Articles

Funding Program Announcements

Contract and Grant Awards in January
 

Electronic proposal submission may sound like a simple process. However, preparing and submitting proposals online with NSF’s FastLane and other systems for electronic grant administration can be more time-consuming than on paper, particularly for investigators using systems for the first time. 

Planning ahead and allowing ample time are essential. Becoming familiar with the proposal system and any special software requirements before proposal preparation is necessary. Last-minute proposals are not recommended—during deadlines, agency computers are notorious for being almost inaccessible because of the number of other last-minute submissions. 

The Sponsored Projects Office staff require more lead time to review and comment on FastLane and other electronic proposals. SPO needs a printed and signed review copy of each electronic proposal submitted for signature with the Proposal Review Form. Because of the volume of proposals received SPO, proposals cannot be reviewed online. Investigators planning to use FastLane or other electronic systems for any proposal are asked to get in touch with SPO staff well in advance of the deadline. 

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The Office of the President has released new employee benefit rate projections for proposal budgets. The new rates are effective February 1, 1999. Proposals may be prepared with the estimated rates or with actual benefits rates, when available. 

Attached to this issue is a copy of the memo (UCOP Memo No. 99-01) with Berkeley-specific annotations, along with a summary sheet of the benefits rates and estimates for salary range adjustments, merit increases, and pool increases. The attachment replaces Exhibit 10 in the SPO Handbook. For additional copies, call SPO at 2-0120. 

The Salary and Benefits page (http://www.spo.berkeley.edu/Policy/benefits/beneft99.html) on SPO’s Web site includes the new memo, the summary sheet, and related links. 

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The National Science Foundation is requiring FastLane for an increasing number of programs—the agency plans to require that all proposals be prepared and submitted electronically using FastLane by October 2000. Beginning October 1999, all annual and final project reports must be submitted with FastLane.

The NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences just announced new FastLane requirements. Beginning May 3, 1999, FastLane must be used for submitting the Proposal Cover Page, Project Summary, and BIO Proposal Classification Form of all unsolicited proposals (http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf9983). Also effective May 3, Grantee Post-Award notifications and requests for approval that are supported by FastLane will only be accepted in that manner. In February 1999, the FastLane Proposal Status Module will have additional information posted by NSF Program Officers. By the end of FY 1999, the Directorate's goal is to receive 90 percent of reviews by FastLane—starting immediately, reviewers will no longer receive paper copies of the review form.

NSF’s Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences announced plans to fully implement FastLane (http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf9937) and is phasing in use of FastLane on a program-by-program basis, now requiring FastLane submission for a number of programs. MPS has published the implementation plan and is requesting comments (http://www.nsf.gov/mps).

NSF lists all program announcements with FastLane requirements on the Web: https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a0/fldeadli.htm. Investigators are strongly encouraged to check for FastLane requirements before submitting proposals. 

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The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) are moving. For NIDA, effective immediately, all mail and other correspondence should be sent to: National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Institutes of Health; 6001 Executive Boulevard; Bethesda, MD 20892 (Bethesda, MD 20852 for courier/overnight service). Most NIDA telephone numbers will remain the same. Essential address information will be published on NIDA’s home page at http://www.nida.nih.gov.
The new address for NIMH, beginning March 1, 1999, is: National Institute of Mental Health; National Institutes of Health; 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8184; MSC 9663; Bethesda, MD 20892-9663; (Bethesda, MD 20852 for courier/express service). Most phone numbers will remain the same. NIMH’s home page is http://www.nimh.nih.gov. (February 12 NIH Guide) 

The new NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), established by the FY 1999 Omnibus appropriations bill, issued NCCAM guidelines for investigator-initiated applications (January 29 NIH Guide). 

The new Health Resources and Services Administration Preview is available on HRSA’s Web site: http://www.hrsa.dhhs.gov. The new edition is a comprehensive review of all FY 1999 grant programs. 

Applications are due March 19 for Shared Instrumentation Grants from the National Center for Research Resources. NCRR increased the maximum award from $400,000 to $500,000 in the current solicitation: http://www.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-99-031.html. 

The NIH revised policy relating to deposition of atomic coordinates into structural databases. The new NIH policy requires that atomic coordinates from X-ray crystallographic and nuclear magnetic resonance experiments supported by NIH grants be deposited into the appropriate database at the time of submission of a research article drawing conclusions from these data. (January 29 NIH Guide) 

The National Science Foundation Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences Division of Chemistry will accept unsolicited proposals during a new “Window for Receipt” instead of using Target Dates. For FY 2000, unsolicited proposals will be accepted in the Proposal Submission Window extending from July 1, 1999, to January 14, 2000. The Proposal Submission Window dates do not apply to proposals sent in response to Foundation-wide solicitations or special initiatives. (NSF 99-65; http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf9965) 

The NSF Division of International Programs published program deadlines that supersede deadlines listed in the latest Program Announcement (NSF 96-14; http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/int/9614rev.htm). The new deadline list is at www.nsf.gov/pubs/1999nsf9966/nsf9966.htm. Required preproposals for 

NSF’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training Program (IGERT) are due April 15, 1999. IGERT offers grants of $500,000 per year for five years for multidisciplinary graduate training. An overview of IGERT program, with information on what NSF is looking for and suggestions for strengthening proposals is on the SPO Web site: http://www.spo.berkeley.edu/Pages/igert.html. The IGERT announcement at NSF is at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/nsf9896/nsf9896.htm. 

Congratulations to Roya Maboudian, assistant professor of chemical engineering; Krishna Niyogi, assistant professor of plant and microbial biology; and physicist Andrew Westphal, a senior fellow at Space Sciences Laboratory, recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers. The three Berkeley researchers were among the 60 honored this year. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of the Interior grants are now being administered at SPO by Pat Gates, Susan Hedley, and Thea Vicari. 

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