National Science Foundation Releases New Proposal and Award Guide

The National Science Foundation has released a new Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) effective January 25, 2016.  This release includes several updates of importance to investigators including the following updates:

Proposal Preparation

  • Deadline for proposal submission is 5:00:00 submitter’s local time and submissions after that time will be prohibited by Fastlane.
  • New single copy document for “Collaborators and Other Affiliations” for each Senior Personnel listed on proposal required.  This information will no longer be required as part of the biosketch.  
  • Biosketches for each Senior Personnel must be uploaded as separate documents rather than grouped together as a single PDF.  Biosketches for Other Personnel & for Equipment proposals should be uploaded as a single PDF file in “Other Supplementary Documents”.
  • Current & Pending Support form should include internal funding allocated to specific projects.  Current & Pending Support forms for each Senior Personnel must be uploaded as separate documents rather than grouped together as a single PDF.
  • All NSF funding opportunities must now follow formatting instructions contained in the PAPPG.
  • “Single-Copy Documents” section no longer requires information about the PIs and Co-PIs because it is included as part of the PI profile in Fastlane.  When submitting a list of suggested reviewers, email addresses and institutional affiliations should be included for those listed as qualified to review the proposal.
  • Project Summaries that include special characters and are uploaded in the Supplementary Documents section must have headings for Overview, Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts.
  • Clarification has been added concerning the Results from Prior NSF Support.

Award Administration

  • Project Reports – Final Project and Project Outcomes Reports are due no later than 120 days following the end of the grant period.
  • Public Access to Copyrighted Material – Updated and requires articles resulting from NSF funding be:
    • Deposited in a public access compliant repository
    • Available for download, reading & analysis within 12 months of publication
    • Contain a minimum set of machine-readable metadata elements
    • Reported in annual and final reports with persistent identifier.


Additional changes to the Grant Proposal Guide portion include: NSF ID requirements, allowable participant support costs, the use of third-party solutions in the development of biosketches, visa costs, certification regarding Dual Use Research of Concern (DURC), updated procedures to follow for international conferences, report requirements for collaborative proposals, proposals involving vertebrate animals, allowable conference proposals costs, and an updated Proposal Preparation Checklist.

All changes are noted at the beginning of the PAPPG.