monitor the award and administration of grants and cooperative agreements made by the Foundation.

This new version of the PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after December 26, 2014.